“Number one calling in, target is on route. Two minutes away”
A rough looking neighborhood. Run down buildings that are held together by faith alone. Dirt, grim, used needles, ripped condoms, and other objects covering the streets and sidewalks. The smell of skunk, shit, pee, and god knows what else lingers in the air.
The worst section to every part of a city
-The Slums-
“Number four here~. The target left the car~ Oh he’s so handsome! He has entered the building. Two guards at the entrance, three on the second floor balcony. Unfortunately they are all ugly. Permission to shoot em?”
“Negative number four”
“Ahhh, please? They are so ugly!!”
On the corner of the building, Josh confirms number two’s information. He then brings his hand to his ear, lightly pressing on it
“Number three confirms recent intel, invading the safehouse now”
He then pull out a pistol from his side and inspects it one more time
*Safety off, nine bullets, gun fully loaded, it’s fucking go time*
He then pulls out a small candle from his back pocket. Taking a strong whiff of the peach smell, His eyes getting a strong glimmer. After checking his surroundings, he creeps behind the back door. Pulling out his lock picking tools. Right before he could start, he hears someone behind it
“I know, why do you think I'm going outside? Fucking dumbasses”
The door quietly opens and a man with a black suit walks out. After doing a quick glance, he takes out an e-cigarette from his chest pocket.
Click Click
“Fucking piece of shit”
Click Click
“What the fuck? Is the battery dead?”
Click Click Whoos
A small light glows in the darkness. The man brings the toxic cylinder to his mouth and breathes deeply
“Foooo, there we go. Fuck man, I don’t understand why we can’t smoke this shit in doors. It's not as bad as normal cigs”
As the man complains, a rumbling sound goes off in his pants.
“Sigh, now what?”
He then pulls out his outdated phone, checks the caller, then answers it after one more sigh
“Oh for fucks sakes. I was gone for one minute….Yeah?....Yes the packages are safely in the basement…..I know how to do my fucking job…..The buyer is coming shortly, the boss is currently inspecting the goods…..Haaa they will make a fine profit for us…..Alright I’ll be right there”
The phone goes silent. One more deep breath sighs out
“Fucking dipshits. You can’t find decadent people anymo-”
Click…….BOOM
“Sorry fella. Wrong place, wrong time.”
Josh grabs the body from falling.
“Goon down, the children are in the basement. The boss is currently here. Setting mic to always on. Going in”
*Eight bullets left*
Josh moves the body into the shadows then enters the building. A corridor in front of him with a staircase to the left that goes up. Noises echo out softly from the door on his right
“You like that bitch? Take it all in! Ooooooh fuck! For a skank, you're so tight!”
“Ooooh baby! You're so big! Yes! Harder! Harder!”
*The fuck are you two saying? What do you think you're in? A prono?*
Josh crouches down and slightly opens the door. A naked man plowing a young looking female with tattoos over her body. The smell of fish and skunk overpowering all other smells from the room. A camera with a blinking light recording the -love making- activity with a tv on in the background.
“Civilian….orders?”
“Permission to shoot everyone in the building”
“Roger”
With no hesitation, Josh quietly brings up his pistol and shoots twice
Click Click
Thankfully there was no noise, as the man’s body fell onto the lady. A door opening and closing in the distance is heard
“Good afternoon sir! It is an honor to meet you today. Please follow me. The goods are in the basement”
A conversation sounds out from the other side of the corridor. With no other options, Josh goes into the room and hides behind the door.
“Just like you asked, we have picked from the best of the best. We have a 6 year old, an 8 year old, and one who is 15.”
“Good, I was told that you were efficient, looks like the rumors were true”
“Thank you so much for your high praise! To reach the basement we need to go up stairs first.”
As Josh waits for the people to pass by, he scans the room for an exit
*Never hurts to have an escape plan. Let's see….*
He then looks over at the bodies
*You consider that big? I don’t even think a magnifying glass would be able to see it….A window? Perfect*
With this though in his mind, he hears the footsteps go upstairs. Echoing on the metal staircase
“Number four, be my eyes”
“Okay~ Let's see, the handsome man and an okay person are currently walking. Man, I wanna eat him up!.....Oh?! A secret bookshelf? HOW COOL!~ Can I shoot the ugly ones now?”
“Permission granted”
“YAY!!~”
Boom boom boom
Josh hears three quiet thumps upstairs
“Hehehe, they are all down!”
Josh walks out of the room and head’s upstairs. As he walks past the bodies, he can’t help but marvel at the perfect aim number four has.
“Goons down, good aim. Where’s the hidden door?”
“Keep going keep going…Right there~ Good boy. After this mission I’ll give you a reward”
A shiver ran down Josh's spine when he heard that.
