UCAC Ch. 04

"You saw that GODDAMN VINE BEFORE ANY OF US AND DID NOT UTTER A DAMN WORD!!" I screamed ready to strike him with all my might. Before I could, I was hoisted off the ground.

"Whoa dude..." Milan said, carrying me over his shoulder.

"This was your fault! You SAW THAT DAMN VINE!!" I screamed as I was carried away, "I told you that if anyone got hurt, I was coming for you! Now, LIAM'S DEAD!! YOU BETTER HOPE AND PRAY THAT THEY KEEP ME AWAY FROM YOU!! BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAD!! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!!"

"Denver!" Milan said as he took me to the upper levels.

"He killed Liam, man he killed Liam..." I cried, "This is the FUCKING second time...SOMEONE HAS DIED...because of THAT BASTARD!!"

"He'll pay Denver...He'll pay." Milan sighed, "Right now, we're going to have to restrain you for your and everyone else's safety... Do you understand?"

"I understand..." I said, despite being irrate. This was a grim day, the grimmest day since I lost my parents. I can't say I ever cared for a soul the way I cared for Liam. He was a special kid, one whose friendship was very dear to me. He was beginning to wedge his way into being an important part of my life and now he was...gone.

It was hard for Milan to handcuff me and strap me to the railing but he had to. If not, I would have ran off to try my hardest to fuck Jarvis up. Marcell walked to the upper level, angry too.

"That fucking snake... It was going after Everette! Liam jumped in the fucking way to save that little douchebag... I bet Jarvis wasn't expecting it... " Marcell said, furious.

"What the fuck are we going to do man?" Milan asked.

"Ya know, I was ordered to take care of Liam," I said, "He was my responsibility...and now I have to answer to Captain Wallace when we get back...and it's all...Jarvis's...fault." The hatred radiated off of me. Milan was left clenching his head, this being all too distressing.

"I'm so sorry, Denver..." Marcell said, fully sympathizing with me. He knew why Captain Wallace told me to look out for Liam and to lose Liam like this was devastating.

"Why couldn't it have been Everette instead..." I said.

"Dude..." Milan said, surprised I'd say something so cold.

"I'm not going to sit here and act like I like the dude! He's fucking stupid and Liam did NOT have to sacrifice himself for that dumbass... no, not after the way Everette treated him. Now look where it got Liam...DEAD! And you know the funny thing...? Liam and I went to see his home before this mission started. He said it felt so strange doing a mission so close to home and that he felt he needed to see it before we began the mission. I didn't think nothing of it and now..." I said, "I shouldn't have blasted that first vine..."

"Dude, we had to proceed... Don't do that to yourself..." Milan said.

"I just...FUCK EVERYTHING, MAN!!" I screamed, beyond frustrated. I don't think he could understand just how much I lost. This was just sombering, a blow I wasn't expecting.

This wouldn't be the end though. I was going to fuck Jarvis up the first chance I got. I didn't care about the consequences. I didn't care if he was a superior and the grueling punishment I'd face after the fact. I just wanted to ruin him for destroying an innocent being who was just getting started in this world. I wanted to make him feel the amount of suffering Liam endured, to know how helpless he was, to have no one to help him! I wanted to get inside his head like he got inside of mine, fuck him over mentally, and physically. I wanted him dead!

"This mission better had been worth it..." Marcell said. At this point, I had fell silent...unable to find words to reply to Marcell. I just wanted to channel this destructive energy, God I did...

"I hope so too." Milan said back.

"I got to go make my report..." Marcell sighed.

He came back an hour later, still looking full of drear.

"Denver, since you're the one who got the Mallet, they want you to walk off with it first..." He sighed.

"That's fine..." I said still full of angst.

"Just," Marcell began, losing his train of thought. He shrugged, heading towards the stairs. Instead of going down to the lower levels, he sat on the steps, "Don't do anything stupid when we get back to the base..."

"I am." I said, being truthful. He had no response, only a saddened head shake. He got up, going down the stairs.

It didn't take long before the airship was lowering into the hangar. Milan took the Handcuffs off my wrists, handing me the Mallet. He pat me on the shoulder, wishing me the best. The hurt was there in his eyes just along with everyone else. I walked down the stairs, everyone watching me tensely. The bay door opened, a crowd gathered around us. It was the entire fucking base. I walked out, seeing Raul and his boys standing in the crowd.

They cheered as I stepped off the platform to the tarmac. They didn't know what we lost, or what I was about to do. I stood in the middle of the crowd, waiting for Jarvis to walk by. Seeing him out the corner of my eye, I struck him in the face with the metal casing of the Mallet as hard as I could. Jarvis fell, clenching his face. A loud gasp came from the crowd but I didn't care. I drew my hand back, striking him again with the Mallet.

"DENVER!!" Marcell screamed, rushing over to me. I tossed the Mallet aside, grabbing Jarvis by his hair. I repeatedly struck him with a closed fist, trying to inflict as much pain as possible. Milan and Marcell tried to pry me off of Jarvis but I wrapped my thighs around his head, clenching tightly. I hammered him in the top of his head with fist after fist! They couldn't get me off of him.

It took half of the Roc Class, seven foot tall men, each weighing three hundred pounds, to pry me off of Jarvis. Still though, I landed one last kick to his head as I was dragged away.

"ROT IN HELL!! YOU SICK BASTARD ROT IN HELL!!" I screamed. They toted me off to the base disciplinary housing, tossing me into a cell.

