Wetwork Ch. 01

Chris Bradford had always chased adrenaline, when he was in high school he had been an All-American linebacker with a tendency for big hits. His performance had attracted interest from the major colleges. LSU, Texas, Miami, and USC had all offered him full ride scholarships, and in the end he had chosen to go to USC because it was the furthest away from his small town in Kentucky. While at USC he had studied international relations, and graduated at the top of his class, he had contemplated going pro, but he needed more adrenaline, and just hitting people was getting old. When he was 23 he was commissioned in the United States Army as a Lieutenant. He served with the 82nd airborne and did a tour in Afghanistan before going to Special Forces selection. He passed selection with relative ease, and breezed through the Q-course. He became a weapons officer, and stood out in 5th group. He was approached one day by a full bird colonel who had noticed him during a mission in which his SF team had worked with some very shady Americans. Not bad shady, but rather the kind of shady that left even Chris in awe. The colonel was a Delta Operator, and offered a Chris a chance to work for him. Once Chris made the cut he was promoted to Major and placed on a Operational Detachment Delta team. The job took him all over the world to places the military was not supposed to be, doing things the government claimed not to do. Chris loved the job and all the challenges it brought to the table, but eventually he grew tired of it and left the service after having spent 10 years doing things in places he "wasn't".

Now at 33, Chris was still in outstanding shape, he never failed to make it to the gym or run his usual eight miles every other day. His hair was thinning due to the stressors he had to put up with, but other than a receding hair line he didn't look a day over 25. His only vice was cigarettes, which made his running harder than it had to be, but not enough to quit. Finding a job wasn't hard with his experience, he could find employment at any private security firms, or any of the government agencies, but he wanted to take a year off work and enjoy life. This morning he woke up at eight o' clock, and walked to the bathroom after a quick shower he stepped in front of his mirror and examined his body. His steely green eyes that could pierce anyone, his nose which bared the mark of having been broken in a bar fight back from his college days. His short stubbly beard which he kept at just a certain length. Below his right collar bone a scar sat from a snipers round, he had gone a week with a piece of lead sitting in his shoulder before his team had been able to get out of the small fishing village of North Korea, but since that could never have been acknowledged it was simply a training exercise gone awry. He tensed his muscles and looked at other small scars along his right arm from a bomb blast he had been involved in during his one deployment in Afghanistan, that one was alright to talk about though. A knife wound sat above his left knee from the same bar fight his nose had been broken in. Adrenaline had left permanent marks on his body, and his mind. He splashed cold water on his face, and toweled off.

He started breakfast, which for him meant putting waffles in the toaster, and got dressed. This was perhaps the best part of being back in the civilian world. Comfortable shoes, relaxed jeans, a tee shirt, and a coat was all he needed to wear. No armor, no racks filled with several hundred rounds, no ruck sacks filled with 60 pounds of bull shit. The only thing that he carried to remind him of his past was a pistol in a holster on his belt, and that was just something he'd always done even before his job deemed it necessary. He nestled his Sig Saur P226 into its holster and threw his coat on over it, grabbed his waffles and headed out the door. Chris had a date today and he wouldn't be late.

Chris had met Sarah Klein at USC and they had always flirted and talked about different things, but never taken it to the next level. When he had joined the Army, she had moved to Indianapolis to be a social worker. They had maintained contact for a couple years until he joined up with Delta. When he got out he had decided to live in Indiana, it was close to his home, but still far enough away from everything he didn't like about it. He really didn't even have a reason to stay close to home, he had been an only child and both his parents had died during his time in the service, but home was home, and for some reason he wanted to stay close. Once Chris had settled in he called up Sarah and they started talking again. She had been married but, the marriage didn't last more than a few years, Chris had apologized though honestly he was happy, and she just brushed it off. They had agreed to meet today and had planned on getting coffee at one of the cities numerous starbux.

He pulled his car into a parking garage across from the starbux, and turned it off. He unbuckled and stepped out of the car, he brushed his coat back and slid back the slide of his gun to ensure there wasn't a round in the chamber. He shut the door and locked the car with his remote before walking down the stairs.

The air outside was chilly, but not yet cold, Chris guessed it would be another few weeks before winter took over, and the temperature would drop to a frigid level. He walked across the street and entered the starbux, he looked at his watch and realized he was about 15 minutes early. Chris sat at a table watching the door, and wondered how he would act when he saw Sarah again. He wondered if she would look the same, he wondered if he looked the same. Before he could overflow his mind with doubts one of his questions was answered as Sarah walked through the door. She was every bit as beautiful as she had been in college. Her brown hair flowed down over her shoulders, and her brown eyes matched her hair perfectly. She had stayed in shape as well, he body looking every bit as hot as it had 10 years ago. She must have noticed him staring at her because she laughed.

