Instinct

Chapter 11 -- Thrree

The handgun I carried followed in motion with me back and forth as I ran down the hallway. A few minutes ago this gun was almost subject to an unjust killing by my hand to someone who ultimately was killed by the leader of our own city. The gun was still unfired, tame being content with its rested state, the safety switched off and ready to act at any moment.

This thing determined life or death. I would be the executioner to carry out what I was going to do in a few moments. And yet as I ran through the corridor holding this firearm it never felt like I was at that injections ceremony. Like none of what took place in that courtyard ever even happened. Crimson's reaction to the serum, Madelyn beating me down...

Shawn's death. The fact that I was so brainwashed and compliant enough to listen to Zoe and her cleverly masked plan to have me framed and try to kill Madelyn's father. But she counted on the fact that I'd hesitate, and she carried out the deed herself, having all the focus drawn on me as I was the one holding the gun.

None of it seemed to even matter anymore. I knew now that I had lost Madelyn forever. I knew all the factions all saw a facade of me killing Shawn. I knew no one would believe me if I told them that she was the one who actually killed him, and had set me up to be the scapegoat.

There was no point in going on any further after this. I had no point to live. Not without the love of my life hating my guts for the rest of eternity. The woman I spent so much time with getting to know and understand and love so unconditionally. I wanted nothing more in my life than to spend the rest of it with her by my side. But now all of that was squandered, thrown away because Zoe killed her father in cold blood and made me look like the triggerman. She played me like a goddamn fool.

So quite simply put: I was going to kill Zoe. I was going to kill Zoe with the gun she gave me to kill Shawn. But it'll be her who deserves the bullet in the chamber that was implied for him.

After that I wasn't too sure. Either I'd be killed by her Xultant or Zyto guards or...

Or

Or I kill myself.

There was no other way of going about it. If I somehow escaped I'd never be able to show my face ever again. Everyone would be on the lookout for me to detain and execute me for high treason. So death by either my own hand or someone else's seemed viable at this point. I wasn't afraid of death anymore after joining the Zytos. I wasn't afraid of dying after losing my everything.

I would kill Zoe. She wasn't like Shawn, I had a deep connection between him through Madelyn. With Zoe... I'd have no remorse, no regret.

After all, I was a Zyto. We... I kill without remorse.

Only I broke the one sacred vow of the Zytos for as long as I knew and was told. 'No personal attachment or feelings when set out to kill our targets'. But that was all behind me now. My conscious felt somewhat clear knowing I wasn't the one to pull the trigger on Shawn. Even if it came at the cost of everyone thinking I did. All of that didn't matter now at the face of me killing Zoe and ending all of this corruption once and for all.

'Hell, maybe I'll be a hero for killing her. With the way I see it; not a lot of people fancy her as our leader. Maybe I will be doing everyone a favor' I thought to myself, trying to rationalize killing her.

I turned my shoulder towards the glass double doors and rammed through it and into the rain. I was instantaneously drenched again in the downpour of the rain that quickly seemed to be letting up in intensity. My eyes scaled up the large tower ahead of me to the very top of it.

The Kyratze. Zoe's tower.

That has to be where she's heading, it's the only thing that makes sense as to where she'd retreat to. That in the safety of guards and endless rooms to take shelter in. But I couldn't tell how she got into the tower so quickly, as the door I exited faced the back of the tower.