Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 20: Day III (Calm)

"But you had no way of knowing that. You still decided to meddle in something that didn't concern you. So you are criminals. Some criminals need to be executed, so wasn't justice served? Isn't this what you wanted all along, to be the hero and deliver justice? Well, you've done it. You've killed those that trespassed into Mexico trying to play hero. Congratulations!"

I shook my head in denial, desperately remembering the words of Alexander and Catherine.

'I didn't kill them... I didn't kill them... I didn't kill them...'

"Really?" Joshua asked, reading my thoughts. "Consider this: each body has two gunshot wounds, save for Erica, who has one. There's a Glock 19 with the standard 15+1-round magazine in your right cargo pocket. Two times seven, plus one, is how many? And how many rounds are in your sidearm?"

"Keeping my eyes on him, I pulled a previously nonexistent pistol out of my right cargo pocket, and checked the magazine. To my horror, there was only one round left.

"Besides, the ground is littered with 9-mm casings, dear Benjamin," Joshua added maliciously. "Face it: you're the lone survivor of your little CIA family, and you're going to die alone."

"Then I'm taking you with me," I growled, feeling a flash of anger as I loaded the magazine back into the pistol, pulled the slide back, and shot Joshua right in the heart.

However, instead of dying, he simply looked at me and began to laugh. His laugh was more terrifying than any horror movie I'd seen or heard of.

He was nothing but a reincarnation of the Devil.

"There's that bravado, Ben. That beautiful, naive, bravado. The same reason why," he began, pulling out a photograph in his chest pocket, both of which had a hole in them. "These lovely people are gone."

A closer look revealed a man, a woman, a boy, and a girl, with a third child's head missing, courtesy of the shot I took. I gasped, dropping the pistol as I realized who they were.

"Yes... the Ripleys. You took this when, exactly? Not that it matters anyway," he said as the photo caught on fire, burning to ashes. All the while, my feet felt like someone had duct-taped me to the ground, and covered my mouth as well.

"All you did was remove yourself from their picture, Ben. When death came for them, you were far away."

"You sent the assassins," I argued weakly, but to no avail.

"The assassins' orders were to not engage if I reported to them. I didn't because your friends saw fit to rescue you rather than leave you to die, as you did to me."

With that, he pulled a G22 out of his back pocket and fired, hitting me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain, clutching my gut with my left arm as my knees buckled.

'No, no, no...'

"Tell me, how does it feel to die?" Joshua asked in a menacing tone. However, before he could pull the trigger and land the killing blow, I heard a new voice whisper in my ear.

"What are you doing? Move! Mo—oh, forget it! C'mon, idiot!" were the words I heard before something strong grabbed me by my shoulders and jerked me backwards before Joshua could fire again.

Flashback end

I wasn't sure who or what pulled me out, but the action just saved me from being killed by Joshua in that nightmare. Still, being yanked out of that dream made me feel like my brain had melted.