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Knife In The Wall

Doshslader

The wolf pulled his scarf above his nose as he walked the snow-covered streets of New Tibet. Despite the icy wind that gnashed at his face, and the heavy snow that fell onto him, he kept his determined stride and walked with purpose to his destination. He glanced to his left, eyeing a dilapidated building with the faint glow of a fire escaping through the cracks in boarded-up windows. He shuddered when he heard someone move to the smashed-in door at the front of the building, just in front of him. Instinctually, he dropped his hand into his coat, clutching the grip of his concealed automatic pistol.

He kept his pace though, knowing that there was no point stopping and making himself look even more conspicuous than he already did. Once he was several years away from the building, he withdrew his hand from his coat, leaving the gun safely nestled in his coat pocket. He then sighed heavily, a large puff of white, chilled air appearing in front of his face, before disappearing into the wind.

He walked onwards, the snow beginning to accumulate on his wide-brimmed hat. He looked at the roadsigns a few feet in front of him. He grinned underneath his scarf before muttering to himself, "second building right of Iron Street."

He turned the corner to see a large concrete building, illuminated with flood lights, with a large parking lot dotted with smaller streetlamps in front of the building.

The wolf walked onto the parking lot, trudging through the ankle-deep snow that covered the parking lot. He made sure to take note that there appeared to be only a few vehicles in the parking lot, hoping that the lack of people would make his job easier to accomplish. When the wolf reached the front of the entrance, he looked up at the flickering sign above the door, 'Plateau Market', the sign read. Now positive that he was at the right place, the wolf pushed his scarf below his face and entered the building. As soon as he walked through the automatic doors of the market, his face was blasted with a jet of heat, causing the thin layer of snow that coated his body to melt almost instantly. He quickened his pace to get away from the door, in an attempt to get away from the uncomfortably intense heat being generated by the overhead heating unit.

"What's the point of letting my fur grow out so damn long if every place I end up walking into has the temperature set so high?" The wolf growled to himself as he moved into an aisle in the center of the store. He glanced around, noting the few security cameras that dotted the stained ceiling. He saw that on a vast majority of the cameras, the red light that indicated that they were recording was not on. He smiled to himself, realizing that this was likely to be a clean kill. He reached into his coat's breast pocket and took out a photo of the target.

The picture displayed a young coyote with long, unkept fur. He had a small scar under his right eye, and his left ear was torn and mangled, barely reminiscent of what it once was. The wolf flipped the picture over to read the short description his boss had provided him, 'Gessek Ross, five feet, two inches. Works at Plateau Market freezer section, works nights, thin framed and weak, keep it clean and quiet.' The wolf read it to himself and then set out in search of his prey.

He moved slowly around the store, looking for his target. After he made a lap of the store, ensuring that he stayed well out of view of the active cameras, he made his way back to the front of the store. Once there, the approached the service desk, pushing the brim of his hat further over the front of his face to help obscure his identity. He stepped up to the service desk and looked the attendant over. The employee manning the desk was a middle-aged female arctic fox, in a loose-fitting black store uniform. There was no name tag on her shirt, or any identifying material on her, save the store logo on the left sleeve of her shirt.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a moment? I need to ask you a question," the wolf said, raising the pitch of his voice and speaking softer in an attempt to sound disarming.

The fox looked up from the sheet of paper on her desk that she was filling out and looked at the wolf with tired eyes, looking him up and down a few times. She straightened out her back a bit and brushed her uniform down in an attempt to smooth out some of the wrinkles. She then looked at him and smiled weakly.

"Sure that's what I'm here for," she said in a kind but exhausted voice. "Well, I just wanted to know what time the store closes tonight," the wolf said, planning to ambush his target in the parking lot of the store.

"It doesn't. We're open all day and all night, every day of the week, every day of the year," she said looking him over once again. "Why? You need help with something?" She asked.

The wolf tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to vent some of the heat that had built up in his suit due to the climate in the store, as well as the frustration of having his ambush thwarted.

"No, that's fine, my dear. Just a question," the wolf said gruffly. Without another word or another look back at the fox, he began a walk to the back of the store, knowing that he couldn't just sit outside hoping that the coyote would walk outside soon. When he reached the back wall of the store, he crept along the wall until he came across a pair of grey double doors. He glanced up at the ceiling and surrounding walls to ensure that there were no active cameras pointed in his direction. Once he had thoroughly convinced himself that he was not being recorded, he pushed through the doors and entered into the cold concrete backroom.

