Shot

The shot rang loudly through the streets of this eerily silent and lifeless city. Lian and Sofi immediately stopped in their tracks. The sound of the shot was heard from the small alley they would have to pass by after another 60 meters.

The alley did not look like anything special in this bloody and gloomy city. One of the buildings at the entrance crumbled and half of it created a small mound that was difficult to cross. Although this wreckage made it more difficult to enter the alley, but it also created a perfect cover if one wanted to sneak a peek at what was happening in there.

Sofi looked at her brother. Her mouth a little bit opened in surprise. It was first time they have met a sign of a living person after leaving The Hinsons' house. She knew that it was better to leave making decisions to Lian. If not for him, she would have been stumped what to do at the very beginning of the catastrophe. And he led her to a place where she had almost three days of peace to think over everything.

Lian, on the other hand, was thinking about what could have happened in the alley. He ran through many possibilities in only a few seconds, but they all could be put into one of two categories. Either somebody had to shoot while he was defending. Or somebody took a shot at the victim with malicious thoughts of killing.

But nothing could be known for sure based on only conjectures. So Lian signaled his sister to follow his.

"Sis, quiet. We will take a look from behind those rubbles. Can you just paralyze somebody and not kill him?"

"I can." Sofi briefly answered in a low voice.

Coming closer to the mound Lian sat down and began to slowly crawl to find a good vintage point. Unknowingly, his heart started beating much faster and the sinking sensation felt even heavier.

"Will it also be as flashy?" He continued his questioning. After all, he had no idea how his sister's ability worked since he himself instructed her not to talk about it.

"No."

"Alright then. If I tell you to paralyze – paralyze. If I tell you to kill… you know... kill then. Just make sure it would not attract too much attention, alright? Just passing by is also an option." Lian tried to make sure everything was as clear as possible in case something might happen.

Then he slowly raised his head over the debris and peered at what was happening on the other side. Sofi followed suit.

What they saw made Lian grab one of the stones so tightly that his hand started trembling from the sheer force he used. Even Sofi opened her eyes wide and her face slowly began to turn red with anger.

After a few seconds Lian realized that his hand hurt very much. When he came back to his senses and loosened the grip, he saw his hand became red with deep white marks left where stone cut into his flesh.

"Sofi" Lian said slowly "paralyze that f*cker for me. I really want to talk to him."

Without any need for further pleas Sofi stood up and extender her hand. Looking at his sister's actions Lian saw silver snakes running on her opened palm. Half a second later those threads of silver energy shot from her fingers, condensing into an incredibly fast bolt of lightning, that moved through the distance of 50 meters before Lian could even focus his attention on it, and hit a sitting figure.

When Lian looked back into the alley he saw the figure has now fallen face down into the ground. He began to cross the wreckage looking straight at two figures lying next to each other 50 meters from where he was. One of them was a body of a man Sofi had paralyzed just now, and the other was a corpse of a woman lying in a pool of fresh blood. What caught Lian's attention was that despite her having slender arms and face with no fat on it, she had visibly big belly.

She had pretty ordinary face. But any woman would be at her most beautiful at the time of pregnancy, because of how tender and affectionate her facial features become even without one noticing it herself.

This woman though had nothing of it left on her face. Hers was filled with fear. Her mouth was opened as if to give a cry for help, but that cry has never left her mouth.

As for the person who was most likely a woman's killer. Lian could not see his face or anything special about him, as he was sitting with his back facing Lian. But what Lian could tell was that the person was wearing a police uniform.

When Lian came closer he got a better look at the scene. He saw that woman was shot in the left temple. Then the killer circled around her and sat down to ran through her belongings, of which she had a pretty decent handbag. Lian also noticed a pistol lying right next to the bag the man was rummaging through. And he quickly moved towards it to pick it up.

Lian's heartbeat increased even further, he even believed for half-second that his heart will leap out. But then that thought was buried under a flood of such emotions as disgust, anxiety and many others. He thought about many ways how he should talk to that person. A few seconds later, though, Lian steadied his resolve. He knew what he had to do. To continue living in this world after all its changes, he should change as well. Because, who knows when will it end?

"Sis, if anybody suspicious comes just paralyze them. We will deal with them later." Lian said turning the man's body over with his foot. As he did it without any care he heard muffled groans coming from the man.

After Lian turned him over, he saw an instinctually repulsive face. A person about 40 years of age. An extremely receding chin, a big nose with very small mouse-like eyes. He had a really bad hair loss, so that it would probably be better to just shove his head. The features were not repulsive themselves. But the look on his face was. He had a contorted expression of fear, fury and hatred that could scare an ordinary person s*tless if met on the street at normal times.

But times now were not normal, and although Lian was an ordinary person, he was in an extremely unstable mood. He sat next to the man and slapped his cheek hard. Lian took the man's gun with his trembling hand.

"You… Can you talk?" Lian heard his own voice becoming rough.

Not hearing an answer for a few seconds, he turned to his sister and asked her. "Can he talk?"

