Shadow Killer

Seven

I slam shut the car door, shoving the key into the ignition, before driving off, ignoring the piece of paper tucked under the windshield wipers. My foot stomps on the gas pedal. I wasn't sure where I was headed, as there weren't any Hydra facilities left in Washington.

"Fucking hell!" I curse as I am forced to a stop due to traffic.

My finger taps impatiently on the steering wheel, as I am now stuck in rush-hour traffic. While I am sitting in the traffic jam, I pull out the tablet. I stare at the blank screen, thinking about my next course of action. The tablet doesn't have enough power or programming capabilities to hack into the traffic cameras.

"I need a computer, but where the hell can I find a computer of sorts?" I ask myself as I look at the surrounding streets. My eyes fall on a large building with the words mall in printed letters. "Well, this is fitting."

I switch lanes and pull into the mall parking, cruising slowly, trying to find an empty spot to pull into. After parking the car and seeing the entrance to the elevator, I am inside the mall. The elevator doors open, and I step out, staring around, trying to locate a shop or something with computers.

I walk around the mall, pushing past people who stop and stare at me. I ignore them all, but a small part of me wonders if I could go about being stealthy, but in the end, I couldn't care less. Is it the metal arm, or the weapons attracting unwanted attention? To be honest, it's probably both.

"Excuse me!" I turn around and find myself face to face with a man wearing a white uniform. "Mame, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the mall, or to surrender your weapons."

I scoff at the security guard, and my eyes fall onto his name badge. "Look here Mike, you fuck off, and no one gets hurt." I stare at the man, whose eyes widen in horror; glancing past him, I see a shop selling technology. Specifically laptops.

Perfect.

"No. I can't let you go anywhere. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." He says as he grabs my left arm.

I stare down at where he is grasping me, shocked someone would even do that. My right-hand reaches over, grabbing him by his lower jaw. His eyes bulge out of his head as I feel the mandible break in my gasp. The second he releases his hold on me, I unsheath one of my katanas and bring it around. With one swift movement, there are two thuds. One as his body crumples to the floor, the other is where his head is rolling away. I stoop down and wipe the bloody katana on his crisp white shirt before stepping over the body towards the technology store.

The salesperson whitens when he sees me. "I need your best computer." Wordlessly he walks out the back whilst his coworker stares at me. The man returns with a box in his arm, bringing it towards the checkouts. I step forward, frowning when they step backwards.

"D-dell laptop, top of the r-range. That w-will be five hundred and ninety-nine d-dollars."

"You can pay for it."

"I c-can't give it t-to you th-then."

I raise my handgun, firing two bullets into the chests of both men. Their bodies crumple to the floor as I spin on my heel with the laptop in hand. I pocket the gun and briskly walk out of the store and back down to the car park. As I near the elevators, I look over my shoulder to see a crowd had gathered around the dead security guard. Fortunately for them, they don't see me exit the building.

Once returned to the car, I drive, breaking past the barrier arm and down the street.

"I need to ditch the car and get another one, goddammit."

I pull the car down a quiet street, grabbing the laptop before leaping out. I step around the front and almost wince when I see the white paint job has been severely chipped and scratched. I walk off without a second glance, choosing a more prominent black family SUV with tinted windows. The vehicle feels familiar, something that HYDRA would own, a different make and model to what I'm used to, but the car would suffice.