Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 20: Day III (Calm)

Georgetown

Washington, DC

Oakwood Apartments

December 20th, 2015

0815 hours

(Author's Note: I kinda didn't realize I didn't end the chapter, so this one's long...)

(WARNING: TRAUMA, NIGHTMARES/NIGHT TERRORS, BLOOD INCOMING!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

Ben POV

My eyes shot open and I felt myself shaking (on my side, this time), breathing heavily, sweating. Once again, it was due to a nightmare.

Yet, there was something different about this one.

Flashback start

I was in the middle of a desert. The air was dry and frigid, and the new moon made the sky all the more dark.

As far as I could tell, I was alone. I wore clothes fit for hiking, but had no water. My throat was sore with pain, likely due to extreme dehydration.

"Hard, isn't it?"

I spun around, only to be met by the pirate-esque monster that haunted my dreams.

"Joshua," I whispered.

"Hello there," he replied with a giant grin. Unlike last time, he had no smoke nor blood around him. The only things that kept him from being clean were dust and sand, but even those were minimal. "Tell me, how does it feel to be alone?"

"I-I'm not alone," I stammered, slowly stepping away from him. I didn't want to show fear, but God, I was terrified. "I've got Catherine, and Alexander, and Chip, and Mike..."

"Have you looked around recently?"

I looked around, trying to make sense of what he was saying, then I finally understood what he was getting at when I looked down.

I nearly jumped at the sight of a lifeless Cyrus staring up at me. Blood slowly flowed from two gunshot wounds to his head.

I looked around to see everyone else in similar states: Catherine, Jawa, Mike, Zoe, Alexander, Chip... all had gunshot wounds to their heads. But what stood out was Erica: she was stomach-down, with her right cheek against the ground. She had a single gunshot wound in her back, and it appeared to go through her heart.  Blood ran from all of their wounds, staining the desert ground.

A closer examination revealed that all had their arms and legs bound, and my deduction made me freeze in fear.

"Executed," I whispered to myself. "They were executed."

"Excellent, Mr. Ripley," Joshua replied almost proudly, like a teacher congratulating a successful student.

"Why?"

"They were criminals! What right did they have coming into Mexico?" the villain scoffed.

"We c-came to stop y-you," I stuttered, trying to keep the fear out of my voice as I faced him. "You were working with the Sinaloa Cartel."

"Why not let the Mexican government handle it?"

"Intelligence suggested that c-cartels had infiltrated them. S-SPYDER too."