13
Go your own way
Ein sprinted down the hall, trying to catch up to Cazador. As he did, his brain started to get the better of him.
It asked him what he thought he could do to help. Cazador was a highly trained soldier and ex-drug and gun runner. Ein had to wonder exactly how he, a college activist and full time student, was going to be able to contribute. Nevertheless, something deep inside Eisenhower kept him moving. Something within his soul spoke to him. It told him that he couldn’t let Cazador face this alone, not after what Cazador had done for him and his friends.
Ein realized that they were linked, somehow. Cazador and Harriet and Thad and everyone else locked into this situation, until the end for better or for worse.
Would it be worth anything at the end?
Yes.
Ein heard a series of gunshots up ahead and he picked up his pace.
****
Thad watched Ein sprint out the door and something hit him like a tidal wave. “We have to help.”
“Come on, dude,” The Doctor chimed in. “You are eventually going to have to realize that you are useless in situations like this.”
Thad turned. “At least I’m helping.”
“Helping?” The Doctor raised his eyebrow. “Exactly what have you helped with? Running and getting knocked out?”
Thad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then turned back to the door and ran through it, after Ein. He left everyone watching, speechless.
“The kid doesn’t know when to quit.” The Doctor said.
Harriet turned and gave him an evil look, she then went after Thad. Stephanie and the rest of the women looked at The Doctor with disappointed eyes.
The Doctor shook his head, “What?!”
They continued to stare. “Look, I know my limits and I know what I am. I am a doctor, not some kind of crazy action hero.”
They all turned and then followed Harriet, leaving The Doctor alone in the room of blood drenched, dead smugglers.
****
Ein rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Bodies littered the small hallway.
Three of them were the smugglers who had been with Chavez. They were scattered in various positions, none of them moving, blood pooling on the steel floor around them. Ein took a second to drink in the situation.
Suddenly, the fourth body groaned and moved. It was Cazador. He had his back to the wall and was pulling himself upright. Blood soaked his right pant leg. He was in the process of pulling off the strap of the machine gun in order to tie the leg off and stop the bleeding.
“Holy shit!” Ein let it slip out as he watched.
Cazador looked up briefly, having not noticed him before. He then turned back to his work. “It will be fine, it went straight through and didn’t hit an artery. Go back to your people, Gringo.”
Ein’s resolve strengthened. “Where’s Chavez?”
“He is making a run for his boat,” Cazador responded, then became frustrated. “I will go after him. You go back to-”
“SHUT UP!” Ein cut him off. “You won’t make it to him with that leg!”
Ein took off down the hall and Cazador’s eyes widened. “NO! He will kill you!”
Ein didn’t respond, he just rushed down the hall determined. He had no idea where the determination had come from, especially since Cazador was most likely right and Chavez was probably going to kill him. Maybe it was the madness people said you suffered during life and death situations, or maybe just maybe, Ein had had enough. All his life he had been made fun of for his height or his weight or his glasses or his beliefs, but this Platform was his. It was so absolutely his that not even the government could step in.
This is my truth.
Ein ran down some stairs and down the hallway coming to the steps down the first open catwalk toward the-
A green flash of movement to his side kicked the AK-47 with such force that it spun away into another room. Ein turned, just in time to see his attacker before Chavez’s forearm collided with the side of his head.
Ein saw stars and staggered into the wall. By the time Ein shook off the blow, he was unarmed looking down the barrel of Chavez’s .45 caliber. “Interesting that you would chase me down to die, Gringo.”
Ein cursed himself. Here, he had thought he could do something against Chavez without any training or experience. Instead, Chavez had taken him out of the equation in less than a second. Ein managed to stand upright as fear overtook him, the same fear he had felt in the same hallway days ago when Cazador had his machete to his throat.
It had come full circle.
Chavez’s eyes narrowed. “I assume, since you are not from the lunch room, that I have you to thank for all my problems?”
The stress got the better of Ein’s stuttering again. “Y…Y… You got that right.”
Ein cursed the bad timing of his speech impediment. Even in death, he sounded like a twit.
Chavez frowned. “So I have been defeated by a fat stuttering midget?!”
Ein straighten at the insults. “This is my platform.”
Chavez stared at him for a second. “In this world, everything belongs to the man with the gun.”
Chavez straightened his arm, the cold barrel of the gun going to Ein’s forehead. “And I am the man with the gun…”
This was it.
