Nihil looked up. The shadow under his eyes was deep. There was anger, but also something else. An ominous calm.
-I just want you to promise me you'll let them go.
-That depends," said the chief, smiling.
-Promise.
The boss replies sarcastically.
-I promise. I promise.
Lie. Nihil knew.
-It's..." he said, raising his arm slightly. In that room. In my backpack.... -. In my room... inside a box of comics... Behind the grate. The plan is there. -He lies.
The boss looks at him. He squints.
-Do you think I'm stupid? That I'm going to fall for it?
-Here it is! -In the room... in a box of comics there is a blueprint," said a mercenary on the communicator.
The boss raises his eyebrow.
-So you weren't that dumb?
He turns around for a second.
That second was enough.
He used all his strength to shake off the mercenary who stepped on him. Just at that moment, Nihil stood up with unexpected speed. Propelling himself with his legs, he lunged at the mercenary who was holding him and struck his arm, dislocating it, then spun and connected a straight kick to the other's chest.
Another tried to shoot, but Nihil disarmed him with an upward kick straight to the chin. The weapon flew. Nihil propels himself with all his might, remembering every mma and karate class, every fall, every lesson. He lunges at the boss. He lunges at him. He punches his face. He knocks over the gun he was pulling out. Kicks his knee. And screams at the top of his lungs.
The surprised boss spat blood, but laughed.
-HAHA! So the mouse bites! -he said, getting up with difficulty.
Nihil gasped. He was at his limit. Pain, fear, fury, all mixed together. But he wouldn't stop. He couldn't. If he fell, his family would fall with him. If he went down, his family would go down with him. He stood there, fists ready to peel, breathing like an animal, eyes full of rage.
The boss wiped the blood from his mouth, and pulled out another gun he had in his trench coat, and took aim.
-I told you I like the ones who resist. They entertain me more.
He fired. Nihil dodged. A graze on the arm, burning. He kept fighting. Fist. Elbow. Knee. Every move was clean, precise.
-So you knew how to fight, you fucking bastard! -he snarled.
Nihil tried to wrestle the weapon from him, but this time the boss connected a knee to his stomach, knocking the air out of him and then grabbing him by the throat.
He lifted him up and threw him to the ground with force.
Nihil tried to get up, but his arms were unresponsive. His body trembled. The boss walked towards him, with the gun pointed at his head.
-Fucking fucking thieving bastard," he said.
Silence.
Only the sound of the click of the trigger being prepared.
The boss was aiming straight for Nihil's forehead, who lay on the ground, defeated, bleeding, barely breathing. His body was trembling, not from physical pain, but from something deeper... something broken.
His eyes strayed to his family, barely conscious, bathed in blood, unmoving.
And in her mind, a storm.
"Why?"
"Why couldn't I do anything?"
"Why am I so... useless?"
"Why do I exist?"
Her tears were falling unchecked. The chief kept his finger firmly on the trigger, waiting for one last gasp, one last plea.
But Nihil did not plead for his life. Instead, she screamed with all she had left, from the depths of her being, her voice broken, broken, desperate:
-SORRY FOR BEING BORN! SORRY FOR DOING THIS TO YOU! SORRY...I JUST WANTED TO HAVE A GODDAMN PURPOSE, A REASON TO LIVE!
BANG.
Darkness.
Silence.
Peace... for a second.
Then the air fractured.
As if the universe itself split. As if time stopped at that very shot.
Nihil's body motionless on the ground... ... was absorbed by an unknown force.
A light enveloped him. Then nothing.
And then, everything.
A new world. The sky was clear, an almost unreal blue. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon, bathing a green field in a warm, soft light. A cool breeze stirred the grass, and birdsong filled the air.
And there, in the middle of that field, he appeared.
His body fell out of nowhere. It hit the ground with a thud.
He was wounded. Bleeding. Covered in dust.
His lips were parted, his breathing was weak.
For an instant, he half-opened his eyes. He saw the sky.
Pacific. Blue. Beautiful.
A tear slid down her cheek, but she was unaware of it.
Then everything went black.
Night.
The moon hung in the sky like a lonely lamp. Nihil opened her eyes again.
He didn't know where he was.
He didn't know who he was.
He didn't know why he existed.
He just... was.
He stood up slowly. Every muscle ached.
But he said nothing. He didn't think anything.
He just started walking.
Step by step.
Aimlessly.
No intention.
Just an empty shell.
Dragging his feet, as if each step weighed tons.
Staring at the ground.
No strength. Without purpose. No soul.
END OF CHAPTER 4.