The wolf quickly scanned the room for cameras or any employees. All his gaze was met with were boxes stacked on top of pallets, as well as other items that were either used for packing or unloading boxes, as well as random items for which he could not quite place their purpose. The wolf growled to himself, somewhat disappointed that his target was not simply standing in front of him. He then looked around the room for any doors that employees could have gone through. He saw no other doors but noticed that there appeared to be some kind of hallway in the far left of the room. The wolf adjusted his hat, pulling it close to his eyes to help obscure his identity from any cameras or witnesses that might be around the corner of the hallway. He poked his head around the corner and saw neither camera nor employee. He then stepped into the hall and started to walk down the hall.

At the end of the hallway, he saw two grey doors, each of which had a window that has frosted over. The wolf pushed the doors open and entered into the store's freezer. He let out a sigh of relief that he was now in an area better suited to his insulated clothing. He crept further into the freezer, before stopping abruptly. His ears perked up, awkwardly tilting his hat, as he began to hear a thumping sound as if something was being picked up and dropped. He silently moved closer to the sound, realizing that it was coming from behind a corner. He got to the edge of the corner and pressed his back against a stack of iced-over cardboard boxes, and listened closer.

He could hear someone grunting and occasionally muttering something barely audible over the droning of the AC unit that kept the freezer at the proper temperature. The wolf peered around the corner and saw a small coyote with a torn ear loading boxes onto a metal cart. Grinning, the wolf stepped around the cornered and stalked over to the cart. Once he reached the front of the cart, he kicked the cart, the heel of his dress shoe impacting the cart hard, causing a metallic bang to echo around the freezer. This caused the coyote to drop the box he was holding and jump back a few feet, letting out a gasp of shock as he turned around to see the massive, well-dressed wolf towering in front of the cart he had been loading.

"Y-your not supposed to be back here," the coyote said, trying to regain his composure. "Employees only, sir," the coyote said, still struggling to control his breathing.

The wolf smiled broadly, allowing all of his teeth to show. He looked the coyote over, double checking for the physical descriptions his target had, noting the height, scar, and torn ear. Finally, he saw his name tag, with one word written on it, 'Gessek'. "Oh, I think I can be here, in fact, I have to be here!" The wolf said, removing his hat and placing it on the stack of boxes on the cart. "Your debt is well overdue. I'm here to collect what you owe.. Or rip it out of, piece by piece," the wolf said. He reached into the right sleeve of his coat and removed a knife, and pressed the button on the side of the handle, allowing the blade to spring out. He then took one large step toward the coyote.

"I don't have it," the coyote said, cold eyes beaming into the wolf's own yellow eyes.

"Well then, I guess we have a major problem. Well, you have a problem, I'll enjoy this," the wolf said, taking another step towards the coyote, putting them within a half-foot distance of each other. "I won't lie to you, I'm going to make this agonizing, but if you don't move around much, I'll make it go quick," the wolf said, toothy smile growing larger as he finished his sentence.

The wolf then grabbed the collar of the coyote's black uniform and pushed him hard against the wall of the freezer with uncanny speed, causing the coyote to grunt in pain and shock at the wolf's attack. The wolf pushed his knife lightly into the coyote's abdomen, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to cut through his clothing.

"One more month," the coyote said, fear creeping into his face.

"What?" The wolf said.

"One more month and I can pay my debt off!" The coyote choked out.

"Do you have any idea how many times just in the past month I've heard that?" The wolf asked condescendingly, putting more pressure on his knife, enough to now draw blood.

"I already have the principal!" Said the coyote, gasping as the wolf pushed a centimeter further into him.

"And how am I supposed to believe that? We've been watching your account, and you haven't seemed to have turned a dime for the past few months," said the wolf. "I have it in cash!" The coyote yelped out, small traces of blood now starting to appear where the knife had pierced his uniform. "Please! I'll take you to it! Please, just don’t kill me!" Pleased the coyote, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

The wolf squinted at him, considering. After a moment of contemplation, he withdrew the knife from the coyote's abdomen, and moved his other hand from his collar to his muzzle, clamping it down to ensure he couldn't make a sound. "Now I don't quite know what is compelling me to do this, but I'm giving you a chance to prove that you have the principal," the wolf said, wiping the bloodied tip of his blade on the coyote's shoulder. "That being said, if you're lying to me, or if you try to run, I'll kill you, and I'll make sure they need dental records to ID you, is that clear?" The wolf asked rhetorically, manipulating the coyote's head to nod as if understanding. "Good, I'll let you clean up then and meet you outside of this freezer," the wolf said, collapsing the knife and returning it to its compartment in his right sleeve. He then walked backward a few steps, watching the coyote clutch his bleeding midsection. He then promptly turned, grabbed his hat, and made the short walk out of the freezer. Once out of the freezer, the wolf leaned against the wall that connected the freezer hallway to the rest of the backroom. He sighed and ran his paws over his face, ruffling his long, dark fur. He then immediately ran them through his face again, smoothing out his fur the best he could. His paws drifted down to chest level, where he folded his arms.

