Necrocide

Chapter 77

A minute had passed since the last gunshot and the room already had the stench of corpses. And for some reason, Aaron still couldn't catch a break.

The bullet slid out of his eye socket and rolled to the floor beside him. A new eyeball grew into his socket and, as usual, he didn't feel a single thing. That last gunshot sent him into catatonia. He was frozen on the floor as if he had already died. He wasn't breathing or anything.

But once his mind came back to him, he was not happy.

He carefully pulled himself up and sat against the wall to regain his stamina. He spotted the bullet that nearly killed him and picked it up, twirling it around in his hand as he scanned the blood he left behind on it. However, he ignored his old eyeball.

"Nika?" he asked, still studying the bullet. "You want to get out of here? I'll take you wherever you want to go. We'll pretend none of this ever happened."

No response. "Nika?" he asked again.

Then he saw her slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Her head leaned to the side, her eyes lazily hanging open. Her hand clutched loosely onto the gun, both her hand and the gun lying on the floor beside her.

"Nika!" he exclaimed, and he started crawling toward her. He refused to look at the bodies of Natalya and Lavinia, for he had indirectly killed the former and brutally murdered the latter in uncontrollable rage. His only mission now was to get to Nika.

The closer he got to her, the sooner he realized there was blood dripping down her chin. He made he sure he couldn't see the bullet wound. He focused only on her eyes, eternally staring out into the unknown. And yet he couldn't grasp the fact she was gone.

He pulled her close to her, brushing his hand through her hair. "Nika!" he shouted. "Stay with me! Please!"

He grabbed her hand, doing everything he could to save someone who couldn't be saved.

The floodgates opened. Tears cascaded down his cheeks. "No, no, no, no, please!" he exclaimed. "Nika! Please be okay!"

He placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head up so her eyes gazed into his. But he still couldn't find her. Just beautiful, empty blue eyes. He wiped away her final tear and closed her eyes, letting her head rest against his as he let his humanity drift away with his tears.

"Please, Nika," he whispered. "You've got so much to live for."

He pulled her into his arms, resting her head against his shoulder. He spotted her gun on the floor and slowly reached for it. Still holding her in one arm, he cocked the gun and pressed it against his temple.

When he pulled the trigger, all he heard was an empty click. Out of ammo.

He angrily threw the gun away and wrapped his arms around Nika again, sobbing uncontrollably. He accepted his fate, but he could never accept hers.

My worst fear has come true, he thought. I am alone in the world.

* * *

Ten minutes had passed as Aaron held her in his arms. He kissed Nika for the final time before slowly laying her body down on the floor. He wanted to believe she died peacefully, almost as if she was asleep and would wake up in a better place. And he rose from the floor and left the room, closing the door so he wouldn't have to see the outcomes of his worst mistake ever again.

Beyond that dreaded room were the seemingly infinite corridors making up Matheson's sub-level. There were no windows in sight, only fluorescent lights guiding his path. A collection of pipes lined the ceiling above him, trailing down the hall like circuitry. There were only a few other doors lining that hall besides the one he stepped out of.

Aaron limped to the wall in pain, which still lingered from the burn Lavinia gave him. He rested against it as he tried to formulate another plan of escape.

If he was lucky, he'd never have to see the inside of this tower again.

"I heard a commotion!" someone shouted. "Let's check it out!"

Then the sounds of footsteps rippled through the sub-level. An entire squad of DZI must've been on their way. That was Aaron's ticket out of this shit-show.

He pushed himself away from the wall and stumbled to the middle of the hallway. He took a quick glimpse at the dark crimson gash buried in his leg before returning his view to the soldiers at the end of the hall. Seven soldiers had their rifles trained on him. Hugh Richmond was at the center of these troops, and he had his finger on the trigger even before he arrived. The half-smile plastered on his face made it obvious he looked forward to killing Aaron.

"You seem pretty clean for a lad who underwent torture," Richmond said. "Where are the others?"

Aaron raised his hands up and ignored his question. "Kill me," he uttered in a raspy voice.

"Where the fuck are the others?"

"Kill me. Please."

Richmond's half-grin vanished. "Y'know what? Fuck them. We'll just get you out of the way and deal with them later. And why don't you beg a little more? You're making killing you look boring."

"What's the point of surviving if I don't even feel alive?"

Richmond nodded his head. "I sometimes feel the same way, lad." And after a brief pause, "FIRE!"

All seven rifles went off simultaneously. Aaron could feel each bullet rip through his skin, lodging in his bones and his innards. Blood was splashing out of his body like water out of a burst pipe. He felt like he was trapped in a blizzard, cold and alone and resisting the storm. And he could feel the remnants of his life departing him.

Bullets ripped apart his torso and his arms. Two of them ripped through his neck. One even buried into his cheek, narrowly missing his eye. But the final blow was the one that penetrated through his heart.

And the world went black for the last time.

His corpse fell back to the floor, wading in a pool of his own vitals. The soldiers ceased fire and strapped their weapons to their backs.

Aaron O'Connor was finally dead.

END OF PART 3