*That woman is terrifying. The last reward she gave out, the guy was the limping the next day*
Josh then rubs his hands at the book shelf, pulling out every book till he hears a click. The bookshelf then moves slightly. Pulling away from the wall, a staircase leading down revealed
“Found it, going down”
Ding…Ding….Ding
His footsteps echo out as he goes deeper and deeper. At the end of the staircase is a light. When Josh got closer, he picked up on the conversation
“Oh, not bad. Not bad at all. I’ll take all three. Here, Call this number to finalize the deal. But I don’t think I can wait till later.”
“Thank you so much. Please take your time. When you're done press the blue button to re-open the door. I’ll be upstairs finishing the deal”
The conversation gets louder as Josh gets closer to the light. Then the light disappears as a man walks through it.
*Shit*
Josh brings up his gun and shoots
Click…DING
The body slams hard on the metal floor. Josh bolts down and runs through the light. His vision slightly blinded from the sudden change in light.
“What the fuck is going on?”
As his vision clears up, he sees the buyer. A man with short red hair. A tribal tattoo on his hand. Gun pointed up at him.
“Put your hands down you fucker! I don’t know…..wait…..”
The buyer's voice gets quieter as he speaks, before talking again with a laugh.
“Josh? Is that you older bro? Hahaha, well well well. This is hilarious!”
While the man was talking and laughing, Josh was speechless. Then with a growl he whispers out loudly
“Jared…..What the fuck are you doing. Why are you here?”
“Well, as you can see”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Jared looks over at the terrified children, silently crying in the corner
“I was buying some pleasure tools? After all, the young, innocent ones are the best tasting”
Jared laughs as he walks over to the youngest child, licking her cheek with a sadistic smile growing on his face
“Put down the fucking gun Jared. I have so many fucking questions. But right now you're under arrest”
“Hahaha, No, I won’t actually.”
He then pulls the gun back at Josh, But unlike the movies, where there's a showdown, both sides are hesitant to shoot, Jared just breaks all movie conventions and fires. The sound of flesh getting destroyed as Josh bolts to the left. The color red dying his black sweater on his side.
“Hahaha sorry brother, but I think not. Unfortunately I need to put you down like the fucking mutt you are.”
More gunshots ring out as the bullet hits the metal objects that were scattered around the room.
“Hahaha, you have such a shit aim! Looks like the government dogs taught you well!”
More gun shots ring out as the gunfight intensifies
*FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK, I only have one more shot left*
“Cmon bro! Stop hiding like a little bitch! You're stopping me from enjoying myself!”
*God damn it. Why littler bro? Why are you the buyer? What happened to you?*
“Oh dear oh dear~”
Josh’s earbud rings out in his ear
“Looks like more ugly guys are coming. Wait wait wait!~ They are shooting up the place?”
"Number one here, guys showed up here too. Looks like a blood bath is about to happen”
“Intel coming in numbers, the rival gang group is attacking. Get the three children out now”
*Shit. I need to stop Jared and get out of here*
“Well if you won’t come out, then I’ll make you come out”
Jared voices out, as a scream is heard. Jared pulls the middle child out by her hair and points the gun at her head.
“You better get out here before I start to kill the kiddos. I'll count to three. 1…..”
But before Jared could count to two, a metal pipe comes crashing down on his arm, hitting the gun away from him
“FUCK, You fucking brat! I was going to treat you well, but oh fucking well”
As Josh bolts from the sudden yell, he sees the 15 year old kid getting choked. A metal pipe on the floor next to him.
“Jared, put him down! I don’t want to kill you”
As Josh screams this, he sees the eyes of the child starting to roll upwards. With no more time to think, he fires his last bullet, Putting a new hole in Jared’s handsome face
*GOD DAMN IT!!*
A sudden quietness spreads out, But before Josh could think about what he has just done, sirens could be heard in the distance
“Number three, get out! The cops are here”
With the danger gone, Josh feels the sharp pain in his side. He stumbles to one of the walls and slides down. Red following him
“Yo kids. I know you all went through hell, but I need you all to listen to me. We need to get out of here and get to the cops now.”
As Josh gets a better look at the children, he realizes that all of them look similar. The 15 year old then stumbles to the two other children, helping them up with love in his eyes.
*Ah, they are siblings. An older brother and two younger sisters*
“Good, now let's go”
Josh grabs the metal pole and uses it as a cane. He hits the blue button and climbs up the stairs with support from the middle child. By the time they all get to the first floor, Josh can barely walk. The sound of gunshots getting louder
“Number three on the main floor, what's going on outside?”
“Hey~ I thought you were dead! So, it looks like the police and gang members are shooting each other. Fortunately they are all mostly ugly, so no heart breaks!”
“Number four, be his eyes and help them.”
