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“We’re bringing you back up, hold onto something.” Ava’s voice through the speaker warned. Simon grabbed onto the stool as the sub shook. He felt the sub begin to rise back up for the second time.
The blood on the floor of the sub sloshed around and Simon felt himself shaking. The rage that had been harboring inside of him was only growing by the minute. He was promised to get out hours ago, maybe even days, he wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed.
Loud metal clanging echoed throughout the sub as Simon felt it slow. Moments later it felt like the sub had rested upon something, the movement stopped, and Simon could hear voices. Simon waited for another moment, but he didn’t hear anything else.
“Hey, let me out now.” Simon called out as he stood up fully. The blood on the floor was at his calf height, too much blood in his opinion. It felt hot and it was like he could still taste it in his mouth.
There was no answer, at least not one to him. Simon could still vaguely hear the voices echoing outside of the sub but no one was talking to him. Simon reached forward towards the control panel and grabbed the lever to open up the port hole. Simon twisted it and the port hole cover shot down, revealing the cracked window in the light of the lab.
“Shit, someone cut the power!” Ava’s voice called from somewhere nearby. Moments later she appeared in front of the port hole window. “Convict, you still alive in there?”
“Let me out.” Simon snapped at once. He watched as she wiped blood off the window.
“Not yet, we have to evaluate the condition of the sub and you first. Radiation poisoning will be the death of us all if not.” She explained but Simon felt himself shaking, he wanted out and now.
“Let me out.” Simon repeated and the light above him cut off, plunging him into mostly darkness. He didn’t like the dark, it reminded him too much of what they were all losing.
“Not yet.” Ava dismissed, and she turned away from him. Simon felt his heart beat go even faster, he couldn’t be trapped in here any longer, he just couldn’t.
“HEY!” Simon screamed at her, banging his fist on the glass in front of him. The crack widened, and the noise got Ava’s attention.
“Don’t do that.” Ava scolded at once as she looked at the crack growing. Simon didn’t care about the crack, he wanted out.
“Let me out.” Simon demanded again. Ava stepped back closer to the port hole.
“Listen here you fucking idiot, I told you not yet. I don’t know what you’re not understanding, but you’re stuck in there for as long as I want you to be. I could send you back down if I really fucking felt like it.” She seethed towards Simon. The anger inside of him grew with every word she said.
Simon slammed his hands on the glass again, scaring Ava slightly and causing her to flinch. The crack widened further. Ava stepped back and scoffed.
“No wonder you’re The Butcher, you break everything you touch.” Ava snapped and she turned away once more. The mention of the name he had been given mixed with his desperation to be anywhere else made Simon even angrier.
For a third time Simon slammed his hands against the glass, but this time instead of just cracking further it broke. Glass shattered and fell down to the floor on the outside of the sub. Ava turned around once more to see what happened, but it didn’t give her enough time to react, it gave Simon plenty of time.
Simon without a second thought stood on the stool before grabbing onto the side of the port hole, hauling his body through the new opening. Ava’s eyes widened as she watched him climb out, still half covered in blood. Simon landed on the stairs right in front of the sub and he reached down towards the ground at once, grabbing a piece of the broken glass.
“You want The Butcher?” Simon asked as he began to step towards her at a rapid pace. There were only two other people in the room, and both were barely processing what was happening before they turned and ran towards the door. Ava scrambled away from Simon quickly, trying to run for the door. “You want the fucking Butcher?” Simon repeated.
“Convict stop it right now!” Ava screamed at him as she ran, but he was chasing her now.
“That’s not what you called me.” Simon snapped as he began to close the gap between them. Simon grabbed Ava’s hand with his own, using the other hand to bring the shard of glass towards Ava. Ava ripped her hand away and barely dodged the glass.
“Stop it!” Ava continued to scream as she was backed into the corner of the room, Simon blocking the way towards the exit. She tried to slip past him but Simon grabbed her arm this time.
Simon brought the shard of glass toward and stabbed Ava in her arm with it. Ava screamed as he ripped it out, just to stab her again. Simon repeated the action many times until Ava stopped screaming, until the blood wouldn’t stop pouring, until she closed her eyes and stopped moving.
Simon let the shard of glass fall from his hand down onto the floor below him at the same time that he let go of Ava. Her body fell to the floor, the only movement being the blood still pouring from her body. Simon knew he had just killed her. The small twinge of guilt Simon felt dissipated quickly, she was just another name on his victim list now, another death he would be blamed for.
