Thank you guys for waiting.
Shit. Big mistake. Why did I try and take down the forger? That was Cobb's job. It only took a second. Everything was going so well. I had him, I was getting in lots of punches. He was about to go down, all I need was my gun. I just turned to load it. That was it. That was all it took. I felt the sharp pain of the bullet in my chest. I couldn't work it out. Until I saw him standing there with his gun. I reached down to the hole in my chest. I tried to remove the bullet but the pain was too much. Everytime I felt my hand, the sharp sting came back. My shirt was turning red and it wasn't until I felt blood in my throught that I'd realised. He'd hit me in my liver. I tried to yell out but all that came out was blood. I fell onto the floor. I heard a shot, and I knew that someone had killed Red.
"EAMES! NO!"
The pain was getting worse. I couldn't move without feeling my insides collapsing. Pretty difficult not to move when you're shaking uncontrollably. I knew there was probably no way out of this. I'd messed it up.
Arthur fell onto the floor next to Eames.
"Shit." he muttered to himself.
He was soon joined by Cobb, Ariadne and Yusuf. Cobb was moving around examining his broken body. Ariadne was in tears, holding his hand. Yusuf was pale in the face.
"Arthur, give me your jacket." Arthur obeyed without saying a word. He stripped off his jacket and handed it to Cobb. Yusuf lifted up Eames's shirt, looking for the hole. Eames was soon pale and weak. It was an array of movement. The others trying to fix Eames.
"We need to get him into the van now." Cobb motioned for Arthur to help him lift Eames. Eames raised his hand.
"Cobb." he whispered. Cobb ignored him, trying to find someway to manover his body.
"Cobb. Stop." he pleaded.
"You're not going to die. Not now, not ever." Cobb said. It sounded more like he was telling himself this than telling Eames. Eames tugged on his sleeve. Cobb froze.
"Just let me go. It's over Cobb." Eames said this with a smile. Cobb shook his head furiously.
"No. No it's not Eames." Eames just laughed.
"Bloody stubborn you are." he said. He coughed furiously, blood erupttinng from his mouth in the process.
"Can I just say..." he weezed. "...I've never been so lucky...to work with a team like this." Cobb sat back. Yusuf looked down, knowing there was nothing he could do. Ariadne sat there staring at Eames, who had never looked so weak.
"Ariadne." he motioned for her hand. She held his hand tight.
"You're a great architect and a lovely person. I had rather hoped we'd have a little something between us. " he winked. Ariadne gave a small laugh.
"Thanks Eames." Eames turned to Yusuf.
"You're a good friend Yusuf, you've been very loyal to me. I just want to thank you for all you've done." Yusuf looked down, giving him a small nod, tears forming in his eyes.
"Cobb." Cobb looked down at him.
"I think you're possibly one of the greatest -" Cobb cut him off.
"Eames, I'm not the greatest extractor in the world. I can't even protect my- "
"I was going to say..." Eames sighed in frustration. "...I think you're possibly one of the greatest people...I have ever met. " Cobb smiled. Eames turned his head towards Arthur, who was shaking his head furiously.
"Arthur." Arthur looked up with angry eyes. Eames had a dissaproving look on his face.
"You are possibly the most boring, stick-in-the-mud, overly organised, annoying, un-imaginative, anal person in the world." Arthur said nothing.
"...but we're still friends." Eames smiled. Arthur smiled back. A genuine, honest to god, smile. Eames coughed up more blood.
"Can you do me a favour?" he asked Arthur.
"Of course." Arthur whispered.
"Can you out me out of my misery?" he asked, handing Arthur his gun. Arthur froze. He looked at the others, who avoided eye contact. He looked back down at Eames, who was groaning in pain. He nodded his head. He stood up and backed away. The others moved away. Arthur slowly rose his gun to Eames's head. His hand was shaking. Eames gave him an appreciative smile.
"Well hold it bloody straight. God it's like getting a child to do the job." Arthur smiled. He pulled the trigger. Eames was gone.
I warehouse was quiet. The only noise was the shifting of feet. Cobb looked around. They were surrounded by bodies. People they had killed.
"Let's go." he said.
I wanted to say "No. We need to take Eames with us.", but I couldn't bring myself to say his name. Yusuf followed Cobb out, wiping his face furiously with his sleeve. I felt something touch my hand. I looked down to see Arthur's fingers wrapped around mine. He had just shot Eames. I could not imagine what he was feeling. I couldn't believe that Eames was dead. We had lost someone. I felt warm tears on my cheeks. Eames was the person who brought the laughter to this job. He came in everyday and made jokes and made everyone smile. Now he was gone. Just wiped from existance. I didn't even know if he had family. Someone waiting for him.
Arthur led me from the room, trying to get me to not look back. I just had to turn to see Eames one last time. My eyes wondered from Eames's body to Phillips's desk. It was there I saw something. No, more than something. I let go of Arthur's hand and walked to the desk.
"Ariadne?" he asked. I ignored him, and I could hear Cobb and Yusuf returning to see our delay. I walked over to the desk. It was there, perfectly arranged, that I saw a bishop, a loaded die and a spinning top. I grabbed the objects, and returned to the others. I handed Cobb and Arthur their totems, and they grabbed them as if it was water in a dessert. I returned my hand into Arthur's, and we walked back to the van, with one less person, and a grasp on reality.
We got back into the van, myself and Cobb in the front, and Ariadne and Yusuf in the back. It was quiet, and I could not escape the feeling of guilt, knawing at the back of my head.
I was glad to have my totem back. It's amazing how out of place you feel when you don't have it. I squeezed the loaded die in my hand and threw it on to the dashboard.
...4. What? No...that wasn't right. I shook it again, with more force and threw in on the dashboard again.
...2. No.
...1.
...5.
...6.
No. No it can't be. The loaded die, the one that always landed on 6...was landing on different numbers. This meant...
I looked over at Cobb who had his eyes on the road.
"Cobb." I said. I couldn't be right, I just couldn't.
"Yeah?"
"Check your totem." He gave me a quick, confused look.
"What? Arthur...I'm driving-"
"CHECK YOUR TOTEM NOW!" I don't now why I yelled. I panicked, the one thing that I was always certain about was now confusing me. Cobb drew the car into a sudden stop, forcing me to put my hands out for safety. Cobb grabbed his totem in his pocket. He thew it onto the dashboard, and it spun. Spinning...spinning. It must have been about 5 minutes before Cobb grabbed it and threw his head behind him. I looked back and Ariadne was checking her totem. I'm assuming the tipping point was wrong because she looked at me with what only can be described as...shock.
"We're dreaming."