End Of The Line (SeaMexican)

Day 4016, 11:30 am

The rest of the tour, to say the least, was abysmally quiet on Adam's part. The discovery of Max's wife made him feel a bit ashamed and embarrassed. To even consider Max romantically interested him at this point caused Nanners' face to go red.

Renee walked Adam down another blank hallway, refusing to make eye contact with the boy. Clearly the couple hadn't discussed the tactics used in the dance club yesterday. A set of red double doors rose into view as they turned a corner, and Renee pulled a key card from her jacket pocket.

"It's exactly eleven thirty. Mr. Sark should be free to talk to you," the girl murmured, sliding the key in the scanner and pushing open one door.

"Thanks so much, Renee," Adam forced an apologetic smile, holding the door open so it wouldn't slam in his face.

She left wordlessly, seeing who stood inside Sark's office. Max stood in front of a wooden desk, and another tall man, presumably Sark, sat behind said desk. It seemed as though Adam had stepped in mid-conversation.

Mr. Sark smiled wide, standing to greet Nanners. He seemed much older than the other people Adam had passed in the facility, which probably explained why he held a role of authority.

"Adam Montoya, what an honor to meet you. I'm Mr. Sark, chairman of the council," he proudly exclaimed, offering a hand to shake. "It's so great to finally get to meet our top worker in person and not just watch him from a screen."

He let out a chuckle as he saw Nanners' expression of confusion. "Forgive me, you must be quite astounded. There's a lot to explain."

"To say the least, yes, I am," Adam smiled nervously, forcing himself to ignore Max's incessant gaze.

"Go ahead and take a seat. You know Mr. Gonzalez, I take it?" Sark grinned, a bit of a twinkle in his eye.

"We know each other, alright," Max interjected, pursing his lips.

The man chortled, beaming. "Good, very good. Now, let's just jump right in to your stay here, Mr. Montoya."

Adam nodded, watching as Sark opened up a manila folder sitting on the edge of his neatly organized desk. Max zoned out on a wall behind the chairman's head. Sark cleared his throat and pulled out a document.

"Welcome, Mr. Montoya, to the organization of NSE. This stands for Natural Selection Executions, which is what all workers in this vicinity believe to be a logical way to narrow down the world's population. We here at the NSE trust our hand-selected executioners to use good judgement and eliminate people from all across the globe."

Adam already felt sick. This isn't what he stood for. It didn't help Max was now staring daggers at the side of his head.

"You are one of five executioners currently in action around the world. However, even as all five of you race to every corner of the earth, very few ever target one of our own, as you did. As unusual as it is, it is not the first occurrence of this issue. We do see it as a reason for rehabilitation here at NSE headquarters, though. Five people have committed this act before you, and they now make up our council."

Breathe, Adam. You're a genius, they picked you because of that. You can escape, report these people, go on with life, and claim brainwashing. You aren't an executioner.

"Mrs. Reynosa, Mr. Gonzalez, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Chaos, and myself all were once like you. Brought into the NSE to help, but we all had a lapse in judgement. We're bringing you here to help you, in a way. We'll make you better. A better killer, smarter and faster and with good enough judgement that you don't go after your own people. Okay?"

Adam had zoned in on Sark's face, lips pressed firmly together. It took him a moment to realize the man was speaking to him still.  "Oh, yeah. Okay."

Max stood up, which Adam took as a cue that the meeting was over. Nanners followed suit, as did Chairman Sark.

"Your schedule for every day for the next week will be left in your new room. Mr. Gonzalez will walk you there," Sark smiled at the pair, gesturing at the door. "Have a good evening."

Max beelined for the door, not bothering to say a word to the other man. In fact, he had hardly spoken once the entire meeting. As they exited the office, the heavy metal door fell shut with a clang.

"Max, what is wrong with you?" Adam questioned, taking a long stride to keep up with the man who already was walking away. He didn't respond.

"Max!"

"It's Mr. Gonzalez. I'm your superior now," he whispered softly, his words barely intelligible.

"Fine then, Mr. Gonzalez. Why don't you tell me what I did?" Adam sighed. Max stopped and turned around, facing the other.

"What you did, Adam? I- I have a wife, and I'm straight. They let you go through with your plan because they trusted that it wouldn't affect me. And you!" He growled, throwing his hands in the air. "You made me question what I thought, that's what you did. I trusted myself, and so did Renee, but now I know she doesn't. You drove a wrench into my life, Adam."

He didn't admit to feelings for Adam. He didn't admit to not have feelings for Renee. He admitted that Adam made his heterosexuality questionable, and that put them both in danger.

Nanners gulped, tugging at his bottom lip with his teeth. "Max- Mr. Gonzalez, that wasn't my intent. I didn't want to screw your marriage-"

"Don't you say it's screwed! It's not screwed!" Max yelled, wiping at a few tears escaping from his eyes. "Your room number is A94. Go find a worker, they'll walk you there. Your lessons for today are cancelled."

"Don't act like this," Adam shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

Max had been turning to leave, but now stepped close to Adam. So close their lips almost brushed. But then, the taller of the men clutched Nanners' collar, slamming him against the wall. "You don't know me, Montoya. You don't know me, or Renee or anyone here. So keep your goddamn mouth shut, do your training, and get out of this place. I don't want you to speak to me unless it's in training." Max dropped him and spit at his feet, finally disappearing around a corner and into the headquarters.

Adam took a deep breath, immediately blocking out whatever happened. If he thought about it, he would get upset, and he would rather do that alone in the comfort of his room. Nanners slouched to the floor and curled into a ball.

A kind looking woman came down along the hall after a few minutes, and seeing Adam, sat beside him. Her hair was pulled back, a dark brown streaked with purple. "Come on, buddy, let's get you to your room. What number?"

"A94," Adam spoke softly, looking over at the woman.

"Let's go, honey. The day's just starting."

♔♔♔♔♔

Would you believe I almost forgot to post this???

Thoughts? Comment anything you have to say, including suggestions, corrections, or just whatever you want! Thank you for reading, and as always, go ahead and add this to your library! Update day is every Tuesday, to remind y'all. :)

~ S.J.