Hayley walks up the ramp, to find me sitting in the middle of all of O'Malley's madness. She crosses her arms, "So you uncovered all this?" I shake my head, "Liam did." O'Malley laughs, "This boy's a fast learner." Her shoulders fall, "You didn't hear us, did you?" I smile, "No." O'Malley makes an incorrect buzzing noise, then points at me, "Mean it this time!" Hayley sighs, "No point now." I call out, "Hayley." She turns to me, "I didn't hear a thing."

O'Malley cackles and turns to Hayley, "Not too fast, but he's getting better." Hayley shakes her head, "So what do we do?" "Gather evidence?" O'Malley laughs, "Liam tried that and got shot. I say we shoot Carter dead." I shake my head, "Isn't that more dangerous!?" He whacks my knee with the metal ruler. Hayley sighs, "We have to do it before we reach Kinelt." We both look to O'Malley and he's smiling. "Let's begin, shall we?"

He hands Hayley a paper and I grab at my pant leg "Never read your orders out loud, do not show it to anyone!" He smacks my hand and hands me one, "Burn it after you read. You best get a photographic memory." "DO NOT TRUST EACH OTHER!" We both look at each other and surprisingly, there is no metal ruler hitting our faces. I grit my teeth as I crumple up the paper. Hayley follows suit. O'Malley holds up a trash can, and we toss them in. He hands us another paper each, she looks so confident. She looks my way, then turns her paper away. I look at mine and grow stiff as the words come. "KILL EVERYONE IN WAREHOUSE 7A, RELOCATE PEOPLE INSIDE CONTAINER 8C, KILL ANY WITNESS AND KILL ANYONE THAT ATTEMPTS TO LEAVE."

K-k-kill? My heart sinks, I've had training, but I've never used it to ki- I huff and puff. O'Malley whacks me really hard across the arm and I jump, facing him, "Do it or everyone on this ship will likely die." Why does she get something so easy!? She can do this! I look to her and swallow, "DO NOT TRUST EACH OTHER!" On the verge of crying, I clench my fists and look up, "I-I can't." He smiles, "Tsar Bomba! Cycle Open in two minutes!" He waves and turns to his computer, "Then we will all get gutted to pieces by the monster inside the reactor." "So you're finally letting- ME KILL YOU, O'MALLEY!?" I jump at the sudden change of energy, like a switch. That thing is capable of what O'Malley says. O'Malley turns, "So will you, Scott?" Hayley looks at me, "You better do whatever it says! Like hell am I dying to half a man!" I shout, "I'm not a half man!" She pushes me, "You sure act like one!" If I don't do this, we'll all die. I don't think I have the strength for this. Killing my fellow man. But there'll be a bloodbath. Damn, this is killing me. I scream and pull out my gun, point at my head. O'Malley holds his hand out with wide eyes as Hayley doesn't even bat an eye. "-on't do it, kid!"

I huff and puff as the barrel pokes against my temple. "Tsar Bomba, cancel cycle! Confirm!" CANCELLED I lower my gun scream some more, "Fuck!" I can't even kill myself. I can't escape this hell. Maybe I'll let them kill me. I wipe away my tears and shout, "Open the Fat Man and Confirm!" Seconds pass and I hold my gun up to O'Malley, "Open it!" He makes a monstrous look, "Cycle Fatman and Little Boy, Twice." The doors start whirring and I turn, "Just don't be a stupid bastard." I shout, "Fuck off!"

----------------------------------------

The doors close behind me and I've still got the note. I find a supply closet, break through a glass cabinet with my pistol, pour lighter fluid on my paper and toss it in a trash can. As it burns, I check my magazines, then check them twice. Then a third. I stand up and walk out, maybe I'll take a few with me, they don't have to suffer whatever Carter did to them. I march into the warehouse as the cameras fall downward. I gulp. I quietly walk up the stairs to the catwalk to get a layout. Four Soldiers are just sitting next to the container, likely THE container.

