Outcast

Endings

I woke up in a hospital bed, a fierce burning sensation on the surface of my skin. It was difficult to move as I tried my hardest not to let the memories come back to me. Because whatever it was, it meant that I really fucked up this time.

I failed to keep myself from knowing what I'd done.

The bomb went off.

It destroyed a couple of buildings around us.

I tried to use my body as a shield for the explosion.

The buildings collapsed onto me, and I got trapped under the debris.

I flinched as my boss walked into the room. As expected he was fuming. I tightly shut my eyes.

"You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

I didn't say anything.

"Why the hell did you do that? Did you not listen to a word I said?!" He started to raise his voice. "You could've died. Not that it would matter to me anymore, since you're fired. You're banned from showing your face here ever again. You can leave when your wounds are completely healed." Then he exited without saying another word.

I sighed, looking down at the bedsheets that carefully covered me. I thought long and hard about the things I did in those last moments I spent working at HQ. What I said, what I thought, what I'd seen, what I heard.

"If you think you can just run around doing whatever you want, I'll fire you on the spot."

So it's either my job or countless lives.

I imagined myself getting a nice shiny medal of honor from the boss. "Thank you for saving us, Alexander!" They'd say.

"This little baby is capable of destroying entire buildings!"

0:03...

0:02...

0:01...

Small drops fell onto my bedsheets. I grabbed handfuls of my matted hair as warm tears rolled down my cheeks and onto the bed.

I...I really fucked up this time, didn't I? Alexander, you fool!

I wanted to walk out of that hospital room right then and there, even though I was still injured. I felt so humiliated. To make matters worse, I failed the boss and now I don't have a job. It's not like I was good at anything to begin with.

I wonder what happened to him after the explosion? For a moment, I was hopeful that I had killed him. Don't be an idiot. You wouldn't have gotten fired if he was dead. He probably got away.

I slumped over and sighed. That's right. You're a failure.

"Know your damned place, dumbass..." I murmured to myself, repeatedly hitting myself on the head. I heard the unmistakable sound of spike heels against hard tile floor enter the doorway.

I looked up, rubbing my eyes. The same red haired person I had bumped into this morning. For a moment I was hopeful she would say something nice to me, like tell me 'I'll miss you' or 'The boss shouldn't have done that, I'll fight for you!' or something encouraging like that. But once again, I was wrong.

"Would you look who it is? The Screw Up has finally gotten himself fired." She flipped her hair out of her face, smirking. "You know, I've been waiting for this moment since day one. I've been waiting for the Screw Up to live up to his name." 'Screw Up' was a name Angie tossed around a lot. It was just another degrading name that showed how much she hates me.