CHAPTER 55: DEATH SENTENCE, PART 1
"A man's got to know his limitations."
-'Dirty' Harry Callahan
Pop quiz, hotshot:
You're stuck on an island where society has completely collapsed, your whole family either is dead or just hates you, you've got no friends on your side, everyone around you starts to look like the ultimate evil, and you're loaded for bear with enough weapons to start World Wars 3 and 4 at the simple pull of a trigger.
What would you do?
This is the current state of mind and affairs for Buckley Lloyd, and his answer is to kill as many people as he can.
The nightmarish city of Hellwood is capable of making any man go insane, and everyone's breaking point can be reached one way or another. From someone just inches away from falling off the edge to the most refined and well-respected citizens and families, no one is spared from the insanity that is Hellwood.
Buckley Lloyd, the white knight of Hillwood known as Valiance, has just found his. Having lost the last piece of family that he once possessed, he no longer has a single human being that he lean on anymore, and has lost the little piece of humanity that he could still hold onto.
In his grief-stricken mind, he has given up on all attempts at peace or understanding that the Green Eye preaches. He has tried it this way, and he has seen the results it has bred. He has had enough of childish games that the Green Eye plays, and he is ready to result to the one thing he knows how to do right.
Hastily taking back on his old ways, he is ready to go to war at all of humanity. Unable to properly judge right and wrong any longer, he has taken a universal stance that everyone on this island is inherently evil; irredeemable and not worth trying to redeem in the first place.
His credo is simple:
'The crime is life. The punishment is death.'
On the streets of Hellwood, there are a selection of true crimes to be found, even if a city that faced the very apocalypse has little definition for words like 'crime' or even 'law'. Despite whatever terms may still apply, there are those few who will prevent wrongdoings...
...and those plenty who will more than willingly commit them.
Such is the case with a young woman who is cornered in an alleyway by a group of gangbangers; all seeking to exploit her for their own carnal pleasures. Tossing the woman between one another back and forth, they each began tearing bits of clothing off her body, seeking to expose the goods they desired.
"That's it, baby. Show daddy what your momma gave ya!" One gangbanger said.
"No! Please! Someone help me!" The woman cried.
Stepping forward through the alleyway, a figure sent loud, clamping footsteps of heavy metal echoing through the walls of the corner, instantly taking the attention of the gangbangers away from their would-be victim and towards the menacing figure lurking towards them.
Coming into clear view, the figure was shown to be the well-known lethal protector known as Valiance, giving the woman a sigh of relief from his arrival. Little did she know of the mindset he now carried, however, and less did she know of what would soon happen next.
As the gangbangers drew forward their own weapons, Valiance began firing his own automatic weapons on the group, mowing the entire group down in seconds. Even though her salvation came with the wet bloodshed of her would-be rapists, the woman was nonetheless relieved to see the threat removed; her fear gone for a brief moment.
Showing her appreciation for the act of Valiance, she ran up and embraced the white knight with a hug.
"Oh, thank you, Valiance. Thank you. I don't know why anyone ever said such bad things about you before Hillwood fell." The woman said.
"The crime is life..." Valiance croaked.
"...What?"
Stepping back in confusion of Valiance's muttering, the woman found the white knight placing his hand over her face, giving her a return of that fear from moments ago.
"The sentence is death." Valiance croaked.
Grabbing her head as tightly as he could, Valiance smashed the young woman's head against the brick wall of the alley, splattering it open against the wall and killing her in one swift motion. Taking no time to even watch her lifeless body slide to the ground, Valiance moved on past the scene, continuing his unholy killing crusade.
"The crime is life... the sentence is death..." Valiance repeated.
[Soundtrack Cue: Biohazard - Punishment; Starting from 0:24]
'The crime is life, the sentence is death.'
This simple motto is the one sentence that Valiance can bring himself to say, and the only mantra that exists in his mind. His one and only focus is to end all life in Hellwood, wiping the slate clean of all bad and all good in a maniacal suicide run, acting as a one-man judge of death.