One looks up at me, he shouts and I run down the stairs. The layout. I gulp. I reluctantly raise my gun, it trembles in my hands. Just pull the trigger, right? A set of footsteps grow closer. Oh god. A soldier and I peek around the same corner, my arm immediately lets go of my gun and my hand pins his rifle against a container. With the other, I pull the trigger. A bright flash and a loud bang overwhelms me as I pull away. On the floor, a hole's through his face. Oh god. He's still twitching. Immediately, I dart around every possible corner, every cranny. I grab at my heart and hunch over. Oh god. I killed someone! I sit down and another peeks his head around. I shoot at him as he shoots too. I jump at the pain punching my chest as he falls down. I quickly eject the mag. My hand shakes another in, then I push the slider to load one in. A mirror stick sticks out the corner and I make a run for it. Bullets fly past me as I turn a corner. I huff and puff.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Another's running to where he is, I raise my gun and pull the trigger, he reacts to the several against his vest. He falls over as I shoot him some more. He rolls around to aim at me, but he screams and grabs at his leg. I turn back and wait for my heart to burst or- "You bastard! I'll kill you!" He's in that corridor. For some reason, I shout, "I have to do this!" Shit! "Kaylin ordered me to defend this container at all cost!" He's so much closer. I look to my bootprints. Blood. When did I step in blood!? Shit! I take them off and walk to the opposite end to jump the guy. "Don't go quiet on me now, you piece of shit!" I hear him stop at the corner. Then I see him for a second. Scar on his cheek. I pull away, then he makes the brave leap. He commits to the bootprints of blood. I walk up quietly, as soon as I put my finger on the trigger, he turns and jumps in his skin. I don't stop pulling the trigger until he hits the ground.

I drop to my knees, grab at my heart. I couldn't let them kill me. Am I a monster? Why did I pull the trigger!? It all happened so fast. I didn't have a chance to even think. I pinch my arm and barely feel it. I don't want this rush to my head. My body just won't let me die. I take a deep breath, take your time. One two three. Check the mags, one, not two, not three. I take their sidearms and load my mags back up. One, two, three. I walk up to the container and gulp. I open it and then pull away. One old woman holds a cane firm while everyone else already has their hands up, two kids included. One guy just looks at me calmly, "I understand you are going to relocate us. We won't run." How does he know!? He leads them to another container, before I lock them in, the old woman leans in and whispers, "It may not look like it, but you just did a good thing." I raise a brow, "Sure." She smiles, "Right, only show this to O'Malley, tell him it's from Markus." I take the paper and she rubs her cane's handle, "Be brave, child." I close the doors and lock them up. Just be brave? I killed those four by luck alone. Sure, I had training, but I never used it to- I gulp to keep my lunch down. I check the new container, no blood touching it. No one's been here in a while. But isn't the four dead guards going to raise suspicion? Their boots, one of them are my size, square knot one, two- I do my absolute best, if I touch a single drop of blood with my boots, I get locked up or I die. I step out the room and march right back towards O'Malley. As I'm a block away from him, Carter shouts, "Private Crawford!" I jump and turn.

He walks up with my old unit, "Y-yes sir?" He smirks and holds out a paper, I look down, "Effective immediately, Kaylin will step down and I- Naturally- Will take up the position. I need you off O'Malley's detail." My hands start to shake. It's true, Kaylin lost. He laughs and I raise my head, "Now I know you know. But here's something you didn't." I tilt my head, "I told you to forget everything we talked about." I jump in my skin, "Yeah, you destroyed everything for me. You don't remember Liam? Dying in your arms? Grasping for your radio?" I shake my head, I wasn't there at all. "I was at-" "At the radio room, yes. I told you that's how it went." My heart sinks, could he have!? Did Liam die in my arms!? I already lost. I look at the paper and look closer at everything as he talks and demands my attention. One, two, thr- Kaylin's signature is off. He has a dot in the k's every time. A line under the L. I look up and shove it in his face. "This is a forgery." He grabs it, looks down, then chuckles. He then looks up at me with twitching eyes and a creepy, unnatural smile, "I'm going to enjoy breaking you, private."

I run off and he shouts, "Run along, Private Scott!" I put some pep in my step. I am so dead. I immediately turn a corner. Wait, if I run back, it'll look like I did something important. Maybe I should act dumb. Three knocks go to my head as I mutter, "Email, email. Ugh. He never told me." I run to a computer room and take a seat in the back. I type my information and a pair of hands pull me back and cover my mouth. Hayley holds up a paper. She lets me go and whispers, "Well? Did you do your part already?" "I've been in here the whole time." She shakes her head with a smile, "Sure, you just logged off for shits and giggles." She bends over and then stands up, "Who shot at you?" I look at her, "S-Shut up. We don't know who to trust." I shouldn't even be talking to her. "Everyone here is highly trained, who the hell did you kill?" I type away and she rips my hand from the keyboard, she and I look down, my hand's quivering. "I've never seen you so nervous." I rip my hand out her grip, "Like you care." She scoffs and types away. "So, how does one get important information to a certain someone without anyone else seeing it?" She shrugs, "Hand it to them in private?" I peek over and there's a group of guys, maybe ten. "Can you distract them from me?" She nods.