Everybody Dies; It's Just a Matter of When and Where

“Happy one year anniversary honey” Sarcasm dripped off of every word that Zack spoke. Danielle rolled her eyes as she pulled the lightweight jacket off of her shoulders and David turned away from his computer to look at the two bicker. This was common; Zack and Danielle would bitch and fight all the time. He resented her for getting him into the business and frankly speaking he would get on her nervous when he started complaining.

“What the fuck are you talking about Baker?” She sat down next to David, knowing that he had a new assignment for her to do. Danielle was the best spy and assassin out there and more often then not, customers requested her. Part of the reason as to why she was hunted was because she was so good and her old company hated the fact that she left them for another one.

“Oh come on. You know so much, you should remember what happened one year ago!” Danielle knew exactly what he was talking about from the moment he opened his mouth but she didn’t want to give into him. The more she went along with him, the more he bitched.

“Zack, piss off. I have a lot of work to do and I’m not going to play these games with you today.” He put his hand on his chest, right over his heart, and let an over exaggerated gasp pass his lips.

“I’m so offended Danielle. How could you not remember that one year ago you kidnapped me to save your own ass.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to face him.

“Let’s get one thing straight, I did not kidnap you. When we got to Oxford, England I told you that you could go. I also warned you that since the other guys know what you look like, you might have a price on your head. You had the choice of going back home but you choose to come with me. You choose to be a part of this world remember that I didn’t force you to join this world.“ Zach sighed as he sat down and placed his elbows on the table and ran his hands through his hair. He was tired, he was annoyed but more than anything else he missed his home.

“I’m sorry D, I just miss home. I wanna go back but I’m so far in this vile world that I just can’t.” She felt bad for him, she really did. Though they pushed each other’s buttons all the time Danielle cared for Zach as much as she could care for a person in this world. “And you know what I don’t get, is why those assholes are after me? Was it something that I said to them that got them hating me? No, it was just me sitting in the wrong seat on a damn plane.”

“Zack don’t think about it that way. We all need to find our way and where we belong in this world. I joined after both of my parents were murdered, but believe me that I haven’t been back to see my brother and sister in the past six years.” Picking his head up he looked at me and his eyes told me that he wasn’t fully cut out for this world. Not everyone can do this. You can be the toughest person on the planet and not be able to survive here. You needed to lack a certain amount of morality and humility.

“I think you’re an amazing person Danielle and I think that you do your job better then anyone else but were trapped in his vile, disgusting world. No-one get’s out of here alive and everyone meets the same end, we all die at someone’s hand.” His depressed mood was getting her down and she couldn’t deal with this.

“Yeah, Yeah, I know all spies die young. I know you did all of your research on that but I plan to not be a statistic and I hope you got the same goal.” He leaned back in the chair and starred at the ceiling, something was clearly bothering him.

“Yup, we all die young. Isn’t it ironic that we spend our career killing people yet we die in the same manner that we work in? A bullet to the head or some other sick twisted way.” Danielle rolled her eyes as she pushed herself out of her chair and grabbed the papers for her next assignment and walked over to Zack.

Getting up to him she ran her fingers through his hair as she leaned down to plant a kiss on his lips. “Stop being all depressed and come help me with this assignment. It’s kind of big and I can’t do it on my own.” She mumbled against his lips and he knew it was a lie. There wasn’t an assignment that she couldn’t do, the only reason she did ask him to come was to get his mind out of the rut. Putting his left hand on the back of her neck he pulled her face down to kiss her perfect plump lips again. He didn’t hesitate to ask her for entrance with his tongue and she didn’t deny him, she never could. They didn’t date, the bickering that they always did would be unhealthy for a relationship and to be frank, Danielle was never a relationship kind of girl. They periodically slept together and shared kisses when they wanted each other to forget about the world that they lived in; but they never dated.

“All right guys, pull apart because you already are running somewhat late for this mission.” David told them as they pulled away from the kiss. Looking at her Dior watch she took note of the time and realized that if they left now, she would have just enough time to set up.

