Shaun Bennet sat in the front seat of his beat-up Camry, watching the fuel gauge sit on empty, the voices of the podcast playing on the car stereo. "Remember, you have to fight these Honeyguides. You're a warrior!" Cole was saying. Shaun nodded, cracked open his last energy drink, and chugged it. He could feel his heart beat faster and less evenly – months of avoiding caffeine, and now a sudden rush hit his system like a freight train. He took his earbuds out of their case, popped them into his ears, and turned off the car. The podcast moved smoothly from stereo to headphones just as Wells said, in his typical fashion, "I suppose if it's justified..." Shaun reached over to the passenger seat and, pushing aside the hoodie sitting there, grabbed the gun. It looked like an Israeli-made UZI, except for what he'd paid for it he knew the comparisons would be surface deep. He'd spent the morning taking it apart and filing the serial number off the lower receiver before reassembling it. Shaun had thought for a moment that he was caught when a mall security guard walked up to the car. He'd managed to quickly tuck the gun under his hoodie, but surely the guard would notice. Shaun was tense as the security guard rapped on his window, and Shaun lowered it. "No loitering," the guard said matter-of-factly before walking off. Useless corporate pigs, Shaun thought, rolling up the window and glancing over at the passenger seat, where part of the gun's magazine was clearly visible.
Stepping out of his car, Shaun tried to tuck the gun into his shirt in a way where it would be less visible, but it was awkward, and heavier than he'd expected. Putting the gun down on the driver's seat, he reached in and grabbed the hoodie, pulling it over his head despite the summer heat. With the hoodie he was able to tuck the gun into the pocket, and it felt at least a little concealed. Finally he reached in and unplugged his phone, and before sliding it into his pocket he opened the Apex app and fired off a message: "Bringing the fight to Southfield #warrior". As he turned to walk towards the mall he could feel the gun slipping, and he managed to catch it just before it fell to the ground. Standing there awkwardly holding the gun, Shaun looked around. The parking lot was empty; no one had seen him. Still feeling the weight of the weapon in his hands, he started to wonder what he was doing. A ping in his earbuds interrupted the podcast for a second and he reached for his phone, but it wasn't in his pocket. Looking around he saw it lying face down on the pavement, and with his free hand he picked it up and turned it over.
The screen of the phone, normally a subtle spiderweb of scratches and cracks from his frequent drops, had truly shattered. Greens and pinks danced across what parts of the screen still worked, and as he tried to tap the message notification from his sister, Shaun managed to cut himself on a shard of glass. "Motherfucker!" he yelled, sliding the phone carefully into his pocket before pulling the glass out of his thumb with his teeth and spitting it to the pavement. On his thumb a small red dot grew as the blood started to pool; it hurt like hell for something so small. Shaun tried to catch his breath, but his heart was racing and he could feel his hands starting to shake. His podcast kept playing in the background – now Cole was saying, "This is your fight, and when you fight, you fight to win!" Grabbing the gun in both hands and throwing caution to the wind, Shaun turned and headed for the mall.