"Yea, are you sure you weren't just kissing

"Yea, are you sure you weren't just kissing a mop?" Joked the sergeant...

My face heated up at the sergeant's mockery. "No, I wasn't kissing a mop. Her name's Hailey and she's a waitress at the diner in the next town over." He can be a jerk sometimes...

That was the last straw. The last thing you want to do is humiliate a man with a gun. That night, I snuck into Sarge's office, M14 in hand, and crouched in the shadows, waiting for

my nerves to catch up with my lofty trash talk. I was going to kill him--as soon as I got those damn voices to stop telling me how to do it. I can figure it out myself, thanks.

It wasn't hard. All I had to do was let the words flow. Say what was in my mind, right? Simple. Very simple. I sucked in a deep breath, choking on some phlem, and then I said, "I

am not prepared for... what I mean to say is that. Dammit! I don't want the promotion. I can't travel around the world, leaving my family behind." I waited for the storm to follow.

My boss narrowed his eyes at me. "This promotion could set you for life," he argued. "I'm not going to become an assassin!" I snapped, outraged.

"Things aren't the same as they were five years ago," my boss continued calmly. "Times are changing, and in today's world, it's kill or be killed. Wouldn't you at least like to be

honored?" He slowly walked towards me, an ancient evil burning behind his eyes. "Well?" "I don't know." "Let me help you decide." He said, lunging forward. then it goes dark.