Page 11 of Eternal
It’s not morally correct to kill people.
I don’t care, our team has thrived for years because we’ve known how to stay in the shadows.
With death, withviolence.
I press the comms earpiece embedded under my wool hat, catching the faint sounds of my men stationed around me.
“Still alive?” Roman’s voice crackles with slight irritation. “Or are you just going to let him freeze out there,Viper?”
I smile beneath the mask. “Impatience is a bad habit. He's freezing to death. Let’s make him sweat a little before we take him out.”
“Shit, your sadism is driving me crazy, boss. My fingers are freezing,” Roman huffs again.
“You really think I give a fuck about your fingers, Roman?” I reply quickly, enjoying the dead silence on his end. A smile spreads wider beneath my mask.
Through the scope, I lock onto the target. He's muttering to himself, dodging questions from the police. He looks lost, clumsy. Weak.
He shivers in the cold, but none of that matters now. He’s an obstacle, and an obstacle must be eliminated.
That’s what they taught me. That’s whatItaught myself to believe.
I’d warned Roman not to order pizza near our base, but he did, and now this idiot saw everything. His eyes caught every detail, and a few days later, the cops arrested him for drug possession.
I tipped them off, because no one knew us, and it should stay that way.
“Let's go,” I murmur, pulling the trigger.
One shot.
The rifle jerks against my shoulder, and the man’s head lurches back, a red splash spreads into the pristine white snow behind him as he tries to enter the police station again. The officers scramble around, shouting into their radios as if they could somehow spot me, though I’m so far away, I could have missed the shot.
The sound is swallowed by the streets, and the silence settles in as if Moscow itself approves of my actions.
“Target down.”
Yuri’s voice crackles in my earpiece. “Shit, you got him from that far?”
I chuckle softly, wiping the condensation from my mask as I begin to pack up. “Imagine what I could do to you when you’re close enough then.”
“No need, boss. I’m already fucking tired, you’d push me with a finger and I’d die today.” Yuri complains as I hear the sound of the van coming down the road.
“Everything that happened today is Roman's fault, just so we’re clear,” I say, taking my rifle apart and double-checking the scope. “No more pizza deliveries. I wasted a bullet because of your stupidity.”
“It wasn’t even that good,” Vlad chimes in. “We could’ve used that delivery for something better. What a fucking waste.”
I love hearing them complain, it reminds me why I keep them around. But these idiots, I put up with them. They’re all I have left and all I ever had.
I sling the rifle over my shoulder, adjusting my black combat jacket.
“Roman, you're awfully quiet,” I say, my voice cold. “If you're feeling bad, you can confess your sins. Father Sacha always has his confessionals open.”
Roman laughs nervously. “I’m freezing, boss. Talking hurts my throat. Damn, what’s with the cold this year?”
I smile, though they can't see it. “That’s your American side showing. But I’m not kidding, it’s the last time you drag us out of camp because of your screw-ups.”
He laughs again, but it's tight. They all know I mean it, whether I’m a commander or not, respect must be earned, and I’m not here to coddle them. They respect the authority that keeps them alive, not always the man behind it, and that suits me just fine.
“Back to base,” I say, cutting the line and stepping down from the roof. The snow crunches beneath my boots as I descend the metal stairs. The frozen streets of the city stretch before me.