After a few moments, the light tapping of paw steps caused his ears to perk up a bit, slightly jarring his hat backward. He turned his head to the left to see the coyote walking toward him. The wolf groaned and pushed off the wall, turning to face the coyote.

"About time kid," the wolf said, reaching into the side pocket of his coat to remove a pack of cigarettes. "If you made me wait any longer, I'd kill you just out of principle, for wasting my time," said the wolf, flashing the coyote a grin. He chuckled to himself as he flipped open the box and withdrew a cigarette, placing it in the corner of his mouth.

The coyote walked until he was directly in front of the wolf, his cold expression, having since returned to his face.

"Come one, the sooner I get your money, the sooner we can be done with this encounter," he said. "No smoking, by the way," the coyote said flatly.

"God kid, the daggers you're shooting me are enough to kill me without the reprimand," the wolf said in a joking manner, flicking the cigarette into the corner of the room.

"I've got to collect my check and get my coat, then we'll get to my money," said the coyote.

"Ah, my money," the wolf corrected.

The coyote didn't make a response, instead turning and walking out the doors. After a second, the wolf followed suit, no longer being paranoid about the cameras, knowing that if he was going to kill the coyote, nobody would be around to see it.

Once they were out of the backroom, and close to the entrance of the store, the coyote stopped abruptly at the end of the aisle they were in, almost causing the wolf to bump into him.

"My check and coat are in the manager's office, I have to go up there before we can leave," the coyote said, before continuing his march forward, stopping again at a flight of stairs next to a change machine. "You wait here, I'll be down soon," the coyote said.

The wolf looked from the staircase to the coyote. After a second, he opened his mouth to speak.

"You have three minutes exactly, if you're not down by then, cameras or no cameras, I'm killing you," the wolf said, reaching into his coat to briefly reveal the slide of his handgun, reminding the coyote of what is at stake.

The coyote swallowed, before nodding his head in understanding, then briskly moved towards the stairs, and disappeared at the top of them.

The wolf watched the coyote ascend the stairs, noting the time indicated on his watch. Nine forty-eight. He stood at the stairwell, not moving for the first minute, but soon began to get antsy, and began pacing back and forth. Once the second minute had passed, he sighed, glancing at the stairs and seeing no sign of the coyote. With his target still acting within his allotted time, the wolf stalked over to the change machine, crouching down to pick up some of the loose change that had been dropped and fallen just underneath the machine.

As he was standing up, he heard the distinct light paw steps of the coyote walking down the stairs. The wolf looked at his watch, nine fifty-one. He stood up and stepped over to the coyote, who had now donned a large parka and clumsy-looking gloves. "You pushed your luck, boy," the wolf snarled. "You made it down right at the last second," the wolf said, grimacing.

"Yeah, I'm real good at testing my luck," the coyote said.

"Now, shall we be getting my money?" The wolf asked, impatience beginning to audible seep into his voice.

"Yes, I'll bring you to your principal," the coyote said, making sure to emphasize the fact that he was only going to get the principal balance out of this. "Follow me," he said, beginning to walk out of the store, motioning for the wolf to follow.

The wolf fell in step behind the coyote, following him out of the automatic doors of the building, briefly being bombarded by the intense heat from the overhead heater at the entrance, before being overtaken by the overpowering vacuum of freezing air that enveloped New Tibet after nightfall. The wolf pulled the scarf from his neck to his muzzle, doing his best to thoroughly wrap up his neck and face. He followed the coyote for about one block, before withdrawing his pistol, grabbing the coyote by the shoulder, and jabbing the cold end of the long-slide automatic handgun into his back. "Alright, we're far enough from that place," the wolf said, having to speak considerably louder to be heard over the scarf that muffled his voice, as well as the deafening wind. "Empty your pockets, and take that coat off, I don't trust you not to have a weapon," the wolf said.

"What?" Asked the coyote astonished. "It's freezing out! I take this coat off for more than a few minutes, I'm dead!" The coyote said, wrath and terror simultaneously invading his words.

"No matter to me, your death is what I was supposed to collect here anyway," the wolf said, smiling behind his scarf. "Besides, the way I see it, you have a forty-five caliber handgun pressed against the base of your spine. Either you refuse to submit and I shoot you, or you take your chances in the cold for the briefest of moments and let me conduct my search," the wolf said, all patience having long since left his voice. "Fine! I'm turning around!" The coyote said, sounding as if he was about to cry. The wolf released his hold on the coyote's shoulder and allowed him to take a step forward. The then spun around, struggling to turn his pockets inside out with the heavy gloves he was wearing. Eventually, though, he managed, allowing his possessions to fall into the snow, sinking into the freshly fallen snow ever so slightly. Once he had finished that, he looked at the wolf for approval. The wolf nodded, his piercing yellow eyes not moving off of the coyote, and his automatic pistol never wavering, its barrel staying fixed in the coyote's direction.

