Infinity (part three)

Part Three of the Infinity series. And our hero has a problem. A Problem-problem.
Read Part One here. And Part Two here.

So you know in the movies you see somebody get shot and the muzzle flashes and there’s this cloud of smoke and then a rotating bullet emerges in slow motion and you see the bullet crawl like that feeling when you’re running through treacle in a dream? Getting shot in real life is nothing like that. You hear a bang and see the flash but straight away it fucking hurts.

It burns.

What was weird is, as much as I didn’t see that shit in slo-mo, that’s how I fuckin felt it. I felt it pierce my chest like a hot poker and tear through my internal organs, expanding outwards as it went the same way a boat leaves a wake behind it until it exploded out of my back. It was at some point during this agony that I died. I know this because my life flashed before my eyes. All of it. That’s a real thing. Who knew?

I see my old man warning me to keep my birthmark hidden, because it makes me ‘special’.

Learning to ride a bike and grazing my knees and watching them heal before my eyes.

Opening my first ever computer as an eight year old at Christmas.

The first time I successfully hacked a website three years later.

My first time with a girl. A real girl. No prostitutes here. How interested she was with my birthmark. And how I knew I’d screwed up telling her about it.

Lying to everyone who asked me about it, even my closest friends.

Having to be packed away by my folks. That was the last time I saw them. I spoke to them after, but I could never tell them where I went.

On the subway in the last city I ended up at. And there’s a dude at the other end of the car, looking at me. And fuck me if it ain’t Iggy fucking Pop.

And again at a bar. Not enough for me to notice him at the time, just loitering in my peripheral, but now my brain’s showing off its subliminal powers or some shit.

Lots of other boring bullshit till I’m at Remy’s Last Party, having a great time and then I see her, through the crowd. Cute. Blonde. Looks just like the speedster chick from Heroes. Sadie. Ah, sweet Sadie.Then she’s walking past me, probably just after she put that shit in my drink.

Then I’m in the hangar. Getting shot.

Then, nothing. Black.
 
But not for long. That’s when the screaming started. A sea of faces, endless. Stretching out to the horizon in all directions. Some in agony. Some without eyes. Some with the flesh torn away exposing the pure white bone beneath. Some covered in blood. But none of that graphic shit is the worst part. And it’s not that they’re all looking at me. Reaching for me. It’s the look on their faces. The fear in their eyes. (Those that have eyes. Those that don’t are the worst because you can still feel it. Fear like you’ve never known.) Terror so pure like they’re all frozen in time at the moment they knew death was coming for them.
And now they are coming for me. Clawing at me with cold hands. Scratching at me, tearing at the flesh. Now this is strange because I can’t tell you how long this went on for, but if I had to say anything, I’d say it went on forever. Time seemed to stretch out like it does when you’re in traffic. Or waiting in line. Like that, but not that. Imagine that feeling on a loop. Over and over. That’s what it felt like.

So I’m in Hell, right? I guess so.

This hurts my fucking feelings. I’m not a bad guy, so this comes as a shock to me. I’ve never killed anybody, like I said. So what is my sin?

I’m a computer hacker. There are basically two kinds. Those involved in security. Finding weaknesses so that people can defend against it. Those are the good guys. The white hats. Then there’s the black hats. I’m a grey hat. It used to be white. Then I got my hat dirty. And I liked it. Over time it became greyer. I never killed anyone, but I suppose my sin was greed.

Hell seems a bit harsh for that though, am I right? Maybe it’s the repercussions. Far-reaching. Whatever.

So anyway, I’m in this place what feels like forever and then a white light comes overhead and spreads and grows and glows until it’s all around me and I can’t see the wild dead eyes and the screaming stops and then I’m drawing the deepest breath like I’ve been underwater for two minutes and when I can see again, I’m back in the hangar.

“Here he is.”

“Welcome back!”

I sit up. “You fucking assholes.”

Dax puts one of those huge hands on my shoulder, “Sorry, we had to check.”
 
Apparently, my ‘eternal’ damnation lasted two weeks. They shot me because they get some fakers. Apparently eternal damnation isn’t a problem for Iggy, and he talks about ‘balancing his check book’, whatever that means.

Now I have to ask. “I think before we go any further, you should tell me what’s going on,” and there’s another one of those moments where they all look at one another, mouths open, catching flies.

Dax finally speaks, “Okay we’ll tell you.”

They are staring at each other. “What?”

Iggy clears his throat. “We need you to get us in somewhere. It’s fucking dangerous.”

I know, killed-killed.

“The people we’re after are big league. And dangerous. They’ll come after us.”

“So why are we doing it? Money?”

Dax shakes his head. “Not money.”

Sadie speaks. “Revenge.”

Now read Part Four of INFINITY (where our hero finds out the dark truth about their mission).

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