The Soul Conflict

Chapter 2: The Client

Mere seconds after the honking sound occurred I heard a loud crash outside the yard of the apartment accompanied by the lovely sound of metal twisting and glass shattering.

I woke up with a start and threw the green blankets off of me. Here I was, away from that strange valley and back in my apartment with my two housemates: Randy and Jordan. Jordan was away on a class trip for his history class, while Randy was likely still asleep. I have never woken up after he does. My head ached slightly from the party last night, and the honking noise had not made it any better. I know I should not be partying so late into the semester with final exams coming up, but I already knew that I would pass my classes. I was already dressed, since I likely passed out on the bed mid-party. I left my bedroom and went into the living room.

"Nathan, what the hell was that?" Randy shouted. He was a large somewhat overweight man with a thick beard. He was dressed in pale red boxers and a gray sleeveless shirt. Looks like he just rolled out of bed too.

"I don't know; it sounded like a car accident." I said. I walked over to the window and took a peek through the dirty blue curtains. What I saw was unusual, to say the least.

There was an off-white, armored, military truck larger than most SUV's in the parking lot. It had smashed directly into the rear end of a parked brown minivan, causing immense damage to the vehicle but not even suffering a scratch on its own front. There was a dark gray shielded turret attached to the back of the vehicle which was currently unoccupied. I could hear swearing all the way from the third floor of the apartment, and I watched as three men got out of the vehicle. This was certainly strange...I was already skeptical as it was highly unusual for any military vehicle to smash into a civilian vehicle, especially in an apartment parking lot.

Each of them were dressed in smooth white combat suits with heavily padded shoulders.  What the hell is going on? For a moment I thought of the faceless soldiers...but these guys were in a different styled armor. Randy had come over next to me to gaze at the strange occurrence as well.

"Shit...that guy with the minivan is going to be super upset." He said.

"Wait...they're going inside. I don't think they're coming in for coffee, either." I said as I watched the men do exactly that. They waltzed right into the front doors of the apartment, completely ignoring the damage they had caused. This was extremely suspicious...no, we were beyond suspicion now. This was straight up terrifying! I'm not sticking around for a shooting.

"Oh god...oh god...dude I think we gotta get out of here. I don't like this." Randy grew flustered and his face began to turn red. I was pretty scared too; three people of an unknown affiliation dressed in armor walking into a civilian building has 'international incident' written all over it.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. Grab your wallet and phone." I said, feeling myself panic a little. Randy nodded furiously and jogged over to his room to grab his stuff. I already had my wallet in my pocket, and I stuffed my phone into my other back pocket as well. All I need is my car keys and then I can get out of here. The keys should be in my jacket. I quickly walked over to the row of hangers outside of the front door and grabbed my dark red winter jacket. I hurriedly stuffed my arms through the sleeves and dug out my set of car keys. I felt my heart start pounding slightly less forcefully.  "Randy! We need to get going." I shouted out to him. I have to get us both out of here safely; there is no way I am about to let a friend get hurt on my watch.

"I'm coming! Just gimme a second." He hollered back. A few moments later the big guy came around the corner with his thin khaki-colored jacket. "We taking your car or mine?"

"Mine. My car is less likely to break down." I said. He shrugged and I swung the front door open.

"Who do you think those guys are?" He asked me with fright clear in his voice.