The coffee filled mug sat silently on top of the scratched and dented table surface, it had gone cold, left there forgotten in the anxious waiting of its consumer, Decker Parkes. Decker was a Northern Secessionist Forces (NSF) member, he had been for years, and now an ageing man, just pushing middle age, he was seen as a veteran, the newer NSF recruits would look up to him with inspired eyes since he was around when the NSF was formed, he had met one of the founding members, the NSF general Leon Woods, even now he could still recall the speeches Leon Woods used to give. Decker paced back and forth in his bedroom, mind wondering, awaiting the precious call from his contact, he needed to get out, to escape the United States with his two close friends Wayne and Erin.

Decker sat quietly at his small desk by the window of his rented apartment on 53rd Street near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, with a toothbrush crammed in to his cheek and mouth full of foam he sat and stared impatiently at the flat computer monitor, the inbox to his e-mail account was empty. He looked to the side of the screen and stared outside through the thin dirty brown net curtains that covered the windows; the light from the outside street lamps illuminated the bedroom in a murky yellow glow, Decker always had the bedroom lights off so no one looking in knew he was home, after all he was a marked man, at any moment a team of UNATCO troopers and M.i.B.'s (Men In Black) could kick the door through and splatter the contents of his head up the walls. Any way it felt safer in the shadows.

Decker picked up the small glass and lazily spat the frothy toothpaste in to the bottom, "Ahh… shit" Decker cursed silently, he had spat into the clean glass which held the water he was going to use to swill his mouth with, Decker picked up the small face towel and threw in over his shoulder as he carried the two glasses to the sink in the bathroom. He hated using glasses when brushing his teeth; it was a dirty habit he picked up from darting about all over the place with the NSF.

Decker watched the watery, saliva filled mixture get sucked down the plughole as he poured it into the sink, he turned one of the water taps, it did not matter which one, hot or cold, for the water heater had broke months ago and the landlord was too "economical" to fix it. Decker swilled out the glass and filled it with the cold water; he drank some and sloshed the water into both cheeks with his tongue and gargled it before spitting the water into the bowl of the sink. He washed his hands and splashed his face then looked into the mirror of the bathroom cabinet. His face looked washed out, his eyes had small dark rings underneath them and the crow's feet had spread up to his temples, Decker had not shaved for three days and his neck and chin felt prickly, Decker felt he was aging by the minute through the stress of evading the authorities for many years, his hair had gone thin and was turning grey, he seemed to feel tired more recently than usual and he needed to take a nap now and then. He hated the thought of becoming old to him it was like returning to a state of infancy.