"GM worker, two o'clock."
"I see him. Locked on."
"Area's clear. Whenever you're ready."
"Target down. Pass me a cig, will ya?"
"Not now. We've gotta move."
Sonny the Cuckoo Bird rolled his eyes and rose from where he was crouched as the Trix Rabbit moved from their hiding spot to the body of the guard. Sonny slung the recently fired rifle back over his shoulder and followed Trix. The two lifted the body and carried it to a nearby supply closet, broke the lock on it, and stuffed the man inside.
"Daniel T. Phillips" Sonny said, reading the man's name tag. "Might've just been a custodian. Ring on his finger, married. Maybe has a kid or two."
Trix quickly closed the closet door shut, frustrated. "Dammit Sonny, don't do that. Quit feelin' sorry. Remember who he works for? General Mills. The bane of our very existences. You wonderin' if he has a kid? Christ Sonny, remember your kid?"
"Yeah", Sonny let out a small, despondent sigh. "Can I get that cig now?"
"Jesus, the entirety of General Mills could be on our ass any second now and you wanna stop for a smoke."
"Just give me the damn pack, Trix!"
Trix glared at Sonny for a second before reaching into his combat vest and tossing Sonny a small pack of cigs. He knew Sonny had a lighter.
"You can light up while we move. We aren't exactly made of time right now. We're almost to the vault, but we can't let up."
"Yeah, yeah I got it." Sonny had already quickly lit up and taken a hit as Trix grabbed his arm and pulled him onward.
Trix knew where he was going. He'd been studying the plans to the General Mills facility for years. Knew it like the back of his hand. His left one at least. Lost the right fighting in Iraq in '05. That's why Sonny had all the bigger guns even though Trix was the better shot. It was a dark time for Trix. A dark time for Sonny too. They didn't know what they were doing, they didn't have much left. General Mills had been restricting them access to their holy grail of food for years. The pent up frustration made Trix nearly lose his mind. Almost killed a kid once. Had to serve some time for that. He thought he could find an outlet in the Army, a distraction too. But not even losing a hand could keep quell his cravings. And Trix wasn't weak by any means. It's just that the addiction was so strong by then. Him and Sonny, they were hooked. And Trix eventually realized that it was pointless to try to fight it. But even more pointless to play their little games. So this time he was taking matters into his own hands.
"Hey! You're not allowed to be back here!"
Sonny stopped in his tracks and raised his rifle to take out the guard just ahead in the corridor, but Trix raised his hand and paced toward the man. No need to waste ammunition that they might need later. Besides, Trix could take out this guy on his own.
The man fumbled for the walkie talkie in his belt to alert the rest of HQ, but Trix was at him before he could fully remove it. A hard kick to the chest sent the man to the ground, dropping the walkie talkie in front of him. Trix, eyes hard and unflinching, didn't break eye contact with the man as he coolly crushed the device beneath his boot before continuing his approach. The man's next move was to reach for his gun. Trix almost chuckled. 'Probably should have reached for that first. Not that it'd make a difference'. As the man moved his arm to aim the gun, Trix was before him and a dagger was plunged into his wrist. The man's hold on the gun was relinquished and Trix pinned his wrist to the ground with the dagger. Trix's stare remained unwavering as he moved to straddle the man.
"Please, please don't do this!" the man begged as he writhed on the ground in pain, immobile under Trix's wait and with his arm pinned to the floor. "I've got a wife and kids who need me! Please! I'm begging you. Don't do this! They-" The man was cut off as Trix grabbed him by the sides of the head and twisted hard, snapping his neck.
Trix dropped the limp head back to the ground and reclaimed his dagger from the dead body before getting up and looking back at Sonny. Sonny looked mildly aghast, but knowing he was under Trix's gaze he pulled himself together.
"I know," Sonny said, "He's a General Mills worker. He deserved what he got. Let's-...Let's just keep going, okay?" Sonny moved forward, stepped around the recently killed guard, and continued down the corridor. Trix looked back down at the limp body below him, smirked to himself, and followed behind Sonny.
Sonny knew better than to spend too much time worrying about those that they dispatched. But it wasn't easy, even with the objective in mind. He'd spent so long completely blind to the feelings of others that he always overcompensated in the present to make up for it. He'd been a bird obsessed. Not that he wasn't still obsessed now, but back then the obsession for the cereal he craved seemed to shut out everything else. His family pushed him into rehab, but he'd been thrown out when he brought down and entire wing of the building during a particularly bad relapse. He'd made some progress, but after getting tossed out of rehab he'd had another relapse and it was the worst one yet. But everyone knew how badly he reacted to Cocoa Puffs, how bad the highs were for him and the people around him, so he couldn't get any. So he went cuckoo. But there was no cereal to go cuckoo for, so his rabid energy had no focus. And unfortunately it was his only son that paid the price for it. Sonny was never the same since. That night was almost a blessing. It grounded him. It broke the uncontrollable obsession and made him recognize the world around him, saw that other people had feelings, and that his actions had impact. But the obsession began creeping back. It always did. And no matter what he did, he couldn't fend it off. Sonny tried to find distractions, things that could take over his mind, make him forget about the cereal, if even for a few moments. Eventually he stumbled into smoking. It didn't clear his head, but it at least quelled some of the lust, the burning immediate need. But times were getting tough and smoking was an expensive habit to keep. He needed his cereal. And it was General Mills that was keeping the cereal away, General Mills that was holding him in his agony. So he teamed up with Trix. Maybe, just maybe, if he could get what he wanted, what he'd been deprived of since all those years ago, if he could just go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs one more time...
Sonny wasn't really sure what he expected to come from this, what would come after. But he had nothing else. Worth a shot he'd thought back then. But now that they were getting closer, the need was beginning to take over everything again.
"Sonny, wait! That's the wrong way!" he heard Trix call from behind him. Too late. He passes a hallway where five men guards stood together.
"He's here! The bird! We've got a visual!" One man quickly shouted into the walkie talkie attached to his vest. The men all moved to drew their weapons but Sonny's weapon was still in his hands from the earlier encounter. There was no hesitation. The five men were dead on the floor in seconds.
"Shit." Trix rounded the corner and observed the scene in front of him. "Good goin' man!" he said clapping, Sonny on the back. Trix pulled Sonny back down the corridor before turning down a different passageway. They were close. Sonny could smell it. His mind was exploding. It'd been so long and they were so close.
Munchy.
"We're almost there, Sonny! I can see the door to the vault!"
Crunchy.
"Okay, now we just gotta pick the lock."
Chocolatey.
"COCOA PUFFS!" Sonny roared, echoes of his scream ripping through the hallways of GM headquarters. Trix hopped out of the way as Sonny lunged at the door, creating a bird shaped hole as he broke right through and into the vault. "That works too," Trix quipped as he stepped inside.
Upon entering the vault Trix immediately felt euphoria overtake him. It'd been so long since he'd even had a whiff. Trix's eyes glazed over as he stared ahead.
"C'mon! They're at the vault! Let's get 'em!"
Sonny was off-the-walls happy, having already reached his bowl. "I'M CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!"
"There they are! Lock and load, boys!"
Trix reached his bowl and reached for the spoon in to the bowl in front of him. He nearly collapsed as he lifted the spoon and its contents and brought it to his mouth. "COCOA PUFFS!" echoed around him.
"Aim!"
The euphoria was so overwhelming that Trix's vision was reduced to nothing but a swirl of color. Colors of the rainbow. Colors of his cereal.
"Fire!"