Pumpkin Spice, стр. 11
“I mean I was wrong about the Mangolds. You can absolutely trust them.”
“I don’t even know who the Mangolds are.”
“You don’t need to; just know you should trust them. I made a mistake. We all make mistakes McKoul, we all deserve a second chance.” Red made a good point. People, most people, did deserve a second chance. It was just unfortunate that McKoul had no recollection of anything prior to this day. He had never met Red before, not that he knew of. She seemed friendly and nice enough, and she saved his life twice, but she did warn him about the Mangold’s, her instructions were very clear. He could not trust them, and if he were captured by them, he would have to kill them and himself. McKoul was not a fan of this option. There was only one way out of this: He was going to have to kill every single one of the Mangold’s. He would even kill Red if he had too. “Ok!” He shouted much louder than he had meant to. “I’m coming out!” He took a breath, “as long as this isn’t some sort of trick.”
“It’s not, McKoul.”
“Ok, I believe you.” He didn’t.
McKoul reached over and grabbed the door knob as quickly as he possibly could. He swung the door wide open, and when his hand was free, he ignited the smoke gas from his cuff links and ran out the door.
Red and green lasers were everywhere. McKoul used them to find his targets.
Bang. One dead.
Bang Bang. Two more.
He was really good at shooting people in the head.
As he ran down the hall killing each and every Mangold he came across, he started to think back to his days in the military. He thought about his training, his comrades, he remembered. Or, so he thought. Were these his memories, or where they just visions he was making up to help him out through the situation. Nothing made sense to him. Very little made sense. He needed to get out of the lab, or hospital, or whatever he was in, and the only way out was by shooting his way through the Mangolds.
McKoul was so distracted by his memories and the confusion swirling in his mind that he missed the trip wire at his feet. He fell, landing on his chin, his gun ejecting from his hand and sliding down the hallway.
McKoul’s chin was bleeding on the ground. He looked at the dead bodies all around him. The bodies of the people he had killed. “Impressive Mr. McKoul.” A woman with a heavy accent, one which McKoul did not recognize, said as she walked up to him holding Red by her hair and pointing a gun at her nose. “You’ll find most people will turn on you if you give them the chance.” The woman smiled. “What do you want with me?” McKoul looked at Red, he needed to save her. “To keep you in here. In our headquarters.”
“Why?”
“You really don’t remember anything, do you?” McKoul refused to answer. “Mr. McKoul you are the most dangerous man this side of the Hudson. You possess super human strength and the ability to read people’s minds. Our researchers believe that if you are exposed to the outside world you will destroy it.”
“That’s not true--I wouldn’t hurt a fly!” He shouted.
She looked around the hallway at the dead bodies. “The evidence is all around you, Mr. McKoul. Killing comes naturally to you, it always has, it always will. We don’t want to keep you in here to hurt you, we don’t want to keep you in here for research, or our benefit. We wish to keep you inside this chamber of horrors to protect the outside world. To protect our loved ones.”
“So, you’re saying I’m a monster?”
“No, Mr. McKoul, you are a gift to mankind…” before the woman could finish her sentence, Red swiped her legs out from under her, twisted her gun hand back, and shot the woman between the eyes with her own gun.
“What the hell! She was just starting to…”
“Lies!” Red started, “She’s lying to you, McKoul. She wants to keep you in this godforsaken prison. Don’t you get it?” Red finished.
McKoul wasn’t sure.
“No man should be locked up.”
“Not even one as dangerous as me?” He looked around at the dead bodies.
“She claims you’re dangerous, but you don’t even know! You don’t even know who you are.” Red held out her hand. “Come with me, McKoul, let’s get out of here.”
McKoul, for a moment, considered taking Red’s hand.
“Who are you?” He asked her. She looked down at him, love in her eyes.
“I’m here to help you.”
“Are you?”
Red nodded.
“How can I be sure?”
“You have to trust me.”
“Trust you? I woke up in a room, surrounded by darkness. Someone tried to inject me with a needle. Then you show up, out of the blue. How did you even get in here anyway?”
Red didn’t know what to say.
“Huh!? How did you break in here? C’mon Red, tell me.”
“I can’t tell you, but you need to …”
Before Red could finish McKoul grabbed his cuff link.
“McKoul wait!”
He hit the hydrogen bomb, and everything around McKoul shattered. Red vanished in a beautiful orange haze. He felt clear, free, for the first time in a while. He closed his eyes and smiled welcoming the clarity of death.
Darkness.
McKoul opened his eyes. This time it was light, not dark. Startled, he glanced around. He was in a hospital room. In the hallway he could see doctors and nurses rushing around, reading charts, helping patients.
Why am I not