Story
“It’s almost done..” I whispered.
The fire grew bigger and bigger. I was starting to get lightheaded from the loss of blood. The pain didn't bother me; it was nothing compared to what I deserved.
“Isn't it interesting how quickly the flame spreads?” Jake spoke out after what felt like an eternity of silence.
The fire kept coming closer and closer. It passed through Jake, but he didn't even flinch. He just kept staring at me. His stare felt like a thousand guns constantly shooting at me.
“You did good you know that right? After all we’ve been through, you finally repented,” he said.
“It’s easy for you to say! I'm the one who is dying, you know?”
“Calm down Lucio. It will all be over soon. Your conscience is clear.”
“Almost… there…” I whispered as life drained out of me.
It all began ten years ago. Our futures were looking bright. Me and two of my friends were offered a research position in a top secret lab. We were biochemists; that was how we had first met, in our ‘Intro to Chem’ class.
“Yo! Check out all this leg room we get!” I yelled out in excitement.
“Chill out man! First class seats is just the start. The boss man is going to make us so filthy rich we can live the rest of your life like this.” Kevin said.
“Stop screwing around, you two, and concentrate on our goal. It's not gonna be easy creating the serum you know?” Aaron said with a tone that made me feel like he is going to throw up.
Aaron wasn't in the best mood. His wife couldn't come with him to the research lab, they said it was too classified for her to know any details. So he basically had to live without her for however long it took for us to find the perfect formula.
“We have about 100 different chemicals that need to be studied. If we don't figure out what the common factors are then we’d still have about seventy five million tests to do before we get to human trials. So I say you two should shut up and we should start working!” Aaron said.
“Man! Isn’t he bitchy today!” Jake said as he appeared next to me.
“Good to see you Jake, I'm going to be doing a lot of research for the next couple of months so I'm going to be needing your services.” I said.
I hadn’t exactly talked to Jake since I graduated two years ago. I took a job painting buildings so I wouldn't need Jake’s help everyday. Then there were always some days when I couldn't take my medicine, or when I was too stressed out.
“The bosses don't want any information leaked. Hell, we shouldn't even be talking about this right now!” Kevin said as he prepared himself for a deep slumber.
Aaron was the most driven out of all of us. He would've hated for us to screw this up, but he was getting too impatient. I could see that because I was only after the money. I did not care much about the research, I actually resented needing to think again. The only reason I had agreed to do this was because Kevin and Aaron were doing it.
Months passed as we kept working on our project. Me, Aaron, Kevin, and Jake. There always had to be Jake, didn't there?
“Reliving old memories, aren't we?” Jake teased me.
“I am not in the mood for this Jake! Can’t you just let me die in peace?” I pleaded. The smoke was burning my eyes now.. I could barely keep them open.
“Just take your medicine Lucio! All your problems will go away!” Jake didn't heed my pleading.
It was true, all I needed to do to get rid of him was take my pills. But how could I? Not after the seeing first hand what the War had done. I could not afford to let Jake go away, there was a time when I thought I could, but it was one of the biggest mistakes I had ever made. I could not let anything like that happen again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
I woke up suddenly, short of breath, ears ringing. The artillery attacks were becoming more frequent with each coming day. The smell of chemical and rot quickly filled my nose. I brushed off some of the dust that had landed on my face. As I looked around, I saw Jake sitting on a dead body. His name was Adam, he was on patrol when he encountered a scouting bot. He had sacrificed himself so that the bot couldn't take our location back to the enemy. He had such a jolly personality, it was a shame he had to die.
“It was foolish of him to jump the scouter! He died to keep our location safe, but we got overrun anyway. He would’ve been of much more help defending the base. It will be a miracle if we got out of here alive!” Jake said as he stared at the half charred remains he was seated on.
“Give him some respect Jake!” I burst out in anger. “He gave up his life FOR US! Get off him!”
“Do you really want to bring this up again Lucio? You do know who’s fault it is he really died don't you? You are the one who messed up. You are the one who started this war.”
