The Hitman

The Sacrifice

Nick Sievers' POV

I pressed the safety release on the handcuffs and watched them clatter to the ground. Jay did the same, and the terrorists shifted uncomfortably.

"I can't believe Vincent fell for that," I remarked.

One of the terrorists shouted and they all opened fire. I ducked. "The missile! Get in front of the missile," I shouted.

I dodged the whizzing bullets and joined the others in front of the missile. Suddenly, all fire in the room ceased. No one wanted to set off the warhead.

Even though the shots had stopped, that didn't mean the terrorists couldn't fight. A man balled his fists and approached.

"Jay," I called, "free the others. I'll handle these guys."

Jay nodded and went to work deftly untying the rope around Anderson's wrists. Meanwhile, I clenched my fists. It was time for a fight.

Charles Sievers' POV

I checked my Rolex. One minute until midnight. If they weren't out by then, I was flying the helicopter far, far away. They could fend for themselves, because I wasn't about to get my head blown off my body.

I was distracted from my thoughts by an explosion on the lawn below. Ah. At least Nicholas had made good on one promise.

Whistling, I caught the pilot's attention and motioned for him to land. I gripped the taser Nicholas' lady friend had given me in one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other.

As soon as the helicopter was close enough to the ground, I leapt off and raced for the explosion. Vincent was laying on the ground, surrounded by several men I presumed to be his bodyguards. But evidently even his bodyguards couldn't protect him from an explosion.

I lifted up the mangled briefcase. Blackened money rained to the ground. The false bottom fell out and out tumbled the remains of the bomb.

Vincent groaned and I gasped. Quickly, I rushed to his stirring figure and tased him. The man's head lolled to the side, but I electrocuted him yet again. Just to be safe.

I gripped his arms and handcuffed them behind his back. I stepped back as the pilot dragged his body onto the helicopter, wiping my forehead. I hadn't exerted myself that much in a long time.

But there wasn't time to celebrate. I raced for the helicopter and leapt on just as the pilot began to take off.

Nick Sievers' POV

"45 seconds!" Lila called. I set my jaw and dodged another swipe from the man, before socking him in the stomach. I took the hesitation to kick his legs out from under him.

"Any luck, Jay?" I asked, wiping my forehead before plunging back into the fray.

"I'm trying, I'm trying! It's hard to diffuse a FREAKING BALLISTIC MISSILE!"

I rammed a terrorist into the wall before punching him repeatedly in the face. Blood gushed out of the man's nose as he fell limp. I tossed him aside and growled, ready for the next victim.

"40 seconds!" Lila screamed.

Where was my father? Had he abandoned us?

"Nick!" Brook shouted. "Heads up!"

She tossed me my handgun and I caught it. I opened fire and began taking down terrorists left and right. The thud of metal on bone and flesh mixed with the tangy scent of blood and fear.

Suddenly, we were all thrown to the ground by an explosion. Pieces of plaster and cement rained down. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around Lila and Henley to protect them.

When the rubble cleared, I looked upward to see Charles in his helicopter, tossing down a rope ladder.

"Go!" I cried at the girls. They scrambled for the ladder and began climbing frantically.

"Jay!" I shouted. He looked up from the missile. "Forget it! We have to go!"

Jay shook his head. "All these people will die. Pearl Harbor, Pearl City, maybe all of Hawaii!"

"25 seconds!" Lila shouted.

"Nick," Aldridge said, "we have to go." She gripped my arm, but I shook her off.

Anderson joined Aldridge in trying to herd me toward the ladder. I glanced behind me, but Aldridge blocked my view. "If you don't go," she said, "the girls will die. We'll all die. Jay's right."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm not leaving without Jay."

Charles leaned out of the helicopter and shouted at Brook. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but the next thing I knew, Brook had caught a small object.

As an electric current raced through my body and my vision dimmed, I realized the object was a taser.

Jay Adler's POV

Fifteen seconds. I watched through the hole in the ceiling as the helicopter departed. They had hoisted Nick's limp body up the ladder.  He didn't want this.  I didn't, either.  But I had to.

I collapsed on my knees, a single tear falling down my cheek.

My fingers twisted around the wires. The wires that would kill me. If the charge could redirect through a living human host's electricity, I would be able to confine the blast to my body, not the ballistic missile.

Ten seconds.

I had always known it would end like this. Somewhere quiet, alone. Away from all the night lamps where I could see the stars in the sky.

Maybe one day I could join them. Maybe one day, people could point reverently at my twinkling star and tell my story.

Five seconds remained.

It was ironic, really. Nick and I had set out to set the world on fire, to flip everything people ever knew.

But the world had flipped us. We had become...heroes. And maybe never the type to get a medal, but the kind that no one hears about. The kind that never gets celebrated, but means the most.

Maybe no one would utter my name, maybe I would be forgotten by history. But no true hero sets out with the goal to be remembered.

Heroes. Is that what we were?

I shook my head. No. I had assisted with too many murders. I didn't deserve to survive. This was...this was strangely right.

Fate catches us all eventually, Nick.

Three...

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody's around, does it really make a sound?

Two...

If I die here and nobody's around, do I ever really die? Or can I live as a memory?

One.

The stars, they're so beautiful.