Mindless Ramblings - Justin Six (best short novels .TXT) 📗

turned red when he began to speed up. A large black truck grazes the car and honks its horn; the cop drives straight into the truck. Before the results are clear, Mark is long gone.

           

“Stop here,” Mark commands.

           

“Do you think-

           

“You will be fine, there were no cameras and witnesses don’t tend to remember license plates,” Mark interrupts and proceeds to exit the car. “Enjoy the money.”

           

He is now at a worn down building covered in graffiti that seems all but occupied. In his fancy suit he does everything but fit in, not that there is anyone around to notice him.

           

“I’m here,” Mark says into his headpiece.

           

“Over here!” Taylor calls out. She is standing under the shadow of the building.

           

She’s looking good today, her skirt seems shorter than usual and she finally took out the hair dye, allowing for her naturally blonde hair to show.

           

“Where’s our boss?” Mark asks.

           

“He’s waiting downstairs, just in case you were to bring any friends along,” Taylor replies.

           

“As you can see, I didn’t,” Mark says. “Let’s go.”

           

Taylor leads the way into the graffiti covered, two story building. They stop at a door that doesn’t seem to belong. The door is unscratched, modern, and surrounded by molding walls. Three knocks on it gets a response from the inside.

           

“Who’s there?”

           

One rapid knock and Jim opens the door, past Jim stairs are visible.

           

“Welcome back, I hope all went well,” he says.

           

“Thank you, we can talk about it downstairs with some beers,” Mark explains.

           

All three of them walk down the stairs. Taylor and Mark sit down at a large table in the center of the room, while Jim goes to get them refreshments.

           

“So how have you been? We haven’t seen each other in a while,” Mark asks Taylor. “You look nice.”

           

“I’m good, thanks. How are you?” Taylor replies.

           

“Okay, considering I just killed a man,” Mark says. He fidgets in his chair.

           

“Did the training help at all?” Taylor asks.

           

“Of course it did,” Jim says.

           

Taylor and Mark turn to see the tall brown haired, well-built man that is Jim. He’s standing behind them. He has three beers carefully held in one hand, a strange briefcase in the other. Mark gets up to help, but Jim passes out the drinks before he has a chance to do more than stand up. An hour later after talking about how Mark’s mission had gone and many beers, they moved to a new topic.

           

“So, what’s in the briefcase?” Mark asks.

           

Jim opens the briefcase, and takes out a folder full of papers, along with a small vial of something ominous. Mark grabs the folder and starts to read the papers inside:

           

Congratulations on your first confirmed kill. Now, on to the hard stuff, the important work. Inside this case you will find enough poison to kill a large group of people, it may seem like a small amount, but I assure you it is quite deadly. We do not take pleasure in ordering this; nonetheless it is necessary for our cause. Our enemy is winning; they have begun to get inside the heads of our race. They are convincing humans that they are worthless, preparing everyone’s minds for the idea of a new species taking control of the planet. Drastic measures must be taken.

           

So we must order you to poison the keg of wine at an unusual party, which will be full of many innocent civilians, in addition to three aliens. Not aliens in the traditional sense of big eyes and grey skin, but the type that our cause aims to rid the Earth of. These are the ferocious man-eating kind that we have seen face to face, if only on a few rare occasions. It is dire that you understand that you are saving lives by killing. Please do not hesitate; you will end up dead or in jail.  

 

Note: As will always be the case, you will get a handsome bonus to your monthly pay for every kill that helps the cause.

           

Last, there were character profiles on all the people that were thought to be attending the party, including the three aliens that were in human form.

           

“When’s the party? How can they expect me to kill so many so soon after my first kill?” Mark asks.

           

“We’ve lost everyone experienced enough to do the job,” Jim explains.

           

“They wouldn’t ask if they didn’t have to,” Taylor says and grasps Mark’s arm gently. 

           

“The party’s tomorrow evening, so I would suggest already beginning preparations,” Jim remarks.

           

“This time you won’t be alone, I will be with for backup and for cover, we will go as a couple,” Taylor explains.

           

“Okay, fine I’ll do it,” Mark says.

           

But not happily.

           

Everyone says their goodbyes, heads to their respective home, prepares for the next day, and goes to bed. Mark falls asleep last, unable to stop thinking of the blood that flowed out of the man he had shot, or the family that would miss him.

           

How can we justify killing someone just for gaining a following after preaching what they believe? Mark begins his restless sleep. 