“Going Boss.” She told David and patted Zack on the shoulder. “Let’s go before David has a fit and blows a vein in his head.” With that both Zack and Danielle got up and headed for the door. They didn’t need to worry about the weapons or the camouflage; they always had it stored in the car of wherever it is that they were at the time.



“Zach, set up the second sniper rifle in the North East window, while I set this one up.” Danielle told him as she put together the tripod. Everything had to be up and running
within the next half hour because that’s when Donalhugh was to come out of his meeting and that’s when they were supposed to end him. He was a big time executive of an up and coming Oil Company. He was new competition that no one wanted; he had to be eliminated. This job was supposed to get Danielle a clean million and with that money she planned to take a six-month vacation.

“Everything is set up over there. I guess all we could do now is wait.” Zack said as he slid down the wall. He pulled his left leg closer to his chest and rested his left elbow on it while running his fingers through his hair. Danielle followed suit, but sat down on floor straight across from him. The building was abandoned for several years now; they knew no one would barge in here unless it was drunken teenagers doing stupid things.

“You said your family is in California right.” Zack nodded as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Danielle rarely smoked, only when she was stressed or nervous and at this moment a cigarette seemed like a damn good idea. Reaching her hand out and without a question Zach handed her one.

“In the year that I’ve known you I’ve only seen you smoke three times, now being the fourth.” He told her as he took another pull from his cancer stick.

She shrugged as she lit up her cigarette enjoying the rare feeling of it. “What can I say, sometimes you just need one to deal with the stress.” He nodded his head and she looked out the window, seeing if their target was out yet.

“Listen, I’m getting a good pay day for this hit, a very, very good pay day and I’m going to go on vacation with that money. I’m going to go on vacation for six months with that money. If you want to come with me I can try to get us to see your folks. I can’t promise you that you’ll see them. We have to make sure that no-one is following us, we don’t want to put your folks into a risky situation.” Zach turned his head to look at her, but she continued to look out the window. She was in deep thought and he understood why. In this world you had to forget about old friend and family. Seeing anyone that wasn’t in this business, meant you ran the risk of having them killed.

“That sounds good. At least we can try to see them and if not just seeing them from far away and knowing they are well would be good too.” Danielle nodded her head and Zack smiled taking anything that he could. He put the cigarette out on the cement floor and Danielle quickly pushed herself off of the floor.

“Donalhugh just left the meeting. He should be in position in five minutes.” She said as she took her position behind her sniper. Zach didn’t go to the other gun, it was just a back up plan, a safety net in case she missed; but they both knew that she wouldn’t miss, she was the best in the field.

“Step away from the window Danielle.” They heard the cock of the gun and Zach froze while Danielle cursed lightly under her breath. She knew that this day would happen sooner or later, she was just hoping for the second. She slowly stepped away from her gun, trying to figure out a way of saving her own life as well as Zack’s. She knew she had to act quick if she wanted to live. She turned around and looked into Mark’s eyes, not shocked that it was him. She always saw him as a traitor.

“Turn around Zack before you get your brains blown out.” She told him and when Zack’s eyes made contact with Mark anger surged through his body.

“What the fuck? Mark, I thought you were a friend.” A smirk tugged onto Mark’s lips and he couldn’t help as a chuckle passed his lips.

“You should know by this point that you can’t have friends in this field, am I not right Danielle?” She rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall.

“No Mark, you can have friends you just gotta know who to keep close and who to keep a close eye on. We both know we keep our friends close and our enemies closer.” He smirked as he motioned with his gun for her to come to him and without question she went. She didn’t want him to kill her before she had a chance to protect herself.

“Yeah and in his industry everyone is your enemy.” She smirked as she disagreed with him.

