"Think his wife loves him?”

It sounded like sizzling meat. Everything was dull and grayish, and the blurry, swimming mass that veiled the world was making it really hard to line up my shot. I was cold and wet.

“Please only use comms for relevant things.”

I sighed. “Relevant. The target has not changed position for three hours. The weather has negatively impacted both my aim and my ability to adequately respond to an enemy sneaking up on me. Risk of hypothermia is steadily rising. I want to go home.”

“Sooner we finish here, sooner we can get out of this dump. Stop complaining and focus.”

“Don’t patronize me.” It was hard to zone out with Grout blabbing in my ear. Annoying, since the alternative was to stare at a window 300 meters away and really take in the sensation of raindrops splattering against my clothes. That or let my mind wander, which was counterproductive and stressful.

My trigger finger was getting numb. Truly miserable.

Movement behind the window I was watching. Wrong person. That made six times now.

Johnny Muller was taunting me. He knew we were after him, and instead of running away, he was just sitting in some lounge, waiting for us to bore ourselves to death. He was just bitter that his wife didn’t love him. Neither did any of his three adopted children. Really, he was a horrible person, and we were doing the world a favor by splattering his brains against the wall of his favorite club.

I shifted around slightly to get my blood flowing better. I wondered what Johnny Muller’s wife and three adopted children really thought about him. I reminded myself that the target’s personal details were irrelevant.

I focused on the window. I took in the sensation of rain on my clothing. I listened to the sizzling of the drops hitting the buildings.

My breathing slowed and became regular. My heart rate slowed. My eyes tunnel visioned. I zoned out.

Movement. Not the target. Waiting. Movement. Not the target. Waiting. Movement. Not the target. More movement. Not the target. Waiting. Movement.

The target.

BANG

“Target eliminated.”

I took a very deep breath as my normal thought processes started back up and I waited for Grout to say-

“Mission complete. Let’s get out of this dump.”