That double crossing bastard. In all my years of doing this job, no one has ever tried to do this to me. He’s certainly going to get his.
Hmm…this really makes me think though.
These organized gangs; they don’t usually do this kind of stuff. From my own experience, it’s just: do the job, get paid and leave. Something’s definitely going on. Is there some sort of conflict going on between the gangs? This really makes no sense. Coker is one of the more powerful gang bosses, so for him to get this desperate.
These gangs mostly deal with the drug market. They sell and they trade. They compete with each other, so casualties from different groups are to be expected. Gangs do not like losing their gang members though. That’s why they hire guys like us, so they don’t have to use their own kind. It’s an easy gig, but not when your employer wants you killed. I’m not afraid or anything, but I’m going to have doubts working for anyone else from now on.
Coker’s gang is simply known as “D-gang”. D standing for drug, presumably. It sounds stupid, but his gang was never the clever bunch. They have a lot of competitors, albeit weak ones. Lone drug dealers on the street are usually their competitors. They cover one area of Herrace, a business and industrial section called Black-road. And yes, it is called Black-road, because the roads are pure black. Continuing…recently though, they’ve had heavy competition from a full-fledged gang known as the “Wise Crackas”. Hahaha, geez, these gangs don’t know how to find a good name. Anyways, these guys were outselling them a while back. I believe two…yea, two weeks ago. D-gang couldn’t take anymore of the Wise Crackas’ interference that a shoot out occurred. The D-gang ultimately ran those crackas out of Black-road and retained dominance once again in that area of Herrace.
I think that’s where they made the mistake. I worked once for the Wise Crackas. Their boss, Big Kandy hired me to kill some old lady leading a massive neighbourhood watch. You see, they owned the Softmeadows neighbourhood, a suburban area of Herrace. It is mainly composed of families and elderly people, so you can see why I had to kill that old lady. Did I feel any remorse for shooting that old hag? Hell no. I lived there when I was a kid, and that old bitch was as strict as they come. “Don’t go on my lawn!, You can’t have your ball back, it’s on my property! Halloween does not apply to me, so don’t come here for candy you little hoodlums!” So yea, I actually quite enjoyed shooting her in the head…and the chest…actually I emptied my whole box of 7.62x51mm NATO shells. It was utterly satisfying. So yea, the Wise Crackas liked what I did and paid me big time. They have a really strong base in Softmeadows and their numbers shadow the D-gang’s population.
So if a gang war does happen, Softmeadows’ very own Wise Crackas gang has the advantage.
Anyways, gang war or not, I’m going to punish Coker. No one ever betrays me and gets away unscathed. I’m not going to kill him no, that would be much too easy. I want him to suffer. I want him to suffer far worse than that rat, Sam.
Hold on.
Sam said they got into a bad deal with another mob organization. Is it the Wise Crackas? No, it can’t be them. Ahh, whatever. I’m thinking too much into this. I’m just a hired gun. I’ll just focus on the task at hand.
City Hall was silent. All you can hear were sirens closing in. People started to gather around the corpse of the now deceased mayor. He laid there lifeless, blood surrounding his body. The bodyguards continue hopelessly to locate a pulse or any sign of life.It was completely useless. A man shot with a 7.62mm sniper shell in the head is as good as dead. At best, you could perhaps, say that he was eternally resting, although that wouldn’t be any better.Zach was very accurate with his shot. If one were to take a ruler and actually measure the distance from the hole through the head between both eyes, it would be completely centered. It’s brutal, yet beautiful; it was beautiful brutality.
Zach took the emergency fire escape to get down from the 9 story building. He didn’t actually use the stairs. He kind of just jumped down, one floor at a time, using the railings of each level of the stair case. It was, to put it simply, an amazing physical feat. He finally reaches ground level and carefully exits the alley as to seem less suspicious. It’s funny though, try as he might, people can’t resist glaring at him. What with his long beige trench coat, fish net shirt combined with a ballistic vest, tight leather wraps on his right hand along with a metal gauntlet-leather glove combination and last, but not least, his giant duffle bag. It’s obvious what’s in there. It’s just not something that a regular, everyday person would wear. Physical aspects aside, Zach also has this look in his eyes. He gives of an aura which people just notice when they get within range of his sight. It’s creepy to say the least. But you have to admit, that is a pretty crazy ability.
Zach continues to walk down the street. There, he notices another suspicious looking guy. He walks up to the man and confronts him.
“Are you the dude?”
The man looks at him in a strange manner.
“The dude?”
Zach replies “Yea..the dude!”
The man continues to stare at him, “Look, I don’t know where you’re getting at. I’m just waiting for the 89 bus, so if you don’t mind, leave me alone.”
