A.N. This short is a preview to a story I’m going to be writing as soon as I finish my other one. I would write it now, but… I have a scatterbrain and must force myself to finish one project before continuing on to another. So, that means this is going to be it for a while. But never fear I will come back to it. In fact, if I have a hard time with my other project, I plan on using this one to get me writing again. XD

So, with out further ado, here is the preview!

Hehe, I just rhymed.

Chapter One: Stupid Sneeze

Jared had to sneeze. He could feel it coming, begging to release itself into the dusty air around him. He gripped his sniper rifle tighter and turned his head to rub his nose on his shoulder. It would do him no good to sneeze now and give away his position. The sneeze retreated a bit and Jared sniffed his nose to push it back a bit more. Unfortunately, the sniffing involved breathing in more of the dusty air and he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

He sneezed.

The sound of it reverberated off the hard walls of the store house causing the men down below to look up and around, wondering where the noise had come from. Shit, Jared thought, now they know I’m here! But at least they didn’t know where he was crouching so he still had a chance of completing his mission. However, the damned dust was creeping into his nose again and he silently breathed a curse. This one, he had to hold. Security down below was already tight. Oh why had he chosen this spot? The dust was killing his sinuses.

Jared adjusted his finger on the trigger, held his breath and glared through the periscope willing his target to come into range. He had one chance at this and the searching eyes of the guards and workers were making it difficult. Not to mention the dust!

Ah, there! Simon Crown stepped out of the dealer’s office and into the open. Like bees, the busy little workers buzzed around even faster to impress the king of the shithill and the members of his Family. The guards moved in and surrounded the shorter man still wary of the sneeze they had heard earlier.

Speaking of sneezes, the one currently in Jared’s nose was making his eyes water. He tried sneezing little small, forced sneezes but it didn’t work. The sneeze now sat in his sinuses, content to sit there for the time being and irritate him.

In Jared’s distraction Simon Crown had been moved to the edge of his firing range and was about to be completely out of it. Throwing caution to the wind’s Jared stood up, sneeze forgotten, and fired.

The bullet tore through the air and hit its mark. Simon Crown fell into a heap of limbs and the members of the family swarmed over him like angry ants trying to figure out what happened. In the mists of their fray, Jared made his way to the air vent…

And sneezed.

The second sneeze was just as loud as the first one, but not as sharp so it didn’t bounce off the walls as much. But the members of the Crown Family turned and saw Jared. The Family doctor looked up from his inspection of their leader and said something in Italian to the other members. Jared swore again and jumped into the air vent, using the distance to his advantage. Unless they were carrying rifles or a rocket launcher, he’d be out of range of their bullets. Also, the distance helped with the fact that they weren’t able to see his face clearly.

The stolen radio on Jared’s belt beeped and a voice screamed in Italian. They were sending reinforcements after him. What joy that filled his heart! Jared pounded his way through the air vent as fast as he could not caring much if he was heard. Damn bulky gun getting in his way. He hefted it farther on his back and crawled his way noisily through the duct; the rifle banging against the aluminum walls.

He heard the rapped pounding of feet as guards charged down the hall speaking rapidly in Italian. He looked down a vent only to see a face looking straight back up at him. Cursing, Jared pulled back scurried down a different section. He heard someone shout out a warning and the vent broke open and a man came through with a .45 and started shooting at Jared.

Luckily, the man was at an odd angle while shooting and kept missing Jared as he moved faster through the duct and managed to disappear from the other man’s view. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the man from shooting and the bullets pierced through the walls.

And hit Jared’s leg.

Shouting out in pain, Jared tried to grab his leg only to fall though a nearby vent he didn’t notice and landed on the ground in front of oncoming guards.

Jared glared at the men now pointing all manner of guns at him and held his bleeding leg.

Stupid sneeze.

Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! I’ll continue anyway, but I just love reviews. Tell you what, if you write and you review my story, I’ll review yours. XD