B.O.K. Part 2

Richmond, Carolinas Territory

May 5^th, 3027 CE 

Joseph White had to cross his eyes to be able to look at the barrel of the gun that was pressed to his forehead. Beads of sweat ran down the man’s face, his breathing had become labored, and he trembled slightly.

 He also had a greater awareness of his surroundings; he noticed the slightest of details. The silence of the crowd, the icy cold barrel of the gun, the shuffling of nervous feet, and most of all the rivers of tears on his wives face. His wife, once so strong and beautiful, was reduced to being weak and helpless. She stood there incapable of doing anything for her husband. All she could do was fight the tears that kept forming at the corners of her eyes.

Joseph then transferred his gaze to the man holding the gun. He was of average height, dark haired, and solidly built. He looked into the man’s piercing blue eyes. On any other day they may have been regarded as handsome or nice, but right now Joseph could see the fire in those eyes.

The burning desire to prove himself to his supervisor and further beneath that he could see peace? Yes that’s what it was, peace; the man was incredibly calm and at ease, that and the fact that he was so young unsettled Joseph. It scared him that someone so young could possibly hold the reputation that all collectors carried upon their shoulders.

Something inside Joseph wanted him to cry out to the man, to tell him that he didn’t have to do this. But he knew better, holding his tongue would bring him a few more seconds of life.

His thinking was interrupted by a sharp click. It took him a few seconds to realize that the sound he just heard was the trigger being pulled.

****

Adrian Fiore held the pistol tightly in his hand as he pressed the barrel of the gun onto the man’s forehead.

How pathetic, he thought inwardly, here was this man facing death in the eyes because of a crime against the king, and he didn’t have the dignity to go down like a man; to at least die respectfully in front of his family and friends. Instead he cried like his equally pathetic wife. But what annoyed Adrian the most were the feeble whimpers that escaped from the man’s mouth. How sad he thought again, but there was a bright side to all of this, Adrian was getting the privilege, hell, the honor of wiping someone so weak off the face of this planet. Because when it came down to it, only the strong survived.

He looked towards his Captain who was leaning against one of the armored trucks. The Captain gave a slight nod. Adrian turned back to the man kneeled down before him and smiled. There it was, the familiar feel of the adrenaline rushing through his system, the greatest feeling in the world. Adrian’s hand tightened on the gun and his index finger twitched.

He pulled the trigger once and felt the kick of the M9 as the bullet erupted out of the gun and drilled itself into the man’s head. The bullet shredded both bone and brain as it went through and exploded out the back. Adrian replaced the gun and took a step back as the man fell forward into a puddle of mud with a large splash.