Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 520

Zhong's Last Mission
Carmel School - Elsa High School, McGaughy, Kai - 15
The Greater Bay Area. A place where steel behemoths clattered down tracks long into the night, where
concrete giants reached up to touch the sky, where hordes of people pushed and shoved their way across
cities. It was a place where the needs of the many were ignored for the wants of the few. But that was about
to change. Months of civil unrest had rocked the region, and in some cities, it had turned into a revolution.
Zhong was not on the side of the revolutionaries. After all, he was a hired gun, most would say the best in
the region. Often, his employers were the shadowy authoritarian figures that ran the Greater Bay Area, and
this was no exception. The Chancellor knew that taking out the leader would result in a collapse of the
movement. In order to ensure their plan succeeded, they assigned Zhong to the mission. Luckily for these
authoritarians that ran the Greater Bay Area, Zhong had just found the headquarters for this civil unrest
campaign. This is why he was perched on a roof, with a precision rifle in front of him, a finger on the
trigger. He was waiting for the leader to step into Zhong’s view, to take his last step.
Then Zhong saw it. The edge of a body in sight. His finger pressed the trigger and, strangely, he didn’t hear
a shot. He tried to tighten his grip but he couldn’t. His moral compass, for the first time in decades, pointed
towards true North. Zhong attempted to force himself to finish the job, thinking about the major reward he
would be given. It was useless. Deep down, he knew that what this movement was fighting for was right,
and emotionally, he couldn’t bear to be the one responsible for ending it.
He took his rifle and slung it over his back. He walked up to where the leaders of the movement were
staked out, and full of unease, and knocked on it’s door. Someone responded with a, “Who’s there.” Zhong
told him, “It’s Zhong. I’m someone that can help you” The door swung open, and Zhong was immediately
confronted with a pistol in his face. The man holding said pistol said in an inquisitorial voice, “Why do you
have a rifle?’” Zhong thought fast, and came back with, “I was hired to take out your leader, but I’ve had a
change of heart.” He was relieved of his rifle, and escorted up a set of stairs to a small room.
He was met by a fairly average looking man. The man said, “My name is Chen. As you can probably guess,
I am the leader of this movement. By the fact that my assistant is holding a rifle, I take it you were here to
kill me.” Zhong informed him, “I was, but I couldn’t go through with it. It didn’t feel right.” Chen pried,
“Why do you think that is? Do you feel that what I am leading is the right way forward?” Zhong took some
time to think about it, even though he knew the answer. “Yes”, Zhong finally answered, “I do.” Chen
smiled, “Good. I was hoping so.” He continued, “You know, if you really think that what we are fighting
for is right, we could offer you employment. Unfortunately though, you would not be able to receive the
payoff for some time.” Zhong told him, “I’d have to think about that. I’ll let you know when I’ve decided.”
He then took Chen’s encrypted contact details and left.
Late into the night, Zhong was still awake, thinking about what he had done. By now, his employers would
certainly know that he had not completed the mission. He didn’t know how severe the consequences would
be, although he had heard stories. He looked out of his window to check if any security force were there,
just in case. To his horror, he saw a group of black vans just outside the building’s entrance, with dark
shapes emerging from the vehicles. He knew that they would be outside his door in a matter of minutes, so
in a scramble, he gathered the essentials he would need to survive. These included his rifle, food and water,
clothing to change into, and a large backpack to store this in. With this, he ran out of the back entrance of
his apartment to the fire escape. As he reached the bottom of the fire escape, he realised he had made too
much noise and attracted the attention of the security forces standing by the entrance. At the sight of Zhong,
they opened fire. His instincts kicked in, and Zhong found himself sprinting through dark alleyways and
behind decrepit buildings. Luckily, Zhong was able to outrun the security forces, due to their heavy
equipment and armor. After catching his breath, Zhong thought to himself, “Why was I being shot at? I
haven’t done anything to those men!” For Zhong, this all came as a new realisation. He knew that the
government was sometimes extreme in their law enforcement, but had never experienced it first-hand, at
least not until now. This was the tipping point for him. He contacted Chen and informed him of the
situation, and not even minutes later, Zhong was in a civilian car driving towards the movement’s
headquarters.