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Authors: Lisa Hughey
Tags: General Fiction
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off was after Keisha delivered the poison.
With deliberation, she counted her heartbeats, waiting, waiting, for the moment when she could squeeze the trigger and end his life. Jess knew if she killed LeRoy with her sniper rifle the country would be thrown into disarray.
The immediate chaos would throw the already disintegrating social situation into total anarchy. The military would be trying to keep peace rather than distributing the goods and the desperately needed supplies to the citizens.
Jess thought of the young children she'd handed seed packets to this morning. Their gaunt filthy faces as they looked to the packet, one very small pouch between them and total starvation. The grief and shadows in the faces of the people she'd helped today. Their gratitude submerged under the sheer weight of staying alive and staying healthy.
Her chest tightened, restricted by doubt. How could she pull resources away from the very needy?
She looked through the scope again. LeRoy smiled, his teeth white and polished in a shiny clean face. The polar opposite of the dirty, bedraggled people she'd served earlier this afternoon. If she killed him now, the immediate threat would be eliminated but the long term effects to the population would still be there and even more uncertain.
She hadn't asked the right questions earlier when she'd spoken to Colin. She should have asked more about LeRoy's successor. Sure he was a religious leader. But was he a zealot? Did he serve everyone or give special preference to certain religions?
Right now D'Aramitz was the probably the best choice. But who would they chose to take over for him?
Jess didn't know the answers but she did know that the people had no hope with LeRoy in power. A flicker of movement caught Jess's eye as Keisha walked around toward the main street and suddenly she realized there was another way.
And she knew what she had to do. "Two, meet three at the zero site."
She had told both Colin and Keisha where she planned to set up. She was two streets over from the mansion. Keisha acknowledged Jess's order with a nod of her head. Jess had the means to carry out the mission as they'd originally planned, only the execution would be slightly different.
She stared at the mansion, calculating how she could get the poison to LeRoy's bath. Jess was only supposed to provide protection for both Colin and Keisha and in the event that that their plan failed she was supposed to shoot LeRoy and then get back to the tent compound ASAP.
But now that Keisha had bombed, Jess could get the poison in.
"Three will fill in for two."
Colin smiled faintly as if amused at his companion's joke. Then he turned his head so that it seemed almost as if he was staring straight at her. His light gray eyes glittered with heightened intensity and annoyance as he shook his head slightly.
"I am a party girl." Jess tried to get her meaning across without actually explaining. They hadn't come up with code for 'Keisha couldn't get in and now I'm going to take her place'.
The plan was crazy. She was crazy. Adrenaline coursed through her. The natural high a familiar and welcome fizz in her bloodstream. Dammit. She'd missed this. The edge. The excitement. Even the element of danger felt like coming home.
What the hell did that say about her?
With calm deliberation, Jess began disassembling her sniper rifle. Her hands trembled as she placed the weapon's pieces in the specially fitted backpack and then calmly pulled out the LBD she hadn't worn since the night she'd hooked up with Colin.
Night was almost completely upon the city. She needed to get going.
She managed to shimmy out of her relief worker clothes and into the little dress. Then she swiped blusher on her cheeks and a layer of shiny gloss on her mouth. The little thong flats would have to do since she didn't have any heels.
Her backpack lay next to her. For a moment, Jess wondered at her instincts. Now the reason she'd felt compelled to shove a black knit
With deliberation, she counted her heartbeats, waiting, waiting, for the moment when she could squeeze the trigger and end his life. Jess knew if she killed LeRoy with her sniper rifle the country would be thrown into disarray.
The immediate chaos would throw the already disintegrating social situation into total anarchy. The military would be trying to keep peace rather than distributing the goods and the desperately needed supplies to the citizens.
Jess thought of the young children she'd handed seed packets to this morning. Their gaunt filthy faces as they looked to the packet, one very small pouch between them and total starvation. The grief and shadows in the faces of the people she'd helped today. Their gratitude submerged under the sheer weight of staying alive and staying healthy.
Her chest tightened, restricted by doubt. How could she pull resources away from the very needy?
She looked through the scope again. LeRoy smiled, his teeth white and polished in a shiny clean face. The polar opposite of the dirty, bedraggled people she'd served earlier this afternoon. If she killed him now, the immediate threat would be eliminated but the long term effects to the population would still be there and even more uncertain.
She hadn't asked the right questions earlier when she'd spoken to Colin. She should have asked more about LeRoy's successor. Sure he was a religious leader. But was he a zealot? Did he serve everyone or give special preference to certain religions?
Right now D'Aramitz was the probably the best choice. But who would they chose to take over for him?
Jess didn't know the answers but she did know that the people had no hope with LeRoy in power. A flicker of movement caught Jess's eye as Keisha walked around toward the main street and suddenly she realized there was another way.
And she knew what she had to do. "Two, meet three at the zero site."
She had told both Colin and Keisha where she planned to set up. She was two streets over from the mansion. Keisha acknowledged Jess's order with a nod of her head. Jess had the means to carry out the mission as they'd originally planned, only the execution would be slightly different.
She stared at the mansion, calculating how she could get the poison to LeRoy's bath. Jess was only supposed to provide protection for both Colin and Keisha and in the event that that their plan failed she was supposed to shoot LeRoy and then get back to the tent compound ASAP.
But now that Keisha had bombed, Jess could get the poison in.
"Three will fill in for two."
Colin smiled faintly as if amused at his companion's joke. Then he turned his head so that it seemed almost as if he was staring straight at her. His light gray eyes glittered with heightened intensity and annoyance as he shook his head slightly.
"I am a party girl." Jess tried to get her meaning across without actually explaining. They hadn't come up with code for 'Keisha couldn't get in and now I'm going to take her place'.
The plan was crazy. She was crazy. Adrenaline coursed through her. The natural high a familiar and welcome fizz in her bloodstream. Dammit. She'd missed this. The edge. The excitement. Even the element of danger felt like coming home.
What the hell did that say about her?
With calm deliberation, Jess began disassembling her sniper rifle. Her hands trembled as she placed the weapon's pieces in the specially fitted backpack and then calmly pulled out the LBD she hadn't worn since the night she'd hooked up with Colin.
Night was almost completely upon the city. She needed to get going.
She managed to shimmy out of her relief worker clothes and into the little dress. Then she swiped blusher on her cheeks and a layer of shiny gloss on her mouth. The little thong flats would have to do since she didn't have any heels.
Her backpack lay next to her. For a moment, Jess wondered at her instincts. Now the reason she'd felt compelled to shove a black knit
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