Then out of nowhere, someone hollers from the corner of a Laundromat, “Hey! You the guy Coker hired? You got the duffle bag and everything, you’re the one right?!”
Zach looks a bit confused. He turns to the man waiting for the bus, “I apologize for troubling you.”
Zach then turns around and walks to the man from the Laundromat. He looks at him with a sort of baffled look and whispers “Shouldn’t you guys more discrete about this kind of stuff? Do you want both of us to get caught?!”
The man snickers, “Nah, we do it like this all the time. Don’t worry about it. I’m Sam by the way, but my buddies call me Sammy.”
This man Sammy had an unpleasant odor to him. He had a dirty beard and was balding, had one glove with holes on and had one gold tooth. He looks worse than most bums around Herrace. Compared to him, the bums look decent. Zach immediately had doubts about this guy.
“Alright “Sammy”, are you going to pay me now or…?”
Sam replies “No, no, no, no. You will be following me to the secret office of Coker. He’ll give you your reward there.”
Zach reluctantly accepts. He just nods his head in agreement with Sam. He had this serious look in his eyes. Meeting with Coker wasn’t a usual occurrence. He’s worked for Coker many times before and he has always been paid right after the job.
Sam smiles, “OK then, follow me Mr. Sinchross.”
Zach begins to follow Sam down the street. It seems like they’re headed for the subway. The sidewalks and roads were filled with people and cars. Herrace is usually a busy city, it seemed like it was busier than normal today. The TV’s and radios everywhere were proclaiming the assassination of Mayor Fernbrook. That’s probably why it’s busier than normal.
Zach and Sam reach the subway station and begin descending down the stairs. Despite the busyness and the population of Herrace, the city is well maintained. Vandalism is almost non-existent; the subway system looks like it was just built, when it was actually built 50 years ago. They reach the end of the stairs and head for the entrance. But they veer right instead to arrive at a door that says,
“HERRACE SUBWAY PERSONELL ONLY”
There was a card key system attached to the door. Sam had a card and just swiped it. The red LED on the system turns green and granted them access into the door. This guy Sam puts his key card back into his bag, which had more cards and keys. They’re all probably either stolen or forged. It’s not surprising though, Sam is a very sleazy character.
When they got in, the door behind them shuts. It is very dark inside; the only light shining is coming from the LED on the key card system. A switch is heard, and one bulb lights up. There are more stairs descending to a lower level. The most probable thing to expect down there is probably a power generator or a sewer system. Sam continues to move forward and starts going down the stairs, as did Zach.
They keep moving lower and lower. The flight of stairs seems never-ending. It just keeps going and going. The light above them is barely even reaching down to where they were. And at last, they finally reach the last stair case, where there was another door with a key card system and Sam again, swipes with his card.
The door opens. Within the door we find the intricate sewage system of Herrace. And across the stream of tainted flowing water, was the room for the power generator that runs the subway system. Anyone could tell that there was no “special office” down here.
Zach looks at Sam disappointingly, “Is this joke Sam?”
Sam laughs hysterically, and pulled out what seemed to be a magnum revolver. He points it to Zach, “This is your payment Mr. Sinchross!”
Zach, again looking disappointed, says “Is this why you brought me all the way down here? God, has Al Coker lost his mind! Does your boss think he can send just anyone to kill me, especially a disgusting looking guy like yourself?! You’re appalling Sam! Put the gun down, you look ridiculous.”
Sam stops laughing. His eye brows quickly point downwards. Sam was obviously angered by this.Perhaps Zach should have kept his mouth shut, although, to Zach’s defense, he was just telling the truth.
Zach continues to speak, “What? Are you angry now, Sam? Geez, something like that got through to you that easily? You’re pathetic. Just pathetic Sam.”
Sam screams in rage, “Shut up! This is it for you, you bastard!”
A very loud shot is fired, as expected from a magnum revolver. Zach falls to the ground, seemingly dead. Sam turns around looking very pleased and relieved.He has good reason to feel relieved.He then, pulls out what seems to be a radio transceiver and reports “He’s dead Mr. Coker.”
A raspy voice is heard from the device, “Good job.”
Sam points the gun behind him and puts the transceiver back in his pocket, while saying, “Now to make sure this guy doesn’t somehow get back up…” As he completely turns around, Zach, who he had presumed to be dead, is missing.
“There’s no blood? How is this even possible?! This thing can go through anything!It should’ve went through that guys chest like butter!”
An ominous voice is heard, resonating through the tunnels in the sewer, “Not through a ballistic vest Sam.Your stupidity continues to amaze me.”
Sam’s pupils dilate and he frantically points his weapon in all directions, “Where the hell are you?! Only cowards hide! Come out you coward!”
Zach’s voice continues to echo through the sewers, “Oh Sam, this is not cowardice. This is called “inspiring fear in foolish men”. You’re a foolish guy Sam. Are you scared yet or I should say, are you even more scared than you were earlier?”
