Inner Mission
I actually take a millisecond to enjoy the sound of the crickets before squeezing a silent round into the head of the guard 10 meters in front of me. Without thinking I move to take cover from behind another stack of supplies to my right. During the movement I.. feel.. more than see.. an opportunity to take out another guard unnoticed, immediately followed by a third. The third feels more risky as he falls to the ground. I keep moving for new cover and duck down.
The doorway is clear. The guards on the parapet have their back turned.
I toe my way inside quickly.
My head hurts.
My blood pressure is literally killing me, as it is designed to do.
I will be dead in 15 minutes.
I M U S T C O M P L E T E T H E M I S S I O N .
I toe my way through the doorway unnoticed, and see a stack of boxed electronics and explosives right in the middle of the dark courtyard.
They had no I was coming.
They had no way of knowing we existed.
I feel guilt.. for a millisecond..
in that millisecond my foot hesitates just enough to scuff the dirt, making an almost imperceptible sound.
*almost*
I feel a bullet coming straight for my head.
I lean forward to get around it and reach out with my left hand to take care of the one who fired at me.
I feel the pinch of the stock in my hand, taste the dust as I roll across my upper shoulder and place my back against the crates and fabric. I hear a body crumple gracelessly to the dry light colored dirt. I must have hit him in the head. As expected, but it's hard when you're not looking.
I push aside fears I have been discovered. It doesn't matter anymore.
I reach my gloved left hand across my right shoulder and rip off the boards behind my back, turning to face them as I do. Lights, switches, buttons. My fingers do as they are programmed and I feel warm.. hot.. I sense that my body is now in pieces.
Sweet Success.
And the story is a sweet success as well. Very good.