Killing’s The Only Solution - Ch. 2

Rays of sunshine bleed through Mark’s blinds and into his face. The memories of the earlier day start to creep their way to the surface and Mark becomes less motivated to get out of bed. Eventually, his will to start the day early overcomes his tired body. He eats breakfast, showers, puts his clothing on for the rest of the day, uses the restroom, and checks the time. It’s only 12:00 pm. This gives me plenty of time to prepare a plan for tonight. The phone in Mark’s apartment begins to ring. Knowing that it can be only one of two people, he quickly goes to his living room to pick it up.

 

“Hello?” he asks.

 

“It’s Jim. I was just wondering if you got my email with all the details,” Jim says.   

 

“Not sure, I haven’t turned my laptop on yet,” Mark answers.

 

“Well check,” Jim says.

 

It takes a few minutes for him to run back to his room, turn his laptop on, find the email, and get back to the phone.  

 

“Yup, the schematic, needed supplies, and suggested plans are all there.” Mark confirms.

 

“Have you forgotten the basics? We never know if they are listening, it’s vital we aren’t so obvious about our intentions. Those of us that get caught by them disappear,” Jim explains.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night. I’ll make sure to get the job done right tonight and I won’t forget our simple code phrases again,” Mark says.

 

“You better. This time it’s not just your life that’s at stake. One last thing, Taylor wanted you to get to her place as soon as possible,” Jim remarks and hangs up the phone.

 

Mark gets confirmation that he really is meant to go over to her place, gathers his stuff together, and calls a cab.

 

 Because Taylor’s place is in a much nicer part of New York and closer to where their mission is, it only makes sense for them to meet up there. This doesn’t change the amount of traffic separating Mark and her, which results in Mark arriving at her door much later. 

 

“Are you planning on staying the night, or why did you bring so much?” Taylor asks referring to the large backpack Mark has brought with him.

 

Mark shrugs and says. “Sleeping here would be convenient, assuming all goes as planned. For now though, let’s focus on ironing out a plan. I brought everything we could possibly need to do so.”

 

Without another word he brushes past Taylor into her home. The front door leads into a spotless living room. My home is a pigsty compared to this. Mark takes a seat down on her leather couch and finds himself surrounded by bookshelves, furniture, and Taylor. She is moving towards him with her blue eyes fixed on his.

 

“I was going to invite you in,” Taylor says, then takes a seat next to him.

 

“Well we have a lot to do and we don’t have all the time in the world,” Mark says and breaks the stare.

 

“There is a lot to do,” Taylor agrees and closes the gap between them.

 

Her hand gently guides Mark’s lips towards her own.

 

“What are you doing?” he asks.

 

She responds with a passionate kiss.

           

It’s harmless. But it’s unprofessional. But-

           

“We can’t do this,” Mark says.

           

“Just think of it as getting into our roles, we have to pretend to be a couple at the party anyways. Don’t pretend like you don’t want this,” Taylor replies.

           

“I do, but we can always try this after tonight. Please, let’s just focus on not dying or messing this job up,” Mark pleads.

           

She gives in and they get back to the more pressing matters of mass murder. Neither feels good about having to do what they have been tasked with, however, both have good reasons for being part of the strange organization. They’d both lost family to the aliens and then been recruited not too long afterwards. Two years had passed for the both of them, a lot had happened, they experienced a lot of it together.

           

“What if we just don’t do it, couldn’t we just shoot the aliens?” Taylor asks.

           

Uncertain of what to say Mark just doesn’t reply.

           

“I know that Jim said they can’t be harmed from the outside, but he can’t possibly know for sure,” Taylor says.

           

“It’s too big of a risk and I think I know exactly how we are going to do this, so just trust me. We are going to poison the wine and it’s going to work out fine,” Mark insists.

Killing's The Only Solution - Ch. 3

They intentionally arrive at the party an hour after the invite stated it started, so that they’d be just two more people out of the many that had come. Blending in was key. Walking in they stayed close, beginning their cover as a couple immediately, which would allow for them to remain with each other throughout the evening. The basement, where the party was being held, looked like something out of an acid trip. Walls were painted an assortment of colors, decorations and furniture left no bright color out.

           

“You ready?” Taylor whispers into Mark’s ear.

           

Mark nods in reply and leads her into the masses of dancing people in the center of the large basement. Their stances change so that they are facing towards each other, eyes staring, hands grasping, and bodies moving. Dancing, talking, and the occasional drink take up the time before they feel it isn’t too risky to try Mark’s plan.

           

“Let’s do this,” Mark whispers into Taylor’s ear.

           

She