♠ The Clairvoyant ♠

Three head shots in quick succession fuelled Connor’s blood lust. The fourth stood and caught a bullet in the shoulder, dropping his gun. Connor finished him with a shot to the chest.

Noecker finished the cops on his side equally swiftly.

“Is she with you?” Noecker called to his colleagues at the end of the garden.

“She’s here,” Justin replied.

“Agnetha,” called Noecker. “Come with me. And Justin. With me. Back to the roof. Keep an eye on this one,” he gestured to Connor. “He likes to stab people.”

Noecker looked at the two remaining fighters. Connor judged them as being no older than twenty.

“There’s a police BMW out front, why don’t you take it for a spin? Grab the weapons off these guys. We always need guns.”

Connor looked at Agnetha, limping across the garden, grey hair, back bent.

“What’s so special about her?” he asked Noecker.

“When you’re fighting a tyrannical government, it always helps to have a clairvoyant on your side.”

On the way up the stairs, Justin once again taking the rear, Connor grew impatient with the old woman’s hobbled steps in front of him. “How many fingers am I holding up, gran?”

She held one up herself, showed it to him over her shoulder. “It doesn’t work that way, sonny.”

“Sonny.” Justin thought of him as an old man. Now Granny referred to him as a child. Connor had believed himself to be still in his prime, until today.

“Why didn’t you warn us about the cops, then? Or is that outside your job description too?”

Agnetha turned her head, still pulling herself painfully up the steps by wrapping arthritic fingers around the hand rail.

“All you need to know about the future, sonny, is that my gnarled old foot will find your soft young manhood if you don’t shut your noisy trap toot sweet.”

Connor grinned. He could grow to like the old bat. If they lived long enough.

⛥

Read Big Day Out in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud at www.bit.ly/FreeBurning. Or read them on Kindle Unlimited.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

⛥

For a different experience, listen to these weekly episodes as Spotify podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Google podcasts.

⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at No.1 on Amazon. Find all the above details and links at www.amazon.com/author/burning.

In case you missed the link while listening to the podcast, that’s www.amazon.com/author/burning.

⛥

Cheers.

($) Games without frontiers ($)

Forget about your ego. This isn’t about who’s the better person.

Play the game. That’s all it is. A game. With rules, and elements of luck. Opportunities and challenges. Learn the rules, look for the opportunities, and play to win.

If you want to get ahead, be promoted, earn a bigger bonus – focus on what you are supposed to be doing. If you can, expand your responsibilities to take on more important tasks within the organization.

Are you giving more than you’re being paid? Probably. Is this fair?

Quick heads up – life isn’t.

Will it pay off one day, in terms of recognition and financial rewards?

What’s the alternative strategy? You could ask your boss to give you a raise or pay you overtime day after day because you didn’t finish your work. Chances of success? Slim.

If none of these strategies work, don’t change your attitude. Change your boss.

($)

You can still buy Hard Money for half price during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Join me in Edenvale on 30 July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

Stop living from salary to salary. Achieve Financial Independence. Retire Early. Join the FIRE movement igniting the world.

Follow these weekly posts for solid advice on how to escape the rat race, covering material contained in Hard Money.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t be easy. That’s why it’s called Hard Money.

Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend. Then live like they dream.

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

www.amazon.com/author/burning

♠ The Prisoner ♠

Connor peered over the low brick wall surrounding the roof and saw an armoured RG-12 Nyala and two police BMW’s, doors open, four officers crouching behind them, weapons trained on the blown garage doors.

“Twenty at the most. Maybe less if they were thinking of taking prisoners.” Connor knew the love of the police for taking prisoners. That was worst case scenario.

Noecker peered over, pulled a grenade off his belt and tossed it towards the nearest BMW. The explosion and subsequent panic were a joy to see. Noecker and Connor quickly picked off the remaining officers.

“Downstairs,” barked Noecker.

They crept past the corpse of the man Connor had stabbed.

“I’ll take that back.” Connor retrieved his dagger and wiped the blade on the man’s shirt.

Noecker crouched at the doorway and swept the kitchen with his gun. “Clear.”

They crept through the kitchen, sounds of gunshots and shouting growing louder.

Through what used to be a living room. Three dead policemen littered the floor. Out through large doors into the garden, over a dead resistance fighter. Connor grinned and took aim. Shooting fish in a barrel. The police were concentrating their fire at the end of the garden, with their backs to them.

⛥

Join me in Edenvale on 30 July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

Shorty’s Prayer – her second book of Homeless poetry from the streets of Melville – is currently in production. Coming soon. Check out her first book here – https://books2read.com/b/shorty

Read Big Day Out in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud at www.bit.ly/FreeBurning. Or read them on Kindle Unlimited.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Get discounted (and free) copies of my books during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

⛥

For a different experience, listen to these weekly episodes as Spotify podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Google podcasts.

⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at No.1 on Amazon. Find all the above details and links at www.amazon.com/author/burning.

In case you missed the link while listening to the podcast, that’s www.amazon.com/author/burning.

⛥

Cheers.

($) Nag ($)

Stay focused. Don’t let social media distract you. Distractions cause mistakes. You’ll look bad. You’ll feel worse. And you’ll have to do it again, properly.

Don’t spend hours on your phone, surfing the internet, or having long chats around the coffee machine. Don’t dream about your weekend plans, or what you’re having for lunch.

Don’t get to work late then spend half an hour eating breakfast or getting dressed or putting on your makeup. Better yet, aim to be at work five minutes early, to cater for the occasional gremlin.

And don’t sneak away early. That includes packing up early and watching the clock from a sprinter’s crouch next to your desk.

Don’t take all of your annual sick leave just because you can.

If you’re on the road, do your job. Don’t sit in a café or a bar, or go shopping or visiting friends all day.

Your employer doesn’t pay you to do any of this, and it will be noticed.

Try to see things from management’s perspective. Don’t get twisted into the age-old conflict between management and workers. They have the money. You want some of it, or you wouldn’t be there. You wouldn’t be reading this book.

($)

You can still buy Hard Money for half price during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Join me in Edenvale on 30 July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

Stop living from salary to salary. Achieve Financial Independence. Retire Early. Join the FIRE movement igniting the world.

Follow these weekly posts for solid advice on how to escape the rat race, covering material contained in Hard Money.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t be easy. That’s why it’s called Hard Money.

Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend. Then live like they dream.

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

www.amazon.com/author/burning

♠ God was never on your side ♠

“Stop killing my men, you idiot!” yelled Noecker. “Don’t you realize we’re on the same side?”

I’ll never be on your side.

“Listen to him, for God’s sake,” pleaded Francina.

I’ll never be on her side, either.

Noecker looked at his watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

“We have to go back inside. We can’t leave her.” Francina appealed to Noecker. “She’s part of the plan.”

“The old woman at the table?” Connor queried. “Leave her.”

“No!” screamed Gertie. “We have to get her.”

“She’s right.” Noecker completed his scan of the roof. “Clear. We have to bring her.”

Noecker walked to the steel door. Connor stood up and blocked him.

“That’s suicide. Wait here for the choppers. Girl. Lanseria. Plane. Paradise.”

“If that’s what you think, then you’re even more stupid than I gave you credit for,” Francina snorted.

“I know you hate me,” Noecker growled, “but let’s go kill some pigs. I’ve changed since we knew each other. I need a man with your special abilities.”

He hasn’t changed, Connor decided. But the chances of getting aboard a chopper without Noecker were probably zero. So he nodded. “Then let’s go save the old lady.”

⛥

Join me in Edenvale on 30 July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

Read Big Day Out in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud at www.bit.ly/FreeBurning. Or read them on Kindle Unlimited.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Get discounted (and free) copies of my books during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

⛥

For a different experience, listen to these weekly episodes as Spotify podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Google podcasts.

⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at No.1 on Amazon. Find all the above details and links at www.amazon.com/author/burning.

In case you missed the link while listening to the podcast, that’s www.amazon.com/author/burning.

⛥

Cheers.

($) We’re not gonna take it ($)

It was alleged in a recent biography that Elon Musk fired his assistant of twelve years after she asked for a raise. Elon allegedly told her to take two weeks off, during which he performed her duties himself. When she returned to work, Elon allegedly told her that he no longer needed her.

Elon has denied this story as total nonsense. So let’s give him the benefit of the doubt as he strives to save the human race from itself.

The important factor here is your attitude. Add value. Be helpful. Don’t fight against your employers.

Here are some specific examples to give you the general idea.

If you didn’t finish everything you had to do at work today, stay a little longer. Take work home. Come in early.

Don’t leave anything till the last minute. It will backfire.

Make sure you achieve the end result. If your boss asks you to get a document from his lawyer, get the document from his lawyer. Don’t just make a phone call. Don’t just send an email. That’s not what you were asked to do.

Keep following up until the end result has been achieved, ie. you have received the document and given it to your boss.

Companies reward results, not effort.

($)

You can still buy Hard Money for half price during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Stop living from salary to salary. Achieve Financial Independence. Retire Early. Join the FIRE movement igniting the world.

Follow these weekly posts for solid advice on how to escape the rat race, covering material contained in Hard Money.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t be easy. That’s why it’s called Hard Money.

Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend. Then live like they dream.

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

www.amazon.com/author/burning

Join me on 30 July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

♠ Killers ♠

A professional extraction. Connor smiled. Rushed, though. They’d missed a couple of important steps. Lack of combat experience.

