We ceaselessly crept through the brighten hallway of the eerie dungeon until a loud bang startled Smith and caused me to quickly turnaround as my eyes widened wide with fear. I immediately place myself on a nearby wall, my face flushed red with panic.
“What was that?” I asked in a trembling voice. Smith motion me to shush, “I do not know, but just keep your head low and do not make any sudden moves until I say so,” he replied through gritted teeth. As the echoing sound of the door closing echoed loudly in the long empty tunnel. After a few moments of silence, the faint sounds of man wailing in agony could be heard in the distance.
Is that..someone screaming…or is that a person’s scream or just a rat or something else. No, it is definitely someone’s screams, but who or what is it?
“Smith, do you hear that?” My tone of voice became louder than usual, “what is happening out there?”
“Its just the prisoners,” he answered with a grim expression, “they are victims like me, tortured by this place. They are all crazy in their own ways and are all trying to escape, yet, there is no way for them to get away when they have already lost most of their sanity,” Smith paused for a moment, “that is, unless, we can help them.”
Help them? Should we help them? I do not know these people. Why should I get involved in this mess anyway? It is not like my intention of saving them is my main priority. Even so, it is cruel to leave them like this.
“If we save them, then we have a higher chance of escaping with more people,” he continued, “we might be able to get a hint of how to escape ourselves as well!” I said in an excited tone, “let us do this then! We must hurry before those depraved people get us,” he added, his voice full of confidence.
Smith rose an eyebrow at the mention of people, but nonetheless replied in agreement as he took the lead. We silently took a couple of steps in silence until we noticed an opened iron door on the right of the passage.
“That is the cell block,” he whispered, “now let us go inside and find that prisoner to rescue. The more the better, but try not to draw too much attention,” he warned as he walked towards the open doorway. When we finally entered, our eyes were met with a gruesome scene.
“Wha-” I could not stomach it, the room they entered was a torture chamber comprised of large metal tables with a bunch of straps and tools hanging above it for torturing them while keeping the victims alive. The worse part is that there are many torturous devices and tables filled with blood stains and used for cutting flesh. There are also several men lying in different parts of the room, attached to specific device that is causing them extreme pain.
I vomited without hesitation from the dreadful sight. It was too much for me to bear, I felt sick, disgusted and even wanted to cry. “This is wrong, this is all wrong,” I muttered, “this is a nightmare, this is not the life I wanted to live in,” I spoke in sorrow, “I never imagined that they could be this cruel to other human beings…”
“You do not need to worry about it,” he interrupted as his hand patted the top of my head, “it is okay, we will get out of this situation,” he assured while he placed a reassuring smile. However, that did not help much though as the image of the dead bodies still remained in my mind.
“I am sorry for being so weak,” I apologized as he gave a comforting laugh. “It is fine,” he replied as he gave me a few pats on the head, forgetting the part that Smith is dirty. “So what now, we going to leave them here?” I asked while trying to keep myself composed.
His impression changed, guilt and sadness began to fill his face as he looked at the floor. “We cannot do much, spending anymore time here would result in us getting caught earlier. Moreover, it is not safe to stay longer. Come, let us continue our escape,” he said as he started to walk away.
“Wait, how are you so sure about leaving them like this? They are suffering!” I argued while standing in my ground. “What person are you just to abandon them and run off without even saying anything to their families or friends?” I yelled at his back as his pace stopped within moment notice, turning in motion at my direction.
“What do you say?” Smith coldly asked, shifting his gaze towards me. “Do you realize how much I want to help these people? Do you know how long I have been here, to see families and friends be raped and tortured by that psycho?!” His voice trembled as he shouted, pointing at a skinned man who was tied up and screaming in agony. “But I am afraid! Afraid that the slightest mistake could cost me life like that man!”
“Still..”
He continued, anger and desperation boiling over in his eyes. “How many more lives must be lost before something is done about this madness?! How many of us need to die from here!?”
“Sorry-“
Smith angrily took a couple of steps forwards with his face darkened, looking down at me with his arms crossed. “Do you want to die like these people here or do you want to live and see your mother?” His words struck a nerve within me, like a knife cutting through flesh.
My hands shook as tears formed in my eyes, stinging and burning as I felt so helpless. All of this death and suffering, it was all so unnecessary, so senseless. In the end, Smith is right, there is no hope of rescuing them in a situation like this as we want to see our loved ones again.
“I understand Smith,” I whispered, wiping the tears that escaped my eyes. “Let’s go.” Smith nodded, walking out of the room before being stopped by the skinned man tied on the table, “please you two, end my suffering…” the skinned man pleaded.
