Endless War (Complete)

Chapter 15 "I Choose"

My brain hurts, I have been thinking about this too much. I just found out my entire life is a lie, and the woman I thought was my mother was nothing more than a program. My real mother could only see me from the other side of a glass wall, cursed never to touch her own children. Now I have the whole of the system coursing thought my head, capable of finding out classified information without leaving a trace. I have changed from being a soldier to being a tool, a weapon of mass destruction to end a war. A war between the rich and poor. I know it must be put to an end but I have had enough killing. I must now figure out how to win a war without ending the lives of millions.

I can't tell them, that I want to do this my own way, because they have had this planned for years. All I need to do is find out what they are planning to do and well improvise. I sit alone in the dark, Sharon took the last torch with her, she said she would send someone to come fetch me when they are ready for dinner. I hear footsteps approaching and can see the glinting of torchlight coming from the direction that Sharon left in.

"So my mom said you asked to stay in here to think." Grim's voice echoes through the cavern.

I sigh, "Yeah and she said she would send someone to fetch me for dinner, not someone to drown me in the pool."

He walks over beside me and holds out his hand. I drop my head and breath out loudly before taking his outstretched hand. He pulls me up quickly almost pulling my arm out of socket. I yank my hand back and roll my shoulder, stretching it behind my back glaring at him in the process.

"Sorry about planning to kill you." He shakes his head starts to open his mouth and quickly stops.

I raise my eyebrows and sneer. "Well in that case, here why don't I just go ahead and blindly place all of my trust you. Let's see what should we talk about... hmm well I think I will start with, how many have you killed?"

"Really, you of all people think you have the right to ask me that question?" He snaps back.

"Why not? I was not myself, and you have no excuses." I glare at him again.

He starts to walk away, "Come with me if you want to get out of this small part of the caverns. Otherwise, I will tell my mom you were not hungry." He growls.

I sigh and follow the torch light, "You act like a tortured soul, Grim. Even the nickname you chose for yourself, describes you as no more than a killer, a hired gun. As if you have no choice in the matter, it has all been planned out and you are just the executioner. Is that what this group is about? Killing to even the score." I persist.

Suddenly, Grim is on me with the torch in one hand and his other is gripped around a pistol pressed against the skin of my forehead. Odd, I didn't see that coming with all of the new tech running around in my head. "If I wanted you dead you would be dead. Apparently my mother has been planning something and for some reason thought it best not to tell me, her own fucking son. If I had killed you, she would have never known that her plans from years ago had finally come and I would not be leading you to take my rightful place as the leader of this group, by birthright."

I roll my eyes, as my chip kicks in and quickly grip his pistol taking it from his grip while twisting his arm around his back, catching the torch as it falls from his other hand. Next thing I know I have him face down on the ground kneeling on his spine with the gun pressed firmly against the back of his neck. "Now that we know that my balls are bigger than yours, can we it move along?!"

I move back tucking the gun into the waist band of my pants as I stand up. Without another word, Grim is up as well moving toward more darkness. He moves ahead to the edge of the firelight, walking quickly I can see that he would be able to traverse this cavern with no light. I knew I would piss him off by taking his weapon but at the same time I needed to show him that he has no say in wether I live or die.

Slowly I notice the walls of the cavern are starting to widen as we approach a larger cavern then another. The walls are lined with people sleeping on cots, most of them children. There is a sharp turn ahead radiating light into the darkness. We find ourselves in a much larger cavern with tables spread throughout the space. Grim takes the torch from me and douses it in a small stream running through the side of the cavern. "Waist not want not." Grim states as if it is second nature to him.

I hear what sounds like whispers coming from further into the cave system, I look up to see the stream falling along the side of the cavern down to where we just came from. It must be the source of the pool we came up through, as well as the whispers that I hear. The low light from the dining area finally shows its source. There is an area off to the left where they look to have been preparing the meal earlier and are now cleaning up, using the water from the stream. To the right the cavern continues, weapons line the walls.

I feel a soft touch on my shoulder and turn slowly to face Sharon, holding out a small plate. The plate has a lonely slice of bread and a small portion of some sort of meat. I nod my head and take the plate quickly picking the bread up and scooping the meat onto it, shoving it into my mouth. I had not realized that I was so hungry. One of the other women in the room takes the plate from me, and I am left still chewing looking into Sharon's green eyes.

I feel movement at my waist, as Grim removes the gun from my waist band and places it among the other weapons. Sharon's mouth slowly forms a smile and she lets out a chuckle. "Sebastian, I told you it would be unwise to try something. I thought I had taken all of your weapons."

"You don't know all my hiding spots, mom and you never will." He glares at his mother, the tension between the two of them seems to make it hard to breath.