Fools of us All - Chapter 25

With grim satisfaction, I watched the young man’s face darken from a lack of oxygen. His eyes bugged out slightly as he tried to speak, but there was no explanation he could give that was going to satisfy me. An ‘ah hell’ was the only warning I had before Spin’s larger frame crashed into me, knocking me flying. By the time we had landed I had managed to flip on top of him, driving my shoulder into his sternum. To his credit, even as all of the air whooshed out of his lungs, he managed to hang on to me. I fought wildly, doing everything I could to get away from him, but he continued to cling to me for all he was worth. It wasn’t until I kneed him in the crotch that he finally let go. I leapt to my feet and drew my gun, waving it at both men.

Spin’s wheezy laugh brought me up short. “What are you going to do, shoot me?” he gasped. “I thought I was the chosen one.”

“You are,” I said through clenched teeth. “But he’s not.” I pointed the gun at Jack, who was still sitting on the ground, coughing loudly. Slowly I began to squeeze the trigger, the gun held steady, pointed straight at his heart.

“No, he’s not.” Spin’s voice had regained most of its normal tone, but now there was a gravitas that had not been there before. “But I don’t think you want to shoot him.”

“He killed everyone I knew, Spin.” Jack finally stopped coughing. Looking up at me, he flinched, covering his head with his hands. A muffled whimper escaped his lips. “I have nothing left because of him.”

I sensed more than saw Spin rise to his feet and step closer to me. “I don’t know what you mean by that,” he said. “I just know that you don’t want to shoot him. You haven’t tried to kill anyone yet, even when you had the chance and the reason. Those goons in the hospital could have died, but you didn’t kill them. When the soldiers chased us you tried not to hurt them more than necessary. And now this boy is unarmed, laying defenceless on the floor and I’m supposed to believe that you would kill him?” Except I could hear in his voice that he did believe I would. The gun wavered slightly, but I put more pressure on the trigger.

“Help me out kid,” said Spin, a pleading note in his voice.

“I didn’t know it was a bomb!” Jack raised his head and stared at me, his eyes wide.

I didn’t want to believe him. I stepped towards him, thrusting the gun forward as though I could throw the bullets through him. A wave of rage and despair washed over me and I turned, hurling the gun into the wall behind me, screaming. He was telling the truth.