At least he actually committed the crime this time.
Simon without thinking rubbed his hands on the sides of his pants, trying to wipe the blood away. It was useless due to the fact that his pants were already covered in blood, but it didn’t stop him. He looked around the room he was in and knew someone would be coming back soon.
He stepped away from Ava’s body and took a moment to decide which door to go out of, he had two different options. Before he could fully decide which one to leave out of the door on his left opened.
Two men walked in, and Simon vaguely recognized the welder from earlier. Both men stopped where they stood when they spotted Ava’s body on the ground, just mere feet from Simon.
“Convict what the hell!” The welder asked as he began to step towards Ava, he probably thought she was still alive.
“Don’t!” Simon screamed at him, and the welder stopped. Simon’s rage hadn’t stopped, hadn’t even slowed, after killing Ava. If anything it made him even angrier, and the man he was facing now was the one who welded him in that death trap.
“Okay, okay, convict, just relax.” The other man said, trying to deescalate the situation. Simon stared at the welder, not wanting him out of his sight. “Let’s talk this out here.”
He hated how these people didn’t even know his name. They had sent him down there to die, and he didn’t, but yet he still wasn’t important enough for them to know his name. If he heard someone call him a convict one more time there was no turning back.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Simon snapped and he began to walk towards the welder. His hands shook, and Simon knew he was going to kill again. Like Ava the man could sense the rage, and he began to move back towards the door. Simon increased his speed, and so did the welder.
Suddenly as Simon tried to reach out for the welder the other man had grabbed onto Simon as a way to keep him from the welder, but this made things worse. Simon’s anger turned towards the other man, as did both of Simon’s hands. He was no longer shaky, he was very steady, like the killing machine Eden raised him to be.
Simon wrapped his hands around the man’s neck and immediately started choking him. The man’s hands came up to Simon’s, trying to pry them off his neck, but Simon was a strong man. His grip never faulted as the man clawed at Simon’s hands, desperate for Simon to release his windpipe.
“Convict, stop it!” The welder was at Simon’s side, also reaching for Simon’s hands. Simon elbowed him directly in the face and the welder fell backwards, his nose bleeding at once. Simon heard his body hit the floor and knew that the welder was going to be next, no matter what.
The man in Simon’s grip was losing oxygen too quickly. His face was turning shades of purple, and his ability to fight back was diminished by the second. Simon could also feel the man’s heart beat under his hand, and he could feel it slow down rapidly. Simon knew what he was doing, he just didn’t care.
Only when the man stopped fighting, the pulse stopped completely, and his eyes rolled back, did Simon let go. Just like Ava the man’s body dropped to the floor and Simon just watched as he did. He waited for just a moment, just to make sure there were no further movements, no breath of air left in his lungs, before he turned around to the welder.
The welder was staring in horror at the body on the floor before he looked back up towards Simon. The man’s nose was bleeding, and the sight of his blood made Simon’s anger grow. The man locked Simon in that sub to die via drowning in blood, it was his turn.
Simon looked around and spotted a table full of tools nearby. He quickly turned and went over to the table, glancing down at what was there. Spotting a large wrench Simon grabbed that and turned back towards the welder. The man spotted the newfound weapon in Simon’s hands and began to scramble backwards.
“Think about this! Think about what you’re doing! You’re just proving them right!” The welder spewed out at once as he shuffled across the room. Simon walked towards the man, ignoring his words. “You’re just proving to them you are The Butcher, is that what you want?” The welder asked as Simon towered over him now.
Simon looked down at the man before looking at the wrench in his hands. He knew what he was doing, he knew he was proving them right, but it was too late for him to care.
Bringing the wrench high up in the air over his head Simon let it slam down directly into the man’s face. A loud cracking noise was heard over the man’s screams which Simon guessed was probably his nose breaking, and he smiled. He repeated the motion over and over again, until just like Ava the man stopped screaming.
The welder's face was unrecognizable, not only due to how much blood was now pooled there, but Simon had broken every bone in that man’s face. The blood began to pool rapidly under the man as all the remaining color left his skin.
When Simon knew the man was dead he turned around towards one of the doors, finally making his choice on where to go. He kept the wrench in one hand, pushing the door open with the other.
The hallway was empty, but it went on for a while. Simon walked down the hall, keeping his eyes peeled for anyone else. He didn’t know what his next steps were, where was he supposed to go? What was he supposed to do?