Armed to the teeth and with no more clear morals to his name, the white knight's cape and cowl turns a deeper shade of red with each drop of blood he spills. With The Farm completely destroyed and its populace dead and extinct, his sights are set towards the next province in his sight: The Aryan Nation.
The land that prides itself on being white will soon be painted as red as Valiance's own suit is turning.
Raiding a drug warehouse, Valiance bursted in and opened fire on everyone in sight, riddling enemy after enemy with bullets. Any attempt to fire back on him was met with each shot sent his way deflecting off his armor, effectively making him less of a fair target and more like a walking tank pushing through anything in his way.
With bullets flying through the room and clouds of cocaine and heroin fogging the air, the gunsmoke and drugs still gave just a taste of the image of Valiance, holding up his weapons to fire back on his targets. Unloading all his arsenal of heavy lead back on his enemies, the white knight put down each enemy in his path; intent as ever to cleanse the city of Hellwood of all life within.
"The crime is life... the sentence is death..." Valiance mumbled.
Moving onto a selection of militia members in the Aryan Nation, Valiance repeated much of the same approach, with much of the same results. Even with heavier weapons at their disposal; heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, and heavy-caliber sniper rifles, nothing seemed to even scratch Valiance's armor or even get a flinch from him.
Once again, Valiance continued to mow down enemy after enemy in his path without difficulty or hesitation; acting less like a human being with each kill and more like a body possessed by a devil. Continuing ot fire back on his enemies without hesitation, beating down and slashing away at those brave or unfortunate enough to come close to him, standing unopposed to the futile opposition in his path.
"The crime is life... the sentence is death..." Valiance mumbled.
His rampage was not limited to only wrongdoers and killers; as morally debatable as such kills can be, his victims also included those of innocent individuals and families as well. Such is the case with a hotel full of squatters trying to find a good place to live, many not even subscribing to the beliefs of the Aryan Nation.
Blasting his way through mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, all manners of adults in the building, he indiscriminately shot his way through the building with the goal of cleansing it of all life. Unlike his past victims, these squatters made no attempt to fight back at all, fleeing him in wasted efforts to preserve their own lives only to be shot down like mad dogs.
However, merciless as he was in his killings, he was not without his one exception to those he would never harm. Though willing to slaughter all manners of adults, he could not and would not bring harm to any children that he encountered. Even watching one child mourn over his parents that were shot down seconds ago, Valiance did not even consider the concept of killing the child.
Such his unholy killing crusade continued across the Aryan Nation; one of many provinces within Hellwood soon to face his wrath. Fueled by unbridled hate and madness in his head, covered head to toe with body armor and all manners of weapons, there would be no one spared in the wake of his wrath.
Continuing on without sleep or food for the entirety of his crusade, he might as well no longer be considered human.
"The crime is life... the sentence is death." Valiance mumbled.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
DECEMBER 23RD
As the morning sun scorches the cursed Earth known as Hellwood, another long day of torment comes to an official beginning for its prisoners. Those who manage to wake from their short nights of sleep, some never waking at all and finding some release to this place, and never sleeping at all from insomnia seeping into their brains, the prisoners of Hellwood all stumble to their feet to start a new day in one way or another; some merely scavenging for means to survive, others predators seeking prey.
The city was once a melting pot, but it has now blown to pieces with its many ingredients within scattered and separated. Here, they may separate themselves as the Europeans, the Middle Easterns, the Hispanics, the Asians, and the Africans; each of different descent and heritage, but no one, not even themselves, can deny where they are:
This is hell on Earth, and they are here to stay.
Regardless, there is one man who seeks to bring change to the state of his city. Remembering a time when this land was once known as Hillwood, a city of peace and prosperity, he seeks to see that dream realized once again, and end the pain of the prisoners of Hellwood.
This man is Arnold Shortman, known better to the world as the Green Eye.
