Bullet

Chapter 26

EVERYTHING moved quickly. Naghahalo ang takot, pagkalito, galit, at lungkot sa akin. Valente is not listening to me, Captain Smith is in the brink of death, no one's coming, and we can't even carry the captain out of this room because of Ulysses.

"Fuck it!" I flinched when Ulysses suddenly kicked the chair beside him. Sobrang lakas ng pagkakasipa niya na halos tumilapon iyon patungo sa amin. He, then smirked while laughing sarcastically. Umiling siya. "Fuck this, Santiago! How did you know, huh? You're really good at puzzle games."

"Or you're just a bad liar." Valente shrugged. Then he put up the gun, pointed towards Ulysses who is wiping the blood off the side of his lips. "Get down. And fucking surrender."

"K-kuya Mario," I stuttered. I don't know if Valente ignoring us and keeping his eyes on Ulysses is a good thing or a bad thing. "Halika na p-po. Dalhin na natin si captain palabas. He's losing a lot of blood. He's going to die here."

Kuya Mario nodded. "O-okay."

Dahan-dahan siyang tumayo habang nakaalalay sa mga braso ni Captain Smith. I put one of his hands around me, as I slowly rose up, pulling the weight of the man. I can smell it all over me. The familiar stink of a like a rusty metal, like iron....like blood.

"No, no. 'Cause I'm interested. How did you learn I was the splinter in your foot, Santiago?" Narinig ko ang malakas na halakhak ni Ulysses na tila nananadya. He sounds so different right now, he acts like he's not Ulysses. Or this is the real Ulysses. "You're all stupid. Running around with these plans, just to catch me. But I've been here all along! Palagi lang akong nandito..."

Pasimple lang, dahan-dahan lang. Pero gumagalaw na kami ni kuya Mario, dala-dala si Captain Smith. But I screamed when suddenly, someone pulled kuya Mario away and hit him hard.

Napaluhod ang lalaki at agad na tumungo papunta sa akin pero napapikit na lang ako nang may makita na kutsilyong lumipad at tumama sa likod ng ulo niya.

And just like that, he stared at the void...and fell down as a dead man.

"K-kuya Mario!" I was terrified. The blood, they're all everywhere. And Ulysses is just laughing as if it was nothing.

"Hey, Nadj. Sorry you gotta see this. You shouldn't be even here? Why are you here, hmm?"

"Ulysses, please. Please, stop this. You can't be the...you can't be the one..."

"Be what? I can't be the mole? Who said I can't be? Because definitely, I know, Nadia. I am not your ally. I'm here to ruin this fucking organization from the inside. And you can't do anything about it! Because I already did. And I already am."

Pagkatapos na pagkatapos niyang sabihin iyon ay may kinuha siya sa bulsa---at ang nalaman ko na lang ay pinatay niya na rin si Captain Smith. Four shots at the head, Ulysses did not miss. At natulala na lamang ako sa kawalan, unti-unti akong napatakip sa tenga dahil parang nabingi ako sa putok ng baril.

"Shit!" Valente cursed right away as I felt him pulled me away.

Then a gunshot.

And we fell onto the ground.

Hindi ko alam kung bakit walang dumadating. Kung bakit hindi na bumalik sina Lieutenant Martin. Kung bakit wala man lang nakakarinig ng malalakas na putok ng baril. Kung bakit hindi man lang nila malaman na may dalawang bangkay na rito sa loob ng silid.

Valente is holding me, embracing me very tight. He's covering me, protecting me inside his arms. Ramdam na ramdam ko ang malalakas na tibok ng puso niya, rinig na rinig ko ang mabibilis at malalalim niyang paghinga.

But he still fought.

"Stay right here. Stay right here." Nagmamadali niyang bulong at mabilis na hinalikan ang noo ko. "Take this. And use it when necessary. When I said, run. You run, Aurora. You hear me? You run."