I’m past thinking. Past consequences. Nothing exists but the noise, the recoil, the need to erase them. I mow them down like weeds.
The shots rip through the air, loud and brutal, the sound pounding in my skull. Two of them try to scramble up and run, but the gunfire slams into them and drops them hard.
When the first magazine runs dry, I swap it out without slowing and use the second to finish the ones still crawling, still gasping. I step closer, emptying rounds into their heads, making damn sure none of them gets back up.
Alphas are way stronger than betas and omegas, but strength doesn’t stop bullets. Only purple alphas can pull off shit like that, and these aren’t them.
When the magazine is almost empty, with only a few rounds left, I stop and stare down at the bodies. Blood spreads fast, pooling and creeping until it reaches my boots. I don’t move away. I don’t step back, almost bathing in their blood, my eyes fixed on bodies.
In that warped, hollow moment, memories come rushing in, sharp, vivid.
The day Senu and I ran away, finally leaving our abusive stepfather behind. We’d taken enough beatings, but the point of no return was the day he raped Senu. After that, there was no going back.
We lived on the streets for two years with nothing but each other. Senu protected me, looked after me, as I had a brain injury I suffered at the hands of our stepfather. He got us food by giving blowjobs to random clients, but he never let anyone touch me. Not once. His love and sacrifice saved me from sharing his fate.
When I turned eighteen, I landed a steady job at Darius’s tattoo parlor, and Senu didn’t have to do sex work anymore. For the first time, we had real money.
Still, the past clung to him. He turned to drugs to quiet it, but he fought hard, went to rehab, started getting his life back together. We had each other. Just each other, and that was enough.
Me and him.Semper fi. Ready to die for one another.
Now Senu is gone.
They took him from me. My wonderful, loyal, loving brother.
He used to hold me in the evenings when I cried from the pain after our stepfather beat me. I can still hear his voice."Don’t give up, Salt. Everything will be okay. We’ll survive."
We didn’t.
He didn’t deserve this.
Animals.
I lift the rifle and press the barrel under my chin.
I’ll join you, Senu. Always together. This is it.
I close my eyes, my finger tightening on the trigger, when a sudden vision slams into me.
A cage.
A man curled inside it, his bare back striped with whip marks, blood running down his hips. Thick black curls hide his face, but I see a single tear fall and splash onto the filthy floor.
My finger locks up.
I sway, fighting myself.
The man clenches his fists, and I hear him whisper,"Don’t… don’t give up."
I blink, and the image fades. The barrel is still pressed against my chin.
Wait…
Maybe I do have a reason to stay alive. A thought cuts through the fog.
Daniel Tanner!
Son of a bitch.
