“That’s what I thought,” I said. One at a time, I grabbed the officers by their arms and helped them to their feet. I hit the officer I had cut with my minor heal spell, healing it.
“Wait a second, the officer said. You were never going to hurt us were you?”
“No, I laughed. I was a cop. I’d never hurt someone innocent like that. But don’t you remember in the academy, they taught you how to lie to people you're interrogating to trip them up?" Both officers looked completely dumbfounded and speechless. I laughed even more.
I took off each officer’s duty belt and searched for other weapons. They both carried folding tactical blades, typical of almost any officer, and one even had a backup revolver in an ankle holster. I said, "Let me give you guys a piece of advice." You don’t look old enough to have kids yet, though you might. But I’m sure you have a family you need to protect just like us. And as the days pass, over the next week, it’s liable to get a lot worse as food runs out. Both of you need to get home and protect the things you love. With that in mind, I'll give you a choice. You guys can go home now, but without your duty belt and equipment. Or, you can help us load what we came here to load. At the end of it, I’ll make sure you’re well armed, and THEN you can go home and protect what you love.”
As both officers decided to help, I un-cuffed them and instructed them to get a pair of bolt cutters and open up the storage container. When the container was opened, I was disappointed to see that there wasn’t as much ammo as I thought there would be. The amount of ammo was only about a third of what it was when I worked there. This meant either the PD’s funding had taken a hit in recent times, which was plausible. Or other officers had taken a share, which was also plausible.
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There were roughly ten thousand rounds of 5.56 for the AR’s, six thousand rounds of .40 caliber and maybe two thousand rounds of 2 ¾ inch buckshot for the shotguns. Even though it was far less than expected, it was still an impressive haul and would definitely help us accomplish our goals. I had the two officers load up the ammo into the back of the Suburban under Joe’s watchful gaze while Pete and Johnny loaded up gear and equipment.
I walked up to Joe and asked him, “So what do you think about pushing the armory?" There’s only one person inside. Maybe I can sneak through the building and grab the key from the dispatch office without being detected.”
“It’s definitely doable, but we're running out of room in the truck,” Joe said.
“I may have a backup for that as well," I replied. There’s an older Ford F250 diesel truck parked on the other side of the house. This is the truck the PD used to haul equipment with, and I’m sure it will run. I can grab the keys for it when I get the armory keys. I just have to flush out the commander. And I think I have an excellent idea for that too.”
“If you think you can pull it off, go for it,” Joe replied.
Calling the two officers back over, I had them put their duty belts back on. However, before I let them, I unloaded their firearms and took their spare magazines. “I’m guessing TJ was the junior of the two commanders and so he has the office closest to the back door correct? I asked.” The officers nodded affirmatively.
“This is all I want you guys to do," I started. I just need you two to walk past his office. You guys have been cool so far so don’t mess this up. I may have lied about hurting you guys, but I wasn’t lying about what I'd do for my family. So if either of you try something that jeopardizes me returning home to my family, I won’t hesitate to put you down for good, understand?"