Chapter 23: In the Crosshairs

John

I was finally back home after a long while, but the reason why I was home wasn’t a pleasant one. I was here for one reason and one reason only, I was going to kill 6 leaders of our faction, in my factions government system there was one leader figure head that micro manages the other 5 people who lead the systems that surround our country, all of them had the same ideologies however, they all refused to recognise real peace, and they all now wanted to go to war, and I was going to stop it…

Benton

Me and Jade had been pondering some important decisions over the past few days the big one being about John, both me and Jade agreed that John shouldn’t do what the commander suggested, taking out the core of our government would cause some serious chaos, as getting rid of the commander would solve the problem outright, today was the day he planned to do it, I knew when he would do it and where. I had a plan to stop it from happening without hurting anyone one, I knew John was hellbent on destroying everything, his mental state right now could only be described as destructive… he was looking for anything he could destroy, he planned on burning the whole world down at this point, I was not liking who he had become, he was starting to become the very thing he set out to destroy…

He had told me his plans a few days ago, we fought over it, our different ideologies beginning to start to show, back when we were at battle school me and John all though very different had one thing we always agreed on, but with everything going on I didn’t know if things would work anymore as what we believed in now was very different. And now I was about to do the very thing I never wanted to… I had to fight John

Jade

I stood at the face of a large clock tower, waiting for Benton to give the go ahead, the plan was simple. All I had to do was work on getting all of the governments leaders out of building they were sat it before John could get to the top of the clocktower and take them out. Benton planned on stalling him until I could get them out, I just hoped that John would go away easy. “Benton, do you copy?” the radio still fell silent, It wasn’t time yet, I continued to wait, mapping in alternate exit routes in case things went down. If there were more forces than just John, I had to be ready. “Jade, were a go, please confirm!” I held the button on the radio on my belt “Confirmed, heading to target.”

John

I began walking up the stairs of the clocktower I would be using to ambush the leaders in a full trap, they would all have no way out and would all die today. After that, the commander dies, and the world will be rid of all the big powerful villains, after that? The worlds populations heals, we all become united and create a better more peaceful place.

I hit the top of the staircase and opened the door to the outlook, it was a small cylindrical room with nothing more than a few boxes within it, I unpacked my gear and began to set up my post. I had a high-powered long-range rifle to use as my main weapon, I also came strapped with a standard Assault Rifle and a fully automatic handgun, I was as covered as could be, at least that’s what I thought. As I was loading my rifle I heard a gun cock behind me with the voice of someone far too familiar appearing behind me “Drop your weapons John…”

Benton

I stood in the armoury of the local police station, there were plenty of trained combatants surrounding me also arming up for the same mission I was, they were going to assist Jade in the evacuation. I grabbed a basic loadout of a rifle and handgun, I also backed a shotgun. I didn’t plan on using them for what I was doing, all I had to do was stall John which would be easy as all I had to do was talk him out of it, that argument would carry on long enough for everyone to get out cleanly. “Hey, do any of you have any tasers?” one of the officers turned around and handed me what just looked like a handle, “What’s this?” I asked curiously, one of them smiled “Press the button on the side.” I followed the instructions and pressed the button what came next could only be described as awesome, the handle extended to a large baton with an electrical charge surrounding it, the other officers laughed at my stunned look on my face “That… is an electrical baton, has enough juice in a touch to put you on your arse quick smart, the only thing that can stop it from shocking is a thick layer of rubber or another one of itself.” I couldn’t help but smile

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

After an hour we had finally made it to just outside the clocktower “You guys know the plan?” I asked out of security, everyone nodded. I hopped out and entered the clock tower after seeing John enter a good half a minute earlier, he would be at the top now and he would be too busy setting in order to hear me coming. I was right in that assumption as I made it to the top and drew a gun on him “Drop your weapons John…”

John sighed and continued to load his weapon, “You won’t shoot me Benton.” I then pulled John away from the window, he then released himself off me and faced me. “You can’t stop me Benton, I won’t have it!” I stared him down, preparing my shock baton for if he decided to charge me “I can’t let you do this John, and If I have to put you down, I fucking will…” John remained unphased, he wasn’t taking me seriously, he knew for a fact I wouldn’t bring myself to kill him, “Do it then, you won’t stop me, with ends one of two ways either with you walking away, or one of us dead!” my heart dropped “So your saying you could kill me in order to do this.” John stood emotionless, “if it was a last resort… I would try to take you down without harming you first, it would break me if you pushed me to that point, so walk away.” I couldn’t help but feel a deep pain in my chest, John would literally stop at nothing in order to achieve his goal. “There is one more way this ends.” John looked at me puzzled, before he could respond I extended my baton and swung at him, John to my surprise didn’t try and duck out of the way, he extended his own baton deflecting the blow and ducking out of the way. John looked at me in frustration “You have to know I don’t want this!” he said it with such softness, I ignored him and threw another strike. He deflected it easily, the duel went on for minutes, exchanging strikes but none of them landing, not a word was spoken, we both didn’t want to go all in on each other as neither of us were ballsy enough to cause any harm, eventually we both stopped fighting, John began to show an emotional break. “You need to go! I can’t fucking do this shit anymore.” John despite his best efforts began to cry “You should know that this is on you, your pursuit of destruction has led us here.” John burst into anger “You are the only thing that stands in my way, no-one else is trying to stop me! I know your stalling and you have people trying to escort the out, but it doesn’t matter, there is no way out of the building, I have sealed all the exits. So, all your doing is delaying the inevitable, you have to kill me if you plan on stopping me.” I couldn’t help but give into the same desperation plea the John did “Why do insist on going through with this, it will cause chaos with the public, there will be government demonstration, riots, all of what holds things together is a government that hates the other faction, it’s been ingrained into our beliefs since they were children, since we were children, you can’t force a new government, this kind of thing just needs to happen when its ready, I know your intentions are pure but your idea is flawed.” John took a moment to think, and I already knew I didn’t get through “they need to know the truth, that they have been lied too for their entire lives, they will turn if given the full truth.” I shook my head “it will cause a spilt, a divide, more people will suffer than what it will be worth, not to mention you will be branded a global terrorist.” John yet again was trapped in thought, he saw the idea of what I was saying, I couldn’t tell if he was convinced, then out of nowhere he drew a suppressed sidearm and fired a shot through my leg, the pain shot through, I hit the ground and groaned hard. He then stepped forward and kicked me down the stairs, I then heard him yell from the top “Think about the future, not now!”