Smith turned his head, “I am sorry, but we cannot afford to waste anymore time. We are running out of time, then it is game over for us if she comes back,” he answered as he began to walk out of the entrance door.
I grabbed hold of his arm, “then could we..kill these tortured people? If possible then let us do it now. Please, do not leave them like this! It is not too late to ease their suffering!”
“It will not work. You are not a killer. The same as me. And if you are, then it is not a problem because we both do not care about their lives anyway.” He grimly said. I tried to reason with him, “but think about it, it is the least that could be done. They do not deserve to be left to die in pain. That is the kindest thing to do, is it not?”
I do not know what I am doing, I have never killed anyone before and the thought of it makes me sick. But seeing them screaming in agony with their bodies being torn to shreds from those psychopaths, in addition of not able to rescue all of them because in their current condition had me feeling so frustrated and depressed that I wanted to scream.
“Please, please, help me ease their pain,” I begged.
Smith sighed, “we are not killers. Not even close to it. Now come with me,” he said as he pulled away from me and walked towards the exit.
I refused, struggling with his grip. “But…why? Why are you being so heartless?”
“Because it would be better than becoming a murderer at someone like your age,” he replied coldly, gripping me tightly to the point that it hurts. “You are still young, do not forget that. Just come with me and never return. Do not try anything stupid and do not move. Understood?”
He finally released his grip after realizing he was hurting me from seeing my painful visage, “I am sorry kid-“
Realizing that Smith let go of my grip, I wasted no time in sprinting towards the skinned man who was screaming in agony relentlessly from the time we entered this chamber, grabbing a knife on a nearby table before plunging it on the man’s neck with his screams slowly fading.
“Thank you..” The man happily muttered in relief, his eyelids began to close shut, gradually dying as I watched him in silence. I stood there for a while, unable to grasp what I had just done, knowing that I did something terrible but not being able to stop myself from easing the man’s pain.
A soft hand touched my shoulder, the soft voice of Smith stated with a tone of sympathy, “I cannot believe that you would do it kid, giving him his mercy kill. However, do not feel guilty about it, this is the way of the world now. It is not our fault. We the victims of bloodshed and evil from unfortunate circumstances like this.”
I nodded silently as the dead man continued lying lifeless, “did..I do the right thing?” Painfully, I asked him from my uncertainty guilt and disgust of myself.
A tired sigh escaped his lips as he turned to face me, “in a way, you saved the man’s life kiddo. The man was already stuck in hellish torment until death came to take him. He would have died sooner or later anyway. You gave him a chance to die peacefully and without much suffering at all. It is still murder in the eyes of most people, however,” he paused as he stared at the corpse in front of us. “What you did now was considered mercy kill, it is the humane act of ending the life of a suffering individual in a quick fashion without letting them suffer for too long. In short, it is the right choice to end their life.”
“It is perhaps a sad truth but it still is…” he added with slight pause as he looked back at the body, “you know what? You are a good kid but that does not change the fact that this world is filled with numerous bad people. And that is why it is necessary to do these kinds of things, so as to keep on living no matter what.”
His words of wisdom brought a sad smile to my face, feeling relieved that the weight was off my chest. “Thank you Smith for your advice,” I replied. “But please don’t tell any of the others about this. They would be shocked if they found out that I killed a man just because he was suffering from an unpleasant fate.”
A small laughter erupted from his mouth, “do not worry, I won’t say anything about what you just did. Remember to be always careful in the future, okay? Don’t let yourself fall for such things again, all right?”
I smiled, nodding in agreement before we walked away from the scene. Although, I could not help but take a quick glance at the corpse before exiting the torturous chamber, “is that guy smiling?…” I quietly whispered to myself, looking a bit disturbed and glad concurrently of at least saving at least one life in this room from their torment.
“Adam, what are you looking at?” My attention snapped out of it, causing me to look at Smith with a continued sad smile, “nothing, just thinking of something.”
Smith frown with worry as he sighed, “Adam, do not think about it too much. What you did is done, there is nothing you or I can do to bring the dead back to life. Let it go, move forward,” he said as he patted my back.
“Thanks,” I mumble softly with a soft smile. “You are a really awesome person sir Smith,” I complimented. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head as he turned to leave. “Do not mention it. When we leave this hellhole of a dungeon, I might buy you a video game console.”
“What is a video game console?”
A troubled look spawned on his face, “you..uh..really do not know what a video game console is?” He asked with an awkward expression.
I tilted my head and thought for a moment.
“No, not exactly…what does it mean anyway?”
