The street lamp flickered on and off, never stopping at one setting, constantly blinking. It was the only lamp on an otherwise dark street. the only car on the street was a shiny new black Lincoln sedan. It was parked underneath the lone lamp, looking ominous in the dim light. Tinted windows obstructed the view of the individual sitting in the driver’s seat. Only his silhouette was visible from outside of the car. The man opened the door and placed his left foot on the wet pavement. The distinctive scent of a heavy rain hung in the air, even an hour after the last drop hit the Earth. His right foot came next, and he lifted himself out of the car. He stood up and patted his gray sport coat, smoothing out the creases. Starting to walk away, the man shut the door behind him. Even though it was late at night, and the sun was long gone, dark sunglasses covered the man's eyes. A fedora sat on his head and pants on his legs, both matching his sport coat. A white button-down shirt completed the outfit, no tie wrapped around his neck. Striding down the street, he was a man with a mission. He had one thing to do and one thing only.

He stopped at the corner of the road and turned right. A building loomed ahead of him. This wasn’t any building. This was the GDCenture building, home of a single multi-billion dollar company. GDCenture was the new face of technology, ruling the technological landscape for over 20 years, all while creating millions of jobs and making billions of dollars. The man stopped in front of the revolving door that blocked his passage into the glass fortress. He swiped a keycard in the lock and was granted access. He pushed against the plexiglass and entered the empire. The lobby was dark and smelt of Pine Sol. The only person in the lobby was the man in the gray suit. He knew that he would be the only one, it was part of his plan. His plan, which had been developed about 5 years prior, was finally going to be carried out. The endless hours of hardwork and sacrifice would finally be put to use. He tiptoed across the lobby to the stairs. It was too risky to use the elevator at this time of night. He had played out all of the possible scenarios in his plan. Failure was not an option. If he did not succeed, his life would be over. Figuratively and literally.

The man climbed the steps at a rapid pace, reaching the 20th floor in just under 2 minutes. He stepped into the first office on the left side of the hall, the door already open. He had stuck a small piece of play-doh to the doorjamb earlier that day, ensuring that it wouldn’t lock. He shuffled over to the desk and opened the top drawer on the right side. A picture of a small family of three at Disney World, a flashlight, and a bowl of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups resided in this drawer. He pulled a peanut butter cup out of the bowl and unwrapped it, throwing it into his mouth immediately afterwards. He shut the drawer and opened another one on the opposite side of the desk. He reached inside and pulled on a wire in the corner of the drawer. There was a false bottom concealing the contents of the drawer. A M1911 pistol and it’s holster, along with multiple cartridges of ammunition lay underneath the false bottom. The man grabbed these things and closed the drawer. After loading the gun, he holstered it and placed it in his waistband. On to the next floor.

Floor 21, his real destination. Floor 20 was just a supply stop. The computer database was held on floor 21. The man snuck along the walls, sticking to the shadows, just in case there was someone patrolling the halls. He reached the door of the server room and swiped the same all-access keycard from before in the lock. The lock flashed green and an audible click granted him access. He shut the door behind him and headed for the back corner of the room. A rainbow of wires enshrouded the room in a flurry of colors, creating the feeling of being in a dream world. Green lights flashed constantly from every inch of the room, the computers’ way of signalling that they were still functioning properly.

In the corner was a computer terminal sitting on a desk in front of a swivel chair. The man sat down in this chair, but not before pulling a USB flash-drive out of his pocket. He placed the flash-drive into the USB drive set in the computer terminal and pulled the keyboard out from underneath the desk. After turning on the screen, the man logged in using credentials he had stolen from one of the executives at GDCenture. The man was not an amateur, he knew what he was doing. He accessed the folder that he wanted to reach and transferred the contents on to the flash-drive. He logged off and removed the flash-drive as soon as the files were completely copied. After pushing the chair in, the man bolted for the exit. He didn’t have much time. He knew that security would be making rounds to this part of the building soon. He pulled the gun out of his waistband. He needed to be ready.

