Shadow Me

Three - As Ever

Evan

"Heard you got a new one," I hear from Marty as I take a bite of my scrambled eggs. He sits down in front of me, stuffing a biscuit in his mouth. Paul follows shortly after.

"Yeah, I haven't been briefed yet though," I say as I take another bite of my breakfast.

The food from the cafeteria isn't bad, but it's nothing I'd give my left arm to eat every morning. Still, the establishment keeps us fed, and hell if I can argue with that. I tried lasting on my own for a bit. It didn't go too well. I'm much too lazy to bother with simple things like cooking or laundry if there's someone else to do it for me. It was easier to just live on the compound than to try and live without it. That, and if you consider the commute to a compound in the middle of nowhere, then it can be easily seen why I'd choose this.

"We ship out to get them in about an hour. Same time you're being briefed," Paul says.

"Them?" I say.

"Well just one. Don't know if it's a guy or a lady. Probably a guy. Not too many ladies having shady dealings with Infinites," he says.

"But it's always fun when they do," Marty chimes in.

I grimace around my eggs. Marty and Paul do some shady s**t when dealing with their hostages. No one has ever accused me of having a conscience, but I suppose I come damn near close to it. Breakfast is tasteless whenever I find out I have another job. It sounds as if I've found temporary work in this town, but a job in Keeper language is a person. I'm a Keeper. I take them, I break them, and I dispose of them. At least, if the case calls for it. I've set people free a few times. They weren't that important, and we knew they'd never speak of us. Not that anyone would believe them.

"Should be interesting," I say as I take a bite of my biscuit.

"Think we'll get to play games with this one?" Paul asks.

I shrug. They have this thing about playing games with our jobs. Still Waters, where if they move or speak they get punishment. Red Rover, where they give the person the opportunity to run and then clothes-line them. Then there's their ultimate favorite. Hide and Seek. The ultimate sport for guys that are too mediocre to do their damn job and move on with their lives. They release the person into the wild - God only knows where, and then give them five minutes to run. If they aren't found, they're released. If they are found, they die. I hear back before the Yellowstone event that the games were for children; a lot less menacing. These days children don't play, for fear they'll be punished if caught by the wrong person. Some parents will allow games. Some strangers ignore them. Some assholes take it to a whole new level.

"Who knows," I finally say.

"Hope so," Paul says.

It's not that I don't like my friends. They're the only friends I've got. Beggars can't be choosers, or some s**t like that. I wouldn't call myself soft. There are a lot of things I'll do for the Infinity - for the cause, and for my work. It depends on the situation. I've seen the worst of the people we've brought in, and I've seen some people who didn't deserve to be here. I treated both kinds the same. You don't get into the Keeping hands of the Infinity without having done some kind of bad s**t. It's a gray line between letting them play their games and just doing my job. I keep my mouth shut for the most part, and let them do what they want - while I do what I have to do. Let's face it. I'm good at it. There's a certain amount of adrenaline and addiction to what I do.

"You excited?" Paul says.

"As ever," I say with a grin.