The party paused at the top of the stairs. Noecker waited for everyone to bunch up behind him before opening a steel door that led to the rooftop. He leaped through the doorway, landing in a crouching roll that took him behind an air-conditioning unit.

Connor couldn’t see past the queue of people, but he could picture the old commander checking the rooftop, scanning from right to left the way they’d been taught during basic training.

Justin thought of Connor as an old man? Noecker was older than both of them combined. He was a survivor. Decades of caution, double-checking everything. Which made him slow. Too slow.

The garage door exploded into the kitchen. All eyes turned automatically to look down the staircase. All except Connor’s. His were fixed on the handle of the knife he’d just thrust into the belly of the man in front of him. Amateurs, assuming he carried only one knife.

Connor left the knife where it was and took the man’s gun in exchange. Then he grabbed the corpse’s jacket and half-lifted, half-swung the body down the stairs, knocking Justin into the two men behind him in a neat domino effect. They shouted. They swore. They let off rounds. But Connor was already closing the steel door behind him, shooting a solid bolt into place.

⛥

Read Big Day Out in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud at www.bit.ly/FreeBurning. Or read them on Kindle Unlimited.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Get discounted (and free) copies of my books during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

⛥

For a different experience, listen to these weekly episodes as Spotify podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Google podcasts.

⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at No.1 on Amazon. Find all the above details and links at www.amazon.com/author/burning.

In case you missed the link while listening to the podcast, that’s www.amazon.com/author/burning.

⛥

Cheers.

($) Lick it up ($)

What if you could work your way up, earning promotion after promotion, increase after increase, and healthy bonuses – not limited to one a year – for a job well done?

And what if you were to invest most of this money, so that after 20 or 30 years it had grown to the point where you had enough capital to generate a passive income that covered your monthly expenses?

See the next chapter for advice on how to control those expenses, otherwise you might never have enough income to cover them.

Don’t chase money directly, for its own sake. Focus on doing your job, all day, every day, putting in the effort and the hours. The money will come, but not if it’s your main focus. This sounds like a paradox. It makes no sense. It’s just the way it works.

You want to make sure that you add as much value as possible, so much so that you become an integral part of the company. Nobody is indispensable, but you need to ensure that you are at least difficult to replace. That they would notice your absence. If a temp could do your job, you need to step up your game.

($)

You can still buy Hard Money for half price during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Stop living from salary to salary. Achieve Financial Independence. Retire Early. Join the FIRE movement igniting the world.

Follow these weekly posts for solid advice on how to escape the rat race, covering material contained in Hard Money.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t be easy. That’s why it’s called Hard Money.

Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend. Then live like they dream.

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

www.amazon.com/author/burning

Join me at the end of July as Burning Books Publishing goes Beyond the Vale… https://www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events

♠ Hairway to Steven ♠

Connor ignored him. Except for filing away, in the back of his mind, that he would kill this man, if it was the last thing he ever did. Preferably slowly and painfully, but he would take it any way he could get it.

Gertie looked back and forth between them, simultaneously shaking her head. The result looked a lot like the bobbleheads Connor used to stick on the dashboard of his car. Only not as amusing, under the circumstances.

“No. Not him. Mother? Please, no?”

“Thanks, kid. Francina?”

She smiled enigmatically, enjoying the moment. “Gertie…”

Noecker interrupted, looking at a flashing light on his wrist. “It’ll have to wait. We have incoming.”

Connor checked the filing cabinet at the back of his mind. “As painfully and as slowly and as SOON as possible.”

Justin pushed him further into the kitchen. “Did you say something, old man?”

“Both of them,” Connor promised himself. “Two for the price of one.”

“Mother…?”

God, could that whiny brat really be his?

Noecker held a finger to his lips. “Sssh. No time to talk. Follow me up the stairs. Justin, you and the boys bring our special guest and watch our backs.”

Then he was gone, out of the kitchen and climbing a set of carpeted stairs, weapon held protectively in front as he moved up step by step.

Justin relieved Connor of his gun, as well as the knife in his pocket, before pushing him towards the stairs. One of the others took up position in front of Connor, behind the two women who had followed the leader.

⛥

Read Big Day Out in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud at www.bit.ly/FreeBurning. Or read them on Kindle Unlimited.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Get discounted (and free) copies of my books during the Smashwords July sale. https://bit.ly/SmashBurn

Anyone in Johannesburg who would like a signed copy (of any of my books) can have one delivered to their door by Big Bad Wolf Motorcycle Maniac Deliveries. No charge for delivery.

⛥

For a different experience, listen to these weekly episodes as Spotify podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Google podcasts.

⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at No.1 on Amazon. Find all the above details and links at www.amazon.com/author/burning.

In case you missed the link while listening to the podcast, that’s www.amazon.com/author/burning.

⛥

Cheers.