Bittersweet Failure

Some things are bitter sweet. Everyone has that one thing that just tugs on their heartstrings, and for me, it’s this. Watching as this story unfolds. This is not the beginning, not really. It started years ago, when the heroes lost their leader and friend. The loss gave them a thirst for vengeance, an incurable drive to avenge their lost friend, and that, is what brought them here today, after years of planning.

Three figure crouch behind a boulder, whispering among themselves. Shrouded in shadow, their similar builds making them seem indistinguishable. But, on closer inspection, each cuts a distinct impression. There’s Alex, his dark hair falling to cover his leaf green eyes as he glares down at a floor plan; Meagan, her face all lines and angles, as sharp as the knives she twirls in her hands; Kacii, her mouth permanently set in a line and her face expressionless, no doubt going over the plan step by step in her head. Together they are a relentless team.

Kacii waves to get the others attention. “Remember. These people are ruthless, but we don’t have to be. If they surrender their arms, knock them out. Anyone who doesn’t surrender can be killed.” Her breath hitches in her throat. “We owe that much to Clare.”

Meagan and Alex nod, a silent testament to their fallen leader. They double check their weapons silently. Meagan conceals her knives and loads her gun, Kacii hooks on her ammo belt, and Alex hefts his machine gun onto his shoulder. They scramble up the rock.

Through a scope on her sniper rifle, Kacii views the compound in front of them. With three pulls of the trigger, she takes out the guards. They slide down the boulder face and sprint to the gate. Meagan pulls up the sleeve of her gear and reads the smudged writing on her arm, before punching in an eight digit code to a keypad. Without so much as a creak, the door swings open, and the team slides inside.

After a few moments of creeping down a dark hallway, they arrive at a checkpoint. The guards shout and charge, brandishing long, electric batons in front of them. Alex, Kacii, and Meagan all raise their pistols, stopping the guards in their tracks.

“Lower your weapons and we let you live,” hisses Alex. The guards hesitate, and one clicks his baton off. The other snarls, and Meagan shoots him in the head. Then, she knocks out the other guard with the butt of her gun. Kacii leans down next to the unconscious guard and ties his arms and legs with rope. Hitting him in the head once more for good measure, they continue through the checkpoint and down the hall.

The hallway goes on for another thirty yards. No more guards appear, and they reach the exit without interruption. They brace themselves at the door, readying their weapons, before kicking it open.

The door bust open into a courtyard filled with guards. Everyone of them turn at the sound. Before any one of them can react, Alex raises his machine gun and open fires at the crowd. People start shouting as their comrades are knocked down, and the crowd of guards starts surging forward.

Alex drops his gun as the small group is surrounded. The guards force them onto their knees, and one of them calls someone on a walky talky. 

Meagan spits on the ground near the guards feet. “You are monsters,” she hisses. “It’s been years, and you guys are still ex-”

The monitor goes black.

I look around the room. Nothing else seems to have changed. I look back up at the network of screens in front of me, and wonder what made the security cameras go dark. Panic surges within me. I hear footsteps outside my cell door, and start to struggle against my restraints. The door opens, and the Warden walks in.

He smiles cruelly as he takes in my image. “Not doing so well are we?” he sneers. I struggle more as he comes closer. “You know, I was beginning to think your friends would never show up. It’s been such a long time. When we saw them on the camera’s, I made sure to connect to your feed,” he gestures to the tv’s. “So. How’d you like the show, hmm?” Leaning forward, he yanks the gag out of my mouth. I spit in his face.

“What is wrong with you!” I cry. “Haven’t you had enough of your games! What are you going to do with them!?” He laughs.

“Nothing they don’t deserve, I assure you.” He clicks his tongue. “You resistance sorts really are persistent. Anyone else would have given up by know. Oh well,” he chuckles, staring intently at me, as if waiting for me to yell at him. After a moment, he gives up on baiting me and opens the cell door again. He gestures them forward, before walking out the door. The guards walk forward dutifully, and start taking off my restraints. They release me from my chair, but immediately tie my arms behind my back and my legs together. Placing a bag over my head, they drag me out of the room. 

They take me through endless corridors and up elevators. Through the fabric of the bag I see rows of fluorescent lights flying past, and it’s dizzying. Neither of the guards talk on the way, and I start dreading what’s coming. I have no idea what happened after the video cut off. Everything inside me starts to fall apart as I think of them lying dead in the courtyard, their blood spilling over the pavement. It was so long ago that I was ripped from them. It was the thought that they were still out there, alive, that had kept me going all these years. 

Now, a feeling of dread envelopes me. 

The guards keep towing me down long, brightly lit corridors. My feet drag beneath me, going numb and feelingless as the minutes drag on. Finally, we stop, and I hear the door in front of me open. 

They drag me into a brightly lit room and sit me down on a stool. I hear a commotion from a hallway across from my side of the room, and tense. A door opens, and a group of people pour in.

“What are you doing with us!” Meagan snarls. I slump in my seat. At least they’re alive. 

“Oh you’ll see in a moment darling,” the Warden hisses. I hear steps as he walks toward me. “I’ve arranged a special reunion for you all. The person you did this all for.” He stops next to me, and pulls the bag off my head.

I blink at the bright lights as the room comes into focus. I see my old teammates kneeling in a row in front of me. Each one has a look of shock on their faces.

“Clare?” Kacii whispers. I look down at her. Her eyes are brimming with tears, and her mouth is parted opened. I gently sob.

“Kacii,” I gasp. The warden laughs.

“Now that you’ve had a chance to reconnect.” He raises his gun, and in quick succession, shoots each of them in the chest.

“NO!” I scream. Flinging myself off my stool I try to drag myself across the floor to their bodies. I barely make it three feet, before my body is pierced with a bullet. I reach out my hands to Kacii’s body, my hands sliding through a slick puddle of her blood, but the pain is too much.

As it gets harder to breathe, I can only think one thing. That i’m glad I’m dying with them. 

After all, what’s the point of going on?