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Badazkillr
#BadAzKillR
he squeezed gently
pinching the lever once again
and felt the intense power being let
loose travel up his arm …
whiffs of sulfur smoke acting like a
drug on his sinuses
eyes widening with a surge
of pure adrenaline -
loud concussions slapping his
ears like a drill sergeant and
drowning out the
distant shrieks that came
in unison …
countless times he’d done
this at home from his favorite recliner
fueled by Doritos and Red Bull
he’d racked up points like a madman -
hour-on-hour …
day-after-day …
year-upon-year …
blam-blam-blam!!
mowing the nasties down with unique
precision, ‘til it no longer required
conscious thought …
just reflexes and focus to
master his gamer technique
earning his online moniker proudly:
‘BadAzKillR’
one of the best at what he did
he’d won countless contests and matchups
and people seriously feared his avatar
but nobody knew his name -
not his REAL name
and he wanted the same
respect from others that he got online.
bullied at school and misunderstood
by his family - not once given
the same cred and reputation that
he had garnered in the
cyber world …
but THIS would change all that
he laughed out loud at the
irony - at how simple and easy it was
and unlike a video game,
it came with a dark, exhilarating
thrill that he’d never experienced before …
his intent had been just ONE -
a cop or politico or somebody important -
someone whose death would
insure his name was not
forgotten for a very long time
but the security guard outside had been so effortless - so quick
and he wanted that rush again -
that malevolent tingle that had followed
and given him such
a charge …
so …
he kept on walking and
laughing and pulling the trigger
they were just targets anyway -
just points in the game -
and he was going to rack up as
many as he could
after all, he was ‘BadAzKillr’
and it mattered not that these
targets were real …
that they couldn’t shoot back …
that they were …
just children.
(For all those affected by the Uvalde Scool tragedy)
Copyright ©
Gregory Richard Barden
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