Chapter Two Part Four

The pit felt darker these days. Unfortunately, both Eric and Val had been stuck inside the pit for close to three days. They hardly ever discussed anything with each other due to Val being angered by the actions which Eric committed. Eric could care less to start a conversation. His mind was consumed with torment. His mistakes were like a carousel just repeating over and over in his head. The world was spinning from his point of view. Constantly in a state of devourment, the earth fell like a grape into the dark mouth of the devil, but never swallowed. Somehow, through some sort of divine intervention, the grape never fell further than the lips of the devil. 

The inhabitants of this dark realm began to do the same routine of clenching their fists and gnashing their teeth. They knew the syndicate was coming. Those devils, They wouldn't leave anyone alone who wronged them, but aren't they the ones in the wrong?

Light then filled that black hole with peace and hope. Hope, that beautiful word, restored in the absolute worst of situations, but it was about to become a bug to a lizard. 

"Eric York, you have been summoned." The guard from the top shouted into the pit.

Eric looked at Val and tried to speak to her, "Well, I guess they're calling me." After that, he quickly climbed up the ladder. Eric entered into the syndicate meeting room, and began to listen to what the syndicate heads had to say.

"Eric York, you have a new task today, prisoner execution." The first head of the syndicate spoke. 

"I don't want to do it." Eric stated.

"We will be generous and reduce your sentence to five years." The second head of the syndicate tried persuading Eric.

"I don't know."

"It would be like killing rats. They do not even resemble a human." The third head spoke.

"I'll do it. On one condition. I want to be taken out of the pit."

 "Sure, we will do that for you." The fourth head spoke. Then Eric was escorted into the back of a van and driven towards the hills. Of course Eric was blindfolded the whole time to hide the location to which he was being taken. This was it. He had to commit to what he said he would do. Running away was never an option, for no matter where you went, the syndicate was always two steps behind you and two steps in front of you. They were watching at all times. The car quickly stopped, the engine was turned off, and the sliding van door screeched in terror as it was slid open. Eric's blindfold was stripped from his face. This was it. Nothing could stop the trajectory of this. 

"Mr. Eric York, uh, you realize what you're about to do correct?" The guard asked Eric

"I do." That phrase, it sent shivers down spines. Eric was locked in, strapped in like he was in a rocket. This was his greatest fall out of greatness. Excellency was now farther from reality than ever before. He was death, and this moment was about to prove that.

"Mr. York, you are going to execute each person that I bring to you. You can choose any way to kill them other than extreme torture."

"Understood."

The first one of the prisoners was brought out. The prisoner looked at Eric with solemn eyes. He wanted nothing more than freedom and this was the way that he was going to get it. Eric grabbed a rifle and pointed the gun at this thing that once was a man, for it had no resemblance of a man. It was pale, wrinkled, and scraggly hairs fell down below the shoulders. It looked like a walking corpse. Eric's hatred consumed everything that made him human. He was on a level of rage that was atmospheres higher than anyone previous in history ever had been before. He pointed the gun at this thing again. Hesitating to pull the trigger, his finger struggled with every last bit of willpower to commit this heinous thing that had to be done. Then a loud clash went off. The once living corpse was now nothing more than a rotting piece of flesh. The birds fled from the bushes, and the ground was shaken in terror. Then the guard called, "Next."

Fifty people were executed that day. Each one took a bullet to the head, but none of them stood out as much as the face of a friend. Val was one of the fifty that had to be killed. Eric tried everything in his power to not let it happen, but the syndicate wanted her dead.

"No, I can't do this." Eric told the guard. 

"It's her or you." The guard replied.

"Please there has to be a way."

"You want to get in the execution line, go right ahead, but if you want to live you kill her."

Eric then tried to talk to Val. He tried to find another way that was inconceivable to him. "Val, I don't want to do this."

"You must. There is no greater pain than this, but you must be strong and fight through this.

"Please, we can run away. We don't have to take this bullshit from the syndicate."

"You and I both know where that road leads. Don't think of trying to save me. I was already dead the moment I said I didn't want to kill that candidate."

Eric began to sob. He walked away from Val for about twenty feet. He knew what had to be done. Pointing the gun at Val, he began to shake. Unfortunately, this is what the syndicate wanted. They wanted to crush every last little bit of a man's life so that they could have complete dominance over him, so he pointed the gun at Val, his heart beating against its own current, his finger moving towards the trigger, his eye lining the gun to Val's head, and then the trigger was pulled. The bullet missed Val's head by a couple centimeters. Eric had to reset everything that he just did once again. He pointed the gun at her again, this time fiercely shaking. His finger moved into position, his heart thumping like a bass, his skin sweating uncontrollably, and his finger pulled the trigger. This time the bullet squared Val right in the forehead, and that was it. The last notable person in his life, dead to a bullet that was launched from the same hands that cared. Carelessness consumed all things in his consciousness trying to numb the bullet of guilt that just passed through his own head.