||Series Removed|| OTB

20 - The Flames Of War

20

Somehow, I managed to end up in the exact same position once again. How many times had I found myself here, pointing a deadly weapon at an unarmed criminal, frantically trying to justify their resulting fate?

Mayor Talmadge was a murderer. It may not have been bloodshed or any malicious intent on his part, but he had pulled the strings that would ultimately lead to this town's demise. However peacefully he tried to deliver his poison, this kind of deception was still a wildly inhumane act.

My deafened ears rung with my own turbulent thoughts, droning out Tanner as he screamed at me to pull the trigger. Ignoring Charlotte as she begged for her father's life despite having more reason to despise him than most.

I hadn't even fully decided how to progress, before I lowered the hunting rifle and calmly walked over to the oven. Opening the hatch, I jammed the firearm as far in as it would go and slammed the lid shut.

"What the fuck?! Dante, Daniel, whatever! You just heard what this scumfuck did, he admitted- no, bragged about everything!! He's asking for it!" Tanner threw himself towards me, wrestling through my arms as I held him back from the fire. With any luck, the rifle's handle would be too hot to touch by now.

Struggling against me desperately, I pushed him straight into the sacked wall, ejecting a thick cloud of opium into the musty air around us. As the dust settled, so did the remainder of his resistance before firing a deadly look into my unmoving eyes.

"...Why not? You sure as hell can't be defending what he's done!"

"No." I stated, simple as fact.

Charlotte shared a look of concern with her still-trembling father, and braved three steps forward before stopping short in slight caution.

"No?"

"Just... no. I can't do this again. I won't be part of it." Exhaling with a shake of the head, my eyes instinctively glanced towards Blessing for comfort before continuing. "This fucking place, I used to be a lot different before coming here. You all think it's okay to decide whether someone else lives or dies, because of what they've done in the past... but I can't make that call. Not anymore."

The mayor cleared his throat with a tremble, probably feeling uncomfortable as a bunch of kids stood around deciding how to kill him.

"U-Um, I know that what I did was wrong. I'm not a simpleton, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Sadly, some people have to lay down their lives for the rest to survive. Charlotte, you understand why this had to happen, right? You've kept our secret for this long..."

Keeping her gaze fixed to the floor, she slowly made her way towards Tanner and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He was on the verge of breaking into tears, after finding out what had truly happened to his parents. The brown-haired girl tilted her head in my direction, unsure of whether to speak.

"...What happens now? If you let my father and I go, I'm sure he'll step down-"

"And what, skip town? It's only a matter of time before Telos work out Patch's secret, and they'll start off by seizing the citizens. Might even make a decent blood testing facility out of this place, what with the high walls and gated entrances. No, your father is going to do right by his people for once."

"What can we possibly do now? If you haven't noticed, there's a search-and-destroy squad in my back garden thanks to you!"

"Burn the drugs." The suggestion didn't come from me, but Tanner who was still visibly shaking against the wall. "I've been eating Pollies every day for the past God-knows how many months... I don't wanna go crazy knowing that this crap is lying about in your basement. It's the least you could do, mayor."