Chapter 7: Freedom?
(Archie)
He woke up face-down on a grimy-looking floor. As he quickly stood up to try and figure out where he was, a TV turned on. He gasped and spun around, looking at a man on the screen dressed in a black jumpsuit wearing some Halloween pig mask. The man slowly looked over to the screen, to him.
"Hello, Archie Johnson. We want to play a game with you." the man said, his voice sounding distorted.
"What? What is this?" he asked, expecting the man to reply.
"Working in the A/V lab may have put you away from the immediate danger from the occasional armed suspect, but nothing lasts forever. We're sure you and your coworkers have heard about the Jigsaw Killer and his demise, so now you all feel safer again. Our job is to prove that no one is safe. You work side-by-side with people who have killed others because it was their duty. But does that justify their action? Shouldn't all murderers and those harboring them be punished? That's what justice is, Mr. Johnson. Your task will be to choose between freedom and justice. To choose freedom, all you have to do is jump out the window. Know that you will survive, but you could suffer irreparable damage. To choose justice, open the door behind you and flip the switch. Carbon monoxide gas will be pumped through this facility, killing yourself and your murderous coworkers. The choice may seem obvious, but you possibly have a fifty-fifty chance of saving your friends. Will you risk it?" the man asked and the TV went to static.
Of course he'd risk it. They were all like a large, semi-dysfunctional family! Even if there was only one member of the graveyard shift trapped in the building, he'd jump.
He looked out the window and realized he was about two stories up.
'I can do this.' he though, trying to calm himself. 'Two stories is nothing…even though people can die by tripping over their own feet. No, stop it! You can do this, Archie!' he thought as he mentally prepared himself. He took a couple steps back and leapt out the window.
(Brad and Ryan)
"Fine. You want to do this the hard way, then we'll do this the hard way." Gordon said as he stood over the downed detective.
"Woah, woah, woah. Gordon, what are you doing? He was going to help us!" Brad said, looking to his mentor.
"This man is almost as bad as you two. Worse, even. He needs to be stopped." Gordon said, turning to them.
"No need to get your panties in a twist." Ryan muttered under his breath.
"You two better pray I find those CSI's alive. If you flip some kill switch or something, I swear-" Gordon stared.
"You'll what? Kill us? Turn us in? Either way, it's a lose-lose situation. Say you turn us in. What exactly will you tell the cops, huh?" Brad asked.
"Excuse me, officer, these two men are the accomplices of an accomplice of the Jigsaw Killer?" Ryan tried, laughing.
"And say you kill us. That's not a very smart idea. See, if we die, then your precious CSI's are as good as dead, too. We've linked these heart rate watches to some carbon monoxide pumps in the ventilation shafts of the building the CSI's are at. Our hearts stop, the monitors send out the signal to the pumps, and the place goes up in gas." Brad explained.
"You wouldn't." Gordon dared.
"Oh, yes we would." Ryan said, slowly grabbing a knife on the table behind him. The move went completely unnoticed by Gordon.
"Why. Why can't you understand what you're doing is wrong? Why don't you see that this is far beyond the mission I've been trying to teach you?" Gordon asked, becoming almost…sad.
"We've been through this, Gordon. We understand your precious mission." Ryan said, still clutching the knife in one hand behind his back.
They heard a grunt and saw that Hoffman was starting to come around. Gordon produced a syringe and injected Hoffman, who passed out before he even woke up.
"So, what are you going to do to him?" Brad asked.
"I'm going to deal with him. Then I'm going to deal with you." Gordon said, starting to awkwardly drag Hoffman by his feet.
"Wait." Brad said, taking a couple steps towards his mentor. Gordon sighed, like he knew it was a bad idea to stop, but did so. "What if we free the CSI's right now? Would you…forgive us?" Brad asked.
"Five minutes ago, you two were itching to let me let you continue your little game. Now you say you'll stop it, just like that? I'm not stupid." Gordon said, continuing to drag Hoffman away.
Brad turned to look at Ryan. "No, you're not." he said, giving a barely-noticeable nod. Ryan lunged forward with the knife, prepared to stab Gordon, but was abruptly spun from behind, and while he was a tad disoriented, stabbed in the chest. Ryan looked up in confusion at Brad, barely feeling the blood soaking through his shirt. As he fell, feeling each breath as if he were inhaling hot embers, Brad kneeled down next to him and pushed the knife in further.
"Sorry, man, but I'm with Gordon." he said. Ryan tried to say something, probably 'why?' or 'fuck you!', but all that came out was a gurgled choke before his quick death arrived.