He quickly scans the monitors spaced three feet apart all the way up the wall. Just as he reaches the top he spots the intruder, a black bear scrounging for dewberries. The bear takes one more fatal step forward. The earth sinks beneath the foot and an explosion rips the basement apart. Only one Uzi comes down intact.
Wind blows amidst the flames engulfing the house.
A siren wails. A modern fire truck arrives upon the scene and the chief leaps out, smiles at the news cameras, and runs forward with a hatchet in his hand and a lingering smile on his lips. The house explodes. A smoldering Uzi lands at the feet of the other firemen, now covered with soot and heat-wrinkled plastic. They wait, sprinkling the house down half-heartedly until it is only a burning coal heaped upon the earth.