you know how to be a hunter! You're a computer nerd! Let me guess, you learned your stalking skills playing army video games.” Eve's words really stung. She is right. The closest thing I have ever come to stalking prey is watching wildlife documentaries.
“OK! I am not a hunter in real life but I have one; he is level 60. Look, I have spent my life hiding in the background of networks and finding open doors where there isn’t supposed to be one. Sure, I am not a decorated professional killer, but I do know one thing, and that is the best laid traps are easily untangled.” When someone sets a trap, they predict what their prey will do and devise a plan to exploit their weakness. The key to getting around it is to turn the trap back onto the trapper by doing the exact opposite of what they expect. No matter how much thought goes into something, there is always a work around. There is always an Achilles heel. The trick is finding it before your enemy realizes it.
The green arrow lights up, and the doors swing fully open. A young man wearing a gray jumpsuit is waiting with a dolly loaded with white Styrofoam containers. He walks right past us and continues on his way around the hall. Just as Eve mentioned, no name tag. He didn’t even look us in the eye as he walked past.
“Eve, you said he stocked the fridge, right?” I say.
“Yep, and hauls off expired food.” Eve says.
“I counted six containers, two were plain white. I would assume that would be the food. The problem I have is the other four containers.” I say.
“That’s for the expired food.” Eve explains.
“That doesn’t make sense either. Two containers in, four out.... More importantly, why are those four containers marked with bio-hazard stickers?”
CHAPTER THREE
The Lions Paw
I am nestled into my bed, enjoying a dream of lesbians making out and feeding me grapes when I am awoken. The door to my room slides open and director Reese enters.
“I have authorized you some new clothes, make the best of them. I also took care of placing your personal belongings into your first drawer. Get dressed and head to the break room. I have your first mission ready for you.” Reese calmly exits the room.
I open my dresser to find a black t-shirt with the words... “NUB” printed in white across the chest. I grab my khaki cargo pants, slip them on, and page Eve to get me. I slip on my new kicks, and I gotta say they are pretty slick looking. I dislike the Velcro on them but, then again, tying laces right now doesn’t seem appealing. I have regained some strength but walking unassisted for a long distance still isn’t possible. I open the top drawer of my dresser and see my personal items. The maiden of salvation stares me right in the eye! My beloved 1892 Morgan Silver Dollar.
I remember the day I found this beautiful little lady. I was 13 at the time. All of us agreed to go swimming that day at the reservoir. We all agreed since we had no cars, to meet each other halfway. Halfway was our little code word for the three way intersection of gravel that led to the reservoir. It wasn’t even close to half way, but it didn’t matter. We all knew where to go. Miklo and Melvin were my cousins, more like brothers really. We spent every summer together since as far back as I can remember. The three of us arrived at halfway to see JD waiting for us. Of course JD was the first on the scene, his house was 15 miles away and his parents always dropped him off. We always had to wait on Dereck and Kevin. They really had the short end of the stick. Our place was about four miles from halfway and their place was about eight miles away. They had to ride their bikes the full length of the journey, and we just walked. It almost timed perfectly but we usually had to wait 30 minutes or more for them to peddle up the valley road.
Once all of us were ready, we set course to the reservoir, telling jokes along the way. We usually found things along the side of the road,