Sam’s voice cracks as he says, “I’m not scared of you, I aint scared of nobody! You hear?! So shut up, shut up, shut up!”
Zach replies, “You need to be taught a lesson Sam. Say, do you know how it feels like to not be able to hold a gun?”
Sam cowardly replies, “What, what the hell are you talking about?!”
Zach simply says, “This.”
Zach comes out from the ceiling of the sewer tunnels, with a Tanto at hand. A tanto is basically a shorter Katana (Samurai sword); same perfect sharpness, same lethality. He flies and descends behind Sam. He swings his right arm downwards with the Tanto. Sam’s reflexes fail him as he turns around too late. His forearm had been severed from the rest of his arm. Blood spews out from where his elbow joint once was. Blood was spewing everywhere. Sam, in total shock, stares at his right arm speechless. His feet got wobbly and he crashed onto the ground. He finally starts to scream agonizingly.This delayed realization of pain comes from the shock of losing a limb.It’s terribly horrifying.
Zach slowly approaches Sam’s downed body.
“Sam let me tell you something. There are three things I hate. I hate it when somebody tries to outsmart me. My IQ is over 200 and it is unrivaled, unless you’re a genius. Second, you don’t want to piss me off or this happens. I assume that you don’t like what happens much.Last but not least, if you really want to get me angry, all you have to do is cross and betray me, which you just did.”
Sam starts to cry and beg, “Please! Don’t kill me. I’ll tell you what I know; I’ll tell you why Coker wanted you dead! Please hear me out!
Zach smiles, “What do you know?”
Sam continues to wince and cry, struggling to get his words out of his mouth.
“Cok..Co..Coker got into a bad drug deal with a rival mob organization..an..and the mob is threatening to kill our entire group if he didn’t pay up. Coker had nothing left..he..he..couldn’t…pa…pay you.”
Zach frowns a little, “None of that concerns me Sam. Look, I really didn’t want to do this to you; I’m just the guy Coker hired to kill someone. I just want my money, so I can buy food to survive. We made a deal, an agreement. I don’t like it when agreements get broken. I don’t care what the situation is, when you agree to something, you ensure it happens. Wouldn’t you agree Sam?”
Sam immediately replies, “Of course, of course, that’s completely right! But…”
Zach interrupts, “Sam, there are no buts here. I’ll tell you what, I won’t leave you here to bleed to death and I won’t kill you.”
Sam begins to smile, “Thank you! Thank you so much..Oh my God…Thankyou!”
Zach smiles again, “You’re very welcome. You brought me down here, so no one would hear anything right? So no one would hear, say a gunshot or screaming?”
Sam replies, “What?!I thought you said…but the boss just made me…”
Zach once again interrupts, “Shhh. Just answer my question.”
Sam begins to start crying again. He knew what was coming. It may not be death, but it was something far worse.
“Yes.”, Sam says as he starts crying loudly.
Zach replies, “I appreciate the honesty Sam. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll cut off the rest of your limbs and then I will tightly bandage them so you won’t bleed to death. Then you can find a way out of here, alive and well. That’s considering the scavenging rats don’t get to you first.”
Sam screams, “Please! No! Don’t, I’ll do anything.”
Zach looks at him emotionlessly. His sarcastic disposition towards Sam earlier seemed to have really changed.Zach says, “There’s nothing I need from you. Don’t ever cross me again.”
Zach took his Tanto and precisely sliced his left forearm at the elbow joint. Sam continues to scream unbearably. He moves down on to both his legs. He severs them from the knee joint.Zach was merciless, again showing no emotions in his face Sam is silent. Zach checks for vital signs.
“There’s the pulse. I guess he passed out.”
It was quite obvious that Sam fainted from the ridiculous amount of shock from being cut up alive and also blood loss from his right arm earlier. Despite this, Zach keeps his word and tightly bandages all of Sam’s limbs, to stop the bleeding. Zach grabs Sam’s bag of keycards and keys and walks towards the door they entered through. He turns around.
“The rats will have quite a feast tonight.”
He pulls out the key card from the bag, formerly owned by the now, rat-all-you-can-eat, Sam. He goes through the door and starts to ascend the stairs. He reaches the access door from the subway and opens that as well. He continues to walk and go up the stairs, leading back into the city. He walks away with no evident remorse for what he just did. Despite the fact that he claims to not enjoy serial-killer like killings, when he’s played around with, he can really turn into something psychotic, demonic even.
Zach blends in with the crowd. The sirens are still heard and news reports everywhere continue to report the assassination of the mayor. Zach didn’t get paid for that job. Al Coker’s going to have a visitor very soon.
This blog will be strictly for my novel entry for NaNoWriMo 2009.
