It catches up to all of us eventually. From those of the gentlest birth, to those most common, we all bite the bullet at some point. Not many people get to write about it after the fact, but such is the beauty of A Friendly Game of Assassin, which will start just a few hours from now.
I remember the first day of the last game like it was yesterday ( it was just a few months ago after all). I had drawn Ajesh, who I mentioned in the first post, but there was also the fact that I was being hunted as well. I had allowed attacks at my job (and will be allowing them again this game) and on that day I expected to get ambushed either at work or along the way.
This had nothing to do with reality, mind you. In my head that first day, with nothing else to go on, I simply transferred my own strategy of striking quick into my Assassin's brain. Walking to work, I clutched a Triad, kept my backpack open and my Strongarm in reach, looking into each hidey-hole, crevice and alley I passed, all while looking over my shoulder after every few steps.
I must have looked like a complete lunatic, which is to say in San Francisco, is fairly normal.
I was on edge like that until I got my first kill about a week later. As stated, before I took down Ajesh and even after Ben, I still figured that when someone came, they would have a semi-intricate plan. But after Tyrone and Skylar, I had a more realistic view: when it happened, it would be quick, there would be little fore thought on the part of the assassin and I most likely would happen when I wasn't paying any attention.
My fifth target was a guy I play Nerf games with all the time, a super-enthusiast named Eric. Eric was the first guy I ever saw use a Nerf blowgun (very effectively at that) and he helped me learned the ropes when I first started organizing. Like the others I respected his prowess. However, Eric had a somewhat bad habit of feeling comfortable around me (don't know what's up with that). A couple of days after acquiring him as a target, we both played at a game of Jericho. Post game, a group of us got some burgers and hung out way longer than the 30 minute grace period that was extended after Nerf games. He exposed himself to attacks a few times after the grace period and genuinely didn't seem to know I was hunting him. Remembering back to shooting Ben following HvZ in Dolores Park, I didn't want to be Dr. Buzzkill again. Even though he gave me a good opportunity post game to take him out, I balked.
Flash forward to a couple of weeks later and I'm hosting the first game of Tactical Ops. Attendance was a little low, but the awesome players that came out, Eric definitely included, combined with the venue made the game my favorite that I've hosted. I had a plan to bring myself to kill Eric after the game, simply because I hadn't had any chance before and wouldn't get another one for a while. I had a foam combat knife, made out of a flip flop to do the job.
There was someone who was looking to toss a wrench in my plans: Trevor Holminski, the guy I was co-hosting the game with. A very energetic, accurate shooting young man of 18 years old, Trevor wanted to kill everyone in the game. I was part of that everyone, co-host be damned. He had remained silent on the issue of my Nerf murder during the game, but afterwards we had the following exchange:
Him: I'm gonna kill you when the grace period is over.
Me: Are ya now?
Him: Yes.
He offered to show me my dossier, in his possession as proof that I was his target. I told him that I believed him and if he wanted to get me, then come get me.
Trevor disappeared not long after that. I had Eric right in front of me, with my foam knife hidden up my sleeve as I talked to Alex, the guy I mentioned who always dual wields disc guns. He used to work with a frie d of mine from High School and we were having a pretty nice conversation.
"Connor's dead!" Trevor suddenly screamed out, jumping from behind a Winnebago.
He was right, as he had shot me in the chest with a pistol. It was quick and I certainly not paying attention. I was sad I was dead, sad I didn't kill Eric (who was killed by Trevor right after) but still happy with my performance in the game.
And now I'm ready to play again, getting the chance to start tomorrow. Thank you all for reading these Assassin stories, with more hopefully to come. Watch your six out there readers!
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