literature

Laboratory Part IX

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53

Sebastian, Miranda, and I were the only ones still alive.  Nelson had died protecting me from a burst of bullets from the very first wave of attacks.  We were now inside a cargo container, ready to shoot anyone who dared to enter.

“We’ve lost, haven’t we?” asked Miranda.  I couldn’t see her face, but I could bet she was crying.  Sebastian stood next to me, face emotionless.

“Marius, no matter what happens, we’ll stay with you until the end,” he said.

“I know.”  Just then, something fell into the container and I saw it briefly roll around before I had time to yell, “FLASHBANG!”

I covered my ears when the noise began to become unbearable.  My eyes started to water and I closed them as I saw a group of uniformed men in masks rush into the container, shooting at Sebastian.  He fell to the ground, spraying blood onto the walls as he did.

LIV

“We got ‘em!” I heard Larson shout from inside the room.  I snuck a peek around the corner and went in, motioning at Wes to follow me.

“Brit, stay there and make sure Sullivan doesn’t run away,” I yelled across the room.  He gave me a thumbs-up sign from behind the box.  The room smelled of gunpowder and blood.  At every foot, there lay a dead body, still clutching onto a gun as if it were of any use to them still.  If people followed the law, nobody would have had to die today.  But I need people to keep breaking laws to keep my job, so I suppose in some ironically twisted sense, I needed these people to exist.  

I went inside the box.  Marius was tied up next to a girl who was also tied up.  Both of them were unconscious.  A dead man lay on the floor.  The girl looked strangely familiar.  I had seen her someplace …

I rush over to her and brushed her hair out of her face.  It was Miranda.  Miranda Clark.  Miranda “Blake-you-look-like-you’re-angry” Clark.

“What is she doing here?” I asked, a bit more confused than I was angry.

“She’s on his side.  Why?  You know her?” asked Larson.  He had somehow gotten a cigar out and had started smoking it.

“Yeah.  She works at the hospital.  She’s not the kind of person I’d imagine using a gun.”

“Yeah, well good thing those words weren’t your last.  Come on, let’s move out.”  I started walking away, still a bit bedazzled by the sudden appearance until I realized who the dead man on the floor was.  I had to turn him over onto his back to make sure.  Sebastian “don’t-call-me-Sebastian” Laton.

“And this,” I said pointing to the body.  “Is Seb.  I know him too.  Works at the hospital as well.”

“Damn, Norton, you’ve surrounded yourself with quite a few characters, haven’t you?”

“I guess I did.”

“Where do you want us to move them?”  I thought about it for a while, and an idea popped into my head.  It was only a block away and I knew the structure pretty well.  It seemed like a reasonable choice.

“The basement of the hospital,” I said.  They all looked at me as if I had suddenly sprouted wings, but got to work anyway.

55

I sniffed the air.  It was damp and heavy with a smell that made me gag.  My head was covered with a wet white towel.  The light in the room flickered on and I saw silhouettes of two men walking towards my way.  One of them was holding something in his hand.  Probably a gun.  I ran my tongue around in my mouth and tasted dry blood.  My blood, most likely.

He reached out for my face with his open hand and I tried to move away, but my hand was tied behind my back.  He swiped the towel off my face and I had to squint because of the flashlight shining in my eyes.

“Should we kill him now?” I heard a voice ask.

“No, keep him alive for questioning,” said the second voice.  I looked around.  The room was small, but they had cleared out the center for three chairs, one for me, one for Miranda, and one for Marius.  We were all tied up.

Five soldiers and two men stood watching us.  One of them had a piece of cloth around his arm.  The room was a bit dark, so I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I figured that was Milburn.  The guy standing next to him was probably Blake.  The two men in front of me were wearing suits.  One of them was holding a gun, but it oddly matched his attire.  The other one was holding a blade.  We were all going to be tortured for information.

Marius was still knocked out.  Miranda was slowly coming to.  She looked around, petrified from confusion.  She looked at me, around the room, at Marius, and understood.  The man holding the blade walked closer to me, suggestively playing with the point of his knife.  “Hi,” he said with an overly friendly tone.

“Hi.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sullivan Wilson.”

“What do you do, Sullivan?  You look like you should still be in school.”

“I am.”

“Well, talk about a wide variety of extracurricular activities, huh?”

“I guess so.”

“Sullivan, we are going to be willing to overlook the fact that we found you tonight on the same side as a terrorist, holding an illegally purchased weapon without a license if you will cooperate with us.  Will you do that?”  He kneeled down in front of me and looked at me square in the eyes.

“Maybe,” I said.  Wow, I was really testing my luck today.

“Sullivan, do you know this man as Marius Davids?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that he had intended to kill everyone in that room if he had to?”

“He wasn’t going to kill everyone.”  It was true.  We had specific orders to keep one person alive.

“Then how do you explain him shooting at Agent Parliament and Agent Norton with high-powered semi-automatic weapons just an hour ago?”

I didn’t answer him.  I looked straight into his eyes.  “Why are you asking me anyway?  You know exactly why we exist.  It’s because of him.”

LVI

“Is he talking about me?” I whispered to Milburn, leaning my head a little towards him.

“Why would he be talking about you?”

“I don’t know.”  I shrugged.  I swear I saw him look at me as he said “It’s because of him.”  Weird.  Everyone else seemed to be fine just ignoring that last comment.  I went back to leaning against the wall.

Agent Stanley pressed on.  “Sullivan, must I remind you that you are at your greatest advantage to just answer what I ask you to?”  He didn’t wait for a response.  “Sullivan, who supplied you with the weapons?”