“STOP!” Thad’s voice broke the tension.
Chavez and Ein turned to see Thad standing a couple of steps away, a pipe in his hand and a look that Ein had never seen before on his face.
Chavez shook his head. “You passed at least four machine guns along the way here and you bring a pipe?”
Thad refused to be shaken. “Drop the gun and walk away.”
“Don’t do this Thad,” Ein said, becoming suddenly concerned for the life of his best friend.
Chavez frowned, “Or what?”
Thad looked at Ein, “Don’t waste it.”
Ein realized what Thad was doing and felt his eyes becoming wet in desperation. “Don’t do this, Thad. You don’t have to prove anything to me or anyone else!”
Thad’s jaw worked anxiously and his eyes welled up with tears, but he never lost the crazy look. “Sorry Ein. Today I’m the hero.”
“Today, I’m Spider-man.”
Thad gripped the pipe and raised it over his head and charged.
Ein screamed the word ‘no’ and everything went into slow motion like some kind of cliché action movie climax.
Chavez turned the gun on Thad and fired one clean shot.
Thad’s forward motion stopped and he lurched backwards.
Ein felt rage.
Ein felt power.
Ein surged forward, grabbing Chavez around the waist and lifting the bigger man off his feet. The charge took Chavez completely by surprise. Ein charge backwards yelling the whole time.
They fell backward over the edge of the stairs.
****
Cazador heard the shot and tried to speed himself up. The result was excruciating pain as he limped down the stairs. He only prayed he could get there in time. His personal war had cost so many their lives, so many innocent people, and now these children.
Am I destined to be a monster?
Cazador was working so hard to finally do the right thing.
Cazador came out into the hallway and saw him. The scared boy from the first day, in the same hallway, but now he lay on the floor, blood soaking his shirt. Cazador cursed and hobbled to him, dropping to his knees over the young kid.
Thad’s eyes were wet and focused. They seemed to pick up on Cazador. “Oh, it’s you.”
Cazador found the wound and put both hands on it and applied pressure. “I’m going to help you.”
The wound was bad. Cazador had seen it in the field and very few had made it through. That was only when they had a medic or doctor close at hand.
Thad grinned. “I don’t need help… I’m fucking, Spider-man.”
Cazador nodded, not quite understanding what a spider-man was. “Of course you are, senor.”
Cazador centered himself… he knew he was about to watch another child die.
****
The gun skittered away as Ein and Chavez hit the catwalk below. Ein had managed to stay on top, though the fall still hurt. The blow had knocked all of the wind out of Chavez. This was Ein’s chance.
Ein didn’t notice where the gun had landed.
Ein didn’t notice that they were now outside on a small walkway, one hundred feet above the ocean floor.
Ein only saw Thad, lurching and falling backwards from the gunshot. He saw it over and over again.
Ein began to rain blows down onto Chavez’s head and body. One after another, the whole time he was screaming incoherently.
He had become and animal.
Sadly, however Ein had never been in a fight, at least not a two sided one. Ein had no idea how to throw a punch or do any sort of damage and so, while the blows came down hard and in rapid succession, very few were doing any real damage to the hardened, ex war General.
Chavez caught his breath and patiently waited for his turn. Ein raised both hands and Chavez got it. Chavez put a hard straight punch into the base of Ein’s nose, a time-tested blow, to stop an opponent in their tracks. This time was no different. Ein’s nose broke and he saw stars, completely losing track of the world around him for a good couple of seconds. Chavez pulled his leg free and kicked Ein square in the chest.
The blow stood the smaller man up and sent him staggering backward. Ein caught the railing under his shoulder, out of instinct, to remain on his feet. He tried to shake off the blow but Chavez had already found his vertical base. Ein tried to pull himself up but Chavez moved in and drove a hard fast elbow into the side of Ein’s head. The blow exploded into Ein and he toppled backward onto the walkway.
Ein’s world was pain. His vision was blurred and he couldn’t feel his legs. Yet again, Chavez had dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Eisenhower was powerless against this man. Ein had wasted the chance that Thad had given him.
“I’m going to throw you to the fish, boy. Then I’m going to come back here with twenty men. We are going to rape every one of your friends and then kill them.” Chavez was growling in anger.
Chavez began to reach for Ein when the shot rang out.
****
Harriet came around the corner and saw Cazador pressing on Thad’s chest. “Oh My God!”