"Chris Bradford it has been way too long." She said in a sing song voice.

"It has been, how are you?" Chris asked as she greeted him with a hug.

"I'm good" She said as she felt his gun under his coat. "Still carrying that thing around? I thought you'd be over that by now." She said with a grin.

"Ehh bad habits... you know." He replied. " Wow you still look amazing." He said motioning her to sit at the table.

"Oh thank you, you do to. The Army must have kept you in very good shape." She said squeezing his arm under his coat. Chris just grinned. "So what are you up to now?" She asked.

"Just taking some time off for now, still getting used to being a civilian again." Chris said.

"Well I'm glad you called, its been forever since we talked. I tried calling your house but no one answered, than I heard about your parents, and after a while I guess I just thought... well. You're here now anyway that's all the matters." Sarah let her face betray the fear she had lived with until his call.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay in touch, but after a few years I started doing things that prevented me from talking to many people from my life before the Army." Chris said as the coffee arrived at their table.

"You remembered my drink" Sarah said blushing. "You still drinking it black?" She asked.

"I add a cream now." He said dumping a packet of creamer into his cup.

"Ohh very risky." Sarah said laughing. "So I'm guessing you can't tell me what you did, otherwise you'd have to kill me." She said laughing again.

"Its true, very hush hush." Chris was laughing now. "No but I was still in the Army, it was just a very special force of the Army I was in."

"Ah I see." Sarah said while still not entirely understanding what he did.

"How's the social work gig?" Chris asked.

"Its good, I'm with child services, working with orphans, some days it's a sad job, but other days its one of the best I could ever ask for." She said smiling. " Hey I got some shopping to do today you wanna walk to the mall and tell me what looks good what doesn't. It'll be just like the old days."

"Sure sounds fun." He said as they got up he left money on the table for both the drinks, and waved her off as she offered to pay for hers. They walked out the door, and headed towards the mall which was a couple blocks away. Chris pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, offering her one.

"No thanks I quit, you should to ya know, those things are bad for ya." She said.

"So I've been told." He said as he put the pack back into his pocket. "Good for you though, quitting and all."

"Ya well you were really the only one I smoked around and I guess without some one to bum off of I just stopped." She said as she stuffed her hands in her coat pockets to keep them warm.

They kept talking until the made it to the mall, where he held the door open for her. She led him around to different shops trying on clothes, but buying very little. Chris never understood how women could shop for hours but buy only a few items.

"So I'm guessing you never got married?" Sarah asked him.

"No never really had a lot of time to date. There were a few women here and there, but with me traveling all over, all the time they never lasted very long." Chris said looking away.

"Hmm I'm sensing a lot of one night stands, bad boy Chris." She slapped him playfully on the arm and Chris just smiled and denied it. "Well I didn't do much better. The guy I married turned out to be an asshole, not abusive or anything, just couldn't keep it in his pants."

"Well he sounds like an idiot." Chris said looking down at her.

"That's what I said, but oh well. It is what it is." Sarah looked back at Chris as he started laughing. "Well I'm glad I could make you laugh." She said feigning hurt feelings.

"No its just, it is what it is. You have no idea how many times I said that." Chris said.

"What do you mean?" She asked interested.

"Just when ever things were bad, you know in those places I cant tell you about." Chris laughed. "That's just what I said. It is what it is, and every time I thought of you. Saying that whenever something bad happened to you. Its good to see some things don't change." Chris said. The two of them looked at each other like they had never lost touch with each other.

"You know Chris I'm really glad you called." Sarah said reaching for his hand.

Before he could respond or take her hand with his several loud pops filled the air followed by screams. Chris looked in the direction of the sound and saw people running towards them. Chris grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her into the nearest store. He looked at the man standing behind the counter.

"Get everyone in the back room and close the gate." Chris said as he upholstered his pistol. The stunned young man just nodded his head but didn't move. "Now!" Chris barked. The young man snapped back into reality and ushered everyone into the back room, as Chris moved to leave.

"Chris what are you doing?" Sarah yelled at him.

"Stay here you'll be safe here. Ill be right back." Chris looked at her, tears welling in her eyes, and forced himself to turn around and head towards the sounds he knew to be gunfire.

