“Stay alert. He should be coming out any second now.” His captain’s voice bounced around inside his skull as he blew out a puff of smoke. Guess I gotta get back to work. With a reluctant sigh, he stamped out his cigarette and returned to the edge of the rooftop.

Getting on his stomach, he lined himself back up with the scope of his rifle which had been pointing down at the abandoned carpark below. Getting in position, he rested his finger on the trigger, and waited for the door to open.

All the while, red figures moved across his vision in the distance, as the rest of his squad surrounded the door, ready to take action. They were prepared for anything. Each of them had a chip implanted in their brains that allowed them to communicate privately with each other. It also had the added benefit of showing him their location, so that he could position himself to cover for them

If that little rat tries to run... Then he’ll get what’s coming to him. Minutes ticked by, but nothing happened. And it was starting to eat away at his squad mate’s patience.

“What’s taking him so long?” one of them asked. “He should be done by now.”

“All he had to do was swap briefcases, is that so hard?” another grumbled impatiently.

“I’m going in.”

Watching through the scope, he saw one of the glowing red figures move towards the door, before being cut off by another.

“Be patient. We don’t want to piss off the guy in there. Boss will have our head if we mess this up for him.” their captain said confidently, admonishing the impatient guy.

“Fine. But if this takes any longer, I’m gonna go get something to eat.”

The two figures split off from each other, one returning to the nearby corner and the other, the captain, taking up a spot near the door, just out of the light.

Poor guy, sucks that he has no food on him. Must be starving down there. Feeling his stomach rumble, he took his hand off the trigger and reached across for his bag, all the while still observing the area for any problems.

Pulling his bag over, he unzipped the front compartment and rummaged around in it before pulling out a bag of chips and a muesli bar. Returning his attention to the scene of the quiet carpark, he unwrapped the muesli bar and started eating. Sucks for him. Should I give him something? Nah.

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Smiling to himself, he continued to stave off the monotony and the hunger while watching the increasingly boring scene. It really is taking a long time... Did that rat somehow sneak off with the briefcase? Or did he piss off that mid-born guy? That would be a sight to see. Boss probably wouldn’t like to see that though.

“On your feet people! I sense someone approaching the door.”

The sniper put aside his food and fully focused on the door, ready to take the first shot. The rest of the squad focused in on the door, no longer joking with each other.

The door burst open as a tall and dishevelled looking figure stumbled through. His old worn coat was tattered and marred with fresh cuts. Fresh blood stained the coat and dripped onto the ground as the man struggled to stay on his feet.

What happened here? Alert, he zoomed in on the man, trying to capture every detail. He first locked onto the man’s face, confirming that it was the young homeless lad they had sent in. Ed, was it? Ed’s face was pale and trembling with fear. His bloodshot eyes stared off into the distance, gazing into the unknown as if he could hear the afterlife calling out to him.

His cheek was red and swollen, a visible handprint making itself known to all.

Trailing down his body, he found the kid’s clothes to be in even worse condition than when he entered the warehouse. Ed’s clothes were by no means perfect to begin with, having been patched up with whatever scraps of fabric he could find. But now the clothes could barely be considered that. They were torn and ripped in various places, telltale signs of a mad scramble to escape after being attacked.

His hands and knees were covered in bloody scrapes, clear signs of him having been thrown across the ground. The sniper suspected that there were even more injuries hidden under the clothes.

Blood stained the coat as Ed stumbled forward in desperation, his feet giving way beneath him as he searched for anyone that could help him.

Well I’ll be. He really did piss that guy off. All the signs were there, pointing towards Ed having to flee for his life after offending a powerful person. The most noticeable thing however, was that he wasn’t carrying a briefcase. They had failed. And not only that, they had lost the money as well.

Captain stepped out of the shadows near the door, causing Ed to stumble and fall. Captain reached out and supported him for a moment, just long enough to find out what was going on, before he let go.

Ed dropped to the ground as he drifted into unconsciousness, no longer fighting to stay awake.

“Bad news everyone. We’ve lost the briefcase and the target isn't leaving. It looks like we won’t be getting what we came for unless we go in there ourselves,” the captain said.

“What did the kid say?” the impatient guy asked.

“He said that If we want to complete the deal, we have to all go in there ourselves.”

“And you believe him?”

“Wait here for my orders. I’m going to contact the boss.” The captain walked away from the door and pulled out his phone. After a bit of back and forth, and explaining the situation, he turned off his phone and returned to the door.

“All right everyone! Change of plans. I need everyone down here for this one. The boss said to follow the man’s orders. And that means we’re all going in. I don’t want to hear any complaints. Keep your guns at the ready. Do whatever you have to to get the briefcase.”