I licked my lips as I trained my sights on the fleeing hyena, his scared and flailing hostage flung over his shoulder. Arrogant bastard was part of a much larger group of terrorists that had staged brutal attacks across the city. It seemed like this group had men everywhere, my near constant reloading a testament to that fact. I don't miss.

This last guy was fleeing through a crowded stadium, furs running and screaming everywhere. The situation demanded the utmost care. His hostage just happened to be the president's daughter, and I was hearing scattered reports over the radio that this group had both him and the First Lady in separate locations.

"Take the shot! You're running out of time," a frantic voice called out behind me.

"I know, waiting for the right moment. I miss this shot and I could accidentally kill the hostage," I grunted.

The moment finally arrived, the flag I'd been watching finally lowered, a sign the cross winds had finally died down. Immediately zeroing in on my target I said a silent prayer, held my breath, and squeezed the trigger.

It was like time slowed to a crawl. I watched the bullet sail through the air straight towards the fleeing villain. I watched with grim satisfaction as it hit him in the back of the head, right between the ears.

LEVEL COMPLETE!

Cheers erupted behind me as I grinned and grabbed my soda. Had drawn quite the crowd, and a couple admirers it looked like as well. Looking at the time on my phone, I turned around and poked the first kid I saw in the chest, a tall mouse. "Think you can take over for me soldier? My movie is about to start."

He stuttered something to the affirmative and I dropped a few tokens in his hand before ruffling his hair and headed towards the theater entrance.

I looked around the food court for Erica and finally spotted her exiting the arcade. "What were you doing? I thought you were going to wait out here until I finished."

"Just got done also. I beat Time Crisis."

I blinked. "But I only gave you one token!"

She glanced over her shoulder, to where her name flashed at the top of the high score screen of the game, and shrugged. "You reload infinite ammo by just ducking and enemies pop out of cover like shooting gallery ducks. I only wish real war was that easy."

I stared at her for a second before laughing. I love days off with friends.

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Artwork by  Jacqumo
Erica Decker/War Wolf (mentioned) by  vivavulpes
Jessica McCalister/Vesara by  GameGod210