I once again woke up in a dark room, all alone in a place I didn't know. Thankfully, it was a different room from before, and so the rotten smell had disappeared. Also, after looking round I saw that there was a bed, a small table and even a doorway leading to a mini bathroom.

"Hmm" I thought "Not so bad"

Noticing that I was lying on the floor (wooden, to be precise), I tried to get up on my feet, but inmediately I fell straight back down again, because of the pain in my head. After gently touching it, I remembered all that had happened with Antonio earlier. Man, he must've been quite a strong guy, because he was able to knock me unconsious with only one blow to the head! Amazing.

How long ago had all of that been? How long had I been asleep in this room? I had no idea. The only thing I did know was that I wanted to get out of it.

I just didn't deserve it. Not one bit. Why did I have to be the unlucky guy that had caught the attention of a group of criminals? And even after refusing to do the flippin' job, they didn't let me go! It was so unfair. What was to become of me now? Was this where my life ended? I would just have to wait and see what they did with me. But one thing for sure, it wasn't going to be good.

After some painful attempts to get up on my new bed, I finally made it, and then I punched the pillow so frustatedly until I was out of breath, and falling back into a tormented and  unsettling sleep.

***

What must have been hours later, there was finally a knock on the door. I sat up immediately, afraid that Antonio himself would come in and put a bullet in my head, but after a few seconds of rattling key sounds, the door opened and who else but the young killer appeared.

He thankfully wasn't wearing his long coat anymore (which was probably still splattered with George's blood). Instead, he was dressed in a t-shirt and blue jeans, looking extremely casual, almost like a normal person. Almost.

"Oh, it's you again" I said, once again relaxing down on the bed.

After a short silence, he responded, shrugging "Yeah, it's me."

But then seeing that I wasn't in the mood to talk, he continued.

"Antonio has finally decided what to do with you" he said.

Suddenly, my muscles tensed, waiting for his answer.

"We're keeping you alive. For the next while, you will be training in our place. You will soon learn to aim, fire and reload a gun, and also other basic skills, that will be mentioned later on. Oh yes, and you'll be needing some body-building too, by the looks of it" he said, frowning at the sight of my skinny arms.

I sat there, not knowing quite what to say. Was I supposed to be happy? Sad? Surprised? Well, they were keeping me alive, but at the moment, I wasn't even sure if that was the best option.

"So... I'm going to do the job." I said slowly.

"Yeah, well duh" he answered, smirking.

"Okay, Mr. Killer-"

"Please call me Barry"

"Okay, Barry. Does all of this mean that I'm never going to see my mother again?"

Instead of answering, he sighed and slowly sat down beside me on the bed.

"I'll take that as a no" I said unhappily.

"Look Zack, you are going to form part of a killer organization. So if I were you, sorry to say but you should expect the worse. Seriously."

"But-" I started.

"Dude, we steal, blackmail, and murder people. This isn't a joke, you know!"

"Yes, yes, I understand. But it's just not fair! I never wanted this! I never wanted to become a killer! Why don't you idiots just let me go!"

My eyes were starting to moisten with tears full of frustration.

"Zack, I tried to warn you. Remember? I let you go, for goodness sake, and told you the one thing that you shouldn't have done. But you didn't listen!"

I then remembered what had happened only a few days ago, and bit by bit started to understand everything.

"So... you tried to save me?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yes. Yes! I don't think it's right to recruit guys your age. I mean, you're just a teenager! But I'm not the boss around here, so I don't decide anything."

I suddenly started to feel for Barry. He definitely wasn't like the rest of the criminals. He was just... different. He even tried to save me! In fact, I respected him for his kindness. Then I wondered if that was what it was like to have a true friend, for I saddly wasn't familiar with the feeling!

There was a moment of silence, but I then interrupted it by speaking again.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"What about you?" I repeated "You're still pretty young yourself, Barry. How did you get into this mess of a job? Do you enjoy it?"

But strangely, he moved stiffly and didn't answer at all. I got the feeling that he didn't want to be asked that question, but that just made me even more curious.

"C'mon" he said suddenly, his expression changed "Let me show you around the place."

And with that, we dropped the previous topic of conversation and moved on, walking out of the room.