Participants:
| Scene Title | …And He'll Hang Himself |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kazimir approaches Ellinka about Rico, and gives her specific orders to follow. |
| Date | December 30, 2008 |
Jersey City, Irradiated Zone — Goldman Sachs Tower, Roof
Through the scope of a rifle, Manhattan looks different. In the crosshairs, the sleeping city not long after midnight looks like a detailed painting, like a still-life, or some dirtied version of a Norman Rockwell painting. Muddied brown snowbanks and a jagged, broken skyline divided by a rift of darkness where Midtown once was is a constant reminder of the world's state.
Life, as well, is different when viewed between crosshairs. When people think no one is watching, their behavior changes, and the truth comes out. Bitter, ugly, and dirty truth; just like the city.
Situated far removed from this dirty truth, the snow-shrouded form of Ellinka Dolukhanov would look like a corpse forgotten in the winter, were it not for the enormous anti-mechanized sniper rifle her obscured form rests against. The ice draped barrel and lightly snow-dusted stock glitters with frost, the same the clings to her insulated clothing and draped hood.
"Like a snow angel…" Kazimir's voice doesn't bring a startle from her, she had heard his footsteps approaching on the rooftop, crunching in the snow. Her response does not come, and her focus remains squarely situated through her scope, dispassionately watching a pair of young thugs beating another young man unconscious in an alley in the city across the Hudson.
Her lack of response doesn't stay Kazimir's approach, his black shoes crunching the snow next to where she lays as he comes to stand by her side, the steel tip of his cane disappearing into the fresh and powdery snow. "I have an assignment for you," Those words she has heard only once before, spoken with a deliberate sterility, "my angel of death."
She moves, for this. "Who?" The words are strained through her clenched teeth, rising up onto one elbow as snow sloughs off of her body, blue eyes peering out from her low-slung hood, clumps of ice slinging to the black fur trimming it.
Kazimir's eyes mirror Ellinka's in lack of warmth and shade of pale blue. There is a lingering silence between the two, neither wishing to speak over the other's silence, and it allows the gravity of the order to linger until Kazimir does finally break the silence. "Rico Velasquez."
"Does… this one need resemble an accident as well?" The words burn the back of Ellinka's throat, the notion of having to fire on one of her own, to take the undeserving shame of having failed in order to cover up her clandestine orders. To prevent the Vanguard from realizing just how fragile any of their lives truly are, to prevent them from knowing her true job.
An executioner.
"No." All those concerns assuaged in a single word, and so many more raised, "There's no need any more. If you receive the order, no hesitation." There's a momentary pause, as if considering if he needs to ask what comes next. "Understood?"
Ellinka shrinks back down, laying flat on her stomach in the dry spot where snow hasn't fallen due to her prolonged presence. She settles one eye over the scope of her rifle again, but the eye remains closed like its twin. "Understood, sir."
The executioner grows silent again, and Kazimir takes it for a conclusion to their meeting. With an unseen nod of his head, he tucks his cane under one arm and begins his slow and ponderous walk towards the stairs access of the tower.
They both have much to think about.
 December 30th: Give a Man a Rope... |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 December 30th: Fear is a Killer |