Burying the Competition
By Sherry

He felt BETRAYED. The situation was out of control. Taking matters into his own hands, he checked to be sure she wasn’t in. Once inside her office, he searched and found what he wanted. Having disposed of it once before, he thought the problem had been resolved. But it had resurfaced, and this time there was not one, but two of them. Grabbing both of them, he placed them into his backpack.

He scanned her computer files quickly. Everyone thought he knew next to nothing about computers; he liked it that way. The less they thought he knew, the easier it was to work around them. Finding what he wanted, he erased the files and backups. Satisfied, he put everything back the way it had been. Departing unseen, he hurried through the less traveled hallways. Outside, he gathered his remaining gear, got into his car and drove away.

Reaching his destination, he got out of the car. He still had a short trek to make on foot. He checked to be certain no one else was around. He had found this location a week ago when he had finally decided to take action. How she could continue to do this to him he would never understand. Didn’t she know how he felt -- what this did to him? Sighing, he walked over the wooden BRIDGE that spanned a small creek. About 100 feet down the other side of the creek bed, he came to a TWISTED old TREE that would suit his purposes.

Stopping under the tree, he began digging, making sure the hole was quite deep. It took a while, but he figured it was worth it. He didn’t want them resurfacing again. Eventually deciding the hole was deep enough, he removed the items from the backpack and dropped them into it. He refilled the hole, taking care to place the grassy sod over the top so no one would notice that the ground had been disturbed.

His work complete, he grabbed the SHOVEL and the backpack. He needed to discard them. Driving through the small town, he found a garbage dump where he disposed of both of them.

Relaxing, he got into the car and smiled. "Mission accomplished," he laughed. Feeling better, he traveled back to Section. On a whim, he walked through CLHQ to see how this part of his fiefdom was getting along. They were sometimes a handful, but they certainly made life interesting. As he walked toward the offices of the "moms," he saw Northstar coming toward him, looking distracted.

"Hello Northstar," he greeted her. North smiled, although her mind was elsewhere.

"Hello Paul," she answered.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

North shook her head. "Nothing I can’t handle. My planners are missing. The hard copies are gone and the computer files were erased. Even the backups."

He looked appropriately concerned. "I’m sorry." Knowing it was time he left, he called, "Let me know if you need anything," and then walked out of CLHQ, smirking all the way.


The End