"No idea. I had to paralyze him. Though I wanted to go for the kill instead." His sister answered while looking around, searching for any incoming danger. One could guess that she probably tried to divert her attention from the situation at hand, or she might really be unable to hold back.

"Then... Hey you… You better say something. Or I will start using this toy against you." Lian hit man's face once more and then shook the gun in front of his face. He did not feel comfortable at all saying things like that. But he had to be intimidating.

"Let… Let go." He heard a low trembling voice coming from the man.

"Oh no. I'm not letting you go. I want you to answer my questions. And if I don't like your answers I will let loose a few bullets into your body. So, are you really a cop?" Lian put the trembling gun onto the man's finger joint. Although he said he said those words, he was not sure he could do what he imagined in the head.

"Let me go, f*cker." The man said in a louder voice. Obviously thinking that he somehow still got the upper hand to command in such a situation.

Bang…

The shot was fired and man's pinkie finger on the left hand was shot off.

"Aaaaaaahhh." A scream resounded in the alley.

"You see, only your muscles are paralyzed. They are tense to extreme. But your nerves should be fine, so you can still feel everything." Lian whispered in a low voice to the man. "So, are you a real cop?"

Although Lian looked tough on the outside, except for the trembling hands, his feelings were complicated. He felt unease because he was harming a human. He even had to suppress his reflex to throw up, as some drops of blood landed on his clothes and skin. But at the same time the feeling of fear and disgust that appeared when he first passed by that intersection diminished in his heart. It was almost like he was shooting not at a person, but at the cause of his own distress. As if dealing with somebody who acted in such a hideous way would help him regain or find new beliefs to follow.

"Ahhh, f*cker. Aahhhhh… They will not let you live." The cries continued in a high-pitched voice.

Bang…

A ring finger on the left hand was shot off…

'Such scum. Is there anything that makes him worthy to live?.'

"Ahhhh… Aaaahhhh…."

"That was not what I asked you to tell. Are you a cop?" For the third time the same question was asked in cold and coarse voice. Lian tried to show as little emotions as possible.

"Aahhhh…. Nooo…" The man cried out. After losing two fingers and experiencing great pain the man was now visibly shaken and afraid.

"Why did you kill this woman?" Lian asked, putting the gun's muzzle on top of man's middle finger joint. He then pointed with his other hand at the woman's corpse, that was becoming colder with every second.

"Ahhhh…." Only screams answered him.

"Oh, I see you are hurt. Alright, I'll give you time to come back to senses. I'll count to three. If you still don't answer, I'll shoot."

"Don't…"

"One."

"I d-did it…"

"Two."

"Ahhh… Stop…"

"Three."

Bang…

'And what makes a person worthy of living?' Lian continued contemplating about morality. His anger already subsided. And although he still felt awful about harming a person, but he wished to come to some conclusion that can help him overcome the newfound fears.

"Aahhhh…"

Lian looked at the person lying in front of him. His face was already red from all the shouting. Mucus was flowing down from his nose and tears were already all over his face. Together with blood from bruises he got after falling face-down, tears and mucus made his already repulsive face nauseating.

"I'll… I'll t-tell you… everything…" Between sobs and cries Lian was able to hear an answer he wanted.

"Why did you kill this woman?" Without further ado Lian started asking questions.

"I… I had to bring… some loot back… or be punished…"

"So you are in some sort of thug group?" Lian continued his questions. Pistol still pressed against the man's index finger joint.

"Almost e-every underground… station has a group." The man was looking at the pistol with dread.

"Do you, perhaps, think that this situation is unjust towards you? That it should not have happened?" Lian suddenly asked question out of the blue. And although he did not hear the answer, he obviously saw the look of resentment and indignation appear on the man's disgusting face.

Before speaking anything further, Lian took a deep breath, trying to calm down his wildly beating heart and emotions that were ready to burst out. He did it a few times before continuing.

"But should I remind you of a woman lying next to us? She was obviously shot from a short distance. So, my guess is, she believed that you were a policeman and allowed you to come close. And then you shot her unprepared. Am I right? So tell me, is it not justified to kill you?"

"Wait… wait… are you going… to kill me? I answered… all your questions… ask me more… let me live…" The man began to panic and cry frantically as he tried to stand up. Or did not try. It was difficult to tell as he was still paralyzed.

"You know..." Lian changed position of the pistol from the man's joint to his left temple. His hand was trembling, and he had tears swelling up in his eyes. But the pistol's muzzle did not move from its target. He was prepared to kill. "I see no reason to spare you. Neither moral, nor rational. So, die for me."

Bang…

No last words. No chance for any comeback or foreshadowing. Lian just killed the cause of the problem.

He stood up. The pistol in his hand was trembling, and some blood droplets were rolling down his face.

'I don't know how to tell that the person is worthy of living. People close to me must stay alive. But as for others…' He looked at both bodies lying in front of him. 'It is up to me to decide. Otherwise they will decide for me.'