“Come here!” Cazador yelled. He could hear the struggle below on the catwalk and needed to get there. He needed to not lose another kid.
Harriet ran over, practically sliding to the ground next to Thad on the other side. “Hold the wound!”
Harriet did as he said. “Where’s Ein?!”
“Fighting Chavez. I must help him!” Cazador rose and moved down the hallway towards the stairs to the walkway.
Harriet shook her head. “Ein’s fighting Chavez?! Ein?!”
“Hello Harriet…” Thad mumbled and Harriet turned back to her friend and began to tear up.
She shook her head. “You better not die, you idiot.”
Thad looked up and saw Harriet and all the other girls surrounding him looking down. They were all crying for him.
Thad shook his head, weakly.
He managed a smile. “Can’t die… I’m Spider-man…”
Thad’s world went black.
****
Chavez turned and Ein’s eyes regained focus and looked down the walkway. Kim stood there, only a couple of feet away. She was holding Chavez’s gun in her left hand and pointing it at Chavez, a look of hurt and hate on her face.
“That will be enough of that.” Kim said sternly.
Chavez stared at her for a second, then seemed to recognize her. “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?”
Kim’s face curled in rage. “Yes, you do. You killed my father.”
“Ah!” Chavez made a noise of recognition and turned to face her. “You are Nakotomi’s child. Right? The engineer.”
Kim stepped closer, almost putting the gun to his head. Chavez was grinning. “I never forget a face.”
“Good.” Kim said as she readied herself to get her revenge. “Because I would hate for you to forget mine.”
“If you are to kill, me I understand. I have threatened you and the life of your friends,” Chavez began, his voice almost comforting. “But if you kill me for revenge, then it will be the wrong reason. Isn’t that right, Cazador?”
The last part was not directed at Kim. She turned toward the stairs and saw Cazador standing there, covered in blood, some his, some other peoples. His face was one of guilt and pain.
Kim’s face looked confused. Chavez turned toward Cazador, then back to Kim. “Come now, I was the General. He was my soldier. I gave orders, he carried them out.”
Kim stared at Cazador then, slowly, the gun’s aim moved from Chavez and onto Cazador. Ein watched in horror, pulling himself to his feet. “Kim, don’t…”
Kim’s eyes began to well up. “You killed my father. You took everything I had.”
“Kim, he saved us. You can’t kill him now.” Ein pleaded.
Kim shook her head. “The hell, I can’t!”
“Stop it.” Cazador said very quietly, calling all the attention back to himself. “I have done terrible things. I am a terrible man. I have been waiting for this. I gladly accept death at the hands of one I have wronged. It is only right.”
Ein shook his head. “This is insanity! We don’t decide this! Kim, don’t do this. It won’t bring him back!”
Cazador locked eyes with Kim. “Finish it! Gain your revenge. I owe you that much.”
Kim straitened and Ein couldn’t believe what he was watching. This was actually going to happen. She was going to shoot him in cold blood!
With everything going on, they had all forgotten about Chavez, who made his move grabbing for the gun. Kim tried to move backward and the two became entangled. Ein gritted his teeth and started to move to help but before he could, Kim and Chavez lost track of where they were and stumbled into the railing.
They fell backwards…
Ein moved on instinct, sliding along the walkway forward, jutting out both hands as he wedged himself into the railing. He managed to catch Kim’s ankle as Chavez and Kim went over.
Chavez howled as he broke away from Kim, spinning into a free fall. Kim watched first hand as he twisted and writhed the whole way down, before hitting the ocean at terminal velocity.
She couldn’t help but think the ocean was satisfied.
Ein continued to hang on to her ankle with every bit of himself, veins popping in his neck and sweat beading on his brow. She watched as his grip began to slip. It looked as if the ocean would get her two.
Her eyes met Ein’s. “It’s okay.”
Ein’s grip began to fail and he wanted to scream in frustration. Was he going to lose everyone?
Suddenly, a shadow moved in next to him and reached out over the railing, his arm stretched out to Kim.
It was Cazador. “Take my hand.”
Kim stared at it for a second, like it was a viper. Ein suddenly screamed, “Take the God damned hand, Kim!”
Kim reached out and grabbed Cazador’s hand.
****
“Thad! Thad!” Harriet was screaming at him to wake up.
She could still feel a pulse, but it was very weak.
He was dying.
“Watch out, bitches!” The Doctor’s voice suddenly cut the tension in a very inappropriate way.
