Lovestruck

Chapter one

I pull back the slide of my Barret, loading a round into the chamber as it slides forward and locks into place. I look through the scope and adjust it to make it clear and focused.

"The target is one thousand two hundred yards away south at twelve degrees to the right of the wind. Wind speed is five miles per hour. Steady bullet drop off, so aim two degrees up and to the right of the target," my spotter says standing beside me.

"Kairos, don't fail me now." I kiss my Kairos pendant. I'm focusing in on the target and I'm gripping the trigger. A small exhale as I pull it back slightly. Everything seems to go in slow motion, I can see the trail the bullet is leaving as it's cutting through the air like a hot knife in butter before it hits the target with the remnants of a spiraling air trail behind it. The sound of the gunfire is still echoing through the desert.

"NICE SHOT!" Jeremy's voice fills the dry, hot air.

"That makes four-hundred and fifty-nine," I say getting up. He chuckles. We high-five each other and look into the distance. "I guess we have to go inspect the area and see if we can find the hard drives Soolan stole. We head down the hill after packing up our weapons. He was carrying my sniper while I took the AR-15.

"I remember when I was a kid, I used to play "Call of Duty" and I wondered what it was like to be a soldier, I wondered what it was like to just... kill people. My dad used to tell me there was a lot more to it because once you do it, you feel guilty and if you do it more, it only gets easier. My dad was in the military and I wanted to be like him. But I was deployed in Pakistan when he died." I say looking down at the ground for a few steps.

"That sucks. Wasn't your family rich?"

"That's kinda personal, dude. But yeah, my dad left me the house and the car. I guess because I was the oldest. He also expected me to settle down and have a family first. But I never really got into a committing relationship while I was in the military. I told my brother that I wouldn't be living in it anytime soon so I gave him the keys and now, he and his fiance are living there and when I die, he's going to get the car. He wanted it more than I did. In fact, I have it set up that on his birthday the car gets shipped to him. He doesn't know that he's getting it. That's the best part about it." I say smiling briefly at the happy memories of the past. 

"Wow. That's amazing. I wish I had something like that, where everyone knew my name because of my family." I can hear the slight jealousy in his voice.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," I said shifting my automatic weapon to my side. "Sometimes it's too much stress for my care. I didn't want this. I didn't want the attention. That's part of the reason I joined the army, to get away from all that. But it still seems to follow me around." There's an awkward silence between us before Jeremy speaks again. 

"Hey," he asks looking over at me, changing the subject. "what was your first kill like, if you don't mind me asking?" I zoned out for a second, looking back to recall the memory.

I was eighteen. My mother and I were walking through the park. It was nighttime. We were laughing and carrying on a decent conversation about my childhood. She was bringing up the good memories.

"I remember when you were five years old," She says smiling back at me. "You were supposed to be taking a bath and I was cooking dinner. I started making the fudge brownies you loved so much when suddenly this chubby, pale, and wet naked baby came running in the kitchen with his socks still on! You started to slip and were sliding right towards me! You fell forward right into the brownie batch. Your face covered with a brown liquid. It was all over your hands, arms, face, and chest. It was everywhere!" She said, starting to giggle. 

"Oh god," I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah! I got super worried because you were starting to lick it off yourself. There were eggs in the batter! You just started going to town. I yelled for your father and he came in a picked you up and took you back to the bathroom to clean you off and make sure you stayed in the bathtub this time."