“We are here today to announce the release of Steven Jamison of Strike Team 32” played out Steven’s phone speakers for the third time that day. It had been 1 year and 23 days since his release from Strike Team 32 and he still hadn’t forgiven himself for it. He had crushed all his dreams that one day. It was all because of fear. He hated fear. He buried his head in his hands, remembering the day. He had abandoned his best friend and partner, his only companion, because of fear. He had seen his friend, Brian, take a gunshot to the leg, and he thought he had lost him. His mind a swirl of emotion, he ran out of the battle scene as fast as possible. He had always been taught that abandoning was wrong, and anyone who was abandoned was required to be released. And that is exactly what had happened to Steven.

Now, Steven’s entire life had changed, and it surely wasn’t for the better. He had moved into a tiny apartment in the middle of San Francisco, for only $100 rent. He had gotten caught up in many illegal activities, and nearly every day he had mental breakdown in which he would just lie down, and realize what he had done to his life. Today had been an especially bad day, and Steven realized that if he got caught up in another mental breakdown, he would be late to his “friend”, Jack’s house. Steven honestly hated Jack. He only spent time with Jack because Jack was rich and usually provided Steven with whatever he needs.

Steven broke free of his emotions and thoughts, and walked out the door of his one-room apartment, hoodie up, eyes down, and went to see Jack.

He arrived at Jack’s house at 1:12, twelve minutes after he was supposed to arrive.

“You’re late.” Jack said, motioning his hands in an impatient way.

“Yeah, I know,” Steven said, keeping his eyes down as to not make eye contact with Jack, “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Well,” Jack said, motioning to his computer screen, which was sitting on a table, “I found this house,” he scrolled down a bit to a picture of a massive mansion. “I got in contact with some hackers and they got into the security cams and computers.  The owners left yesterday and won’t be back for a week, they’re only leaving a few guards. I was wondering if you wanted to head down there and get some cash.” He saìd mischievously.
“Sure, why not” Steven said, he needed the money anyway. Without another word, Jack slipped on his leather hoodie and walked out the door. I walked out the door behind Jack, slamming it closed. They both walked, heads down, hands in pocket, to the neighborhood.

It was a gated community, so they had to jump the fence, which wasn’t difficult. After a five minute walk, they arrived at the house and devised a plan. Steven would go around the back of the house and take out the guards back there, and Jack would do the same in the front. They would clear out the house, each taking anything valuable they found, then meet up in the middle and run. It was a pretty basic tactic, but a strong one nonetheless.

Steven went into the woods surrounding the house, and looped around to the back. He peered through the trees, trying to get a eyes on some guards, but none were in sight. After a few minutes of waiting, he made the decision to advance towards the massive sliding glass door. He tried the door, locked. He looked around for some form of entrance and located a window, half opened. On the other side of the window sat two guards, looking bored and tired. They must’ve opened to window to air the place out a bit. Big mistake. Steven pulled out a few throwing knives from his belt and took out the guards with ease. He vaulted through the window without a noise, and checked the guards for anything useful. He took the first guard’s pistol off his belt, it could come in handy if he was caught. He swept through the next few rooms, taking down any guards in his way with ease.

After a few minutes, he arrived at the master bedroom. This was the room that Jack claimed had the safe in it. He snuck into the room and to his surprise, there were no guards. He went immediately to the safe punched in the numbers 8708, the numbers the hackers had given them. The safe made a loud beep and opened. The beep caused Steven to jump in fright. He knew guards would be heading his way at any time now, the beep was awfully loud. Steven quickly grabbed the contents of the safe put them in his duffel bag, and made his way towards the exit. He only made it about 7 steps when he was spotted by a guard. The guard quickly said something into his radio, probably alerting the others, and drew his gun. “Don’t take another step or I will shoot.” Steven immediately froze and lifted his hands, but there was not a single worry in his mind.  He knew how to deal with these types of situations. The guard took a few steps, not lowering his pistol even a centimeter. Once he was within arms distance of Steven he took one hand off his pistol and reached down for his handcuffs. That’s when Steven struck. With his left hand, he swung at the guards gun to knock his aim off. With his right hand, he drew his own gun and fired at the guard’s chest. A perfect killing shot. The guard fell down with a loud thump, his protective gear falling off his face in the process. Steven got a good look at his face and realized who this was.

Brian, his old friend was lying on the ground, lifeless. Steven couldn’t believe his eyes. Then it all came back to him. The feeling of fear, of loss, and of hopelessness. Steven dropped the bag of valuables and turned and ran as fast as he could, ignoring the shouts of guards. He got out of the house and kept running. He felt the same feeling he had felt when he ran from the battle scene.  He ran until he couldn’t run anymore. He couldn’t get the image of Brian’s lifeless face, eyes rolled up into his head, out of his mind. Then he passed out.
He woke up an hour later, still feeling the pain of regret and loss. Then, he snapped to reality and realized where he was. He was sitting in the back of a police car, handcuffed, with Jack in the seat next to him