The Network Inspector

Chapter 6:Patrol

 The three of us-me, Jack, and Ricky-walk through the halls of the Network, patrolling the halls. I'm not a Soldier, but that doesn't mean I can't help spot crimes or aide Jack or Ricky in a fight.

 We're passing through a dimly lit hallway when we hear the sound of crying. There's movement inside a cell up ahead. Someone must be inside of it.

 "Who's there?!" Jack yells, then we all notice the small amounts of blood on the floor. One of the Network residents must be also injured. When we approach the cell, we see Lebron sitting on the bed of the cell. He has knife wounds on both of his arms."Lebron, what the hell happened?!"

 Lebron stands up, letting the blood flow from his cuts. He wipes away his tears, then scowls at the floor.

 "Adam did this," Lebron replies, sounding angry. I clench my fists. I've had enough of Adam. Hopefully Mason will do more than just throw Adam into solitary confinement."I want him dead, guys."

 As Jack attempts to calm Lebron down, I walk up to Ricky. He's as furious as I am.

 "Can we just kill Adam?" I ask Ricky. I know it's wrong, but Adam is now a danger to every resident here. If he is currently resorting to slicing his fellow residents, then he might start firing his pistol next. We will all become his targets. I'm willing to spend weeks in solitary confinement. It will be worth it if I manage to end Adam's life."How many days of solitary confinement would that be?"

 "You don't understand," Ricky tells me, keeping me in the mystery of things. He grabs my shoulder and leads me away from Jack and Lebron."Adam was the second resident to arrive in the Network. When the third guy came, Adam started bullying him. This third guy's name was West. West stole a gun from the armory, then tried to kill Adam in front of Mason. Mason managed to disarm him, then sent West off to solitary confinement. He was in there for a month. By this time, I had arrived in the Network. When I released West from solitary confinement, he went back into the armory and left it with a pistol in his hand. He shot and killed one of Adam's friends, then we all had to restrain him. All of us went outside the Network, then used a catapult to launch West beyond the tall walls surrounding this place. We listened to his screams of horror, then went back into the building. If we kill Adam, we risk being exiled from the Network and facing a horrible death."  

 "But that means escape, right?" I ask him. He shrugs.

 "We don't know what's beyond those walls. For all we know, there might be more walls surrounding the walls outside," Ricky explains. He grips my shoulders."You're not going to kill Adam. Got it?"

 I shove him away from me, then look at the cuts on Lebron's arms. Lebron didn't deserve to have his arms cut up. If ending Adam's life means my possible death, then it's worth it. I'm going to kill him.

 "I'm ready for Adam to die," I say, meaning what I say. I step back into the prison cell, then stare at Lebron. He shifts his attention to me."Do you know where Adam went?"

 Lebron shrugs and looks down at the floor again. I leave the cell, then start sprinting down the hall. I hear Ricky chasing after me, intending on preventing me from murdering Adam.

 "Danny, stop!" Ricky yells, urgently."Don't do it, man! You kill him, and that means you will be exiled like West was. West never found his way back to us! He's dead, just like you will be if you kill Adam!"

 I run around a corner, then continue to sprint. Some of the teenagers I pass look at me with confused expressions, others don't seem to care what I'm doing. After thirty seconds, Ricky becomes exhausted and stops his pursuit of me.

 After a full minute of running and jogging, I reach a lonely section of the Network. Down a dimly lit hallway, I see a large door. The word "Armory" is pasted onto the door in large letters. I found the place I'm looking for.

 To my luck, there is no one guarding the armory entrance. I head up to the door, then turn the handle. I pull back, letting the heavy door open. I step into the armory, then relish at the sight of the glass containers with guns and knives inside of them.

 I pull out a Submachine gun from a container, then load it with bullets. As I'm brandishing the gun, I hear someone else enter the room. When I turn around, I see Adam standing near the door with his hand on gripping the handle of his pistol.

 "What are you doing here, Danny?" he growls, scowling at me."I know I cut up Lebron's arms, but the little boy had it coming. He refuses to clean my cell, and got his cronies to not even clean my friends' cells as well. So I took a knife, then cut his arms real good."

 I aim the gun at him, causing him to pull out his own pistol. He aims it at me, but we don't open fire on each other. I'm hesitating. Do I really want to kill Adam? I do, but now that I'm able to-I can't find it in myself to pull the trigger. Still, I keep the gun aimed at his body.

 "I will shoot you if it comes to that," I tell him, not hiding the bitterness in my voice. I bring my finger closer to the trigger, the urge to kill him becoming stronger."I want to shoot you."

 "Do it, tough guy," he says with a smirk, believing that I won't pull the trigger.

 My finger nearly pulls the trigger, but that's when a loud alarm rings throughout the entire building. I shout in surprise, then drop the gun to the floor. Adam holsters his gun, then I stare at him and wonder why a alarm is sounding.

 "What does that mean?" I ask him, curious but still infuriated.

 "There's a new person coming to the Network," he replies.