4.
Ten minutes later I was starting to feel stupid for hiding. The whole place was still dead, surprise surprise, and I wasn't even sure who I was hiding from. Did London have gangs? It was a colossal city so I supposed it must, but that didn't really explain anything. I knew in the heat of the moment that hiding was the best bet, but when no one had showed up… well, I was starting to wish I'd just run. Of course, with my luck I would have run smack dab into whoever was shooting as they tried to make their get away.
Just as I decided it was probably time to leave, I heard voices in the alley.
"… believe how much Johnson fucked this up. He knew we didn't have control of this op."
"What'd you expect?" the speaker snorted. "He's always been a psycho. Still, clean up team is on the way, and least we finally put Demming in the ground."
I held my breath and tensed against the rusted steel of the dumpster. These are not good instincts, mind you, since you'll inhale loudly when you finally breathe, but when you're freaking out about people calmly discussing killing someone… well, rational thoughts weren't exactly at the front of my brain. From what I could hear there were two of them, both men, both with American accents.
"I didn't see a body."
"You know, you're a paranoid bastard Trev. You saw the blood; even if Demming walked out of here, he'll be dead before anyone finds him. But I'm sure the cleaners will watch the hospitals just to be safe." I could almost hear his eyes rolling.
"Do you blame me?" 'Trev' replied, "this was such a cluster fuck. Any sign of the anomaly?"
"Long gone, I'd guess."
"Shit," Trev snarled. Something clanged loudly. I wondered if he'd kicked one of the other dumpsters. "So we have nothing to show for this besides dead agents."
"Well, maybe next time when we tell them something is sensitive they'll believe us."
"Yeah, that'll be the…"
I waited for what felt like an eternity after their voices disappeared around the corner, though it was probably more like five minutes while I tried to get my panic under control. Breathing hurt, coming in small pained gasps that were only a few shades away from hyper ventilating. I'm not prone to panic attacks, but given the situation I think I can be forgiven. But also, given the situation, I couldn't really afford to have one.
I was really starting to wish I'd just toughed it out and continued with my GRE program after the break up. Sure it probably would have sent me on a tail spin of academics and isolation until I was hiding in the middle of the desert somewhere doing oblique research, but, that had be better than waking up in the middle of a street next to a gun fight, right?
It says something about the weakness of the human heart that the answer to that question was a firm 'maybe.' On the plus side, I guess there was the fact that I was not dead. It's a low bar, I know, but some days you take what you can get.
Eventually I was calm enough to stand up. The question was, what the hell did I do now? Follow the two guys? They'd said something about an "op" so maybe they were law enforcement? I could wait longer but they'd said a clean up team was coming, and something told me I didn't want to be around for that.
I…
[ ] Went the opposite direction from the two men. Yeah, it's where they came from and the body, but at least I won't run into them?
[ ] Went the way the two guys went. They seemed to know the way out.
[ ] Chased after them. They're probably law enforcement; maybe they can help.
[ ] Try to get into one of the buildings; maybe there's a way out that way?
Just as I decided it was probably time to leave, I heard voices in the alley.
"… believe how much Johnson fucked this up. He knew we didn't have control of this op."
"What'd you expect?" the speaker snorted. "He's always been a psycho. Still, clean up team is on the way, and least we finally put Demming in the ground."
I held my breath and tensed against the rusted steel of the dumpster. These are not good instincts, mind you, since you'll inhale loudly when you finally breathe, but when you're freaking out about people calmly discussing killing someone… well, rational thoughts weren't exactly at the front of my brain. From what I could hear there were two of them, both men, both with American accents.
"I didn't see a body."
"You know, you're a paranoid bastard Trev. You saw the blood; even if Demming walked out of here, he'll be dead before anyone finds him. But I'm sure the cleaners will watch the hospitals just to be safe." I could almost hear his eyes rolling.
"Do you blame me?" 'Trev' replied, "this was such a cluster fuck. Any sign of the anomaly?"
"Long gone, I'd guess."
"Shit," Trev snarled. Something clanged loudly. I wondered if he'd kicked one of the other dumpsters. "So we have nothing to show for this besides dead agents."
"Well, maybe next time when we tell them something is sensitive they'll believe us."
"Yeah, that'll be the…"
I waited for what felt like an eternity after their voices disappeared around the corner, though it was probably more like five minutes while I tried to get my panic under control. Breathing hurt, coming in small pained gasps that were only a few shades away from hyper ventilating. I'm not prone to panic attacks, but given the situation I think I can be forgiven. But also, given the situation, I couldn't really afford to have one.
I was really starting to wish I'd just toughed it out and continued with my GRE program after the break up. Sure it probably would have sent me on a tail spin of academics and isolation until I was hiding in the middle of the desert somewhere doing oblique research, but, that had be better than waking up in the middle of a street next to a gun fight, right?
It says something about the weakness of the human heart that the answer to that question was a firm 'maybe.' On the plus side, I guess there was the fact that I was not dead. It's a low bar, I know, but some days you take what you can get.
Eventually I was calm enough to stand up. The question was, what the hell did I do now? Follow the two guys? They'd said something about an "op" so maybe they were law enforcement? I could wait longer but they'd said a clean up team was coming, and something told me I didn't want to be around for that.
I…
[ ] Went the opposite direction from the two men. Yeah, it's where they came from and the body, but at least I won't run into them?
[ ] Went the way the two guys went. They seemed to know the way out.
[ ] Chased after them. They're probably law enforcement; maybe they can help.
[ ] Try to get into one of the buildings; maybe there's a way out that way?
