Alex Rider: Back in Beacons with the SEALS

Chapter 12

Alex's jaw clenched as he kept his emotions in check, his face smoothed into a mask of indifference. K-unit was eying him worriedly, they wanted to tell him to let it out but the look on his face told them he wouldn't let it out. He's going to explode if this continues.
"You guys should probably go get some breakfast. I'll just catch up on some sleep." Alex said quietly as Riptide finished checking his ankle. Riptide straightened up and smoothed out his uniform as he looked at Alex, frowning slightly. "Do you want us to get you something?" Alex shook his head before jerking his head towards the door, telling them he will be okay. They had left reluctantly but hey, they did leave right?
Alex sighed in frustration and plonked back onto the bed, hoping to get some rest and praying it would be a dreamless one. Apparently trying to sleep is harder than it looks. Alex was staring at the ceiling, tracing the cracks with his eyes and counting the number of cracks in total, hoping it would bore himself to sleep. Not working. Great. Alex thought dryly. He was so tired he just wants to die. He feel like he was going to burst into tears for no reason. Alex sighed again and got out of bed, no point staying in bed if he can't sleep.
He made his way towards the shooting range and started cleaning his gun. Cleaning every part of his gun slowly and methodically, no point rushing the process. When he was done, he strolled towards the shooting area where targets would pop up or start moving or whatever, depends. The range was empty so Alex didn't have to warn anyone for live fire. Alex took a deep breath to clear his mind and immediately starting firing as the first few targets popped up and fell after being shot and others popping up. The goal was shoot fifty targets in two minutes. Alex was shooting without even thinking, he was shock when a target that was a human sized cut out appeared and he had instinctively shot the target straight in the forehead, dead center. The alarm blared once to signal the end of the exercise. Alex had clicked the gun onto it safety mood before he felt lightheaded. Dammit. Why does this affect me so much? Alex thought as he gritted his teeth and supported himself with the table.
K-unit, the SEALS and along with the sergeant walked in on Alex firing with almost no breaks in between each shot. Tyler came with the two units to watch them practice with moving targets and to see how well they can work and how efficient they are when they are given a time limit. Tyler looked over and saw that the boy had set himself a very high goal with a very short time limit. They decided to watch silently in awe at the boy's excellent performance. They noticed the boy jerk as if in shock when the last target appeared. They were shock too. They never use life sized human cut out targets! Cub stood there, emotionless. The boy had then clicked the safety back on and slammed the gun on the table, leaning heavily on it. The other veterans looked at each other as if silently debating on what to do.
It come as a fright when the boy collapsed on his knees, leaning his head on one of his arms that were still on the table. Snake and Riptide, being medics, have reacted without even thinking as it is almost second nature to react to any unusual body reactions and any injury no matter how small or big. "What's wrong?" The teen jerked his head from side to side trying to dismiss them but they wouldn't budge. Alex one the other hand, was feeling very dizzy and a migraine was already pounding. He suppose it was all the stress that was built up inside him and the sudden shock because of the target had caused this reaction. Am I a killer? Alex thought as he raised his head just enough to look at the target that was still suspended there, mocking him. You are a killer, Alex. You killed me. I believed in you! How dare you! If I hadn't stayed, I could have gotten my degree in psychology in America! Alex stifled a whimper when Jack's voice rang out in his head. Snake and Riptide was trying to calm the boy that had started to hyperventilate. Tyler tapped the two soldiers and they moved away so that he could try. He had more experience with hyperventilating soldiers than anyone. He did but he doesn't have any experience with a hyperventilating teen! It was absolutely scary to see a kid like this.
Tyler kneeled down beside the teen and gently tried to ease him into a hug. "Calm down Cub."
"I-" Alex had attempted to form a coherent sentence but his lungs wouldn't let him as his gasping quickened. "No no no no. Calm down Cub! It's okay. You're safe here." Tyler doesn't know what has gotten the boy into this state but it surely isn't good.
"I- I didn't... expect that." Alex gasped, as he was now being embraced by the bigger man. All this was making his chest hurt a lot, especially his bullet wound. Alex winced when a sharp pain exploded in his chest area. It just continued throbbing and its hurting him a lot. He clutched the fabric at where his chest was. "No one did. It's okay."
"It's... Not!" Alex gasped out. "This, proves... I'm a killer."
"No it doesn't Cub! Get a hold of yourself."
"I can't- it hurts." Alex jerked when a wave of pain hit him, nearly causing him to spasm. His vision was darkening and the last thing he heard was the faint distant panic callings of his codename before darkness enveloped him.