Read Rise of Aen for Free Online

reached the third level door and opened it, emerging into the concrete maze that housed various vehicles housed throughout the day. From the doorway to the stairs, he could see his car, which was only about twenty feet away, and with it a puzzling sight; it wasn’t empty! Behind the wheel, a man was sitting in the seat dressed identically to Aaron. In fact, the man looked like his twin! He was in shock; his mind raced to comprehend what he was seeing.
    Moving to his side to get a better vantage point at the mysterious man, certain aspects of his face raised alarms deep inside Aaron. The man’s face had an expression of frozen terror on it and was ghostly pale. In fact, Aaron could swear the man was already dead! He tried to get the fellow’s attention by pounding on the hood of the car closest to him and started to yell.
    “Hey!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hey, you’re in the wrong car!”
    The stranger was unmoved, sitting there deathly silent.
    “Asshole! Get the fuck outta my car!” Aaron’s frustration began to show. Still, the man didn’t move. Taking a few steps closer, Aaron began to shout again. “I’m callin’ the cops man! Hope you like jail, because your ass is gonna...”
    His car exploded, cutting his rant short, and sent him flying back into the concrete wall some twenty feet behind him. The blast decimated his car as well as those nearest to it, burning everything around it. The walls shook violently and cracked from the concussion wave. Aaron found himself crumpled in a heap, clinging to consciousness with the sound of multiple car alarms blaring in tune with the throbbing in his head. With his blurry vision, he could make out the mangled, burning wreck of what used to be his Ford Edge among the twisted carnage of the surrounding vehicles. The heat from the flames bore down on him, but he was unable to move. The smoke began to fill the corner of the garage, choking him slowly. With the world growing dim around him, Aaron caught the shape of a man approaching him. He tried to cry for help, but only a croak escaped his bloodied lips.
    “Of all the luck,” the man spoke as he lifted Aaron up into a fireman’s carry and began to run. “Ya need someone to help ya, but ya run into me! Hope ya like pain, cause they got some real shit lined up fer yer ass!”
    With his last grasp on consciousness, Aaron felt himself being placed flat on something metal, and heard the sound of a metal door sliding shut. Then everything went black.
    —
    “Fuckin’ guy don’t do much but sit at a desk!” Marlin commented sarcastically from the vantage point set up in the fourth floor of the parking garage, which sat across from the bank where the target worked. The team had been on standby since late morning and now had to sit in the dampness of the open air garage as the rain began to pour. Marlin was getting restless; this op was completely out of the norm for them.
    “Stow it, Private!” Wilson barked. “Maintain surveillance on the target until he leaves for the day. That’s when we move!”
    “Yes, sir!” Marlin sneered back as he lit a cigarette. Normally he wouldn’t smoke on an op, but he figured it wouldn’t attract too much attention in the middle of downtown. “How much we getting paid for this shit again?”
    “More than three years of our salary with bonuses.” Everett piped in. “Now shut up and keep him in sight.”
    Wilson tapped the radio on his neck. “ETA on the decoy?” he asked.
    “Give me an hour,” the radio crackled back in his ear. “We’re stuck in gridlock right now.” Hastings replied.
    “Try and cut that in half. We need to have everything ready just in case.”
    “Roger that.” The line then went quiet.
    “Gentry, text Taylor and let him know we’re on schedule; target will be acquired in five hours.” Wilson commanded. “Do we have the explosives in place?”
    “Half kilo of C4 strapped to the gas tank. Gonna make a hell of a show.” Everett