The Eleven Read online

  The

  Eleven

  By: Adrian Popa

  Copyright © 2019 Adrian Popa

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the Publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 1

  It was a long night, the night sky had fallen and the city lights were brimming, the neon signs shining brightly, and annoyingly. The streets were rampant with cars and the noise eluded within the night. It was a nice night, but tonight wasn't the time that I would be staring up in the skies enjoying the city scene. Rather, tonight I would be doing something uncanny. I crouched down from the roof I was standing on top of and repositioned myself. Its gonna be a long night. I let my hands slip to the grip of my gun handle; it had a warm sensation and brought comfort to me. I had been waiting for this day and was training. I had reached for the gun I had on my other holster, it didn't have the same traditional feel of the handgun I had but it brought me comfort as well. I was set for this mission. By now you must be wondering what I'm talking about, or who I am. My name is Adam Henning. And you have probably guessed it by now, but what I'm doing is not what you would consider a normal job. I'm planning to assassinate someone, simple and plain. Why I'm doing it is according to my own decision, I wasn't hired, although the fact that I was planning to kill someone bothered me, the fact that I was killing someone for someone else bothered me even more. I'm doing this because I have a will to do so; in this city people aren't always honest. Especially when you're a politician who takes bribes, in this part of town, you have to be stupid to be caught wandering the streets thinking that someone doesn't have dirt on you. This isn't the place for pretty boy suitcase carrying pansies, this is what danger manifested to be, this is where real terror is. A place where walking the streets could lead to your death, where you couldn't keep a secret without it being found out, where you have to fight to continue fighting. Wait, that didn't sound right, but either way the point, is, if you're living here than you're going to need a backbone, and hopefully some guns. They call this little hell hole, Courtlyn. Don't know the reason why, but it's where I've grown up. Learnt that living a weakling means not living at all, I learned to defend myself, and now I'm fighting back. Fighting for what exactly, although the reasoning may be off and I may have stretched it, but right now this is what I think is right, and for that, I say to hell to anyone who thinks otherwise, this is my life, and I'm going to decide how I'm going to live it. For now, it may just be a way of earning some quick cash, and to rid this city of the un needy pests that it has, not saying that I have to get rid of everyone considering this entire city is full of ass holes wandering the streets, but for now, the ones I deem important, for the most part, Courtlyn can rather be peaceful, and crimes happen seldom, but with a well-known politician, well known for taking bribes decides to drop by, I can't ignore it. I may have contradicted myself, but that's how it goes, you go out with a lot of gang fights and crimes but sometimes it hardly happens, sometimes you get used to it and no one really cares anymore, it's what this city is known for, who's going to stop it now.

  I sit in quietness waiting for my target, Bruce Hading, to step out of the electronics store he entered across the street. I had tailed him here about an hour ago and now this idiot is holing up in there. But I can't just abandon him now, I need money. My plan was to tail him to the place he's staying, kill him take his stuff and get out of there leaving no trace. I may sound cocky now, but trust me when I say I know what I'm doing. I lean backwards staring up at the sky. Although this is my first time being serious about being a hitman, I feel more nervous than excited. But ill soon swallow that nervousness, sometimes the only thing you need on the job, is excitement. I hear a door swing open across the street.

  I quickly lean forward, still hiding on top of the restaurant roof I'm laying on. Yes, he's here that ass took an hour, and I'm making him pay for wasting my time. He walks down the street. I lay quietly and slowly stride my way across the roof, preparing myself to get onto the next roof. Bruce takes a turn. I take out my grappler, a clawed hoof attached to a rope. I then leap forward off the roof I was hiding on and throw the grappler to the next roof, I feel the hook attaching itself onto the edge of the roof and I slide and position myself onto the side of the building while climbing up the rope. I take my grappler and put it back in my duffle bag, and race across to find Bruce. There he is, walking towards his car, not knowing that he's being stalked, or does he. I didn't know at the moment, but either way it wasn't as easy as I thought. Bruce approached his car and out came a man in a black suit; he looked menacing with his sunglasses and appearance, bodyguards.

  "Damn."

  Well, I guess I'm going to have to take him out with a fight. Bruce opens the back doors of his car and steps inside. I moved quickly because this was the only time I had. I grabbed the gun I had on my left holster, my detector. It had a gun butt which featured its trigger and a space in the middle for me to handle it; its length was slightly larger than that of a regular handgun, like the one in my right holster, but it was enough for me to get a custom holster for it. The end of my detector pointed outwards and was thin; its magazine was replaced with a chamber where I would place a tiny tracking device in it. I steadied my aim as I watched the car rev up. The engines were roaring. My eyes lined up to where I wanted to shoot. The car lights started. My finger was on the trigger. The car slowly moved back. My hand moved forward. And in an instant, before the car had even begun to drive forward, I pulled the trigger, and satisfyingly the red dot indicating a moving target was up on my tracking screen. I would use the follower, which is what I called my tracking device, to pinpoint exact locations using GPS like methods when my target stopped moving. Of course I was instantly getting readings of its location constantly, but of course since it's in a moving car, I would ignore all of them until I got readings of a location with an extended period of them not moving. I sat back and relaxed, this is the part where I just play the waiting game. I took out a small device in my duffle bag and loaded it in my detector. I put it back in its holster and replaced it with another handgun from my duffle bag. I took out a sheathe with a knife inside of it and attached it to my belt. I took a few hand grenades as well. It was gonna be a long night.

