Chapter 16 - The Final Sacrifices
Mark froze, his hands slowly rising as the cold rain plastered his hair to his forehead.
He was exhausted, wounded, and out of ammunition.
There was nowhere to dodge.
There was no cover to reach.
"Do it then," Mark said softly, staring straight into Victor’s eyes without flinching.
"Kill me."
"It won't undo what the world saw tonight."
"Your life is over anyway, Victor."
"I don't care about my life!" Victor roared, his finger tightening violently against the trigger.
BANG!
A loud explosion echoed through the dark woods.
Mark braced for the impact, expecting the burning tear of lead through his chest.
Instead, Victor dropped his shotgun into the mud, a look of utter confusion crossing his face.
A dark red spot expanded rapidly across the center of Victor’s chest.
Victor collapsed forward onto his knees, then crashed face-first into the soaked leaves.
Behind Victor stood Marcus, leaning heavily against a wooden fence post.
Marcus was soaked in blood from multiple wounds, holding his old service pistol with both hands.
"Marcus!" Mark gasped, rushing forward to catch the detective as he stumbled.
Marcus sank to the ground, coughing harshly, a faint, bitter smile on his face.
"I told you... I was going to take out the garbage," Marcus rasped, his breathing shallow and rapid.
"Marcus, stay with me!" Mark shouted, applying pressure to a deep wound in Marcus’s side.
"We have federal medics at the main house!"
"They can save you!"
Marcus raised a blood-stained hand and gripped Mark’s collar tightly.
"No... it’s too late for me, Mark."
"I did what I came to do."
"My daughter... she gets to live in a world where Arthur isn't a god anymore."
"You take care of Lily."
"Make sure she grows up knowing... her father fought like a demon for her."
Marcus’s hand slowly slipped from Mark’s jacket, falling lifelessly into the dark mud.
His eyes stared up into the rainy night sky, calm and at peace for the first time in ten years.
Mark closed the ex-detective’s eyes with a gentle touch.
"Thank you, Marcus," Mark whispered, his voice choking with grief.
"I won't let your sacrifice be in vain."
Mark stood up, turned around, and walked through the dark forest toward the hidden sedan.
When he opened the rear passenger door, Lily was sitting up, wrapping her arms around her knees.
She looked at her father, covered in rain, blood, and mud.
"Daddy?" she called out softly, her small voice trembling.
"Is it safe now?"
Mark reached into the car, lifted her small body into his arms, and held her as tightly as he could.
"Yes, baby," Mark wept silently into her shoulder.
May you like
"It's over."
"Nobody is ever going to hurt you again."
