The Decay

Chapter 28 - Showdown

28

Benjamin walked hurriedly through the long corridors towards the control room. His camo-trousers stuck to his legs. He was sweating. I am the leader of the Epsilon Company. I should be stone-cold and calm, he thought to himself, and yet he couldn't ignore his heart beating faster. There it was. Up ahead, he could see the transparent cube containing the control room and, inside it, stood Mike, alone. Perfect.

Mike saw who could only be Benjamin approaching at a steady rate. Up the stairs, and in through the door. Mike took a deep breath, intent on starting conversation with him. He never got a chance. Benjamin drew his pistol at lightning speed and, after a fraction of a second to take aim, pulled the trigger.

Time stood still for Mike, almost able to see the bullet in slow-motion. His body was paralyzed. I made a terrible mistake, he thought, as the bullet flew towards his chest. Mike felt a sharp pain as the bullet made contact and he staggered backwards. His own pistol fell out of his pocket, onto the ground, shortly before he made contact with the ground himself.

Benjamin was about to shoot another bullet, but was prevented by Sam who threw himself at Benjamin, his momentum causing them both to fall to the ground. Sam kicked the pistol away before Benjamin managed to push him off. They both staggered to their feet, Benjamin angry at the surprise attack. Raising their fists to a fighting stance, both of them were wary of their opponent. Benjamin swung his right fist, the punch blocked by Sam. The left fist came swinging in before Sam what was happening and it hit him on his left temple. He staggered backwards, recovered his balance and lunged at Benjamin, trying to knocking over. Dodging the lunge, Benjamin kicked him across the abdomen. Sam landed on all fours, coughing violently as he felt the air being forced out of his lungs. He didn't get up fast enough. Benjamin kicked him in the face, and Sam fell over, his nose broken. Benjamin picked up the pistol and aimed it at Sam. A gunshot.

Benjamin looked down and saw blood. Puzzled, he turned around. Mike was still lying on the ground, but now he had a pistol in hand and had just shot Benjamin in the back. Another gunshot. More blood, but this time pain as well. Benjamin went down on his knees and was unable to breathe. Choking sounds, the last thing he saw was the floor rushing towards his face, and then darkness.

“Mike... you okay kid?”, asked Sam with some difficulty. Mike didn't reply at first, finding the stone-hard floor to be the most comfortable thing that he had ever laid on. “I... think so. You?” “My everything hurts, but I'm still breathing”, replied Sam. He chuckled, but that only caused more pain which made him flinch. Neither of them made any move to get up from the ground.

They heard footsteps in the distance. Quick-paced steps, almost as if someone was running. “I swear, if this is another enemy, I'm going to get angry,” said Mike, chuckling. His chest hurt, a rib broken.

“Mike! Sam!”, shouted Anita. She rushed into the control room to see her friends lying on the ground, wounded but breathing. The body of Benjamin was close to Sam, a pool of blood laying beneath it. “What happened?”, she demanded. She ran over to Mike and knelt next to him. As she saw the hole in his shirt, she gasped. “Relax Anita. There's no blood.” As he said it, she took a closer look and realized that there wasn't even a drop of blood. She carefully put her hand near the hole and felt a smooth, rounded edge just beneath the shirt. The silver coin. There was a dent in it, but the bullet had failed to pass through it. She half-cried, half-laughed in relief. “You've got to be the luckiest man ever,” she said. “I know right,” he chuckled, the pain once again causing him to grimace.

Sam finally stood up. Blood was dripping from his nostrils, but he was otherwise in a better shape than he had expected. “See, kid. I told you that the coin would bring you luck,” he said, smiling for the first time today. Together, Anita and Sam helped him up. He grunted as the broken rib shifted slightly in position.

“You did it, Mike,” said Sam. Mike shook his head. “No, Sam. WE did it.”