He slowly opened the door and looked down both ends of the hallway. No one was in sight. He eased his way into the hall and started for the stairwell. Three floors down, dread filled the air. Two security guards were standing next to the entrance for floor 18. The guards were discussing what their plans were for the weekend. Tomorrow marked the beginning of Memorial Day weekend and the two were almost done with their work duties. The man was sprinting down the stairs, taking at least three steps at a time. When the man reached the 18th floor, his heart stopped. He landed on the ground next to the guards with a loud thump. The guards looked his way, saw the gun, and pulled out their own firearms. It was a stand-off, two on one. The man was not expecting this. He was not planning on needing to use the pistol, it was originally just a precaution. But now it was a necessary component in what might be the last moment of his life, it was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment.

“Put the gun down and walk away from it.” One of the guards said firmly. The man contemplated what to do. If he put the gun down, he would for sure go to prison. Trespassing amongst other charges. If he pulled the trigger and shot one of the guards, the other one would fire back before he had a chance to shoot again. It was a lose-lose situation. He wasn’t Jackie Chan or Liam Neeson, there was no way he could fight his way out of this.

“Put the gun down!” The guard yelled again, becoming impatient. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

“Why should I put the gun down, then all you’re going to do is kill me. Whether it’s by your hands or someone else’s.” The man retaliated.

“I’m not asking you again, put the gun down.”

“No! I have no reason to. If I put the gun down, I die.”

“No you don’t. Just calm down and cooperate with us. You won’t die.”

“Yes I will. You don’t understand. GDCenture took my family from me and they’ll take me too if they had the chance.” Tears started to form in the man’s eyes. “I would rather be with them than running from this bogus fake-ass company!”

“Why can’t you be with them?” The guard asked calmly.

“Because GDCenture took them away from me.”

“Then just put the gun down and we can try and see if GDC can bring them back to you.”

“They can’t! GDC killed the only people who I ever truly loved. It’s been more than 5 years since they killed my wife and daughter. They were the world to me. But there gone now, it’s only me. All alone, trying to avenge their deaths for 5 years. And I’ve finally succeeded.” The man took the gun and placed it on the concrete. The guards were speechless. “I am going to reach into my pocket and grab a flash-drive now.” He did as he said, and held the flash-drive out. He let the flash-drive fall out of his fingers on to the hard ground. He then lifted his left leg up and positioned it over the flash-drive.

“What is on that flash-drive?” The other guard asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The man muttered as he dropped his foot on top of the flash-drive, destroying it completely. All that was left of it was a small pile of miscellaneous metal scraps and a cracked plastic coating. The man crouched down and reached for the gun.

“Don’t do that!” The guard yelled in alarm. But the man did not listen, he laced his fingers around the cold steel and started to stand up again. But before he was at a full upright position, the guards opened fire, and the man crumpled to the floor, five bullets lodged in his midsection, puncturing his lungs and leaving him to die from lack of oxygen and blood loss. Whichever came first.

    The man in the gray suit who died in the middle of the night at GDCenture was a nobody. He had no family and no friends. The only people who knew him, even in the miniscule way that they did, were his neighbors and the waitress at the diner that he ate breakfast at everyday. He lived a quiet life and was okay with that. He broke into GDCenture with a loaded handgun and attempted to kill two of the corporation’s security guards. The guards held their ground and killed the man before he could do any damage. His name was Jonathan Fallow and died at the age of 63.

    This is what the president of GDCenture told the press that Memorial Day weekend after the incident. Obviously, this was an extremely twisted version of the truth. Jonathan Fallow was his name and he was 63 years old. Whether he actually did try to kill the guards is based on opinion. He might of been reaching for the gun to use it on them, or on himself. What he told the guards was the truth. His wife and daughter were killed 5 years prior. GDCenture was the reason they were dead. Jonathan did not know how or why GDCenture did it, but he knew that they did. He was on the verge of finding out why everything happened as it did when he died. the contents of the flash-drive were never recovered, but technicians at GDC discovered what Jonathan transferred to it. There was only one folder of files missing from the GDC server. The company’s employee information. What he was going to do with the information no one knows. But one thing is for certain, he was correct when he said that he finally avenged his family’s death. Three months after the incident, GDCenture lost all of its money through a security breach. Since the employee information was destroyed, GDCenture didn’t know who were actual employees and who were impersonators taking advantage of the security breach. These impersonators reached the server room, just as Fallow did, and stole bank account and credit card info. They bolted with the money, leaving GDC hanging out to dry.
    Jonathan Fallow was the author of GDCenture’s demise. He didn’t mean to be, but he was. Although it was reached through different means than planned, Fallow avenged his family’s death, and set out to join them. He was now with whom he loved. For eternity.