The three of them were rooted to their spots. No one moved a single muscle.
"Goodbye, boys"
The man brandishing the steel rod was savoring the expression on his victims' faces. The emergence of absolute terror gave him utmost joy. The shrill shrieks of agony from tortured victims, the futile cries of help, that was what his life was made up of. It was his job. It was his destiny.
The three blokes standing in front of him were bearing that very same expression, of utmost terror. Nevertheless, the job this time was different than others. Unlike his style, he had to do it quickly. In an instant. It had to be clean and no evidences to be left. It needed to be done. It was for a world where he was allowed to do anything freely. The following act was a free pass to his freedom.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of that very apartment were in a state of frenzy. The thought which came to their minds were not why were they in that situation, but,
"We're screwed."
Tightening his grip on the rod, the man started moving forward, with a mild expression of annoyance on his face.
Finally, Alex broke the silence, " YOU FOOLS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITIN' FOR ?! RUN DAMMIT !!
Marty yelled, "REMEMBER COMMANDER, ITS 28TH SEP, DEFINITELY."
The rush in his voice generated an unprecedented dread in Alex's heart.
What.... What the hell is he saying ?! Why so desperate now ? We need to goddamn escape from this @#$% situation!!
The next minute was something in which Alex barely acted on the commands of his brain. It was all instincts. He ran towards the balcony while the other two fled for the door. And what followed next was something which horrified Alex for the rest of his life.
He heard a loud 'thwack!' followed by a muffled moan. Blood spurted in all directions..... Then there was a loud shriek "MARTY!!!" followed by another thwack! with the sound of bones cracking. More blood spurted out and landed on Alex's face. Without thinking twice, he jumped off his balcony landing flat onto the hard metaled street. He could not even feel the fractures in his limbs and face as he limped as fast as he can for his life...
...
The man wearing the mask gave an annoyed look as one of his prey escaped into the darkness of the streets.
"Damn the punk, thinkin' of jumping right off the balcony from the second floor."
None the less, he removed all evidences and dumped the horribly disfigured bodies of his victims in the boot of his car. He then extracted a wireless from his pocket and dialed a number. ..... ... ...
When the call was finally picked up, he answered in a hoarse tone; "The job is done. Though one of those damned punks escaped, jumped off the @#$% balcony. He'll be fine... yeah... he didn't see a millimeter of my @#$% face... Yeah ok,
"For a better world"."
...
Alex was shocked to his core. His beloved partners were dead. Murdered. He thought he could do something, report to the authorities or something. But all he could do now was to run for his life. Tears started flowing out of his red eyes. Only if he had been stronger. Only if he had been powerful, he could have protected his friends, he could have prevented their deaths.
A bloodcurdling scream reverberated the entire neighborhood.
"DAMMIT YOU BASTARD, YOU ARE DYING!!! DYING!!! I'LL KILL YOU! KILL YOU FOR SURE !! DIE! Die!.... Die!... Die....". His voice turned into a moan. A moan of the deepest regret.
"Why did you do this to me? What did I ever do to you?..... Why?.... Why?.....", Alex lamented. He could not control his feelings now. He was in purgatory. He had experienced hell without one physical scar. It felt horrifying. Unbearable. It was ripping open his chest. Trying to kill him from the inside.
The only thing he remembered was the final warning which Marty gave him. "Its happening on 28th September." It was clear as a diamond's lattice. RIZE would launch on 28th of September, 6 months later, and that had to be the day when the world would be doomed.
Alex limped on till his legs gave up. He had moved quite a long way out. He ended up on the pavement beside a small confectionery. He lay there till hours before darkness consumed his eyes...
....................
Christine Chauffer was sitting in her office feeling content. Her hard work has finally paid off. RIZE was finally complete, Her 'best of all time baby'. She had delivered the reports of all the tests to the Chairman, which to her pleasant surprise ,were all excellent. RIZE was now perfect for release. The world would simply be awed at just its idea.
...................
46 stories below her office, the company's mainframes were running certain instructions. Instructions which were different from what they were earlier given. The new data was quite large and it took them quite some time to read all of it. When the last line of the code was read, the gigantic set of computers beeped softly, marking the completion.
......................
Alex opened his eyes painfully. They were still swollen. A bright light illuminated him as he squinted to get a better vision of his surroundings. He seemed to be inside someone's homely abode and for some reason, they had kindly treated to his wounds. When he turned around his head to the opposite side, he saw a stern old man sitting beside him. Quite old.
"Finally awake, boy ?, got yourself into a hell of a situation, got all of your body crumpled up. The neighboring doctor was kind enough to treat to your wounds without a fee, good old soul he is, I must say, he really his."
The old man's words reminded him of the horrific night. His eyes widened as his heart sank. He still couldn't adjust to the fact that Marty and Winky were dead. Gone forever. They were never going to laugh with him, argue with him or eat with him again. He was all alone, all alone in this hell of a world. But a new feeling was rising within himself. A feeling he never had before. It was hot as lava and was raging with anger, the need for revenge. He needed to kill that damn bastard who murdered his dear friends. He will hunt him down to the end of the world till he was cornered. He will slowly kill him, making him feel all the agony that he had given to his dear comrades, he will make him beg for his life.
Marty's last words floated back into his mind, "Its happening on 28th September."
He repeated those words in a faint whisper, "Its happening on 28th September."
He had made his decision. He would enter the world and would devour it. Every bit of it. Inch to inch. It was the very reason why his friends got killed.
"What's happening on 28th dear ?, is it your birthday or something.... Anyway, I would not try to pry into your life, but can you tell me your name and of your parents, so I can get you back home?"
"Alex... Parker.." , he replied with a weak voice. "I live alone.... I have nobody....". He said, in a hoarse voice.
"I'm really sorry to hear that. In that case, would you like to stay here and work for me ? that would also cover all of your expenses and housing problems. By the way, I am Ben, Ben Stiller. You could call me Ben. That's what my son used to call me before he left. You resemble him a lot."
Alex didn't say a word, he just nodded. He didn't have the strength to speak anything, for now.
...
6 months later, 27th September
Ben was residing at his usual place behind the counter. It was nearly 10:00 pm, the closing time. Alex was staring intently, at the watch.
2 hours left...
It was going to happen in two hours. He knew everything what was going to happen, but was helpless. The whole world was helpless now. They would be dragged into another world and god knows what would happen to them. But all Alex now knew was his revenge.
...
The shop has been closed. It was 11:55 pm. Ben had already went to sleep.
Alex was standing alone, in the middle of the street, gazing at the tall building away in the distance. 5 more minutes...
4..
3..
2..
1..
A loud explosion shook the whole city. There was a bright flash of light from the tower and then a shockwave, and then a loud BOOM!
....
Alex woke up with a start. Somehow everything looked the same. What was different was a virtual dialog blinking over his right arm. It showed two options.
"JOIN WORLD",and, "EXIT WORLD".
The "EXIT WORLD" button had been blurred out.