The Perfect Soldier

Vierzig

I waited for a moment for the child to come out... but was met with silence...

I lightly knocked on the door again and after a moment I pressed my ear to it.

Drip...

My brows furrowed as I slowly reached for the door knob.

My heart rate quickened as I slowly turned it...

Drip.

The latch clicked, I took a step back as I slowly opened the door. The smell of iron flooded my nose as the room went silent.

The metal door hinges creaked as I guided the door open.

Drip.

I stood paralyzed as the small room with the children was now open to the world.

Their faces were pail with thick dark fluid pooling out from their tear ducts. The bright scarlet liquid dripping from their noses and mouths...

My hands started to shake... I could feel my stomach twisting as I gagged.

I felt to my knees as my back arched, throwing up on the cold concrete floor. The ringing in my ears was so loud I felt like my head was about to burst.

I pushed myself back onto my feet and slammed the door shut. My mind raced as I closed my eyes...

Something in me broke that day...

"Wha... what did... wha happene... I... I put them there... to... to keep them safe... the hissing...I. I. I killed them... I..."

My mind flooded with images of the children as my body trembled...What they looked like before and what they looked like now...

I dug my nails into the back of head trying to get everything to stop, slow down, get quiet... but nothing was working.

"I... I was only... trying... I... protect them... wha... what did I do... god... fuck... wha..."

I stood blankly... desperately trying to process what happened to them...

They were so little... so much life a head of them... but... now it was gone. Every hope or dream that they would ever have... was gone.

The world felt still as my head and chest throbbed with devastation...

"... What did I do wrong... they... they didn't deserve this... what have I done..."

I lifted my head and tried to take a deep breath... I couldn't stand being in the room anymore.

My skin burned just thinking about everything... What did I do wrong?... Why couldn't I keep them safe like I promised?...

As I turned away from the door my eyes met König's, Taylor's, the other man who was with them.

As soon as I saw König my knees buckled and I fell, something from my eyes was missing as I look back at them.

"König... they're... I don't know wha... they're gone..."

I felt almost numb as I stared at the floor as the words etched their way through my throat.

König and Taylor both came over and helped me get to my feet, pulling me into their bodies.

I didn't feel anything... guilt and anguish were in my chest... but the rest of me felt numb... lifeless... as the cruelty of the world started to sink in...