I turned to see the man in a black trench coat. The wide-brim hat that was pulled forward also partially covered his face. His hands were also buried in his pockets.

  “Who’s asking?” Something about him felt off. Nobody ever calls out my name first, let alone my full name.

  He pulled out a pistol with a silencer on it. My eyes exploded when he leveled it at me. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” The man lifted his head, and while he was average-looking, the grin on his face was terrifying. Even stranger were his eyes. They were two black pits. “This is for the greater good.”

  I turned and ran.

  There was a pop, and a woman in front of me fell backwards as her chest opened with a tiny hole. There was another pop. This time, a guy on the other side of me took the bullet. I dove into the alley when the third pop sounded. The wall on my right cracked, and I heard the bullet ricochet. At that point, everyone else started running and screaming.

  There’s a guy following me with a gun, killing people while attempting to kill me! Why me? I don’t know him. Until now, nobody ever cared that I existed. What’s changed? How is this for the greater good? He’s nuts!

  The answers to my questions would have to wait. The guy followed me into the alley. My leg exploded in pain as he fired another shot. I fell to the ground and saw the blood flowing from the edge of my thigh. It burned, but he was still following me.

  Scrambling to my feet, I dove behind a trash can. He fired another round. It hit the trash can but it didn’t puncture through. My leg still hurt, but the pain was slowly becoming more manageable.

  What am I supposed to do now? He’s shooting at me! Why? Did I steal his phone and he’s pissed?

  I didn’t know, but the trash can didn’t stop the next shot. The pain from the wound in my shoulder caused the world to go black for a split second. I collapsed on the ground. I knew I had to escape. I was sure I would die if I stayed there. I forced my body to move and scrambled into the street. The man was walking towards me, his gun trained on my head.

  He lowered the gun and smiled. “Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”

  His finger wrapped around the trigger. It hurt, but I wasn’t ready to die. I stumbled another few feet.

  Some guy tried to tackle him as he fired a shot. A young boy fell to the ground next to me, clutching his bleeding stomach. The guy who tackled him earned himself a bullet to the side of the head at point blank.

  I turned back to the man. “You killed them!” I screamed.

  He stood up and brushed himself off. His face was flat as he turned to me. “It doesn’t matter. They’re all going to die anyway. I’m saving them from a worse fate and future. All it requires is your destruction. If you just stayed put, none of this would’ve happened.”

  This psycho won’t stop.

  I turned and ran across the street, dodging cars. My leg hurt, but I kept moving. My side exploded, and I felt myself fall.

  There was a wetness as I felt my side pocket dripped with blood from a bullet hole that went completely through me. The pain was agonizing. A series of cars blocked him from following me across the street.

  Holding my side, I ran into another side street heading towards the nearest police station. He had a gun and I didn’t stand a chance as things were going. I’m going to need them to take me to the hospital too.

  The police station was still more than twenty blocks away, but I was going to have less cover as it was in the more businessy section of the city with wide open roads.

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  More gunshots followed by people screaming sounded behind me. I stopped to see the gunman was pushing off a car that almost hit him. The crowd of people dropped to the ground or dove behind what little cover they could. I looked around and decided that the corner store close by was the best cover I was going to get.

  As I ran to the door, there was another pop. The bullet bounced off the wall in front of me. I dove through the glass doors into the building with the faint sounds of sirens headed my way.

  So the cops are headed this way. That means all I have to do is keep him here and they will take care of him.

  My head was spinning as I started getting lightheaded. I’m losing too much blood.

  Everything screamed in pain and I could feel vomit climbing up my throat. An involuntary retching later, I could look for a place to hide. My vision blurred as I stumbled to the section of the store labeled “First Aid” in the back corner.

  Clutching at the nearest wrap, I fumbled with it trying to deal with the packaging. The man following me walked through the door. His eyes looked around as I poked my head around the aisle. When his eyes went to the ground, they instantly were drawn right to where I was.

  I looked at his feet and found both a puddle of vomit and blood. Then I noticed that I was leaving a trail of blood from my side. The sirens sounded outside. The gunman only glanced back before marching my way.

  I don’t have time to think with him. It was getting harder to think. Ducking back behind the aisle and headed for the back door.

  There’s got to be a way out that way. I need someplace to hide. What if I circle around to the front? Would the cops still be there? Hopefully they are.

  Leaving behind a trail of blood, I pushed through the door. Piles of boxes and shelves with more boxes filled the concrete room. A pair of guys turned to look at me.

  “Oi, you’re not supposed to be back here,” one of them said.

  I held up my blood covered hand. “Help! There’s a guy with a gun headed this way.”

  Both guys reached behind their backs and pulled pistols. My eyes went wide as they aimed them towards the door behind me.

  The second one flicked his gun to the side. “Move!”

  He didn’t have to repeat himself. Maybe these two can do it. I headed over to a stack of diapers. It only took a minute for my pursuer to arrive.

  “Drop it!” the first guy shouted.

  Predictably, he didn’t. Instead he fired on the man, blowing a hole through his chest and sending him sprawling backwards. Thankfully his buddy didn’t hesitate pulling the trigger, putting three rounds into my pursuer.

  The part I didn’t understand was why did one bullet send the employee flying and three barely caused him to flinch. The second employee fired another round before his torso opened out the back with a shower of blood.

  How is he still alive? He took four shots to the chest.

  The trenchcoat guy didn’t look hurt or like he was bleeding either as he flicked something on the side of his gun. The clip dropped out the bottom of the handle as he pulled out another one from a pocket.

  I have to get to the cops.

  There was another door behind me on the far side of the room. Hoping that was a door out, I took off sprinting with a terrible limp as the corners of my vision grew blurry. I almost made it to the door when I heard two clicks.

  As I pulled the door open, my left leg erupted with pain. I barely had the presence of mind to fall out the door. If I thought I was bleeding a lot from my side, my leg was gushing blood. The burning pain left me screaming and my leg entirely limp.

  I clutched the wound desperately and futilely trying to hold the blood in. The mysterious gunman that had been relentlessly hunting me strolled through the door.

  I rolled over. “Why? What have I done? I don’t even know who you are.”

  The man lowered his weapon and shrugged. “Look, you have to die. I have orders to make sure you do. It’s my job to remove problematic existences. You should never have existed in the first place. If you had just accepted this, this would’ve been much less painful for you and others. All those deaths are on you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Tears rolled down my cheeks. “Tell me how to fix it. I’ll do anything. Please, I don’t want to die.”

  “People rarely get what they want, but that’s not my call to make.” The man lifted the gun to my head. I shook as I closed my eyes and cried. “Nor is it yours.”

  Time seemed to slow down. There was a click and a sudden feeling of warmth on my forehead. But then, everything was gone. Nothing. There wasn’t any doubt. I died.

  At least it was quick. I didn’t even feel anything.

  …

  Wait! I’m thinking?

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