Decommission - Part Three

____Lien turned the corner and felt his tongue get sucked down his throat as he gasped in surprise. A door was ajar, and it sent a blade of light into the hallway. Lien rounded the corner as quietly as possible and came to the door. He heard two voices inside; one harsh and abusive, the other stern but pleading.

____“It is time for you to depart, Holland. To step down and flee this country that you have driven into the ground. Your time is coming, and death will take you if-“
____“Not even death dares to face me now. It is tired of failure. It has moved on, Desmond.”
____“It has laid that job onto the people! They dare to face you. They will and have!”
____“Fool. They never have. It was the one’s I trusted my life to. They are the ones who thought me to be weak.”
____“And so you have displaced and angered them! In this, you have fulfilled your own prophecy!”
____“You will not speak to your President in such a way! You are only an advisor, Desmond. That can only protect you so much.” Lien’s pulse raced. Desmond Altiers was indeed an advisor, and viewed as second only to Holland in his atrocities committed. If he could get both of them…
____“I have never seen you as President, and I no longer see you as competent.” Lien heard a sharp gasp from Holland, and the click of a gun being cocked. His body was frozen to the wall, he worked viciously to break free and stop what was about to happen.
____“Desmond! Stop! I demand you-“
____“Good bye, Holland.” A gunshot pierced whatever silence was left in the room, and freed Lien from the other side of the wall. He kicked in the door and aimed his gun straight at the mass murderer, who apparently worked on a smaller scale as well.
____“Freeze Altiers! Drop your weapon, and put your hands on your head!” Lien heard Charlie ask if he was okay, but ignored it. “I mean it Altiers! I will send you right alongside him!” Desmond looked at Lien with disinterest, and held a loose grip on his gun.
____“See? This is exactly what I was talking about. Death hands out many contracts. He’s a very busy man after all.”
____“You’d be the person to ask about that, wouldn’t you, Desmond.” Lien felt hatred flare up inside of him. His hands prickling on the gun, his finger burning with the desire to squeeze the trigger. Charlie swore in his ear, furious that he couldn’t find him and that he wouldn’t answer. ____“I’ll say it one more time. Drop the damn gun.”
____“I’ll do you one better, soldier.” Desmond raised the gun to his head. “I’ll make you a hero.”
____“STOP!” Lien shouted, but the report of the second lethal gunshot of the night drowned him out.

____The body of Desmond Altiers crumpled to the floor, and Lien was alone. Charlie screamed in his ear again, but the voice was distant. The hatred in his chest had turned cold, and spread through his body leaving a numb shell. The voice of his friend became clearer, and got closer. When Charlie came through the door he took a few seconds to adjust to the scene. It was nothing like what he was expecting, but he understood quickly.

____“You’re alright? Lien?” Charlie wanted to be absolutely sure of what he was seeing. Lien could feel the warmth return, but the rest was slow coming.
____“Yeah. I’m fine.” He was about to explain what had happened when Charlie spoke.
____“You got both of them. The Devil and the Details.” It was a commonly known moniker for the two evil men who now lied dead on the floor. Lien was about to explain what happened, but he couldn’t.
____“I did.” His senses were returning, but the truth wouldn’t come out. “They didn’t give me any choice, and Altiers had a gun. It was them or me, so I chose me.”
____“Damn right you did.” Charlie patted him on the shoulder, and gave that same winning smile he always had when things were going as he thought they should. “Come on. We should call HQ. They’ll want to know about what you did. They’ll probably claim this place too. Maybe even burn it down. That’d be a shame, but it’s probably… Lien? Are you sure you’re okay?” Charlie hadn’t even noticed that Lien was rooted to the same spot.
____“Yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” The words came out recited and flat, despite his efforts to sound natural. He continued on before Charlie could ask again. “You’re right. Contact HQ. They’ll want this place for their own. I’ll be out in a minute.”
____“Alright. Just remember, you’re a hero Lien.” Charlie stood up straight, jokingly saluted Lien, and left the room. Lien was once again left in the room with two very evil men who had successfully destroyed each other.

____“A hero, huh? Might as well be me.”
____But you didn’t do anything. You stood and watched.
____“I’m the hero. I did what I had to do.”
____But you didn’t do anything.
____“That’s not how they’re going to see it. And that’s what matters.” The voice didn’t have a rebuttal for that one. Lien was worried it might never have a rebuttal again.

The End