“No, in this industry we make enemies. Our enemies are the friends and families of the men and women we kill. Just because we are used to death and murder and this bullshit, does not mean we have to be cold hearted and make enemies with everyone. We choose our own path and I can tell which one you choose.” A growl passed his lips and Mark picked his gun up in the air and slammed the butt down on Danielle’s head, making her fall to the floor, blooding dripping down her face. Zack made a move to go help her but Mark quickly aimed his gun at Zack’s head. One shot and he would be dead, everyone knew that Mark was a good marksmen; he never missed his target.

“Not another move Baker or you’ll die as well.” He told Zack as he leaned down and looked Danielle in the eyes. She was terrified; she wasn’t ready to die. She was still young and still had a lot of things that she had yet to do. But Danielle was a strong woman; she didn’t let what was on the inside be seen on the outside.

“Cowards turn against their own company and their own people. I guess that’s all you are.” A growl passed Mark’s lips again and he slammed the butt of the gun down on her head again and an involuntary groan passed Danielle’s lips.

“Not when the price on your head is so high. I can retire for the rest of my life after I kill you. This is just me doing what we all want, getting out of this god forsaken field of work.” Mark told Danielle as he crouched down by Danielle’s head. She had been a friend at one point, but now there was no time for friends. He had to get out of this field.

Zack stood at the other end of the room paralyzed. He didn’t know what to do because none of his training prepared him for this. Sure he was good and sure he was strong, but Mark was the best male in the field while Danielle was the best female. He didn’t stand a chance against him and frankly speaking his year of experience was useless at this point. He couldn’t shoot someone he thought of as a friend and that was why he wasn’t cut out for this world; he didn't lack morality.

He was pulled out of his trance as he watched Danielle kick Mark in the head and he fell backwards. She quickly pushed herself up from the floor and reached for the small handgun that was tucked away in the back of her pants. All spies carried one back there as a back up plan in case anything went wrong. But before she could aim at Mark, he took his shot and the bullet perfectly landed between her eyes and her body crumbled down to the floor like a rag doll. Zack’s body jerked to run over to Danielle, but Mark quickly pointed the gun to Zack’s head and he froze in his spot.

“I’m not killing you. You’re worthless to me in multiple ways. Remember that this is all business.” With that Mark tucked his gun away into his jacket and leaned down, ripping the necklace that always hung around Danielle’s neck. It was her mother’s engagement ring, the only thing she ever held dear to her. Walking to the exit he grabbed the camera that he had sat up by the entrance into the room. He needed proof that he had killed Danielle, proof apart from the news covering.

“Let this be a warning to you, there is no such thing as friends in this line of work. There are only enemies and mortal enemies. You get to choose which though.” With that Mark walked out of the room, slamming the door and Zack ran over to Danielle’s body, collapsing next to her. Sure they had their problems and they argued like no tomorrow, but she was what kept him sane in this world of insanity. Her blood seeped into his clothes as he held her head, not really knowing what to do. None of his training prepared him for this.

Closing her eyes, he quickly packed up the guns that they unpacked. He didn’t care for the mission anymore; none of that money mattered anymore. When everything was packed, he left the bags by the door as he walked back over to Danielle. Reaching into her pockets, he took out her wallet, making sure there was no identification on her. He took the ring that she wore on her left middle finger and the bracelet that matched it. She never took it off; it was something that she cherished.

Grabbing her hand, he felt the lack of heat that it already held. Squeezing it he let a lone tear slip his eyes. There was no pulse inside of her anymore, she left this world and his course was now unknown. He knew that no matter how many times he would close his eyes to sleep, this image would never leave his mind. With that anger surged through this body and he looked back down at the body that once had so much life in it.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you. I know that in the end all of us meet the same thing in the end; we all die. But you died young and I promise you, that even if it takes me a lifetime, Mark will pay.” With that Zack pushed himself off of the floor and put his sunglasses over his eyes. He knew that he had to prove to his agency that it was Mark and not him that killed the best agent out there; but he didn’t have to worry about that for long. Hours after he got back and of interrogation, Mark and his newfound company sent them the video of Danielle’s murder and the plan for revenge was put into place.