The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 51: Tommy

-Tommy’s P.O.V-

My line of work was theoretically simple, but emotionally destroying. My only order was to follow orders, yet that lone task was easier said than done. Eliminate targets, kidnap children, and track down fugitives. Every task inevitably involved a loaded gun, and ended with an empty one.

But how much could one human being take emotionally? Our psyche is not designed to be able to withhold that amount of emotional stress. It slowly destroys us, this job. Whether or not you choose to believe it, our entire occupation is to hunt and kill human beings, who have been fighting for their lives against such an evil organization. For years I have followed orders without a word, simply doing what was needed and not questioning why. Until now, it was easy. But something had changed along the way, where I do not know. Something inside of me rebelled against the thought of killing an innocent once more, no matter what their ability may be. They may be able to morph shapes, but they still had families, lives. So slowly, I could feel my mind beginning to crack under the pressure. Guilt had swallowed me whole long ago, but only now did I realize it. I had diminished the lives of so many without a thought, and now I was paying the price.

The room that I stood in was bare, save for one window that overlooked the lower level of the warehouse, and one unlocked door that confined me. I could leave, but I didn’t want to have to face another one of those killers. I was one myself, but reluctantly. I was armed of course, but the handgun felt like poison attached to my hip, causing me pain. I was in agony nonetheless though, a bullet wound to my upper calf compliments to my boss. It stung with every movement of my muscles, and I leaned my weight on my good leg to minimize the pain. A thick bandage was wrapped around it under my pants, no doubt stained with blood by now. It was a miracle I had survived, they said. The loss of blood was immense from such a wound, let alone the fact that nobody knew of my state until a good few hours later when a lone worker stumbled upon my room by accident.

It still bothered me why I was alive. I was grateful of course, but I knew the identity of the organization’s boss, top secret information that had easily been the motivation for deaths in the past years. But why hadn’t I been dealt with? Perhaps the boss had other things on his mind, more important than word getting out of his name.

Movement caught my eye from through the window, below on the lower level. The warehouse was vast, and the people moved like small ants across its surface. These particular ants were loading up guns of various sizes, and strapping on bulletproof vests. There had to be at least ten armed men down there, probably the best of the best. Curiosity got the better of me, and I began to limp towards the door. Once outside, I had to maneuver myself down the metal stairs without injury. It took me several minutes to reach the bottom, and by then I was about fifteen metres away from the squad.

I recognized one out of the ten, which was a sure sign of their expertise. The low level workers were lucky to see men as high ranking as these, which only added to my curious state. Where were they headed? I’d never seen such a battalion of professionals suiting up for one job, we preferred to work alone.

The man I did recognize however was closest to me. Robert and I had trained together a few years ago for this company; he’d obviously snatched the better job. As I walked towards him with a slight limp, he looked up in surprise.

“Tommy? Are you alright?” he stood tall, a few inches above my six feet. He wore a standard black t-shirt and cargo-pants, with a bulletproof vest tightly strapped around his torso. Though he looked unarmed, I didn’t doubt that he had at least five knives concealed on his person and another gun strapped somewhere, paired with the one he was loading in his hands.

“Fine,” I gave him a tight smile. “Where are you going?”

He looked uneasy. “You know I can’t tell you Tommy, despite how far back we go…”