ZERO (Complete)

Chapter One

"I was being followed, it was obvious. To the untrained eye, you know, someone just going about their day, not paying attention to their surroundings, they probably wouldn't have even noticed. But I noticed. I notice everything. They stood out like sprinkles on icing — a man 'waiting' for a bus across the street with an unmarked van parked fifteen feet away; a Goliath-looking mouth-breather, dragging his knuckles and sipping coffee; another man on a park bench feeding the ducks... They think they're being subtle, but they're not. Sometimes our eyes connect and I give them a wink or a nod... my little way of saying, 'I see you.'

"At this point, I'm not sure who they are or what they want, but so far they've kept their distance. Never once interacting with me. This went on for several days.

"I can think of about a dozen reasons why someone would want to follow me. The worst case scenario would land me minor jail time, but more likely just probation and a fine. Good luck getting me to pay though, I spent all my money on... well, I'm not going to say her name. That's another story altogether. Point is, I wouldn't be surprised if I've popped up on a few watchlists due to my browser history, which I won't go into.

"As I was saying, my guess is that some covert government organization wants to ensure I'm not a terrorist. If that's true, then let them follow me, I have nothing to hide. In fact, sometimes I behave in a sketchy manner just to mess with them, you know what I mean?

"So anyway, I returned from lunch one day and meandered through a sea of cubicles until I arrived at my desk. I removed my jacket and took a seat at my desk. Nobody was really paying attention to me.

"Something just didn't sit right, you know? Thinking back, it could have been the fish tacos I had for lunch. Come to think of it, it did give me a little case of hot bum if you know what I mean, but, I digress.

"What I remember feeling at the time was this insurmountable, gut-wrenching paranoia. Now, to be fair, I tend to sway a bit heavy on the paranoid side, but this was extra. And as you can see, given my current situation, I had a right to be a little paranoid.

"But it was the build-up that really took its toll on me, you know? The days of constantly looking over my shoulder, sleepless nights, not knowing who or why I was being followed. The anxiety of that isn't a pleasant thing to deal with as I'm sure you are all aware. It was like psychological warfare, and I'll admit, it was really starting to get to me, you know? I felt as though I was beginning to break down mentally and lose grip of my sanity.

"So I'm at my desk and I posture up a bit so that my head was sticking up over the cubicle wall. I saw my manager looking at me and I wondered — is he looking at me because I'm looking at him, or does he know something I don't?

"Nothing ever came of that, I just thought I'd mention it to give the story a little more context. So I decided I was done for the day so I left my coat and backpack at my desk and snuck out the back. I did this from time to time, especially on Fridays, or when my manager wasn't in the office.

"I exited the building without being seen by any of my coworkers and headed home. I got a few blocks away from where I live, and I saw a man walking his dog, a jogger stretching on a stoop, a mail carrier delivering packages. All ordinary stuff, right? But something about it seemed off. I then spotted the same van from earlier and realized they're all around me. They've been following me and have me surrounded and I yet to know why, or even who these people are. As you can imagine, I'm more than a little freaked out. I should mention that they've never come to my neighbourhood before, I mean, as far as I know. I was nervous and sweating profusely, my heart was pounding with anticipation because I knew something was about to go down. You know that feeling? It's almost like time slows down or something, it's really weird. I picked up my pace and began walking faster than usual.