The start of something....

He stood there, stock still, hard and grey like granite. Smoke still lingered in the air, and continued to ooze from the still warm barrels of the shotgun; it's acrid smell now combining with the rancid smell of death. He waited, waited for the relief to sweep over him like he been assured it would; but nothing came. No relief, no vindication, only a slight twinge of regret; for those people who were not really evil, only naive and convinced with a corrupted ideal. It wasn't really there fault, and yet by there very capitulation they endorsed the actions of those they served. They laughed, as did he.

The sirens grew louder outside, flooding through the shattered window, saturating the room. He sensed their presence, their training but above else their conditioning. A skill only a few possessed, this innate skill being the primary reason why the outfit had recruited him. To them age was immaterial, only the effectiveness of the agent mattered, and judging by the scene of bloody carnage before him, his own effectiveness would now be beyond question.

He quickly removed the blockade he had placed before the door, callously throwing it to one side. Then, keeping low and hunched over he dashed toward the rear of the house. He burst into the kitchen, catching his foot on a chair, which swung him slightly off balance sending him crashing through the rear door, shattering its central glass panel and lacerating his lower arm in the process. He cursed loudly, gripped the damaged area hard, pinching the two flaps of bleeding flesh together and proceeded to vault the low wall at the rear of the garden. He looked around franticly. His eyes assimilating his surroundings with the sort of precision only years of training can bring, looking for targets, assessing points of escape.

The bike was waiting, just as he had been told. The silent rider handed him a helmet which he quickly slipped over his head, swinging a leg over the powerful machine he tapped the rider on the shoulder signaling him to move out. Which he did immediately, accelerating rapidly, disappearing into the vast city….