The War In His Mind

Chapter 41

There was an abandoned airship at the base of the train station. It was tattered and worn, but it seemed like it would still fly. There was little damage to the balloon and engine. The wings appeared to be stable enough to get lift.

"Hey...down there," Abraham pointed. Natasha, unaware of the situation, turned her attention to him. "You think that will work?"

She nodded and took the lead towards it. She stepped inside and took the pilot's chair. It was a large, comfortable seat that was surrounded by panels of controls. She'd studied images of the controls in a book before- but hadn't flown it. By pressed a number of them at once, hoping to power it on.

Abraham watched from outside. He positioned himself to shoot any clone's that got too close.

A loud, roaring sound erupted from the airship. The engines powered on and a voice came over an intercom saying "Autopilot activated...awaiting directions."

Abraham called over to four men and instructed them to get in the back. "You four...with me."

He took his seat next to Natasha. "Know what you're doing?"

"Do I ever?"

Abraham, thinking of a witty response, chose to stay quiet.

Natasha looked at a small map on the dashboard. She saw the angel labeled as "Angel Island."

"Take me to Angel Island," she said.

The airship rose into the air. A cluster of enemy combatants shot at it from the ground below. Abraham, grabbing a joystick to his right, aimed a cursor on a CCTV feed at them. With a press of a button a missile flew towards them, leaving only heaps of ashes below.

The familiar, domineering voice of Thomas O'Neil came over the intercom connected to the cabin of the airship. "What will this accomplish?"

Abraham looked at Natasha from the corner of his eye. She had a disgusted face, one that Abraham felt he was unintentionally mimicking.

"If you kill me...will you ever see reality?"

"Who says I want out?" Abraham said. He spoke in whispers. His voice was calm.

"Just as a bat can interpret sonar signals and can see a reality beyond the five senses of a human...you want to see something extraordinary...do you not?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Ah...there he is. The exquisite detective lurking inside of you. Oh how little we differ."

Abraham, hearing enough, grabbed his pistol and shot the speaker.

Natasha flew the airship over the city. Abraham watched as the ground forces below engaged with O'Neil's forces. He himself assisted by shooting missiles at rooftops with snipers.

Gradually they made their way to the angel. At the base was a squad of enemy soldiers. Abraham's army had yet to make it this far. He aimed his cursor at them and waited for the ship to become steady.

"Wait..." Natasha broke his focus "...there are explosives here. One wrong shot and this half of Downtown will be gone."

Damn.

He pulled out his pistol and fired several shots out of the window. All but one missed. The single bullet that made an impact struck a soldier in the chin, knocking him backwards on his ass. The other soldiers responded with a flurry of gunfire. Several bullets struck the base of the balloon keeping the airship floating. Gradually, it started sinking. Natasha pulled up on the joystick to no avail. All Abraham could do in the chaos was shoot at the combatants, hoping to kill them before one of them strikes him.

The airship spiraled out of control. The men in the back screamed. A warm gust of air rushed into the cabin. Abraham peered behind himself to see flames erupting from the passenger's quarters. "Jump! Jump out!" He said. His throat hurt from yelling.

It was too late. The airship crashed into the base of the statue. The incoming gunfire suddenly quit. Abraham, jolted from the crash, looked up to see bloody faces smeared against the front window. He turned to Natasha in horror. She was crying uncontrollably. He entire upper body was collapsed on the dashboard.

"Are you...are you hurt?" Abraham asked. He reached out to her to unbuckle her seatbelt. Her head rose from its resting position.

"...I had to do it. There was no other way."

"Do what?"

"I killed them, Abraham. I slaughtered them."

Abraham, part relieved she was fine, and part worried because of what was going through her head, placed his hand on her shoulder. "You didn't have a choice."

"I'm a murderer."

"You can't murder something that never lived." Abraham stared at her, waiting for a response. Nothing came. He considered the paradox. Was he himself alive? Yes he had original thoughts and could commit actions outside of O'Neils's control. Yet was that enough to define himself as "living"? Life, he told himself, was the ability to interpret and discern reality. He thought about O'Neil's words moments ago. There was some sort of reality beyond this. He knew about it. But how different was it than this current hellworld? He knew of Earth...yet that seemingly wasn't what he was thinking of. He thought of the alternate Wonder City. A world beyond this one.

How different were the too? More so, how similar were they?