You'd think a violent outburst like that would fix the pain but no... It did nothing! I still was aching from the loss of Liam, probably now more than ever. The part that frustrated me the most was how little a difference it would have made assaulting Jarvis. Liam still would be dead and my chest still would be caving in. It was so frustrating!

I began punching the wall, screaming, kicking, crying, none of it bringing Liam back. I was beginning to inflict harm on myself, my knucles begining to bloody. Guards entered the cell, restraining me. All I could do was scream as they put me in a straight jacket. It was for my own good, though. I was out of control... General Aquil stood, looking in the cell as I cried...trembling in rage on the floor.

"Ya know," He began, "I opted this mission for you simply because I saw so much potential in you. I wanted to scare you, make you think that you'd be going so maybe you'd come to your senses and realize how great a leader you are. But now...I'm afraid I have no choice but to send you across the pond. Jarvis is insisting that you're punished for violating a superior..."

"Great...He killed two birds with one stone, now. At this point, send me. I've lost too much to care." I said.

"Denver, you are an extraordinary talent and I refuse to let you ruin yourself..." General Aquil said, growing upset. I had no reply, truly broken. I hoped he could understand this because at this point, I felt no point in living. The last person I knew worth trusting was gone.

General sighed, leaving me to my thoughts. It was the worst thing he could have ever done. All I could think about was how big a failure I was, how much I lost and how lost I felt. I leaned up against the wall, wishing that it was me instead of Liam who was dead. Truly, with all I've lost what point was there to live?

Captain Wallace came to pay me a visit. The sorrow and disappointment on his face made me break down. I shook my head, crying hysterically in the tight cell.

"I'm so sorry..." I pled, "I failed...I fucked up...I did."

"Denver, you pulled off miracle after miracle today. Don't sit here and fester on what you lost..." He said.

"What am I fighting for?" I asked, "Because, I know damn well I'm not fighting for myself. Will I reap the benefits of any of this, any of the shit I've lost? All of what's been put on the line, is it really worth it? Because, I've been losing, and losing, and losing and you all keep telling me I'm making triumphs when I can't even tell. The line between tragedy and triumphs has become so blurred now... "

"You're strong... stronger than I am, Denver. I know you've lost a great deal but one day, you're going to look back at all of this and say this made you... you. You're going to have one hell of a story to tell and be an inspiration for those who'll go through equally rough waters. You may be down, Denver but you are NOT defeated!" He said. I couldn't even come to responding. He looked at me with so much sorrow, so much hurt.

"I just want the kid back..." I sighed.

"I'm sorry he's gone. I saw you two were becoming inseparable... I hate seeing you locked up like this, man." Captain sighed, "Well, you're about to be a Captain soon enough. Just come back to us, man."

I had nothing else to say. I just wanted to feel like the piece of shit I was. Captain left, leaving me sitting on the floor for the next few hours. It wasn't long before a guard opened the cell, releasing me from the straight jacket.

"You're to go up the stairs and gather your stuff. If anyone asks you where you're going, you're saying to the Telc Asylum in Brussels." The Guard said. I nodded as he and several other armed men led me up to the barracks.

It was torture seeing the Wingers who cheered me on, look on in confusion as to why I attacked Jarvis. Probably the most debilitating judgement of the all was from Raul. He watched silently as I was marched up the stairs to the Long Winger stretch. He wanted to know so badly but there was little I could say to him at this point. It was not like I wanted to anyway.

I reached the Long Winger stretch, Marcell, Milan and Everette simply sitting, the events of today fully sinking in. Everette was the first to see me as I walked over to my bed. I looked at the neighboring bed, it being Liam's and almost lost it again. I sighed, clenching my head, trying to keep the little composure I had scraped together.

"Whoa, they let you go?" Marcell asked. I didn't have a response. I just packed up my trunk, gearing for the grueling flight across the ocean.

"I can't believe he sacrificed himself for me..." Everette said. It really pricked me.

"You know what," I said slamming my trunk to the floor, "You're a fucking dumbass Everette! You let Jarvis get inside your head and now you see for yourself how fucked up he is! He didn't utter a word when that thing tried to take you out... And you can see it on his face, he wasn't expecting Liam to be the one to die, he was expecting you! And you treated Liam like shit, today! He's the nicest person you'd ever meet and you treated him like utter SHIT!"

The guards grabbed their shock n' drops, ready to immobilize me. I looked at them unfazed, giving them a disdainful eye roll. I picked back up the trunk, rolling it towards the stairs.

"Wait you're leaving?" Marcell asked, eyes tearing up. He grew frantic, feeling the losses of today were too substantial. I sighed, not bothering to utter a word. If I did, I'd break down right there...

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." Marcell cried clenching his head, pacing back and forth. This was beyond heartbreaking to see him so distraught. I couldn't bother to look back. Tears rolled down my cheeks but that was the only thing that escaped. Everything else was pressed down deep...

I was led back down the stairs, where the other Wingsuit pilots could see me. They were left to assume that I was discharged from the group. Even Raul's eyes lit up in horror, unsure what this meant for me. We continued on, through the facility back into the Hangar. Another airship was waiting on me. I boarded it, sitting down with the trunk beside the seat. At this point it was what it was... The wait was particularly long, the bay still being opened. I was beginning to lose my patience wondering what the fuck was taking so god damn long!

Thundering footsteps on the walkway startled me. It was Malcolm, dragging a trunk behind him up the ramp to a seat across from me. He sighed, giving me a quick wave before his eyes veered off. He too was coming to America which was big news. What would someone his size be doing there? This was all so odd but vaguely exciting. Then the bay doors closed and I knew there was no returning. The ship began to hover and we were off.