"Thanks." I replied vaguely, staring at my hand, the same that pulled that trigger. The same that killed that man. I didn't know whether it was good or bad that I felt no remorse. Tabitha and Sabrina were discussing another target. They showed me a picture. He was darker than the first, and his beard was much shorter. But other than that, I saw no difference. Sabrina peeked through her scope, and slowly swayed her barrel across the horizon.
"We can't get a visual. He's too far." She spoke robotically.
"Copy that." Tabitha said, beginning to break down her gun. She popped the scope off and slipped it into a ouch she had in her wide leather belt. Sabrina began Doug the same, and I froze in nervousness and confusion on what to do. I gulped and stood up, attempting to pick up my gun with the shaky hands the thrilling moment had given me. I threw it over my shoulder and followed the girls who had surprisingly enough, waited for me by the ladder this time. I waddled over awkwardly and began to humbly shuffle down the creaky ladder. Tabitha and Sabrina were already going through the alleyway like marines, the way they shuffled all hunched over and alert. I didn't know what to do, so I tried my best to copy their every movement. I stepped where they stepped, and I stopped when they stopped. Eventually, we made it out into the open desert, the city about ninety yards straight ahead. We walked single file, towards it. I didn't feel safe. And neither did my partners.
"I don't like this." Sabrina mumbled in front of me.
"I don't either. We don't have a choice, just keep moving." Tabitha snapped back, showing her fear through anger. Eventually we made it to the forgiving shade of a building. It was taller, and had a sign hanging from it in some Arabic language that I couldn't comprehend. Tabitha looked up at it for a moment and whispered something in English. The sign creaked back and forth in the cool breeze. I looked up. The sky was bright blue, like you'd see on those summery days in August. No clouds to be seen whatsoever. There weren't any planes, there was nothing but the hot sun.
"Something isn't right." Tabitha spoke silently to Sabrina, or herself. I couldn't tell anymore. Sabrina was silent.
I was silent. "Where is everyone?" I peeped up, not being able to contain my curiosity anymore. Tabitha shot her neck around at wicked speed. Her eyes wide.
"Shut up, do you want to be sniped?" She said through clenched teeth, nodding her head to a building behind her. I looked in the direction, and sure enough, the recognizable barrel of a sniper rifle poked out of a hole in the wall. My hands went cold and my nostrils flared in fear as I sunk down onto my haunches. Sabrina gave my leg a light kick. "Get up!" She said with enough passionate anger to stand me up. Tabitha swiped her gun underneath her arm, and held it up as if ready to shoot. She slipped her head and arms around the corner of the building and aimed for the barrel. It was about forty yards away. She was shaking noticeably. She scoffed and let down.
"I can't get a good aim. Too shaky." She confirmed strongly. She gave a light nod to Sabrina who took Tabitha's place and aimed for herself. She also, was shaking madly. "Fuck me." She mumbled after letting down. They both looked towards me. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing but dry cracks came from the back of my throat. The two glanced down at my hands, which were surprisingly steady. Tabitha shot a look at Sabrina and an agreed silence was passed between the two. Sabrina handed me an extra pair of binoculars, and shoved them up to my eyes while Tabitha spoke softly, describing the awkward angle of the shot. I nodded, pretending to understand the terms and angles she spoke. Suddenly I felt a heavy mass plop into my open arms, and realized it was Tabitha's sniper. The binoculars were torn away, and I was picked up against the wall. I peeked around to see the barrel still in place. I took a deep breath as I raised the scope up to my left eye. I was steady, surprising not only myself, but Sabrina and Tabitha as well. Having forgotten and not understood everything that Tabitha had explained to me not a minute earlier, I decided to wing it. I searched for any kind of human-like structure in the close up scope. There seemed to be nothing but an lone barrel. The girls were silent behind me, and the only thing I could hear was the beating of my own heart. I scanned the area around the gun for minutes. Nothing. No movement, no sound, just silence, and the inevitable stare-down from that rifle. And then I realized it. That's what they wanted us to think. I immediately let down, and looked around, looking more startled than I was. "What's wrong?" Tabitha asked, showing anger through her clenched teeth. "Somethings not right." I answered, still scanning the other buildings. Suddenly, a click echoed through the clay buildings around us.
"Shit..." Tabitha mumbled, realized not only that someone was watching us, but that I was right. She flipped her head around to look at the buildings, and then I heard a silenced pop. Tabitha jumped in fear, but Sabrina sat with her mouth wide open. She had her hands against her abdomen, and she groaned a few times. Tabitha began to instantly sob. "Sabrina!" She screamed, echoing throughout the entire desert. Tabitha fall onto her knees and took Sabrina's hands away from her. They were covered in dark red blood. Her black suit was also covered with blood, and a small hole showed her blackened skin. Sabrina's face began going pale, and she developed bags under her blue eyes.
Tabitha began taking out medical tape and Neosporin from a pouch on her waist. "Stay with me please. Please stay with me." Tabitha whispered in-between sobs. I stood, not knowing what to do. But suddenly, Tabitha shot her head towards me. Sabrina's eyes were shut, and she was limp. I knew what had happened. Tabitha had a look of utter anger across her face, and she was directing it towards me. "You did this..." She spoke, silent but serious. "Tabitha, I-" I began, wanting to explain that if anyone, it was her fault, but she interrupted me by screaming at the top of her lungs, causing me to flinch, and give her enough time to jump on top of me. Before I realized it, she was straddling me in the hot sand, and she was drawing a dagger. My eyes got huge as I realized that she was trying to kill me. She held the bone handle of the knife with both hands and drove it downward, missing my forehead only because I moved to the side. She stabbed deep into the sand, but effortlessly drew it back out. She rose it above her head, tears rolling down, and she closed her eyes. I closed mine. I remembered my mother and how the last thing I did to her was make her cry. I remembered how I'll never see my house again or get to fall asleep in math class again. I remembered the alleyway outside my window and the garbage man that passed. And as I prepared myself to die, I heard a pop, and all went silent. The sobs, the gasping breaths, the humming from the birds taking refuge in the building, all went silent. And Tabitha's dead body collapsed on top of me. The knife rolling out of her hands onto the sand beside me. I laid still, feeling the blood from the side of her head dribble onto my neck. But I laid still, terrified and sweaty, not wanting to move. Because the man that approached me might have thought I was dead.