The girls all turned to see a shirtless Doctor standing there, his bag in hand. “Make way for the superstar.”
They all looked at him with disdain. He ignored them and walked to the right side of Thad. He dropped his bag and kneeled down next to him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Harriet asked, on the edge of homicide.
“What am I doing?” The Doctor asked as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. “I’m saving this mother fuckers life!”
Harriet was flabbergasted at this. The Doctor turned to the women. “I need towels and hot water. Chop-chop!”
They turned and ran off. The Doctor turned back to the bag, taking out a scalpel and a pair of forceps.
“Can you save him?” Harriet found herself asking in desperation.
The Doctor grinned. “I had my middle name legally changed to ‘Awesome’. I got this.”
The Doctor leaned over Thad and whispered. “Stay with us, Spider-man.”
****
5 days later…
Stephanie stared at her computer screen. It was the last thing she had to do in order to put the whole thing behind her, and she wanted it behind her. She wanted to move on with her life, get a boyfriend go clubbing again, maybe even study a little harder.
She wanted a normal life, which is why she pondered, why this was so hard.
The Doctor’s emergency surgery had been a success. Thad had survived. They had taken Chavez’s boat the 8 hours back to shore, at least most of them. Thad had been life flighted from the shore to the hospital after they had used the boats radio to let the coast guard know of the situation.
The Doctor had been named a hero. With the kind of thing he did, everyone was worshipping the ground he walked on and after they had told their amazing story they had been approached for every kind of thing under the sun. Book deals, movie deals, the whole nine yards. The Doctor was famous.
Stephanie had seen him since and something was different about him. She had a feeling that no matter how he looked, his actions were eating him alive.
Thad was rehabilitating nicely and would be a hero too, but he refused to talk to anyone about what had happened on the platform. Stephanie wasn’t sure if it was because of his cowardice in the beginning or his bravery in the end.
Then, of course, there were the others.
After The Doctor had stabilized Thad it had became obvious that they had to get him back to shore as fast as possible. Without cell phone reception or a working radio on the platform there options were limited. The Doctor had reassured them that he could drive Chavez’s boat. Having grown up in a yacht owning rich family had its perks.
Then Ein had dropped the bomb on them… He was staying.
Kim and Harriet decided to stay as well and Cazador was stuck their being a wanted criminal. The Doctor had told Ein he had P.T.S.D.
Ein had told the doctor to shove it.
They helped load Thad onto the boat but while The Doctor made the necessary preparations to make the trip back to shore, Ein took Stephanie aside and asked her to do one last favor.
He asked her to record a video with her phone and post it to the internet upon return to the shore.
So, here she sat in front of the computer, this one last thing to do. She took a deep breath and tried to let everything go.
Stuff like that doesn’t get let go. It follows you forever.
“Screw it.” She finally said to herself, then clicked ‘Post’.
In front of her, she saw Ein one last time. The video taking her back, one last time.
The video showed Ein standing on the walkway. “Am I on?” He asked and Stephanie, who was holding the phone, answered. “Yep, go ahead.”
Ein nodded, nervously. “O… O… Okay.”
Ein centered himself and began, awkwardly. “Hello, America. My name is Eisenhower Mills. My dad was Harrison Holster. He is dead now and although he and I couldn’t be more different, he knew what I w-w-w-wanted out of life.”
Ein took a moment to reflect, then looked into the camera. “Maybe, before I even knew. Anyway, I now own this platform and if you check your maps, you’ll see that it rests in international waters.”
Ein smiled a genuine smile on the video and Stephanie smiled as she watched. She thought him crazy at the time, but maybe… maybe this is good for him.
“So, with that said,” Ein’s voice on the video continued. “I am officially seceding from the government of the United States of America. From this day, forward, we are no longer subject to your rule of law and you no longer have any responsibility to us.”
Ein smiled at the camera. “I’m not a sad rabbit or an evil squirrel. I am officially a happy chipmunk.”
Stephanie still didn’t understand what he meant by that, but it seemed somehow fitting.
“That’s it.” Ein said and waved.
“What are you going to call it?” Stephanie asked in the video, from off camera.
“Huh?” Ein looked confused.
“What are you going to call the country or land or whatever?” Stephanie clarified.
Ein seemed to look confused for a second, then he thought about it. “Axiom.”
“Huh?” Stephanie asked off camera.
Ein smiled. “It means truth.”
END OF SEASON 1
