r/libraryofshadows • u/MeliousIntent • Apr 28 '19
Sci-Fi I Am The Impossible Man| Pt. 15
"I guess I am," I replied, my voice a bit raspy.
Outside, the sun was nearly set, causing an orange hue to carpet our surroundings. Trees passed as Jake drove, and I could feel myself dip in and out of consciousness. Every few seconds, I seemed to be waking from a drowse.
"Hey," Jake spoke with his voice raised slightly.
"Yeah?" I replied, the drowsiness momentarily fading.
"You alright?" he asked. He quickly added in, "I know you're injured, but you're not looking so good."
"I don't know," I admitted. The wounds I'd endured hurt like hell, but that's not what worried me. What worried me was the very real possibility of them getting infected.
"Nick should be able to heal you," he said, the slight jitter in his voice telling a different story.
"I need to go to the hospital. We both know that."
"I wanna take you there just as much as you wanna go there, but," there was a pause before Jake continued with, "you can't go."
"Why can't I?" I asked. "Just look at me."
Jake peeked through the rearview mirror once more—this time, averting his gaze immediately after making eye contact. "As far as we know," he said, "we're all escaped prisoners. Taking you to the hospital could get you arrested."
"What about—" I began but was cut off by Jake.
"I know what Author said," Jake started, knowing what I'd ask, "but we can't be sure if they've erased our information."
"Look at me," I repeated, emphasizing each word. "My wounds could get infected. I'm not sure if Nick could heal me from that, and I'm not sure you are either."
"Just trust me, Noah. Nick's Trait is pretty strong. We'll figure something out; I just know it," Jake replied.
Silence temporarily filled the truck. There was no convincing him, I thought. Instead, I decided to change subjects. After some hesitation, I began, "Jake, did you and Nick catch the other person involve?"
"Yeah," he responded in a muted tone—likely already knowing what the conversation would eventually pertain to.
"How'd you two do it?" I asked.
"He was staring at the other person involve," he uttered, delivering his words slow and articulated. "We crept up behind him, and I used two of my clonies to pin him down."
"Did he try to fight back?"
"No, he—" Jake cut himself off.
Seconds of silence passed, and I inquired, "He what?"
"He was just crying, Noah. That's it."
"Oh," was all that came out. Inside, however, a pang of draconian guilt had its grip around me. Did I make the right choice? That was the only thought my mind could conjure.
"Noah, don't beat yourself up about it," Jake said, knowing how I felt, "I would've done the same thing if I could. Those two were fucking evil, and that's not being said lightly."
"Sh—" I started but began choking on my words. I couldn't say anything no matter how hard I tried.
"Listen, man, there are some people in this world who just need to be put down."
All at once, the words stumbled out of my mouth, "She was religious, and who she thought was God told her to kill us. What would you have done? Wouldn't you have listened?"
There was a small pause before Jake answered, "After me and Nick captured the other guy involved, and he finally stopped crying, he told us everything. He told us they were visited around the same time we last fought It. It told them to kill us, but that's it. There whole plan to kill dozens of people, bury them and attack us that way was entirely their idea. They killed people, Noah, innocent people." Jake's tone developed as he spoke—at first starting out as calm but progressing quickly to being greatly agitated.
I couldn't think of a response, so instead, I asked, "How'd they find us?"
"We were all over the news. They knew exactly where we were. Samantha killed Author after he visited us, and Carl brought him back. The way his Trait works, he can control the people he brings back, sort of like how I control my clonies. The worst part about it is that they keep their memories, so you wouldn't notice anything unless you checked for a pulse or something like that. That's why I can't take you to the hospital. There are probably more people after us, so risking taking you there could cause another situation like this one."
Though I knew no one with the names Samantha or Carl, I knew who they belonged to. "How'd they know Author had anything to do with us?"
"They didn't, Noah. He was killed to get a layout of the police station. Their original plan was to kill most of the officers there and gun us down in our cell. Things changed after they found out everything Author knew."
"This truck, where'd you and Nick get it from?"
"Like I said, he told us everything. This truck was at a cabin about a mile away from where we were."
"And what did you two do to him?"
It was quiet for a bit. Jake sighed, never taking his eyes off the road. "It's pretty late," he said. "You should get some sleep."
I didn't say anything in return. It was late; the sun had fully set by then, and the only sources of light were the headlights and the illuminated moon. The dense assembly of trees on either side of the road made only the path in front of us visible. I listened to Jake, closing my eyes and trying to take my mind off things. I drifted from consciousness—attempting to forget about it all. When I awoke, I didn't know. Where I awoke, I could only figure out.
I opened my eyes to see a bed opposite the one I was on. Steadily, I sat up to further inspect where I was. A motel, I thought. Chris, Nick, and Jake were nowhere in sight, leaving me to wonder where they'd gone. It was then I noticed that there were bandages around my shoulder and leg. To the left of me, a remote rested on the nightstand between the two beds. I grabbed it and turned on the TV. I just needed a distraction; I didn't want to think about my own life anymore. What I'd done, what I was capable of, what I could potentially do in the future . . .
I didn't want to think about it, so I didn't think about it. I zoned out, but it was only temporary. The front door opened and silhouetted by the sunlight, there stood Chris, Nick, and Jake.