He ducked under the closing gate and chambered a round as he brought the pistol up to his chest scanning the area. He moved forward just as he had done countless times before, this time was different though. This was a shopping mall in America, he should not be hearing automatic gunfire here.

People were running in the opposite direction that he was moving, which told him eventually he would run into the cause of the commotion. Soon he came upon the first body. It was a teenage girl who had been shot in the stomach. She was still conscious and he knelt down to help her. He took off his coat and covered the wound and placed her hands over it.

"Keep pressure on this you'll be fine, it didn't hit anything vital." She nodded clearly phased that she had just been shot. "How many were there, where did they go?" He asked her, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Four maybe five, I don't know where they went ." She said starting to cry. "Please don't leave me." Chris told her again to maintain pressure on her stomach than left her laying there crying for help.

He had to shut her out, he had to shut out the others moaning on the ground, some dead some dying. He stood back up and broke into a job following the bodies that lay on the ground. The air around him smelled like blood, gunpowder, and urine. As Chris turned a corner he saw one of the masked gunmen walking around shooting bodies in the head with a pistol. Chris waited until his head was turned than snuck up on the man. The shooter must have heard something because he turned his head. When he brought it around however all the saw was Chris pointing a gun at his head, than he went black.

Chris pulled the trigger on his pistol once than twice, putting two small holes in the mans head, one just above the bridge of the nose, and the other through the mans ear as he spun around from the force of the first round. The shooter fell on top of another body. Chris stooped to check his pulse, and he grabbed the shooters rifle. He ejected the magazine and slid a fresh one into the weapon. It was an AK-47 which didn't surprise Chris. Everyone had access to them from powerful armies, to gang bangers, to bank robbers.

Chris stood and looked at a map of the mall in front of him. The hall he was on now formed a tri-angle with another hall, and the one he had just come from where Sarah was. He turned and sprinted in the direction he had come from hoping to cut them off before they reached the store she was in. He turned one corner than another, and came face to face with another shooter. The shooters eyes went wide as he saw Chris standing there with a weapon.

Chris saw the shooter pause and used the opening to raise his rifle and spray the shooters chest with the 7.62 round the AK fired. The shooters chest burst open as five rounds connected from point blank range. The shooters body went limp and slumped against the wall behind him staining the wall with blood. The sound from Chris' rifle made the other three shooters turn in his direction and open fire. Chris ducked behind a concrete structure that house trees, and peeked around the corner. Bullets took chunks of the floor out and sprayed him in the face with debris.

"Fuck!" Chris yelled to himself as he popped up and sprayed a ten round burst towards the shooters, he might have hit one in the leg but he wasn't sure. At any rate accuracy wasn't his aim, he just needed some breathing room to move. He ran to an alcove that would provide cover, and poked his head back around. He saw one standing behind a rotating advertisement stall. It was only made of glass and plastic and wouldn't provide very good cover. He aimed and let loose two short bursts. He waited a second and watched a body slump down and a puddle of blood expand over the ground.

One of the other two shooters was moving up and Chris saw the opportunity to take him out. He leaned out and aimed down the sights, switching the weapon to single shot. He lined up the shooters chest with the weapons sights, and pulled the trigger twice than once more. The first two shots hit the man in the chest bringing him to his knees. The shooter looked up at Chris as he shot his third round, which crashed into his skull sending his head backwards in a whiplash motion, causing the man to fall backwards on his knees. Leaving his body in a very odd position.

"Christ looked out and saw the last shooter was indeed shot in the leg, laying against the wall. Chris dropped the rifle and pulled his pistol and ran up to the man. The shooter had his ski mask removed and was looking at the sky moving his lips without sound. He was middle eastern, clean shaven, and young, the profile for a violent Arab. Chris envisioned himself putting his pistol to the mans head and pulling the trigger, watching the mans head come apart at the seams as the .45 round made its way tumbling through the mans brains. He thought about the exit wound there would be, as a large chunk of the back of his head would flap off like the top of a stove pipe. He thought about how the young man who was bleeding out most definitely would prefer that ending. No questions, no investigation, no justice. Chris took off his belt and wrapped it around the mans leg tightening it down, cutting off the blood flow in his leg, thus saving his life. Chris than took the pistol and hit the man in the side of the head knocking him out. He took his pistol and laid it on the ground, close enough to reach if needed, and got on his knees with his hands up. The police breached through the doors minutes later, and Chris was blinded by the flash bang grenades thrown before their entry. The next thing he knew he was knocked to the ground and being handcuffed.