It started with a bowl of ice cream.
Sure, that sounds like something innocent, something that one wouldn't expect to lead to the end of the world, but hey, the littlest things could sometimes be the most dangerous.
Speaking of dangerous little things and ice cream, that was how I'd ended up in this situation.
She was short, cute, and very lethal. I'd only known the first two when I had walked up to her, on that fateful day.
This is that story. The story of how the world would end. Or would it?
I don't know yet. I guess we'll find out.
I woke up, like most people tend to, and quickly threw back my covers, slowly and drowsily stumbling out of the soft, welcoming bed that I just wanted to get right back into.
I couldn't, as much as I wanted too, because I had things to do. Namely, breakfast.
Slices of bread slipped into the toaster, the weak fire Dust crystals slowly cooking it. I turned to the fridge and quickly grabbed out a bottle of milk, pouring myself a cup.
The toaster popped, and I grabbed the toast out, plopping the two slices onto my plate. A quick twenty seconds later, and I'd fixed myself a simple breakfast.
This was going to be my last breakfast in this tiny little apartment, and I was honestly fine with that.
It had been awhile since anyone else had been inside this place, anyway. It wasn't as if I'd miss it.
It was cramped, had only a single window, and was almost always dark.
I didn't mind the darkness, but more than one window would have been preferable, and there is only so long you can stay in a three room apartment before it drives you insane.
I swallowed the last bite of toast, and downed the rest of the milk, before quickly dumping the leftover dishes into the sink.
I could do them now, or…
I walked away from the kitchen, into the even more cramped bathroom. I was greeted by the familiar sight of the tiny sink, the toilet, and the miniscule shower that I had been stuck with for the past year and a half.
I could've been worse, I'd always reasoned. You could not have a shower at all! Just live with the cold water, and always remember it could be worse!
That was a year ago.
Now, I hated that thing with a passion. The landlord didn't care, and I couldn't exactly afford legal representation, for multiple reasons.
Water on, clothes off, quick rinse, lather, rinse again, water off, rapid towelling, new clothes on.
Easy.
The front door clicked behind me as I locked it, and I walked down the hallway, sticking to the other wall, away from my next door neighbour.
It didn't work, and he grabbed me by the arm. I let out an inaudible sigh.
"You can't be leaving now! They're watching! They're out there, in their black vans, with their monitoring equipment. If you go now, they'll take you to their research labs, and take you apart piece by piece!" He ranted, pacing back and forth in front of his door, his skeletal hand still holding tight to my arm.
"Almond, I don't have time for this today. I'll take my chances." I replied, and he frowned at me.
"You'll be stolen!" He cried out, frown straining to escape his face.
"Almond, I'll be fine. Please, let me go." I said, glancing at where his surprisingly firm grip held onto my arm.
"Right, right. Be careful, and stay away from the suits!" Almond said, releasing his grasp.
I nodded back, used to this kind of insanity, walking down the hallway.
"And watch out for the man that follows the dessert!" Almond shouted down the hallway, as I made my way to the stairs.
'Sometimes, that man is more than just insane.' I thought to myself, taking the steps two at a time.
I wasn't going to be late, but I wasn't going to be early, either, and that didn't make for a good impression.
"Hey!" I called out, putting a hand out.
I was honestly lucky to have caught the one day the bus driver was actually paying attention, as he noticed me, quickly opening the door.
"Thanks. Two fifty lien, right?" I said, quickly forking over the money for a ticket.
The driver didn't respond verbally, just giving me a nod and taking the money. Standard public transport stuff, really.
I took a seat in the middle, near the door, and pulled out my scroll, checking the time.
Quarter to eight, good. I still had a few minutes before I was late.
The bus trip passed without incident, and I quickly pressed the button to stop, standing up in my seat.
The bus pulled over, and I hopped out, throwing my coat over my shoulder.
A minute of walking down the pavement, and I reached the establishment where I would be working from today onwards, hopefully.
I walked up to the door, and reached it at the same time as the person who interviewed me did.
"Ah, hello. You were that applicant I interviewed, aren't you." The man greeted.
"Yep, that was me. Thanks for accepting me, Mr Grey." I replied, shaking his proffered hand.
"What was your name again?" Mr Grey asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Ah, right. My name's Caramel. I know, odd name for a guy, I get that a lot." I replied, chuckling.
"If I recall, you said as much in the interview." Mr Grey said, before entering his code on the door. It ker-chunked, unlocking, and he walked in, gesturing for me to follow him.
I did so with haste, closing the door behind me.
"Well, Caramel, I'll be showing you the ropes today. I'm glad you got here a little early, actually. A few of the others will be turning up any moment now, and I'll introduce you when they get here. Should be us two, and two others." Mr Grey said, as he walked through the foyer of the building.
"First things first. Welcome to the SDC's Vale Branch! Company policy mandates me to inform you that we only employ the best, the brightest, and yadda-yadda. If HR asks, pretend I said the rest of the speech, huh?" He said, with a trace of humour.
I laughed. "Got it, boss."
"You're the junior security guard, so you're gonna be on probation for the first month. No three strikes thing, you screw up, you're outta here, got it?" He said, humour dying.
I made a show of stiffening up, nodding. "Got it."