“Operator, negative on that. I’m not gonna make it.”
“....Understood, then please blend in”
“Will do, I’m giving my earbuds to the kids. Help them number four. Please”
“Whaaa number three! Nooooo, don’t die on me! You're going to be my last number on my thigh!”
“Ha, Sorry number four, looks like I'm gonna die a virgin. Sorry I couldn’t be your 100th body. But please save them. They are innocent”
“Sniff. Fine! But I’m never going to forgive you! I need to find another worthy virgin now!”
Josh then hands the earbuds to the children
“Listen to the voices from this. They will help you”
Josh then looks at the oldest child
“Save your siblings you hear? Protect them. Be better than me”
With determination forming in the child's eyes, he grabs the earbuds and with strength coming from who knows where, carries both of his siblings and walks out the back door. Looking back one last time at Josh and nods.
Josh watches them leave the building, then goes back into the porno room. With great effort, he removes all his clothes. Adding them to the garbage that litter the floor.
*Looks like the lady was having a three sum now. Lucky you…or would it be lucky me?*
With time now slipping away and nothing left to do but die, he listens in on the tv. A talk show between a group of people.
“We all heard the saying before. When you're dying, or about to die for that matter, your life flashes before your eyes. This is when you see all the things you're proud of. The fond or happy memories you have made.”
“Is that really true though?
Ask one of the audiences.
“Why yes of course! Some think of their loved ones, you know. Family members, their significant other and so on. But It’s not uncommon to hear about people thinking of their past relationships”
The audience quiets down and thinks about what the man just said. Then one of the people who was at the table asked him a question
“But the question I have is why? Why do you think about your old lovers? Is it because you regret the past?”
*Ha, really? I never could understand the feeling of regret. How were you supposed to know something before it happens? Your not god or all knowing after all*
“That is indeed a good question to ask! I think you're right. You just regret the past things you did or didn't do. But allow me to ask a question in return”
The man then adds a pause, making sure everyone is paying close attention to his next words
“What I want to know is, what happens if during the moment of your death, the moment you are supposed to see your life flash before your eyes, nothing is shown?”
“That is a great question you are asking there, the person in the television”
Josh whispers under his breath, as his body gets colder and colder. “With my current predicament, I would very much like to know”
“I think this happens because you haven't really lived your life. What I mean is that I think in today's world, people are just living life on autopilot. We are not trying or doing anything worthwhile.”
After thinking about what the man said. Another audience member asked out
“Is it possible that instead of not living your life, you just never did anything to regret?”
The man thinks about this question, going into deep thought
“Perhaps. Or, just thinking out loud here, or, could it be that you have done so much horrible or wrong that your brain, in its last moment of defense, decides to shut down. To avoid even more stra-”
The television then fades to black, another stray bullet comes crashing through. The gunfight happening outside is getting more tense.
“Are you fucking serious? That was the only talk show I was actually getting into”
Josh never thought of it before. How did he live his life? He doesn't remember doing anything weird or bad. Well, bad to innocent people at least. He also stayed away from both drugs and alcohol. As his life slowly comes to an end, he truly can’t think of anything.
A sharp pain interrupts his soul searching, as the bullet wound on his side gushes out red at a faster and faster rate. The glowing light on the recording device luminating the growing puddle forming around him. The gunfight, sirens, and other noises getting quieter and quieter.
*Cough Cough*
*Perhaps this is god's punishment. I can’t believe Jared was one of the people behind the recent kidnappings. I even killed him.*
Josh looks at his pale hands, getting lost in thought
*If...If Jared turned out this way. Then what happened to Ellena? Mom and Dad? What happened the past 5 years to them all?*
Josh glances at the women's long blonde hair.
*Now that I get another look at her. She is a looker, she also reminds me of that recent medical porn game*
He thinks back to the record breaking game. Apparently this game had medical professionals involved. Based on real life and crap like that
*For shits and giggles, what did the blondie say about wounds? Something about putting pressure on the wound, to slow down the blood loss? I need to keep the object inside the wound. Pulling it out would only cause more damage*
A slight chuckle escapes his cold lips
“That's cool and all, but, what the hell am I suppose to do with a fucking gunshot wound? Whatever, even if the game went over it, I lost to much blood at this point”
Josh glances out the window, seeing all the carnage that has happened in a span of a few minutes. Bodies now join all the garbage that was already there. The red color is dying all the black and grays.
*Kind of reminds me of a virus really….*
“Well, based on how I still don’t see the flash of light, guess that means I either have hidden regrets or none at all.”
This sole fact is the only thing that comforts him as his vision and hearing go's completely black and quiet
“Red, eh? My favorite color. Why is that?”
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“My favorite color is blue Mom! It is the color of our eyes and the sky is blue!”
