Welcome to a recount of all my assassination attempts (to clarify, in the game of Assassins)
Attempt 1
Location: Target’s home
Time: After school
The plan: beat my target home. Unfortunately, the plan stopped here.
Estimated success rate: 25% (If he pulled into his garage, there would be no chance)
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even beat him home and had not thought ahead to what I might do if I did. I guess this was less of an attempt and more of a scouting mission. It turned out, though, I did indeed beat him home, by less than a minute. Still, unsure whether or not he had already pulled into his garage and was watching me with a drink in hand from inside his house, I continued to drive in circles around the cul-de-sac. You can imagine my surprise when he pulled in, and we made eye contact as our two cars passed. I had thought to myself, “I guess that’s it”, waiting for him to pull into his garage. To my surprise, he didn’t. Instead, he drove all the way around the cul-de-sac, his car now tailing mine. Panicked he was now following me, I pulled out of the cul-de-sac, with his car close behind. Suddenly though, he turned right. I immediately realized he must’ve been trying to head back to his house and did a three-point-turn (one of the best I’ve ever done) and raced back to his street to block his driveway. Unfortunately, this was not well thought out either. He merely pulled into a friend’s garage instead.
Attempt 2
Location: Target’s home (again)
Time: After school (again)
The plan: Block off his driveway again. Block off his neighbor’s driveway. Once he was in the cul-de-sac, block off the entrance to that as well. Basically, it was a three car operation.
Estimated success rate: 40% (It was simply a waiting game- who wanted it more? We couldn’t force him out of his car but there’s no way he would stay trapped in there forever)
Unfortunately, while we were in a stand-off for a good half and hour, we were eventually asked to leave.
Attempt 3
Location: Bowling Alley
Time: Friday Night
The plan: Having received sudden intel that my target was out bowling for the night, I raced to pick up a friend and head off to the bowling alley. Unfortunately, we missed him by seconds. A white car pulled out of the lot just as we pulled in (it was not his car, so we weren’t immediately able to deduce that he had been in it)
Estimated success rate: 80% (if we had made it in time, it should’ve been a pretty easy shot)
Attempt 4
Location: Target’s home
Time: Immediately post bowling
The plan: Realizing that if he hadn’t been in his own car, he would have been dropped off, so we rushed back to his home. If he got dropped off on the street or even his driveway, there would be an opportunity for a hit. Unfortunately, we had no idea when he would be dropped off. Instead of waiting outside, we waited in the car (fatal mistake, but can you blame me when it was like 10 degrees outside). Having seen me get out of the car, my target immediately jumped back into his. The element of surprise was gone.
Estimated success rate: 60% (assuming he really was going home immediately after, he would’ve had to walk from his friend’s car into his house & open the garage- enough seconds to be shot at)
Attempt 5
Location: Target’s Home
Time: Saturday at Midnight
Plan: A plan based on assumptions: assuming my target was coming home from a friend’s house, I arrived to his house around midnight, hoping he hadn’t already made it back. I scored in the sense that I waited about 10 minutes before, sure enough, he arrived, but because he pulled right into his garage, it was another unsuccessful attempt.
Estimated success rate: 20% (this was all based on assumptions, so to be honest, I had no idea when he was coming home)
Attempt 6
Location: Target’s Home (I know, it’s getting old- trust me, nobody’s thinking that more than me)
Time: Monday Night (I gave him Sunday off to relax)
Plan: Place something underneath his garage door to stop it from closing. When he came out to check what was wrong, I would make my move. Unfortunately, this plan also failed. I’ll spare you the details; it’s too pitiful by now.
Estimated success rate: 40% (i didn’t think he would go out and check himself; i thought he might call his parents instead)
At a record of 0-6, I have learned a few things. First, always wait on foot if you’re in a neighborhood that’s carless (unless you can get out of your car without being noticed- for me, this was impossible, so I’ll just have to toughen it up through the cold). Second, scout a spot to hide. Finally, if your target always parks in the garage, your best shot is while they are getting dropped off or while they’re at a friend’s. Obviously this is harder to figure out than a practice/rehearsal schedule, but if you get lucky, you’ve got a pretty good shot.
That’s all for today – Hopefully there won’t be many more attempts I’ll have to add. Thanks for reading & wish me luck!