  I had finally found a reading with Bruce's car parked. Cranbridge avenue, Hotel. A two-hour walk from here, but if I take the roof path then I would be there in no time. I took out my grappling equipment from my duffle bag. Other than my grappler, I had other devices that allowed movement to be much nicer among these roofs. A rectangular arm attachme
nt that shot out grappling hooks, my dual grapplers, I mounted two of them on my arms and began my journey. Shooting grappling hook after grappling hook, climbing up walls of buildings and running across roofs. I hate this part of my job, having to go to the target, but then again going by car would blow my cover, I had to use the cover of night if I was going to be doing this secretly. But of course I knew that once I finish my job with Bruce id be known as a killer, or rather a murderer, but really, it's just with a politician who takes bribes, I mean who really cares.

  I reach the hotel, but of course finding out which room he was staying in is going to be a pain. I call the hotel from the roof of a building that gave me a nice view of the place.

  "Hello."

  "Hello, Cranbridge Hotel how may I help you?"

  "I'm just here to inquire about Bruce Hading's room number, I'm going to be arriving soon and he hasn't told me yet.”

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm his friend, he told me to meet him at the hotel.”

  "Well, I can't give you his room number on the phone.”

  Of course it wouldn't be this easy, jeez, fine. "Well I'll be there soon, so I'll ask then, bye." I hang up; of course no one is going to believe that crappy story. Well, I can always sneak into the hotel and check each room for him, but that will take forever. I quickly scan the hotel looking for any source of light. I see a few rooms with lights peeking thought the curtains. There isn't too many, I guess I should check those out. I do a few calculations and get five room numbers. Floor one, two rooms, first room on the left, and the eighth room to the left, floor three, fifth room to the left, floor six, second room to the left, and floor two, tenth room to the left. I think for a second, and I decide to check out the rooms in descending order. I maneuver my way through a couple of more roofs and end up on a building almost exactly beside the hotel. I grappler my way onto a mini balcony being as quiet as possible, and make my way on top of the roof. I find the emergency roof door, if I break this open it should lead to the stairs into the hotel. I take out my door hacking tools out of my duffle bag, in other words I take out a small gun with the basic appearance of a handgun with the only difference being a small attachment under the muzzle. I turned the gun on. Yes, I turned it on. By flipping the hammer, I then pressed the trigger and the small attachment began cutting through the door, it was a laser shooter. The muzzle was there for show, it didn't really shoot out any bullets. I made a nice circle through the door. I took out my no fingerprint gloves and pushed it down. I then slowly descended the stairs.

  I had reached the sixth floor and began counting, second room to the left. Here it is, room 610. 610, what a weird-ass numbering system, but let's assume that Bruce is in here. Of course I wasn't going to knock on the door knowing Bruce has bodyguards, but a gunfight will pop out for sure, how do I do this secretly. I could always throw a hand grenade, but I don't need collateral damage. I don't want to get innocents involved. It wasn't part of the job description, I must not get innocents involved, this is a battle between me and Bruce, no one else has to shed blood, no one has to get involved. I had my knife ready at drawing point and knocked on the door, no response. I waited for a while and then proceeded to leave, but at that moment the door had opened, and bingo, I found em. The bodyguard I had seen had opened the door and asked me.

  "What business do you have here?"

  He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Perfect. I say

  "I'm just here to inquire about Bruce Hadings stay here."

  Ah, who am I kidding, before I even let him speak I draw my knife and slice his throat. I grab onto his body and very gently lay it down. God damn, I'm way too lucky today, found him on the first try and I even took the first blood, looks like this is going to be easy. I then knock on the door again, expecting his second bodyguard to come again. And he does, and by god this is so easy, I quickly stab him in his heart, my knife plunging deep into his chest, the blood flowing out and dripping. I quickly undraw and kick him in front of the doorway accompanied by a loud thud. I then concentrate. THERE, footsteps to my right, I draw out my handgun using my left hand and point in that direction with the confused Bruce standing there. I step inside and close the door behind me.

  "Well, if it isn't the little politician, your bodyguards were useless, this is child's play, next time you might want to toughen up your security, well there is no next time for you."