“You did.”

“Sullivan, I will ask you once more.  Who supplied you with the weapons?  Who dared to give you the weapons to fight back against us?”

“It was you.  You and the harm you do to the real people.”

“Is that your final answer, Sullivan?”

“Yes.”  Agent Stanley took out his own pistol and shot Sullivan in the head at point-blank range.  He fell over backwards with his chair, spilling blood in a pool on the floor.  Miranda screamed as she cried hopelessly at Sullivan’s body.  Marius woke up, startled by the gunshot.  I rushed over to Agent Stanley.

“Woah!  These are criminals, but they are still protected by the law.”

“Well, then.  Sullivan died in the gunfire back in the warehouse, didn’t he?” he said.  I just looked at him.

“Keep your finger off the trigger, Stanley.  You know they want Marius and his associates alive.”

“We have a warrant for his assassination already, Agent Blake.  We have freedom over this man’s life as of now.”  He had a point, but we didn’t work this hard to just kill him here.  I went back to leaning against the wall with my arms crossed.  Agent Stanley moved onto Miranda.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Miranda Clark.”

“Do I have to go through the rules with you, too?”  Wow.  He was really enjoying this.

“No.”  I could see sweat dripping down her forehead.  It stayed trapped in her eyebrows for a while.  A drop rolled into her right eye and she flinched a little.  Agent Stanley looked at me.

“Agent Norton, your turn.”  I just stared at him, a little confused.

“What?”

“You heard me.”  He held out his pistol at me, grip first.  I reluctantly walked towards him and took the gun.  He gave me a toothy grin and took my place at the wall next to Milburn.  I clicked the safety on, but pointed it at her anyway.

“Miranda,” I started.  “Cooperate with us.  Once we have what we need, you’ll never hear from us again.  Just tell us who’s been supplying you.”

“Blake, you are giving us the weapons we need to fight them.  You know all this can’t be real.  You gave us the chance to pull you out of this mess.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“You know this is wrong, Blake.  Don’t do this.  You belong with us.  We are trying to help you Blake.”

“Miranda, I –”

“–Agent Norton, ask once more.  If she doesn’t answer shoot her,” Agent Stanley interrupted.  I paused, and clicked the safety off.  I pointed it at Miranda again.  Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Miranda, this is your last chance.  Are you going to cooperate with us?”

“Are you?”

“Agent Norton, shoot her.”

“Shut up, Stanley!”

“Agent Norton, do it now.”  I turned around to threaten him, but in the process, I accidentally pulled the trigger.  I looked back at Miranda, who was now falling backwards with a gaping bleeding hole above her left eyebrow.  This was not a good idea.  I clicked the safety back on and walked over to Marius.  His face was blank.  He just followed me with his eyes almost as if he were bored.  Good for him.

“Marius, who supplied you?”

“Blake, you did.”

“All three of you are saying that.  Why?”

“Agent Norton, just ask him again.”

“Blake, you need help.  Just put the gun down and everyone can walk away from this.”

“You’re still not making any sense.”

“If you kill me, all hope for you is lost.”

“Right.”  Marius then looked at me with anger in his eyes.

“Blake, you are inside the –”

“–No!” yelled Agent Stanley.  He took another pistol from his holster and shot Marius in the chest.  Marius fell over on his side, his chest bleeding profusely.  He was gasping for breath.  

“Stanley!  You crazy bastard!  I didn’t keep an eye on him for years just so you can shoot him!”  Marius was on the ground in a fetal position with his back turned towards everyone.  He dipped his hand into the pool of blood on the floor next to Miranda’s head and started smearing it on the floor in front of him.  I walked over to see what he was doing.  He had written something in blood.

“DO YOU SEE A PEAR?” it read.  Where else have I seen that?  I slowly turned my head towards the Marines, Agent Stanley, Agent Hills, and Milburn.  I looked at the three bodies at my feet and what they had told me.  I finally understood.  I finally knew why Agent Stanley was so eager to prevent them from explaining what they meant.

I checked my magazine.  Nine bullets left.

I clicked the safety off and shot Agent Stanley in the stomach twice.  His gun fell out of his hand and I rolled forward, grabbing it.  I got up on one knee with both guns in my hand pointed at the Marines.  I fired twice from each gun, making Lieutenant Larson, Agent Hills, and Milburn the only ones left alive in the room, along with me.

Agent Hills had caught up and fired at me.  At the same time, I leaped and spread my arms apart, pointing one pistol at him and the other at Lieutenant Larson, who also had taken out his rifle.  I shot at both of them three times each and landed on the floor in a crouching position.

“Stop.  Drop the guns and get up slowly,” said Milburn from behind me.  I heard him dramatically making a clicking noise with his gun.  I froze for a second, but got up.  I did have two guns and I was willing to bet my aim was better than his.  We were only fifteen feet apart, but I decided to take my chances.

I suddenly dropped to my left and shot Milburn twice.  He also shot, and by some chance, his bullet pierced my lung.  I took one last shot at Milburn.  His head flew backwards as he slumped over Agent Stanley’s body.  Everyone was dead.

I leaned against a wall, sitting down and holding my shirt against the wound.  None of this is real.  These people don’t exist.  I didn’t really kill anyone.  Or did I?  I looked at the blood on the floor and the walls.  The bodies in a heap around me.  Then I saw Marius’ last message for me.  This was definitely only a game.  But Leon never told me what would happen if I died in the game.  Would I die in real life?  Has virtual reality taken over me?  In which world do I exist?
  
Do I exist at all?
Part IX! Whew! Glad you made it this far? Good! Me too!
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