Three Minutes
"He waited about a minute. Then his phone buzzed.
'It's blue. You have two minutes left.' Before he could say a word, she hung up."
'It's blue. You have two minutes left.' Before he could say a word, she hung up."
He waited about a minute. Then his phone buzzed.
"It's blue. You have two minutes left." Before he could say a word, she hung up.
Blue?
Roughly ten feet apart, two ladies were sitting on the rim of the large, tiered fountain in front of him. The one on the right had on a navy-blue T-shirt and jeans, the other, a sky-blue tank top, white shorts, and sunglasses.
His heartbeat accelerated as he started toward them. Before he was handed a pistol and then dropped off at the entrance of the park, Vee had said on the phone, "A bullet in the head; the snipers don't miss."
Why do they even want me to kill in front of all these people? Why don't they use a sniper instead?
His shirt fluttered in a cool breeze. The sounds around him faded with each step. Then his phone buzzed again and he stopped.
"Which of them?" he quickly asked.
"Her name is Sharon."
"Please give me more—" The call ended.
He took a deep breath. He continued walking. In a few moments, he would aim the pistol, then... pandemonium.
"Hi," he said to the lady on the right. She looked up from her phone and adjusted her sunglasses. "Hi."
"Is your name Sharon?"
"No."
Quickly he walked over to the other lady. "Excuse me, are you Sharon?"
She'd been looking in the direction of three kids chasing one another around a swing set and didn't respond or even glance at him.
"Hi. He-Hello," he stammered. His head was probably already in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle; he nervously scanned the buildings around the park.
His phone beeped. New text: "That's Sharon. Do it!"
Now he froze. The splashes of water down the fountain dominated his consciousness, for several seconds, until he took out the pistol and pulled the trigger. Click. Click. Fuck! No bullets.
Unperturbed by the pistol aimed at her head, she stood up, calm. "It won't fire. Most recruits don't make it past this stage. You're now officially an employee of The Company."
She offered her hand. They shook hands.
"I'm Vee's Boss. Get ready for your first mission."
Copyright © 2017 Babatunde Olayiwola. All rights reserved. This story was previously published on my former blog.
