THE VIGILANTE: THE SERIES[BOOK 2]

Ep.9 - Dead Men Tell No Tales

Officer Kelly witnessed the entire incident, peering through the underground debris. He watched the shooter gun down Mr.Padder, while 'The Vigilante' begged for mercy.

"I'm calling this in." Officer Kelly said. He reached for his walkie.

"You walkies don't work down there." Mike said, into his earpiece.

"187-419, does anybody copy?" Office Kelly whispered in his walkie.

"There's no signal Officer Kelly, they can't hear you." Mike reiterated. Officer Kelly threw his walkie down out of frustration.

"I'm going down there." Officer said, reaching for his gun.

"Negative. You hold your position." Mike said, urgently.

"You just heard-"

"We can't afford any more casualties. Hold your positions, we need to strike at the right moment." Mike said. Officer Kelly was reluctant but understood, he put his gun back into his holster, patiently waiting for the right moment.

I'm no hero. I was starting to see that. I was just a kid playing dress up, playing what I thought a hero was. I thought I understood it all: justice, nobility, crime, this city, but the fact was where was my place in it all. The truth was it didn't matter, because I just let a man die on my watch. Even if he was who he was, he didn't deserve to die. Adrian played judge, jury, and executioner, and I was merely a witness.

Adrian left down the tunnel for some time, but I hadn't noticed. I tried to gather my mind, I was drained. I felt a tug at the chains from behind that awakened me. I tried to look back.

"Don't turn around," he said. I recognized his voice.

"Officer Kelly?" I whispered.

"Told you, always have someone covering you six." I could feel him wrenching at the chains.

"How did you-"

"Met a friend of yours. He says hi." Officer Kelly said, cutting me off. He stopped pulling at the chain and stood up. BANG! The chains loosened from around my body. He came over to me, pointing his gun back in his holster. I tried to stand, but my whole body was numb. He wrapped my arm around his neck, carrying my body weight.

"It's okay I'm going to get you out of here." Officer Kelly said, dragging my body with every step.

I looked over and I could see Mr.Padder's corpse down on the tracks.

"Stop." I said. I told him to let me go. I collapsed down to my knees, trying to regain feeling in my limbs.

"We need to get out of here now." Officer Kelly said.

"We need to end this here." I said. Officer Kelly looked confused. I looked over at the crate of plastic explosives, he did as well. We looked eye-to-eye, I could see the resentment in his eyes, but I knew what we needed to do.

"I'm not sure about this." Officer Kelly said, finishing setting the charges.

"It's what's required." I said.

"What's required? What does that even mean?" He questioned me. I didn't have a response; I was still fighting to remain my strength.

"I get that his guy is truly messed up, and...look, we just need to get out of here."

"I'm not letting him walk out of here alive." I said.

"You know your friend spoke very highly of you. And I get that this may have messed with your head but, there's a line. Don't cross it."

"He already crossed it!" I yelled, pointing at Mr.Padder's corpse. "What would you have me do huh? Tell me!" I snatched my helmet off. "Please tell me!"

"You....you're just a kid." Officer Kelly said, surprised. I took a second to calm down, realizing I just revealed my identity. I put my head down, not knowing what came over me. He grabbed me by my shoulders.

"Be the hero you know how to be, don't be like that monster, don't become one either." Officer Kelly explained. He smiled at me. He saw me-BANG! 

Officer Kelly's knees buckled, and he clenched at his stomach. I peeked over his shoulder to see Adrian standing in the tunnel. I ducked down and threw a plastic explosive in his direction. 

BANG-BANG! 

BOOM! The entire subway lit up like the Sun. We crumbled to the ground. I laid on the hard concrete, then everything began to shake. I watched the roof start to crack and debris began to fall. I turned over and looked up, watching as every straight stretched waiting for my end. Officer Kelly snagged me, throwing me out of the way. I watched as the debris came raining down, closing the tunnel entrance. I assumed the best. I rushed up to my feet.

"Come on. Come on!" I grabbed Officer Kelly, dragging his body weight with me. The more we tried to run, the more the ground shook. Debris came raining down around us. It was like we were in the center of an earthquake. Then suddenly, darkness.

I was scratching at the wall of the debris, it has us trapped. I forced a chunk of it to the side. I found a way out. "Hey come on, let's go. I found a way out." I said. I looked back to see him covered in debris. I climbed over to him, pulling the giant pieces away from his body. I lifted one off of his legs, and found his stomach was impaled by a broken pipe. We locked eyes.

"It's okay. It's okay." I tried to lift him, but he didn't want me to. I begged and pleaded with him, but his mind was set.

"Oh my wife is gonna kill me. My youngest-" He started to ramble.

"Hey, you're going to see your family. I promise." I tried to clear more of the debris from around him.

"Stop kid." He said. I stopped, looking him in his eyes. I knew I had caused this. I knew this was my fault.

"I'm sorry-I'm so sorry. I did this-" I began to weep. He grabbed my hand.

"Hey you gotta get out of here, so you get that bastard. You stop him alright, but you do it your way, the right way." He said. I nodded my head, fighting back my tears.

"Thank you for saving me." I said.

"That's twice now." He tried to chuckle, but blood came up from his lungs. "You promise me something, alright?" I nodded in agreement. I leaned in closer, letting him whisper his final requests in my ear. I lifted up, and he was gone. That was a hard pill to swallow. I screamed out in sorrow. I closed his eyes, and climbed my way out of the hole.

Mike found me, brought me back to The Bunker. He kept asking me questions, but I was still in shock. I was able to make out a few words here or there. I told him the shooter held me captive, he killed Mr.Padder, and then Officer Kelly. Mike asked me his name, but at this point, it didn't matter.

"He couldn't have survived all that debris." I said. He kept giving me water, I could feel my energy coming back, but my heart was still heavy.

"Mike, Officer Kelly-"

"I'll tell the commissioner. You get some rest." Mike replied, walking off. I got into the shower, trying to drain out weeks of underground sewage smell. I tried to clean off my pain, wash off my sorrow, but it didn't help. I couldn't help but bonder my choices, my decisions. I didn't kill him, and in that instance, another life was taken. I tried to avenge that death, and a good officer, a great man paid the price. I was torn. Everything felt backwards, entangled like a spider web. I didn't know what was right, I didn't know what was wrong. Should I have killed him? Would it have made a difference? I didn't have the answers, but I hoped one man would.

I found a nice spot in The Bunker with some dim light. I grabbed my uncle's journal. I remember giving it to me at the cemetery, but up until now, I hadn't touched it. I hadn't taken the time to look at it, to read on the hero my uncle was. I hoped, I prayed that he could help me now, help me find the answers. I untangled the brown strip from around the journal, and dove deep into the legend of 'The Nightwatcher'.