Mission The First (Survive)

Somewhere between happy and total fucking wreck

My eyes scanned my room, doing one last check to make sure that I had everything on me. 

Knives? Four hidden in my jacket in the pockets that I had sewn in earlier just for them, the other four hidden similarly in my sleeves - two per sleeve. 

Guns? Revolver on my right, 9mm on my left - thigh holsters  covered by the jacket. 

Extra ammo? Pockets, that's what they were made for. Two extra clips of ten for the 9mm even though the clip holds 15 - wearing out the spring is a bad idea - and a pocket full of 40-caliber bullets for the revolver. 

The mask hung around my neck, ready to be put on. 

Black jacket, shirt, pants, gloves. 

I had everything.

There was no way in hell I could do this. I knew that I could use the path, I had tried earlier that day when Father had given me my first order. It was unnervingly silent and dark, but easy to navigate when you trusted your instincts. I knew that I had it in me to kill, but that had only been in dire situations or when I was fuled with grief and rage. To do it as a job... 

"It's your friends or them you know, you made the right choice."

Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the female demon. "I know M, but you know I don't live off of violence." 

M laughed and I shot a glare at the blonde bombshell who guys would swarm around if they could see her. Her emerald eyes glared back at me jokingly. "It's now or never. And you know it wouldn't have killed you to dress sexier..." She rolled her eyes.

I ignored her jab and took a few deep breaths. I patted myself down again to make sure that I had everything and scanned my room once more. I wasn't ready, but I had to be. I closed my eyes, took a step forward and everything became silent. I opened my eyes to see that I was on the Path. I shuddered initially, hating the silence that seemed to press upon me from all sides but as I walked onward the silence became almost comforting. It was dark, and everything was almost grey-scale. I could see some vague shapes in the distance moving, but I didn't care to find out if they were proxies or something else.

I stepped out into an alleyway in Baltimore, somewhere far away from where tourists feel safe. It had signs of being inhabited by someone - there was a pile of sheets near a dumpster and some food wrappers lying around. I sighed and pulled on my mask. I felt bad for this kid, but I had to shut my emotions off for this.

Life for you has been less than kind.

The runner was walking cautiously through the alleyway and I could see the moonlight reflect off of the small knife that he was carrying. When he spotted me, he froze, holding the knife out in front of him like it would save him. I cocked my head to the right, just to see what he would do. 

The runner had guts, and he slowly started advancing towards me. As he got closer I could see that his grip on the knife was wrong and weak, he was shaking, and he wasn't standing in a way that would give him any sort of balance. I allowed him to come within five feet of me before I held up a hand, signaling him to stop.

So take a number, stand in line.

"I come to you with a choice, runner," I stated, breaking the tense silence. The runner stopped dead in his tracks, but at my hand or my words I don't know.

"W-what do you mean? You work for that... that thing right? Why aren't you rushing me like the rest?" The runner's voice shook with fear. The knife wavered in his unskilled hands and his large, terrified eyes tried to find mine under my mask.

"Join me as a Brother, under our Father and live - or die here." My voice was so dead I hardly recognized it as mine. I blocked out M's snarky comment about me sounding like an over-zealous Christian.

"No way! I'm not going to join that thing in a business suit! You're crazy!"

"I'm crazy for giving you a choice sure, but you're the one who wishes death upon himself. And so death shall swiftly come to those who beg it to."

"You're nuts!" the runner screamed as he rushed at me. I blocked his knife with one of my throwing knives. He starred at it, wondering where it had come from.

"I'm sorry," I sighed as stripped the knife from his grip and pointed it at him. I was now holding a knife in each hand. His hand was bleeding from where my knife nicked him while stripping him of his weapon.

We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt.

The runner starred at me, shocked. 

"To live or to die is your choice. I can not tell you which is ideal. But allow me to advise you to chose some more eloquent last words if you insist upon calling upon death."

The runner said nothing, instead choosing to run at me again, weaponless. I kicked him away, into the alleyway wall. I head his breath rush out of him as he slid down. I stood over him, both knives at his throat.

But how we survive...

"N-no please!" He begged.

"The choice is yours runner." I dropped the knives and instead leveled my revolver at his head. 

Suddenly he leapt up, grabbed his knife, and tried to pin me down. He was weak. I threw him off of me and pinned him to the dirty ground. 

"Last chance."

He squirmed, trying to throw me off. But, he was unskilled and untrained, he couldn't have thrown me off of him if I was sitting casually on him. He brought his knife up and slashed by arm. I didn't feel it. 

I picked his head up off of the ground and slammed it down, knocking him out. I stood up off of him and shot him twice, once in the heart and once in the head. 

Is what makes us who we are.

I sighed, looking down at the kid before picking up my throwing knife and holstering the revolver. I kicked his knife over near his body and drew an operator symbol in his blood on the wall. I had faith that the corrupt government with its secrets would cover it up as gang violence or a mugging gone wrong. 

I stepped back on the Path and went home. After a quick shower I stuffed the bloody clothes in a plastic bag (The coat was hydrophobic so it didn't have any blood on it. It took a while to find on the internet.) to be burned later. 

I stumbled into bed around 3am and fell into a dreamless sleep.

That's what makes us who we are