“SHUT UP!” I wished I could end Jake once and for all, but there is no way I’d be able to get medication stranded in a crumbling building that was once a base of operations. Even if I had access to medication, I couldn't be able to get myself to take any. Jake was right, it was my fault that we were in this mess, it was my fault the war broke out, the millions of lives that were lost were on my conscience.
“Are you done crying like a eight year old Lucio? Let's get out of here, I think I know a way.”
It had been almost a year since the war ended, and I had just now found Aaron’s whereabouts. I hadn’t seen him since we had I was going to greet him with an old tradition of ours, by simply breaking into his house. I picked the lock of his front door, and stepped inside to scare him. But I was the one who got shocked; I saw his wife, drenched in blood, lying on the bed, lifeless. Next to her, I saw Aaron, knife in his hand and a smile on his face as he calmly slept in his bed.
“Lucio! Run! Do you see what he has done?” Jake screamed from behind me.
“He murdered his wife.. he is a psychopath.. YOU WERE RIGHT JAKE, HE KNEW ABOUT THE SERUM ALL ALONG!”
“You need to end this, Lucio. He had caused enough harm to the world already.”
Jake was right, as always. I couldn't just let this pass, I had to do something. I looked around in his kitchen cabinet and found a lighter. I hesitated for a second, but I made up my mind, turned on the stove, turned on the lighter, dropped it on the floor, and ran. I ran as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face, and the crackle of fire in the background deeply etched into my memory.
I had spent three years finding the locations of all of the research facilities that were under Aaron’s control and destroying them one by one. it wasn't an easy task; all of the facilities were established under an alias; a meat refinery, a paint factory, etc. But using Jake’s intelligence I was able to find them all. I spent my days working construction again, just like I had dreamed of doing when I had graduated. Except I always had Jake with me, as I just couldn't get myself to take medication. Everyday I used to stand near Kevin’s apartment, hoping to muster up the courage to tell him about Aaron.
It was just another day like that, and I was standing near the curb, having a conversation with Jake. That is when I felt a thump on my head and I blacked out.
I was unbelievably angry with Jake. All he had done for the past four days was keep sending us further and further back into the research stage of the serum. Today was a fresh start for me, as I had decided to take medication to get rid of Jake. I didn't need him anymore, I thought. As I walked into the lab, I saw Aaron and Kevin popping open a bottle of champagne.
“Lucio! It is done!” Aaron yelled, “Beach house!”
Never once did it cross my mind to run the formula by Jake.
As I woke up I found myself tied to a chair.
“Alright, you have 10 fingers, so I’m only going to ask you 10 times. Why did you burn my house and kill my wife!” Aaron said with a hateful voice.
“I didn’t expect we would reunite likes this.” I said in the most stable voice I could find.
CRACK. He cut off my pinky. Pain shot up all over my body, but it was nothing compared to the shock of seeing Aaron alive. And Kevin standing next to him.
“I think you all damn well know why!” I said as I tried to catch my breath and calm myself down. “You were behind the serum all along! You wanted us to take the gig with you, only we would be gullible enough to trust something you say! You were the one who came up with the blueprints of the mind control serum. You single handedly caused millions of deaths! Burning your beach house down is the least of what you deserved!”
SNAP. Another finger down. I was almost about to pass out from the pain.
“You didn’t finish answering” Aaron said after a long silence. “What about my wife?”
Did Aaron not remember killing his own wife?
“I didn’t kill your wife! She was already dead. I saw her just lying there with no breath. You damn lucky I didn’t kill you before I set your house on fire.” I tried to reply as calmly as I could.
He pulled out a gun from his suit as his eyes widened. BANG. BANG. Two shots for the two of us. I couldn't see Kevin moving, he must have died on the spot.
Aaron lit his brand new lighter, and dropped it on the floor. The flames grew bigger and bigger. I closed my eyes with a smile on my lips, the last I would ever smile.
