Recovering from my failed attempts to train again after being the medical without having to be fawned over like a newborn baby, I started out on a new side job. The moon shone down on me as I raced through the barren forest, leaves rustling in my wake. I could hear the heavy steps of the men behind me, it's their fault that we even have to run at all. I glanced back when I heard a heavy thump, shots were being fired. Guns were outlawed many years ago, too many innocents had lost their lives to true guns. Had the others been shot? No, we were all too smart for that, too skilled to be thwarted by a piece of metal. Stunner guns had become the new hot item on the weaponry market, but I knew in my heart that the guns could never go away completely and it made me sick to my stomach. The sides of my suit began to tear as I went right through a thorny bush, hoping that it would provide me with cover.

"Red!" I whipped my head around as the raw cried rolled across the forest. I felt a burning pain erupt in my left shoulder, the shooter stood five feet to the right with Jackson on his knees in front of him.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me, just like how I have something that belongs to you. I understand that this is one of your best, most trusted men, correct?" I bit my tongue and nodded grimly. "Then I think that we can come to the conclusion that a trade is to take place?" Jackson looked at me and winked three times using his left eye. A trap, but he had no clue where the others were. With a tiny tilt of Jackson's head to the right, I realized that someone was coming up from behind me. I smiled at the shooter and started to reach for my side bag, the straps seemed to burn into my back as each second went by.

"I believe that we have come to different conclusions," I brought out my stunner ray and shot directly behind me while also dropping to the ground. Jackson had pulled a knife out of his pocket and stabbed the shooter in the knee.

"Backup! They're escaping!" the shooter shouted before the knife found its way to his temple. I jumped back up, scanning the area around us to see if any more groupies were going to jump out. Jackson grabbed my right arm and started pulling me forward, running almost too fast for me to keep up.

"Zig zag running, we need to make it to the wall before the sun goes up. Their suits have shit night vision, but are great for daytime camouflage." I nodded, panting too fast to make out any words. Twigs and leaves crackled underfoot, my foot caught on a dead trunk that we jumped over and I almost knocked the both of us down; loud bangs came from behind, with new bullet holes burying themselves into the scenery. I broke out of Jackson's grasp and started running a little faster, I had to make it to the wall before I passed out. The wall was three yards away when Jackson dropped to the ground, I skidded to a stop and rushed back to him. I flipped him over, my heart breaking with each moment passing by. The tip of the bullet sticking out through the skin in the middle of his forehead, it glistened with wet, red blood. My breaths became more ragged and shallow, I looked back up and saw the shooters coming closer. Jackson's death could not be for nothing, he died for this fucking list of names. I turned and sprinted back to the wall. The release button was hidden behind a code pad, I fumbled on each number, the shield was about to come down when I felt a small fire start to burn in my chest. The shield came down and I was dropped into the de-dressing area where I stumbled to the nearest bench. My hand pressed down on my chest as hard as I could manage. My vocal cords felt like they were splitting apart as I screamed for help, choking on my own words, growing dizzier by the second. I heard the door open as the growing dots that had distorted my vision consumed it completely. The last thing I remember talking about was asking for them to forgive me.

The faint beating of a machine and the hushed whispers woke me up. I assumed that I was in the infirmary, but I couldn't be bothered to open my eyes and check, why bother if I failed him?

"She's awake," a familiar voice rang in my ears. Where had I heard it before? It sounded like the cool water brushing against shore in the middle of winter paired with soft fog rolling across the ground. The squeezing in my chest lessened a little, and my eyes opened. The place was entirely too bright, my eyes burned as if I was staring at the sun itself. A shadow fell across my face as I squinted to make out what caused it. It was that blurry mess of blonde hair and the black and blue snowflake tattoo. She smiled sweetly at me, "We've got to stop meeting like this," her voice was barely a whisper in the loud room.

"How long until she is able to get back to the training room? She needs to train until stuff like this won't happen again. Two out of the seven people survived on that mission, a mission that wasn't supposed to happen." The deeper, harsher voice got closer to me. "People die when they start getting greedy, remember that, Posy," The nurse stood up and faced the general, a forced smile graced her face.

"When she is all healed up from those gun wounds, which came from guns that your department failed to confiscate," Janie turned back around and went to update her papers on the clipboard. I glanced up at the general, who had gone red in the face. Normally, seeing Smith so flustered would have kept my spirits up for weeks, but they were gone. Mark, Hugh, Sala, Cierra, and Hunter, which one had survived and which ones got to go see Jackson again? General Smith straightened out his coat, nodding promptly to the nurse, and left the infirmary, slamming the doors loudly as he did. A long sigh came from my right. I rolled my head over and saw the nurse shaking her head making loose bits of blonde frame her face, hints of icy blue streaked throughout her hair. Janie looked over to me and smiled. "I'm sure that he's always been like that," I let out a weak laugh.

"You have no idea," The nurse smiled slightly at that and went back to completing her charts. I closed my eyes again as I heard the sound of her black heels tapping away, beating to the tune of the gunshots going off on repeat in my brain.

They were gone, and it was all my fault.