"Good. Lunch is at twelve, we get twenty minutes each in shifts. You get the last shift, 'cause you're new." He said, before leading me around the place, showing me everything, including the things I'd need to keep priority on monitoring.
"That's it, not the biggest place. Ah, there you two are." Mr Grey said, noticing the two new arrivals.
"Morning, boss. This the new kid?" The first one, a gruff man, said, looking me up and down. "Doesn't look much older than my daughter, does he?"
"Looks like a little fucker who doesn't know which end of a gun to point at the bad guy, that's what he looks like." The other one said, surly voice making me quirk an eyebrow at him.
That, as it turned out, was a bad idea.
"What's that, kid? You think you're better than me!?" He said, getting up close.
"Easy, Anthra'." Grey warned, stepping close to the two of us.
"Pfft." He said, stepping back, walking off to the end of the foyer.
"Sorry about that, Caramel. This is Carbon Darcy, and that was his brother, Anthracite." Grey said, nodding to the first man, Carbon.
"I'm sorry about Anthra', kid. He's a little high-strung, that's all. I'm not wrong though, am I?" Carbon apologized, asking.
"Yeah, I'm young. I can still handle myself, though." I replied.
"If you're anything like my daughter, than I'm not surprised." Carbon said with a chuckle. He turned to Grey. "I'll take my spot. Second lunch shift, like usual?"
"I'll take third." Grey said, nodding to Carbon.
"Alright, Caramel. You're on patrols. Workers get here in a few, so get ready." Grey said, before walking into his office.
I nodded, and once he was out of earshot, I sighed.
It was going to be a long day.
"Hey, Caramel. Your shift." Grey's voice penetrated the fugue that plagued my mind.
It had only been a few hours, but I could easily say I knew the entire building off by heart, at this point.
"Thanks, boss." I said, shaking myself out of my reverie.
"Hey, Caramel, you got a sweet tooth?" Grey asked.
"I kind of have to, given the name." I said, chuckling.
"Well, there's a great ice creamery across the street. I'd suggest you hit it up, take your twenty to relax". Grey suggested.
"Honestly, that sounds perfect. Thanks for the heads up." I replied, walking through the foyer. Grey split off, headed back to his office.
I walked out through the foyer door and crossed the street, intent on finding something delicious on the menu.
I hadn't been joking about having a sweet tooth.
The door chimed as I stepped through, and the interior of the ice creamery was pleasant.
It was a quaint little place, with wide open windows and a few patrons lingering around. Most were making the best of their lunch break and engaging in various ice cream related delicacies, but a few looked as if they were enjoying a good day off.
It was my first day on the job and I was already envious of those on holiday. Things were looking up was not a phrase I could apply to my situation.
I took a menu from one of the tables, taking a seat.
At least this place was going to get some significant business from me, considering what I'd be doing all day every day for the foreseeable future.
This place was pretty damn impressive, too, even more so when a polite cough caught my attention. The waitress that stood there waited patiently for me to place an order.
"Oh, um, hey. Can I have a… strawberry milkshake and some vanilla waffles?" I ordered, and the waitress gave a nod.
"Sure thing, coming right up!" She said cheerfully, walking towards the kitchen.
This left me with a moment of peace, and I chose to people watch, looking around.
There were a few businessmen sparsely populating the various cubicles, all talking on phones quietly and working away.
There was a young couple, feeding each other spoonfuls of waffles.
The one person that caught my eye was the short girl near the front of the store, looking out the window.
She sat, staring out through the glass, before her attention was drawn away by the waitress placing down a bowl in front of her.
From what I could tell, it was strawberry, chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The girl gave a nod to the waitress, and quickly dug in, spoon scooping heaps of the combo ice cream into her mouth.
From where I was, I could tell she was savouring each spoonful, but her gaze never left the window.
My attention was taken away as a cluster of suited businessmen walked in, all talking on their phones. They sat near the front door.
I was about to think nothing of it when the strangest thing happened.
Every single businessman in the ice creamery stood up at the same time.
That was the odd part, but I soon found out why, as they reached into their suits, drawing out various handguns.
That made me raise my proverbial hackles. But the guns weren't pointed at me.
Finally, the small girl's attention was drawn away from the window, as she stared around the room.
One of the men stepped to the side and the couple quickly ran outside, pointedly not looking at any of the men.
The girl stood up, and that was the moment I decided to do the same.
There were six men in total, three at the back, covering the rear exit, and three at the front, covering the front door.
The girl went to reach for her umbrella, when she collapsed, a dart in the back of her neck.
The shooter of the dart, a previously hidden businessman, stepped out of the kitchen.
All six guns turned to me, and the seventh man approached me.
"Forget what you saw, and you live. Simple, kid." The man said, his red glasses glinting in the most cliched, quote-unquote evil way I'd ever witnessed.
I was ten minutes into my break.
I had time.
Hey all, AFatFlyingWhale here!
For those of you who have read GoaNL, welcome back! For those who haven't, check it out, it'll reveal kind of how I write, so you can see if you'll like this!
I'm trying something new, no this isn't replacing GoaNL, I'm pushing that back to a fortnightly update schedule, cause I'm busy, enjoy this in the meantime, have a nice day/night, and yeah.
Hope you enjoyed, and, as always, see you next chapter
~AFatFlyingWhale