Monday, October 29, 2018

Phoenix Rising


                                    
Cold and dark, the ants had found me in the tree where I was hiding. My life depended on my stillness; it was hard not to react to the bites as they attempted to crawl up my pants legs. The compound was oddly quiet for such an important site. If anyone other than Brian had sent me on this mission, I might have been a little suspicious. I usually didn’t retrieve things like this. Though, I was Jill of all trades; they pointed me in a direction and let me do my thing unimpeded. I retrieved and or extracted information, or made certain someone else did not. Being hot with a nice rack gave me advantages that my male counter parts did not have, but it also forced me into situations that were beneath me. I can’t count how many targets I had to drug and then tell a target they were great in the sack the next day. Brian had changed all that. I was getting tired of it all. Brian was hot and he made me laugh and I had been alone for a very long time. Part of me wanted roots and to wake up in the same bed in the same city every day. To feel like somebody to cared if I lived or died. Brian could get me out of this business and into a different life.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled. For months I had felt like I was being followed, the shadow always just out of reach. I turned and looked behind me into the blackness of the night. Who or whatever it was had made no move against me. Was it a bounty hunter watching my moves to learn my weaknesses? Not that I had any weakness, other than unusual love of bacon. When I’m done here I’m going hunting for my shadow.
I checked the time and scanned the area once more…showtime. I felt the familiar buzz of adrenaline race through me like a wild fire.  Two guards out, four guards in, from the intel we had discovered. I launched myself from the tree and hoped for a good landing inside the perimeter. If I hit the electrified top of the fence, my landing would be the least of my worries.  No cameras, no motion detectors. A cold wave of fear washed over me; that was unusual and tended not to end well when I didn’t listen. Fear didn’t seem to be a part of my D.N.A.
The two exterior guards went down quickly and quietly and the code opened the door. Why was I so scared? That primal part of my brain where fear lived sparked alive, electric. I slipped inside quietly, the building was dark with just the soft glow of the emergency lighting to show me the way. Odd that there was still no sign of life. Against everything I know and was taught I decided to plow ahead instead of clearing each room, each possible point of ambush. Something was telling e to move my ass and I was all for listening.
I slipped in a puddle of blood right before I hit my destination. I pushed open the bathroom door and found four bodies who from my estimationhad been killed by various methods. What in God’s name was going on? I blew through the door to my destinatin like a hurricane, not stopping,  gun up and ready. I again was disturbingly met with no resistance. I ran to the desk and searched for the info. I bumped the mouse and the computer screen activated. There was a picture of me in flames with the words RIP Phoenix. Fuck this, time to go. I ran and wished I had my running shoes on instead of boots. I was running and just as I got to the door, I was flying and then…

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