The coyote began removing the wooden toggles that held his coat shut. A short moment later, he had fully uncoupled the coat, and he struggled to get his paws through the sleeves, barely managing, on account of the gloves. Soon enough though, he had it off. He held the coat out in front of him for the wolf to take. The wolf obliged, letting the coyote shiver in the unbearable cold as he thoroughly searched every part of the coat and patted it down for any irregularities. Once the wolf was satisfied, he tossed it back to the coyote, who eagerly caught it and put it back on at an astonishing speed. He watched as the wolf returned his gun to its spot, safely tucked away in the wolf's jacket.

"Pick up your things, then get going, I want to get home before midnight," the wolf said. Without further convincing, the coyote eagerly picked up the items that had fallen from his pockets to the snow, hastily putting all of them in one of his front coat pockets, not bothering to brush the snow off of them.

Without a word, the coyote turned and began walking. For about forty minutes, they trudged along through the barely lit streets. After a while, the coyote stopped in front of a small building. It was unremarkable, the basic living space afforded to every other plot on that street.

"Wait, this isn't your house! I staked your place out while looking for you. What are you trying to pull?" The wolf asked, suddenly feeling very apprehensive about his choice of actions.

"This is my cousin's. He's been letting me stay here the past few months to hide from you people," the coyote said. He then walked up to the door, produced a keycard, and swiped it across a reader next to the door, causing the door to emit a clicking noise. He then turned the knob and pushed the door open. The coyote stopped in the doorway and turned around to face the wolf. A sickening smile appeared on the coyote's face. It caused the wolf to take a step back. The smile on the coyote's face unnerved him. The crooked, sinister smile twisting the coyote's muzzle was not at all unlike the wolf's own grin that often appeared on his face before he was about to make a kill. He knew at this moment that he was not going to be collecting his money, and only one of them would be able to wake up tomorrow morning.

Despite this, the wolf straightened himself out, doing his best to regain his confidence. He trusted he could take the coyote in a fight. Deciding not to wait a moment longer, the wolf pushed his scarf below his muzzle, revealing his own horrifying smile, and stepped across the yard and up the stairs to pass into the coyote's domain. When he stepped through the door, he was hit with a comforting warmth that unconsciously put him slightly at ease. At this point, the coyote had walked further into the house and was standing in the archway that led into another room. The coyote's smile had somewhat faded, but still largely remained on his face. The parka he had been wearing was cast aside, revealing his slightly bloodied work uniform.

"Come on, the money is in here, under the sink," the coyote said, motioning the wolf to follow him into the kitchen. The wolf obliged and started after the coyote, saying close behind him as he walked over to the sink.

The coyote then crouched down, and opened the cabinet beneath the sink, moving for a small wooden box. He purposefully put his entire body in the way of the cabinet to obscure what he was doing. After a second, the wolf heard the box open and heard the characteristic click of a semi-automatic handgun being racked. Without thinking, the wolf removed the switchblade from his sleeve and made a motion to stab the coyote in the neck. However, before the wolf could make contact the coyote spun around and pistol-whipped the wolf in the face, causing him to miss and stumble backward. The coyote leveled his small black automatic at the wolf. Prepared to fire. Before he had the opportunity to do so, the wolf snarled and lunged at the coyote, managing to pin him against the adjacent wall.

He moved his knife above his shoulder, preparing to stab the coyote as hard as he possibly could. When he was about to connect, the coyote ducked, causing the knife to become embedded into the wall up to the hilt. The coyote reacted by kneeing the wolf in the stomach, causing him to fall to the floor. The coyote then shot off all the bullets in his automatic in rapid succession, pulling the trigger so fast it sounded like a machine gun.

Unfortunately for him though, the speed at which he fired his gun would be his undoing, as it made it impossible for him to aim. He had hit the wolf once in the left shoulder. The wolf launched up and jumped backward, flipping the small metallic card table in the center of the kitchen over, as he reached into his coat and withdrew his handgun. He popped his head above the table and caught the coyote trying to run to another room of the house. Before he got through the exit, the wolf had put a bullet directly in the back of his head, creating a massive smear of viscera on the wall adjacent from where the coyote once stood.

"You shouldn't have fucked with me," the wolf said, pain shooting through his arm. He looked at the coyote's lifeless body and looked at his own bleeding shoulder. He returned his gun to its hiding place and walked out the door holding his wounded shoulder, into the deadly, cold, and merciless landscape of New Tibet, leaving his knife behind as if to remind him not to slip up again, and that charity had no place on New Tibet.