The Quiet Guys

Chapter 1

It doesn't start easy. Nobody said it would be. But I didn't know that.

"Five innocent people killed, no sign of a human. Stay home and stay safe tonight everyone, and our condolences to those who have lost loved ones due to this terror-" I punched the TV shop window in my rage and wiped the burning tears out of my stinging eyes. I stormed past it, and threw myself through a random door of a bar that I found still open, despite the precautions set. The bar tender, a huge and gruff man with a scruffy beard and bright blue eyes, approached me. "Had a rough night love?" He asked me as he polished a glass with a napkin. "You could say that" I said, looking at the floor. "You were god damn lucky you weren't caught mind..." I snorted- after tonight, what's the point of carrying on anyway?

He gave me a small tumbler glass with clear liquid inside. "On the house" he said, going back to his glass polishing. I smiled a very weak smile and threw back the lot in seconds. "Blimey" he said, as I shook my head vigorously at the strength of the spirit. Just then a tall man in a long trench coat came in. He had a long black cane in his right hand, and a hat tipped over his face so that it was obscured. "Whiskey" he said in a hushed, lulling voice. The bartender turned around and snorted a disapproving snort, yet he sorted the drink out for him, nonetheless. He slid a crystal glass of whiskey his way, and to his great annoyance the stranger simply dropped the glass so that it shattered on the floor.

"What are you playing at mate? Those cost money!" The infuriated bartender barged through the small gap between the bar and the foyer and cursed under his breath as he aggressively swept up the glass shards. I watched in confusion at the stranger. "You haven't got a very steady hand" I said with a weak chuckle. "Or maybe I chose to do it." He said in that same seductive tone. With a swift sweep he was up, and glided out of the door like a stream. I was overwhelmed with confusion and alcohol all at once, leading me to make the terrible decision of following him.

The night was dark, and the air was cool. I looked around and listened for footsteps. To my delight, I heard them to my left in a small alleyway and went ahead. I peaked around the corner but saw nobody. There were only very large wheelie bins and an old security light which had been smashed long ago. I stood there stationary for a moment, observing my surroundings with my eyes sharp and my brain all over the place as the alcohol kicked in. The somewhat comfortable silence was broken by raging footsteps and cursing in an angry cockney accent coming my way. Alarmed, I threw myself behind one of the bins and held my breath.

"I told you not to mess around. You broke that on purpose, you pay the price." I heard a fist smack into a palm. "So what will it be?" Silence. A simple gasp for oxygen would have had me found, so I kept dead still. "I hardly want to play games." replied the snake. "Of any kind..." The next I heard was a short swoosh and a scrape of metal, then silencer found the alley again. After a moment, I proceeded to leave my hiding place. What a mistake.

There, with blood oozing from his neck and without eyes in their sockets lay the bar tender.

Never play games when there's fire involved.