Kill Contract

Breakout | 7

The cargo ship docked the next day, a little after noon. Austin checked the port action and after a minute we snuck out.

"Welcome to China." Austin announced, jogging ahead.

Bright red and blue containers dotted the port, in contrast to the towering gray skyscrapers and apartment buildings that greeted us gloomily. Traffic droned on in our ears.

"Now what?" I asked once we got out of plain sight.

A man on the dock had seen us and started yelling things but hadn't decided to chase us. Yet.

"China's not a good place to stay." Austin muttered aloud. "We gotta get out of here, far from Asia. Airplane is out of the question because I left my passport-" he growled, "at the hotel."

"But how're we ever going to get back to England?" I said. "Or America. If you don't have legal documents and stuff?"

Austin looked away in thought.

"First of all I'm going to need to contact the agency. Tell them about the mission, that I need a fake passport or something to get me back. If they want me back. Point is we gotta keep moving. If we stay too long they might recognize us- I mean, me. Who knows if I made the news or something."

Austin looked over his shoulder.

"I think we can afford a train. And I know a place we can go to safely inform the agency."

-------

The train station was packed. Chinese signs were plasted everywhere. And people flowed like a thick stream of dark colors and bulky backpacks.

For once, I didn't struggle to keep up with Austin. We were both having a hard time understanding the situation.

I was trying to to access Google Translate despite my fidgety connection while Austin gesticulated at the ticket booth.

The foreign droning of a TV didn't help.

"Shèntòu zhě zài píngrǎng gōngdiàn fāxiàn" said the presenter. A fuzzy image of someone in a black suit sulking in a hallway flashed on screen.

Austin took a look at that and instantly got edgy. He combed down his hair and kept his face low as we got the tickets.

"Well, I made the news." He muttered to me as we raced down to the platform. I eyed the security guards nervously.

"Let's get outta here."

-------

I shot a glance at the rest of the wagon. It was quite crowded. We were lucky to have a couple empty seats around us. Foreigner coldness, maybe?

I leaned closer to Austin and whispered the one thing that had still been bugging me since he came into my life.

"Why did you save me?"

Austin stared at his feet with eyebrows furrowed.

"I...I wouldn't call it saving..."

He shrugged. "You were the only tool I had to escape. But after all, why not? At least I've done one good thing in this mission." He finished bitterly.

"One good thing? Weren't you on a mission to free the people of North Korea or something- the mission!" I remembered with a jolt. "Did you succeed?"

"No."

"You didn't?!" I said in shock.

"I don't know!" Austin wrung his hands in the air.

"How- what- how can you not know?" I lowered my voice. "Did you kill him?"

"I don't know if I killed him. I shot at him, emptied the whole magazine."

"Did you miss?"

Austin's face fell. "I never miss." He said gravely.

"It's just the shots probably weren't fatal. Then I got swarmed by the all guards and argh-"

Austin looked away.

"You don't know how it feels like. To fail. On a mission of this magnitude.

On a- a life long trained mission, to- to continue to kill people, kill more people to make up for any mistake I do.

I'm running away. I know. The operation was too extreme from the start. But I could've done it.
I really could have! And I didn't. Look where I am now. Running away. I just-"

Austin dropped his head in his hands.

"I feel like a piece of sh- a piece of dirt."

I lowered my eyes and breathed in his silence. The train had been rattling on the tracks for half an hour; a steady swaying and jostling as we sped on the rails.

Neverending gray skyscrapers loomed past us.

"Well..."

My eyes fell on Austin's shoes.

"You're a piece of gold to me. I mean, who knows how long I would be stuck in Korea if it hadn't been for you. Years. Imagine that."

A shiver ran up my spine. "They were close to considering elimination."

"You're welcome." Austin said softly.

I leaned on his shoulder and we stared out in silence.