Recently, one member of his team of urban defenders, the Hillwood Heroes, has lost all semblance of sanity in his mind and has gone on a rampage, killing as many people as he can on the island city as he can. This rogue agent is the lethal protector of Hillwood named Valiance, turned into something far worse than his reputation has portrayed him up to this point.
Hearing of his acts of violence from the previous night, the one and only focus of the man without pain has been to hunt down and put a stop to the killer knight that threatens what is left of his city. Looking over a map of the city, pinpointing the previous locations where Valiance had left behind a wake of dead bodies, coordinating his next possible location on the map.
Watching their leader pinpoint the most likely location on the map, the remainder of the Hillwood Heroes carefully stayed silent as not to break the Green Eye's thoughts.
"That's where he's gotta be next. I'm sure." Green Eye said.
"Oh, and how'd you figure that shit out, Einstein? The big-ass trail of bodies he left behind?" Lars asked.
"Hey, leave him alone. Arnold knows what he's doing." Harold said.
"Yeah, I know, but, just saying, I could've figured out how to find him by following everybody he's killed so far. Not really a challenge. Plus, can't you like, track him with your Jedi mind powers and shit?"
"I could only sense him a bit at first, but I lost track of him hours ago." Green Eye said.
"How? I thought you could, like, sense anybody you were looking for?"
"I can only sense people's feelings, and what memories give them those feelings. Buckley's starting to lose all sense of feeling, making it harder for me to track him. All that killing he's doing, it takes away the little bit of feeling he has left in him. If I don't stop him, he could do even worse damage than he's already done. He's already cut short a lot of lives."
"So what? The guys he's killing are all Nazis, aren't they? That's, like, the last people anybody should have some sympathy for. I know you have that whole 'no-killing' rule, but... don't you think this is kind of a non-issue as this point? If he wants to kill some Nazis, I say let him."
Frustrated with Lars' sociopathic tendencies giving an apathetic sentiment towards the victims of Valiance, the Green Eye turned towards him with a stern look. Receiving the critical look from the man without pain, the unintelligent sociopath known as Lars Rodriguez backed down with a look of cowardice.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Green Eye asked.
"Uh... I guess not? C'mon, man, don't kill me, I'm just speaking what we're all thinking! They're the last people anybody should care about! They kill black and brown people and have fun doing it! Yo, uh, Harold, right? You're a Jew, you wanna back me up here?" Lars pleaded.
"I don't like this guy, but he's got a point. They're following the same ideology that was dead-set on killing me and my people. With them out of the way, we'd have a better shot and taking the island back. Why not just let our enemies fight each other?" Harold asked.
"Then not only does Lars here still not understand the point of this team, but you forgot it, too, Harold. My mission, the whole mission of this team, is to achieve peace for all the people of Hillwood, and don't feed me the argument of 'there is no Hillwood' or 'these people are beyond saving', because no one's beyond saving." Green Eye said.
"Speak for yourself, jefe. That Jolly Olly nigga was eating kids and fuckin' babies. You think that's an asshole who can be saved, or even wants to be saved?" Lars asked.
"Willie was pushed over an edge, and, regardless of his choices, no one deserves to be punished by death."
"Sorry, Arnold, but I'm still siding with Lars on this one. You kill a baby or kid for any reason, there's no way you're coming back from that. The Jolly Olly Man, Willie, whatever you wanna call him, deserved what he got. I only wish I had the chance to kill him myself." Harold said.
"And stoop to his level? Become a killer to stop a killer? You've made your fair share of mistakes, you think you're righteous enough to end his life?"
"Oh, so it's the 'he who is without sin' argument, huh? C'mon, Arnold. Spare me the bullshit. I'm Jewish, you're not gonna convince me by quoting Jesus."
"Yeah, pal, ain't working on us. Besides, I already know I'm a bad guy, what's the difference if I killed him? If I'm already bad, might as well take it further." Lars said.
"And become something even worse? To become more of a monster and less human?" Green Eye asked.
"If it means a killer cannibal psycho's dead, then I'll take the results."
"I won't. That's not the kind of person I am."
