chase it all down with. I know I don’t have much time.
I know the Overseer will be coming in for the kill. I know he will
want to get nice and close to do this. He might not have a gun, but
he’s definitely got a knife.
He’s definitely got weapons and poisons and
hi-tech killing instruments from Wonderland.
Hell, he could probably kill me with his bare
hands.
My left arm still works. So I reach under my
jacket for the rapid fire gun. I hold on tight. I see the Overseer
moving down the center aisle, coming right for me. He’s not even
bothering to hide or duck. He’s not concerned about taking
cover.
He is not afraid of me.
I unload a full magazine. I don’t aim because
I can’t aim. I spray and pray. And the bullets chop the wooden
shelves to pieces. Books and knowledge and wisdom and history and
lies are torn to shreds.
The Overseer finally takes cover, diving
behind some rubble, disappearing into the darkness and the shadows
created by the emergency lights and the flash of my high-tech
military grade rapid fire gun.
The entire magazine is empty in seconds.
Again, I can’t help but think about how much
money I just wasted. I push the thought from my poisoned mind. It
was money well spent. It has bought me some time. Just enough to
slip through the exit, through the hole in the wall that leads into
the subway tunnels.
I have the presence of mind to grab the gun I
dropped, and my brother’s torch. Without it, I’d be blind.
I can hear my brother’s words of advice, his
vague directions…
Walk up hill. You’ll feel the heat.
I wish I knew which way was up. Or down. Left
or right.
But I don’t.
I can hardly think straight.
It takes me forever to realize that I’ve
probably been poisoned with the same poison that ended Ruby. And
that I could very well be dying.
My left arm goes numb and limp. I let go of
the rapid fire. It swings faithfully back to my side as a result of
the strap that’s around my neck and my shoulder.
I hunch over and I start running as best as I
can.
As fast as I can.
I know the Overseer is coming for me.
I know he won’t stop.
Chapter
9
I’m running through the darkness, running hunched over. One hand is
clutched to my stomach.
Cramping.
Churning.
One hand brushes the wall of the tunnel for
support, for guidance.
I need to find some water. I need to dilute
the poison in my body, or at the very least, I need to find a quiet
spot to ride this out.
But what if there is no riding this out? What
if this poison is as lethal as my brother said it was? As lethal as
I know it is.
How long did it take to kill Ruby?
Hours?
Minutes?
I answer my own question and I say to myself,
to no one… “Then that quiet spot will be a quiet spot to die. Nice
and peaceful.”
I lean forward. I keep walking because
there’s nothing to do except to keep going, to keep moving. Because
the alternative is to crawl into a ball and die. Walking the
tunnels, lost and drugged, hallucinating… this is a great way to
vanish and go missing. A great way to disappear in the dark and
never find a way out. A great and efficient way to die. Maybe this
is what I get for all the bad things I’ve done.
Maybe this is what I deserve for being a
killer, for failing Ruby.
The shadows created by the red flashlight
come to life, they dance around me. At first they are friendly, at
first they are companions for this journey.
But then they turn.
They begin to stalk me and hunt me.
They realize I am not going to make it. They
realize I am prey. They realize I will be a free meal very, very
shortly.
I remind myself that I am hallucinating. This
is not real. The monsters of shadow and darkness are not real. I
don’t need to worry about them, I don’t need to be afraid of
them.
What I need to fear is behind me.
The Overseer.
A small army of Enforcers.
Behind me are heavily armed soldiers who want
me dead, who have been ordered to kill me.
I turn the torch off because I don’t need it.
I’ve
I know the Overseer will be coming in for the kill. I know he will
want to get nice and close to do this. He might not have a gun, but
he’s definitely got a knife.
He’s definitely got weapons and poisons and
hi-tech killing instruments from Wonderland.
Hell, he could probably kill me with his bare
hands.
My left arm still works. So I reach under my
jacket for the rapid fire gun. I hold on tight. I see the Overseer
moving down the center aisle, coming right for me. He’s not even
bothering to hide or duck. He’s not concerned about taking
cover.
He is not afraid of me.
I unload a full magazine. I don’t aim because
I can’t aim. I spray and pray. And the bullets chop the wooden
shelves to pieces. Books and knowledge and wisdom and history and
lies are torn to shreds.
The Overseer finally takes cover, diving
behind some rubble, disappearing into the darkness and the shadows
created by the emergency lights and the flash of my high-tech
military grade rapid fire gun.
The entire magazine is empty in seconds.
Again, I can’t help but think about how much
money I just wasted. I push the thought from my poisoned mind. It
was money well spent. It has bought me some time. Just enough to
slip through the exit, through the hole in the wall that leads into
the subway tunnels.
I have the presence of mind to grab the gun I
dropped, and my brother’s torch. Without it, I’d be blind.
I can hear my brother’s words of advice, his
vague directions…
Walk up hill. You’ll feel the heat.
I wish I knew which way was up. Or down. Left
or right.
But I don’t.
I can hardly think straight.
It takes me forever to realize that I’ve
probably been poisoned with the same poison that ended Ruby. And
that I could very well be dying.
My left arm goes numb and limp. I let go of
the rapid fire. It swings faithfully back to my side as a result of
the strap that’s around my neck and my shoulder.
I hunch over and I start running as best as I
can.
As fast as I can.
I know the Overseer is coming for me.
I know he won’t stop.
Chapter
9
I’m running through the darkness, running hunched over. One hand is
clutched to my stomach.
Cramping.
Churning.
One hand brushes the wall of the tunnel for
support, for guidance.
I need to find some water. I need to dilute
the poison in my body, or at the very least, I need to find a quiet
spot to ride this out.
But what if there is no riding this out? What
if this poison is as lethal as my brother said it was? As lethal as
I know it is.
How long did it take to kill Ruby?
Hours?
Minutes?
I answer my own question and I say to myself,
to no one… “Then that quiet spot will be a quiet spot to die. Nice
and peaceful.”
I lean forward. I keep walking because
there’s nothing to do except to keep going, to keep moving. Because
the alternative is to crawl into a ball and die. Walking the
tunnels, lost and drugged, hallucinating… this is a great way to
vanish and go missing. A great way to disappear in the dark and
never find a way out. A great and efficient way to die. Maybe this
is what I get for all the bad things I’ve done.
Maybe this is what I deserve for being a
killer, for failing Ruby.
The shadows created by the red flashlight
come to life, they dance around me. At first they are friendly, at
first they are companions for this journey.
But then they turn.
They begin to stalk me and hunt me.
They realize I am not going to make it. They
realize I am prey. They realize I will be a free meal very, very
shortly.
I remind myself that I am hallucinating. This
is not real. The monsters of shadow and darkness are not real. I
don’t need to worry about them, I don’t need to be afraid of
them.
What I need to fear is behind me.
The Overseer.
A small army of Enforcers.
Behind me are heavily armed soldiers who want
me dead, who have been ordered to kill me.
I turn the torch off because I don’t need it.
I’ve
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