John and Joe

John and Joe is the second episode of season one in Bandit Territory. In this episode, 
==Plot==
It's John and Joe's first mission together. Their target is the terrorist Mash'al Waqas, infamous for the bombings of severel Papa Squeegee restaurants. The two are transversing through a barren desert wearing Palestinian keffiyehs. As they approach a city, shots are fired at them from undisclosed locations. Since there is no cover in a desert, John uses his body in an attempt to shield Joe from injury. This baffles Joe, pondering why one would risk their life for a complete stranger. John only smiles.
A prolepsis occurs, in which the two hitmen are recuperating at a small outpost in the desert region. Their mission was a success. There is only one bed so John opts to sleep on the floor. As they're laying down, Joe decides to break the ice. He begins asking basic questions before he proceeds to question John's motives for joining Symmetry. John has difficulty defining his reasoning so he turns the question around on Joe, who explains he's in it for the money. Serving under SSK during the Dora War, Joe was unable to find work thereafter as he was only talented at killing. John is reluctant to reply but says he joined in order to enliven his dull life, but even he is unsure of that answer. He then asks Joe about his family, to which he replies he has none. Joe is unwilling to speak of what happened. John feels for the rookie and remembers when he witnessed his entire family die due to natural causes. Their deaths left him suicidal, but his "curse" wouldn't allow him to die.
Back in present times, John is holding Joe's corpse, crying over him and expressing sincere remorse. He travels out of the cave system with Joe and emerges at the surface to be greeted by a highly industrialized neighborhood and more Symmetry hitmen.
Joe and John bonded over the innate hardships of reality. Joe's brash approach to life reminded John of himself when he was younger, when he was mentored by an elder named Joseph Henderson. In a flashback, Joseph taught John pragmatism to combat ignorance, peace in a country that was currently at war, and conviction in a world that seemed faithless. John abandoned all of this and reverted back to a barbaric blank slate when a building was toppled by an explosion and killed Joseph. This was the result of the American Revolutionary War. John and Joe both agreed that war is despicable.
John had murdered the last remaining hitmen. He takes one of their cars before the police can arrive and finds a meadow where he burries Joe. John takes his hat off for a moment of silence before walking away.
TBC.
==Soundtrack==
CompassionPlayed when John shields Joe and continues as they bond
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Mash'al Waqas was part of Marid Mash'al Waqas's name, a villain from HTML.
Category:Episodes
Category:Bandit Territory episode