"So what? What exactly is the point of your whole 'be the better person' crap? You think you're better than all of us? I'll admit you never caused any real trouble as a kid, but you're not a perfect person, you know." Harold said.
"I never said I was. But I am trying to be."
"Why? So you can prove something? So you can try to have that one edge of superiority over us? So you can live out some kind of narcissistic power trip? What is the point of your endless moral lectures?"
"Because I believe in doing the right thing. I genuinely believe that I'm doing the right thing, and I'm trying to help you see it my way so you can do the right thing, too."
"And how do you know what you're doing is the right thing?"
Not expecting to be stopped by the next question, the Green Eye found himself stopping short in his argument, having to think carefully for what to say next.
"Because... Because I believe that doing it my way-" Green Eye began to say.
"No, I know you believe that your way's right. But how do you know?" Harold asked.
Once again, the Green Eye was unable to answer the question; left mute in thought with no answer in sight. Having proven the final point he was trying to make, Harold crossed his arms with a slight smirk, seemingly victorious in winning the debate on each other's morality.
"That's what I thought. You don't know why. You're just going by your own arbitrary lines and trying to force us all in it. Now, you can try to pull something like 'you're still the leader of this team', but, ultimately, I don't care. I'm not going to help you." Harold said.
"That's right. I might be the new guy to the team, but this is still a democracy... I think. I'm out, too. Right, Sid?" Lars asked.
Turning to Sid to hear his confirmation, Harold and Lars did not find their mutual friend giving any sort of reply, and not even appearing to be consciously aware of their conversation. Instead, working through whatever thoughts existed in his mind, Sid hid in a corner of the room, furiously masturbating while grunting softly and breathing hard.
Mildly disturbed by Sid's violent sexual fit, the two returned to the conversation at hand.
"See? Sid agrees with us." Lars said.
"Fine. Forget both of you. I'll take care of Valiance myself, with or without your help." Green Eye said.
Taking his staff from its resting place on the wall, the Green Eye decided to waste no more time on trying to convince the remaining members of the Hillwood Heroes; immediately moving out to handle the threat of Valiance before any more lives could be lost from his hands.
Left without the Green Eye again, Harold and Lars glanced at each other, thinking over what to do now.
"You wanna get fucked up?" Lars asked.
"No, thanks. I'll be exercising if you need me." Harold said.
Abruptly leaving to exercise as he stated he would, Harold left Lars alone in the main room of the base, having to decide what to do on his own. Having no one else to stave his boredom with but Sid, Lars stepped up to the cowering cripple-minded young man and took a seat next to him, making him his personal listening ear for his inner thoughts.
For someone with little on his mind save for sex, drugs, and violence, with the vocabulary less than that of a 6th-grade student, Sid was lucky not to be conscious enough to hear the mindless and idiotic rants that would come from the mouth of his 'friend'.
"So did I ever tell you about the first time I got herpes?" Lars asked.
Roaming the streets of Hellwood in search for his target, the Green Eye waded through thin layers of snow to his target; the powdery downfall coating the city with its cold yet graceful veil of white. At first glance, the city might not seem so bad anymore with this layer of snow, as if the snow itself gave a covering from the horror underneath it, and allowed one a more peaceful view for a moment's time.
The Green Eye, too, seemed to share this sentiment, reflecting on the snow-white view of his city that fed his eyes. Remembering simpler times when he would play in snow much like this during his days as a youth, spending time with his friends, he began to smile for an instance of peace.
However, remembering as well the deaths of each of those friends, as well as the hardships and trials that had fallen between him and those who lived, that moment of joy and peace began to dissipate with regret. The ones that he could not save brought him a repeated sense of loss, but the unforgiven offenses between those who lives brought him greater distress: The distress of regret.
Driving Gerald from the city and unable to help cure Phoebe of her paralysis, a tear sheds from his eye.
Cheating on Helga and even laying a harmful hand upon her, another tear sheds from his other eye.