He doubted there would be an escape pod somewhere for him to steal, but there was no harm in looking. Where he was supposed to go if he found one, he had no clue either. He guessed he didn’t think this through too much.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway and when Simon peered up he noticed two men running towards him, one of them had a gun.
“Hold it right there!” The one with the gun shouted. Simon didn’t stop moving, and neither did they. They were above five feet from Simon when they stopped, and so did he.
“We know what you did to the captain, just surrender now.” The second man said. Simon wondered if there were cameras in the room he was in or if the two who had bolted from the room at the start had gone to find people. It probably had to be the latter, mostly because they didn’t mention the other two people he killed.
Simon stared at the gun that was aimed at him before locking eyes with the man holding it. Before anything else could be said or done Simon raised the wrench in his hand, which was still dripping the welder’s blood.
“Drop it.” The man with the gun warned. Simon didn’t really care, and continued to raise the wrench. With the same motion that one would use to throw an axe Simon threw the wrench at the man with the gun. It hit him directly in the skull and for the second time Simon heard a loud crack.
The other man ran forward towards Simon, and Simon was ready for him. Once the man was within arms reach he went to punch Simon, but Simon ducked at the last second. Simon then reached for the man’s neck but knew he didn’t have the time to strangle him like he did before.
Instead Simon reached more for the man’s chin, and once he got a proper grip he made a violent twisting motion, snapping the man’s neck. Instantly the man fell to the floor, dead before he even hit the ground.
Simon turned to the first man, but he was motionless on the floor, blood pouring from the crack in the middle of his head. Simon looked down at the gun nearby, it was a small pistol. He reached down and grabbed it, as well as grabbing the wrench. Popping the chamber on the pistol open Simon saw only three bullets.
Fucking rationing.
Continuing down the hallway Simon took his time. He knew absolutely nothing about this place, he had been kept in a jail cell since Filament station until he was sent to his death, not really like he got the chance to explore. He didn’t even know where to look for an escape pod.
By the time Simon found the end of the hallway he was met with two doors, and no more people. He made a gamble and opened the door on the left.
It seemed to be some sort of observation deck. One entire wall was just glass, chairs and tables scattered throughout the room. Simon was able to see what was left of the sky for the first time in months.
There were less stars then he remembered.
Simon caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the window, and he saw all the blood still covering him. It was hard to tell what had gathered on him in the ocean vs what he had done. All of the blood still felt hot and sticky.
Simon found himself gagging at the feeling now that he had a moment to process it. He didn’t feel sympathy for what he had done, he just hated the feeling of blood.
The door behind Simon flew open and without thinking Simon turned and shot the gun at whoever entered the room. A woman dropped to the floor without another sound, the bullet having hit her straight in the head. Simon had always been a good shot.
He could hear more footsteps coming down the hall and he knew more people were on their way. He was cornered in this room, there was only one door. Simon could either try and make a run for it now, or he could let whoever it was come to him.
There was no time to decide, another body was in the doorway, and Simon took another shot. The body fell to the ground but it was replaced with another, more and more people were coming to corner him in. The room soon held at least 10 people who were all beginning to circle around Simon, half of them armed.
“We don’t want to hurt you.” A voice said, he couldn’t tell who, but how was Simon supposed to believe that?
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” Simon screamed. He didn’t have enough bullets, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get to them all before he got shot.
“Just put the gun down and we can talk.” The same voice repeated and Simon was turning in circles trying to figure out who was speaking to him. His head hurt, he could only think of the fact that the blood was still so warm. He was getting more confused by the second.
“Don’t- don’t say that!” Simon continued to scream. He wanted these people gone, he wanted to be alone, he wanted to die, all at once. There were too many things he wanted.
God how disappointed his mother would be in him.
Simon’s anger and desperation continued to grow into something bigger than himself. The want and need for destruction was overwhelming. Simon had to cause pain right this second, that would fix things right?
He turned and looked towards the window. Without much thinking he threw the wrench just like he had earlier, and it slammed into the window causing a crack to form. He raised the gun to shoot at it, but he wasn't the one to fire.
Someone in the circle saw him aim and shot him in the arm trying to stop him. Simon felt the worst pain he has ever felt in his entire life from where the bullet hit him. This didn’t stop him. There was nothing that could stop him at this point.
This was going to end like it started, with shattering glass.
Simon kept his arm raised and it was finally his turn to pull the trigger. His aim was dead on as he shot the crack in the window, breaking the window, and opening them all up into the vacuum of space.
The last thing he saw was the blood starting to fly off of him as he was ripped off the ground.
At least now he would be clean.