1 Chapter One: In the beginning...

Gunnar Pierce slowed his '67 Impala to a stop, and parked the car. He took one last drag of his cigarette before flicking it out the window. He turned the key and pulled it out and "God Was Never On Your Side" by Motorhead stopped mid chorus.

Pierce opened his foot and stepped out of his car and sighed. He looked down the walkway to the front door of his parents house.

"I can walk into a FRAG base and take out guard after guard, but walking into my parents house makes me nervous." Pierce said to himself. He straighted out his black flannel, rolled up the sleeves and decided to button it since he only had a beater on under it.

He walked up to the door and stood there for a moment, just staring at the door knob. He didn't have to knock, but he just knew that he was going to get lectured. About something. Anything. After a moment he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Mom, Dad. It's me." He said, closing the door behind him.

"Gunny, we're in the kitchen." His mother's voice called from deeper in the house.

"I wonder what he wants now." He heard his dad say as he got closer to the kitchen.

Pierce stepped into the kitchen to find his mom in front of the stove and his dad sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

Pierce saw the headline 'FRAG Base destroyed in Eagle City.'

Pierce gulped.

"Hi Gunny! How are you?" His mom asked as she hugged and kissed his cheek.

"I'm fine Ma, I just came to check up on you two." Pierce said. She smiled and brushed her hand on his cheek.

"You need to shave this. I miss your baby face." She said with a chuckle, commenting on his beard.

"Yeah, you look like a degenerate." His dad commented from behind his newspaper.

"Sit down Gunny. You want some coffee?" His mom asked as Pierce sat down on the opposite end of his father.

"No thanks Ma."

"He probably wants a beer or some liquor." His dad said. His mom didn't say anything but she rubbed his hair from behind him for a moment before returning to the stove.

"Oh! Did you hear? Your brother is now a 1st Lieutenant in the Army. He comes home soon too." His mom explained.

"Thats nice." Pierce said.

"It is nice. Better than a dishonorable discharge." His dad said.

"If you want to say something to me, how about you put the paper down and say it to my face." Pierce said, staring towards his dad, but only seeing the paper.

"Gunnar!" His mom said. His dad put down the paper and looked at his son.

"Or what? You gonna fight me too? Getting kicked out of the military and doing four years in prison wasn't enough? You wanna fight your own father too?" His dad said with a scowl.

"Or no, lemme guess. You want to borrow some more money?"

Pierce stood up, and for a second his dad looked scared.

Pierce walked over beside his father, he didn't look up at him.

Pierce placed an envelope on the table on top of his father's newspaper, and left the house.

Nobody in the kitchen moved until they heard his car Rev up and drive off.

His dad opened the envelope and saw money in it.

"What is that?" His mom asked.

"3,000$" His dad said with a sigh before sitting back fully in the chair.

"I thought he owed you a hundred." She said.

"Yeah, he did."

------

Pierce sat on the bed of his shitty studio apartment. He looked at the liquor on the dresser and the 32 pack of beer next to it.

He didn't think he was an alcoholic like his father believed, but maybe he was.

He walked over and picked up a can of beer. He pulled the tab but didn't take a drink, he just looked at it.

After a few moments of silence, he threw the open can against the wall of his apartment and left.

Pierce got down to the front of the apartment complex and lit a cigarette.

He checked his watch: 10:28 Pm.

He stared walking down the sidewalk since he decided to go to the park that was a few blocks from his apartment.

He got halfway there when he heard yelling.

Pierce looked across the street and into an alleyway. It was pretty dark, only the street light barely illuminating some of the alley. He saw three men cornering a woman.

Pierce crossed the street and walked towards the alley. When he got closer, he noticed that the girl couldn't have been older than 17.

"Come on, it'll be fun"

"Yeah, we'll teach you something.

" No, I need to go home.

"No, bitch, you're staying with us."

Pierce was about ten feet away from them when he said

"No, I think she's going to come with me instead." All four of them turned to Pierce.

"Who are you old man?" One of them asked

"Old man? Old? I'm only 25." Pierce said, sounding offended.

"Who. Are. You?" Said the man again, this time pulling out a switchblade.

"Oh God, you're a walking cliche. This is the part where I say I'm your worst nightmare right?" Pierce said, hands still in his pockets.

"No, this is the part where you bleed!" The guy said before lunging at him with the knife. Pierce disarmed his so fast that barely anyone saw it happen. Now, Pierce was holding the knife, and had the man's wrist bent around. The man was whimpering.

"What is this? Every action film ever?" Pierce said before snapping the man's wrist.

One of the other guys charged him, but Pierce stuck the blade into his shoulder, causing him to cry out it pain, as he did that, Pierce chopped his throat. His cry was instantly silenced as he had one hand around the handle of the blade and one on his throat.

"Oh, where are my manners. Lemme get that for ya." Pierce said before yanking out the blade and kicking him in the knee so it buckled and he fell to the floor. He looked up at the last man who stood there in shock.

"Damn. Right now would have been the best time for a one liner huh?" He asked the man, who didn't reply. Pierce shrugged and threw the blade at the guy, and it stuck into his foot. The man cried out and fell against the wall clawing at the blade.

Pierce walked over to the girl and helped her up.

"Come on hun, I'll walk you home."

-----

After Pierce walked the girl back to her house, and her and her parents thanked him repeatedly even while he tried to escape, he finally made it to the park.

He lit another cigerette and laid his head back as he sat on a bench. Looking up at the stars.

"Makes ya wonder who made it all huh?" A voice that Pierce recognized said from in front of him. Pierce sighed and brought his head back to normal position and saw his brother standing in front of him.

"Bennett. You're home already." Pierce said before taking a drag of the cigerette.

"Gunnar. Still smoking those cancer sticks."

"The obvious never escapes you, does it."

Bennett sat down on the bench next to Gunnar.

"Went to the bar. You weren't there. So, I figured you'd come here." Bennett explained.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a drunk." Gunnar said.

"I didn't say that." Bennett said.

"Didn't have to."

"I think you just need to find your purpose. Your destiny." Bennett said. Gunnar chuckled before taking another drag.

"My destiny." He said again with a laugh.

"I mean it."

"I know. That's why it's funny."

Gunnar stood up, and flicked his cigarette.

"When will you get it Benny? I'm not you. I don't excell at everything I do. You want a fighter? I'm your man. You want the perfect son? I'll call you. Just leave me alone." Gunnar said as he started to walk away.

"Why are you always like this?" Bennett asked.

"Because you always do this. You come back, act all nice, then it slowly becomes condescending. Just don't have time to deal with that shit. I gotta go be a drunk somewhere." Gunnar said before walking away, leaving Bennett in the glow from a park light.