For all the troubles that still burden his mind, he will soon find that he is still not free from the troubles surrounding him. Feeling a hand lay upon his shoulder during his time of contemplation, the Green Eye snapped out of his trance of thought and swiftly brought his defenses towards the owner of the rogue hand.
Pinning said intruder against a wall, he was soon met with a familiar French-accented ally, who greeted him back with a smile.
"Salut, Green Eye. I see you're a man who doesn't like to waste his time." Baise-Moi said.
Recognizing the familiar but still unidentified and wild Baise-Moi, the Green Eye backed himself off from the French libertine, releasing his grip.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Green Eye stammered.
"No, no need to apologize, I love to be handled roughly as such. Perhaps, if you are feeling alone and cold, we could get a little rough like that to warm up?" Baise-Moi asked.
Pressing herself up against the Green Eye, Baise-Moi ran her hands over the man without pain, drawing some slight quivers from his breath.
"We could even leave the masks on." Baise-Moi said.
Still remembering his own wrongdoings towards Helga, the Green Eye pushed Baise-Moi off, catching his focus again and not willing himself the same mistake again.
"I told you, I have a fiancee. I can't just cheat on her." Green Eye said.
"But I did hear that this evil woman, Saint Lila, had you in bed for herself." Baise-Moi said.
"And how did you find that out? I never told anyone that, but you somehow knew it when I first met you, too."
"Then you were lying to me when you said you knew nothing of it. It is a sin to lie, no?"
"Answer my question. How did you know about that?"
"How do I know? Saint Lila's mouth is quite free in its speech. She has come to belief that you are to be her husband, and you had given yourself to her. Many already know this. Unless, of course, she is lying. Is she not?"
"Look, I... Yes, it's true that I slept with her, but it was only once and it was a big mistake, one that I've admitted to Helga. And I do learn from my mistakes. Now, I don't know what exactly you're playing at with these games, but I'm not going to do is repeat that horrible mistake with you or anyone else. I came out here for one purpose: Valiance is killing people, innocent and guilty, and I've gotta stop him. If you want to help, be my guest. Otherwise, just go away. I don't have time for this."
Seeming to drop her more affectionate displays, Baise-Moi crossed her arms and leaned back, apparently complying with the Green Eye's terms.
"Très bien, Green Eye. Lead the way, if that is the case." Baise-Moi said.
Letting the Green Eye lead the walk, the newfound duo made their way down the path to Valiance again, staying silent for most of the walk.
However, true to human nature and all its curiosity, the silence does not last long. Looking at the Green Eye's blank face, noting his eyes focused just barely forward and leaned towards the ground, Baise-Moi sensed that something was wrong with her companion, leading her to speak again.
"Does something trouble you, l' héros Green Eye?" Baise-Moi asked.
"I'm fine." Green Eye said.
"You do not look so fine. If you will not have me as a lover on this night, then perhaps you could confide in me as a listening friend instead?"
"No, thanks. I'd rather not talk."
"Your mouth may speak a lack of desire, but your eyes do not share the same feeling. Is there something that troubles you deeply?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it, okay? I'll deal with it myself!"
"Someone so handsome as you should not be so angry in driving away people who are willing to help you. Words are meant to save man from his loneliness. They are not meant to isolate him. For all the good deeds you give to others, cannot you lie your troubles on another?"
Letting out a deep sigh, the Green Eye decided to share the thoughts on his mind with Baise-Moi, having no choice but to speak his mind.
"It's just... I'm having..." Green Eye stammered.
"Oui?" Baise-Moi asked.
"It's... Everything's just starting to fall apart for me. I feel like nothing's going right anymore."
"How so?"
"Well... I've got at least 3 people still on my team, but they don't believe in me or what we fight for anymore. When I urged us to take on Valiance, everyone was dead-set on letting him kill everyone. I couldn't allow that. Even if I got them to agree, chances they would've just said to kill him. I can't convince them that it's wrong."
"And why is it wrong?"
"What, you too? God, does nobody remember basic human morals in this godforsaken place anymore?"