I hope I finish it.
The first chapter to my tale.
ALL OF THIS CONTENT IS WRITTEN BY ALAN MORALES.
Chapter 1: Hi, My Name is Zach
I am on the roof of a high rise complex in the heart of Herrace city. It’s a bit windy, but it’s not so bad. At least the sun is out; the light it’s emanating is giving me very comfortable warmth. I’ve been here for seven hours, just sitting on my stool, sniper rifle at hand. You heard right, a sniper rifle. Yes, this is my job. I’m a hired gun. If that term is too simple for you, then call me whatever the hell you want. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. Most people don’t react too well when they hear this. Don’t judge me. Wouldn’t you do whatever it costs to make sure you provide for yourself or your family? That’s what I thought, so keep your mouth shut. This job keeps me alive; I kill for money, money buys me food, I consume the food and it sustains me. I know that it’s an extremely simple way of looking at it, but in the end that’s basically what it is.
I don’t get paid by the hour and it’s alright. I just get paid a very generous amount of money when the deed is done. I am not exclusive to any person or organization or group or….well, you get the point. There is this one guy, Al Coker, who seems to hire me a whole lot. He gives me this dirty look every time he gives me a job. I like to keep things neutral and low profile, so I don’t get into conflicts or arguments with any of my employers. But if this guy Al takes it another step further, you can bet all your money that he will be leaving in a body bag.
So yeah, seven hours and I’m still sitting here. I don’t normally get bored, but when I do, I end up thinking about this city. Herrace is a metropolis; it’s enormous. I find that cities like these are where we can easily find the two types of people in the world: normal people and psychos. Now I can’t tell you which people are “normal” or “psycho”, although I can tell you I do categorize people, but that’s based on my perspectives. I mean, whose place is it to place these people into one of those two categories concretely? You could have one person calling another person, whose ambition is to have a large family (several children), crazy. On the other hand, you could have someone call a business executive, who fires a man who desperately needs his job, on the basis of saving a multi-billion dollar company, a few thousand dollars and enjoys it simultaneously, normal. Is it screwed up? Possibly. What do I think? Sure.
Then again, what isn’t screwed up in this world? All over this miserable planet, these kinds of people exist and there’s nothing we can really do about it. We just somehow end up thinking that way. It all comes down to survival I suppose. So in the end, I came to the conclusion that everyone is crazy, crazy for thinking that they can place people in certain groups while calling themselves normal. You have to look at yourself first to be able to look at other people. Scratch that, you might end up calling yourself crazy and commit suicide. Don’t hold me responsible.
I know I’m crazy. You know how I know I’m crazy? My psychiatrist told me so. Not asylum crazy I guess, because I’m still running around killing people. You want to know another reason why I know I’m messed up? I actually enjoy my job, very much. I mean, when I see the blood running out of my targets body, spewing out, dripping on the ground and making a huge puddle of thick red liquid…it’s just so humanizing. Thinking about it is just giving me such a rush.
Hah! Just kidding. I’m not that twisted. I’m not a hardcore sadist and I’m not a serial killer. I’m not going to lie though; I do enjoy inflicting pain on my enemies and victims, to an extent. Especially when I go bare knuckle, no gun in the world can beat that visceral feeling. All of us are capable of feeling joyous emotions when we see people fall. Even the holy pope can. We just learn to suppress and repress it. We trick ourselves into rationalizing situations and associate violence as a negative act, when really; it’s just a whole lot of fun to beat the living hell out of someone from time to time. When you start a fight, you get this surge of energy running through your body and --- wait a second; I think my target's coming out of City Hall.
He’s out, finally. Let’s just stabilize this rifle...there we go.
In between the eyes Sinchross, in between the eyes.
Boom! That was fairly loud. It caught the attention of everyone on the street.
Wow, he went down fast. I guess that’s what happens when you’re three hundred pounds and live a sedentary lifestyle.
And here comes security to defend him and check on his body. It is unbelievable how these so called “body guards” are so terrible at their job. I just want to scream out “The man is already dead you idiots! Great job “body guarding!” ” Body guards are so useless.
Now where is my log…?
….
Ah there it is.
Monty Fernbrook, male, 56 years of age. Occupation: Mayor of Herrace. Time of death, 16:56 hours, by head shot.
There we are. Now there should have been someone from my employer who watched this whole thing go down, you know, to make sure I did my job. All I have to do now, is go to him and pick up my money. Yup, it’s that easy. Just another day in this life of mine.
Oh, by the way, I apologize for not formally introducing myself. My name is Zach, full name, Zachary Sinchross.
Just another human being forging his way through this heap of obstacles called life. I like making friends, they are a peculiar species. Human interactions are what make life interesting. What's even more interesting is how our actions affect those interactions.