A few minutes after his vision fades. He hears a small childish girl's voice. Then another childish voice, but this one slightly different
“Blue? Blue is a dull color! The best color of all is black and green! They match perfectly!”
“That's not fair! You can’t have more than one favorite color! Mom, Dad, Bear is cheating!”
*Bear? That was Jared’s nickname when I was younger*
“Now now my little princess, you're allowed to have more than one favorite color! Jared is not cheating this time.” A motherly voice echoes out.
“Josh, Josh? Stop ignoring me already. What’s yours?”
He hears another voice, this one mature, deep and warm. After a moment of silence. The manly voice asked again
“Hello? Josh? Are you there?”
After feeling like something wasn't right, Josh asked out
“What? What are you talking about? Are you talking to me?”
“Would you get off that stupid handheld already and join the rest of the family for once? We are talking about our favorite colors. What is yours?”
Before Josh could think about it, he answers the voice with the color he has been seeing the most in his life
“Red. My favorite color is red.”
Instead of having a deep voice like he’s used to, his voice came out high pitch. A voice that makes it hard to know if it belongs to a girl or boy.
Right after speaking this out, his vision suddenly brightens up. After a few moments to get used to the bright lights. He sees a gaming system in his small hands.
*What is going on? This is my Gamegirl gaming system? I haven’t seen this in years*
He then slowly looks up from the tower defense game that he was apparently playing.
“Red eh? That's our hair color….Interesting”
A young man's profile comes into his view. Shock spreading across his face
*That’s dad! I recognized that red hair and I don’t know anyone else who has a scar over their right eye.*
Josh then continues to look around, attempting to use his breathing technique he has mastered over the years to calm his nerves. He quickly brings his hand to his back pocket for his candle, but nothing there. As his breathing intensives, the strong smell of food and manure overwhelms his sense of smell.
*Not the best smell in the world, but it works. Okay, calm down, calm down…..Phew, okay. What's going on?*
After staring at his fathers smiling face, he looks around. Food and gaming stalls, apple trees everywhere, a red barn in the background. A water tower in the distance. A sign that has -Corn Maze- written on it. Cars and a shit ton of people laughing and enjoying themselves.
*Why am I getting a huge sense of deja vu?*
Josh closes his eyes and blocks out all the background noise. He reviews everything that has happened today
*I woke up, got intel about my mission. Suit up, went to the headquarters. After receiving the mission we waited till night by rehearsing everything. Then it was go time. I invaded the building, got to the basement. Found the children. Killed my only brother….FUCK! I wish I knew what happened to him. I then got shot by him….. I helped the children to the main floor. Gave them my earpiece and slowly bleed out in that horrible prono shoot. In the last moments of my death, I listen in on that talk show about death. Am I finally having the flash they were talking about?*
With his chaotic thoughts slowly getting under control. He slow open his eyes
*If this is, then that means I'm going down memory lane right?*
Instead of seeing his gaming system, a young girls face was there instead
“Boshie….is that okay with you? Hello?”
*Boshie….when was the last time Ellena called me that? If I think back on it, she stopped calling me when she turned 8. So that means right now she's around 6? Think. Josh think. I would be around 10 years old at the time.*
Instead of replying to her, he glances around and attempts to piece his hazy memories together. Looking for a sign or anything that could tell him where he was. After having not luck, he looks back at his little sister.
“Yeah, I guess that’s fine. But first, can you remind me where we are again?”
Instead of hearing Ellena’s voice, he hears his mothers voice behind her
“Really dude? Did you really not pay any attention in the car ride here? We are at Howards apple orchard”
Right after he heard that name, a shuddering noise echoed out in his mind. The puzzle pieces coming together
*Oh shit. Howards apple orchard? I actually remember a little bit of this. How could I have forgotten this day? After all, today was the day Ellena got lost in the stupid corn maze! Mom freaked out, called the cops and got a search party formed to find her. Thanks to Jared having some weird twin sense ability, he found her and became a hero or something.*
“Right, Sorry mom. I guess I got really into this game. Sorry”
A little shocked, his mother replied back
“Yeah….no problem hun….”
With confusion written on her face as she looks at Josh. Her motherly instinct telling her something was slightly off with her son today, she looks at her daughter
“You heard the good news little princess? Josh is willing to go with you to the corn maze! But make sure you watch out for him okay?”
“Why are you asking her to take care of me? I’m the older bro–……UGH”
Pain suddenly flashes in his mind. A pain like something just stabbed a knife in his eyes, twisting and pushing it deeper in his eye socket. As he closes his eyes to combat the pain. Words appear in front of him
[Make your choice, you selfish prick.]
[Go to the maze with your little sister]
[Or]
[Tell her to rightfully fuck off]
*What in the flying fuck is this?*