  As if I'm going to bother listening to what he has to say. I throw my knight straight at his chest, he screams and I quickly go up to him and drawback my knife. I stare at him as the blood flows down his chest and onto the floor, I kick him where the knife hit him for a few moments, watching as he hails in pain. And after a while, he stops. He was screaming pretty loudly, gotta get out fast. I rummage the place quickly taking money and anything I found valuable. The one thing about the Cambridge hotel is that it doesn't have room cameras. Amateurs. This is the most horrible place to die, and you, Bruce Hading had the honor to be my first victim, clearly you weren't snuffed enough for the industry of killing, because something like this, I could have pulled off when I was a kid. I opened the window and then began my climb up the roof. I then left the hotel roof and began my journey back to my place. Tonight was a good night, my first day on the job, but little did I know, it was also the start of a road paved with tragedy.

  Chapter 2

  The birds were chirping and the sun seeped through my windows. I wake up to the dog calls across the streets and take a big yawn. I turn on the news while doing my daily routine.

  "Bruce Hading, found dead yesterday."

  I laugh, he was a good one, this payload will last me a while. I lived in a small apartment in the middle of nowhere, rather, it was an abandoned building and I took over it. It served as my base of operations, and it was completely free. I look over my desk to see my two handguns. One is coated in velvet red and it glistened in the sunlight, it had a blue rose in the middle of its barrel, and a yellow square on its grip. My Blue bird, I got it custom made and it was amazing during practices. My second-hand gun, Vendetta, the grip was white with one red spot on each side. The barrel was all black and had a wavy streak down the middle. With Blue bird and Vendetta I could do anything. I grab them both and my knife and head out. If I had found a target, then I would wait till night, for now, I'm just going out. I open the back doors out of the abandoned building, Canex, and leave.

  I needed some more custom magazines and to pick up some items. Once you get to know Courtlyn long enough you would know who to go to when you needed some firepower. My favorite would be the arms dealer; Max. No one knew what his last name was, and frankly it didn't matter. Max supplied and that's all that mattered. He operated under the radar, but once you found him he supplied amazing stuff. I navigated the back alleys and soon found a manhole. I opened it and descended my way down to the sewers. I navigated my way through the sewers until I saw a big bronze door with a nameplate. Max. I knocked on the door. Waited for a minute, knocked again, then I drew in a breath and chanted. I sighed and took a moment to disprove the ridiculous password. Surely there could have been something cooler, but then again, it's Max's. I heard two clicking noises and then the door opened, and max was standing there with his dirty clothing holding out a gun he was cleaning. He had a buff build with grey hair and a scruffy beard, and spoke in a deep voice.

  "Yo, Adam, been a while."

  I walked inside of his shop, gun parts were scattered everywhere on his workbench behind the counter and the walls were stacked with guns and parts. There were also a few explosives and a few melee weapons. I walked over to a rack with handgun parts and looked at the various attachments and modifications, while Max went to the back of the store to get something out of a box labeled "Custom". Max went back to the counter with a small enclosed box and said.

  "I'm surprised you have the money for this."

  "Well, I got lucky."

  I handed him the cash and he started to type on his keyboard, he monitored sales and a
lways kept a computer on the counter. While typing he said,

  "Hey, you made the news today, killed that politician."

  "Heh, how did you know it was me?"

  "Well you already know the answer, word gets around fast, trying to get yourself a name?"

  "Times are tough Max, gotta start somewhere."

  "I heard it was a one-sided fight"

  "Well it wasn't my fault that my first time was gonna be so bad."

  "Well, started from the bottom and that's how most gangs were, guess you should be hitting the big fish soon."

  "Yea I hope, but he seriously was a big payload."

  Word got out fast, but I wasn't surprised, once you get into the crime industry in Courtlyn, your only one step closer from being known to everyone, and one step closer to being a target for someone else. Max finished and said

  "Is that all?"

  "Yea, I'll be going now, take care."

  "Hey wait, did you hear about Maple street?"

  "Maple Street, what about it?"

  "Apparently some shady figures are dealing imported drugs to locals there and even a few members of the Jollows have taken some."

  Gang names were always stupid, couldn't understand how they even get the notions for these dumb names. Well, a couple of drug dealers isn't much, I can just let the Jollows take care of them.

  "Drug dealers huh, not my critique, ill just let someone else handle em."

  "That's the problem, I heard the Jollow's tested the drugs and figured out that it's been modified to infect the people who take them."

  What is this? A zombie story?.

  "An infection, what about it?"

  "Apparently it works in the same way as a zombie virus, they would be controlled by the virus and then start biting people and passing on the infection."

  Are you serious? "Hey Max, how much have they sold so far?"

  "Enough to start a mass spread infection across Courtlyn, and get this, apparently the infected still retain intelligence, so this ain't no run of the mill zombie crisis."