"Well, of course I understand why it is wrong, l' héros Green Eye, but why is it wrong to you? What is it that makes you so against even ending the most heinous of lives?"
"Because... Because I've felt the effects of death before... and it tore me apart."
"How?"
"Years ago, my grandparents died. They raised me since I was a little kid; my parents were off in another country doing humanitarian work. I hadn't even known my parents until much later in my life, and I was starting to turn into too much of an angry teenager to really appreciate them. My grandma had Alzhimer's, and she was in the hospice for a good number of days. When I found out she wasn't going to make it, I went to see her, and I found my grandpa was there, too, and he was going with her. He didn't want me to see them go, but he let me stay as they left. I stayed in bed with them the whole time. When they left, I... I just wanted to end it right then and there. I ran straight to the roof of the hospital and got ready to jump. I hated that loss I felt so much and I wanted it to go away so badly."
Listening into the Green Eye's story, Baise-Moi did not seem to be surprised or shocked by the story, but was nonetheless unsettled from having heard it, and was distraught from seeing the look of despair on his face from telling his story. Seeing him force back tears under his crackling voice, Baise-Moi could not help but do the same.
"I never felt that bad in my whole life, and I never want anyone else to feel like that again. Every human life taken by anyone, that's someone's son, someone's daughter, someone's mom or dad, someone's best friend, someone's true love... I can't stand to see anyone important like that taken away. I've already seen so many people die since this chaos started, and I can't take much more of it. I have to put it to a stop." Green Eye said.
"Your burden is a heavy cross to bear on your shoulders, l' héros Green Eye." Baise-Moi said.
"I know... but I do feel a little better telling it to you. Thanks for listening."
"De rien."
"Heh. You know something? It's funny, it's really stupid, almost, but... you actually kind of remind me of somebody that I-"
Before the two companions could continue on their conversation, the sound of an explosion was heard in the air, followed by distant gunshots. As soon as the sounds of war began filling the air, the two masked heroes instantly recognized the threat that laid ahead of them, and who was lying in wait for them:
"Valiance." Green Eye said.
"He is ahead of us now. Taking him on will be a challenge." Baise-Moi said.
"Right about that. We'll need a plan to take him down. You think you can-"
Before he was able to finish his question for Baise-Moi, the leather-and-lace libertine was long gone from his sight; nowhere in sight and leaving him alone again.
"Damn. I gotta find out where she learned that." Green Eye said.
With no more time wasted on his own joke, the Green Eye pulled his staff out in readiness once again, rushing towards the sounds of gunfire and explosions with haste.
Upon arriving to the location of gunshots and explosions, what the Green Eye found was not a warzone in the making, but the end results of a war left behind. What stood before him had used to be a small community prior to the Fall of Hillwood, and continued to stay one after, but what it was now was nothing more than a series of destroyed buildings set on fire, with bodies laid about everywhere in sight.
Of the bodies that laid about the remains of the community, not a single one within was armed, and none showed any signs of attempts at a fight. Instead, most of them seemed as though they had tried to flee, only to be shot down just before the souls who once occupied their bodies would find their lives preserved.
Disgusted and heartbroken by the sight of dead innocents, and in a quantity of so many, the Green Eye turned from the sight and wept before he could bring himself to move on. After collecting his composure from the horrors that were laid before him, he put his focus back to the task of preventing any more lives from being taken here or later.
Though he did not expect to hear any signs of life in what remained of this community, he did catch ear of a young voice crying behind the cover of the dead body of an adult, leading him to investigate. Pulling back the body, the Green Eye found a cowering young boy moving back against a wall following his discovery, fearing that his life would finally be taken.
Trying to reassure the child of his safety, the Green Eye reached out to try to calm the boy down.
"Don't! Get away from me!" The boy shouted.
"Shh, shh, it's okay. I won't hurt you. I'm here to help. The man who did this, where is he?" Green Eye asked.
"He killed everyone! He killed everyone I knew! Get away from me!"
Running past the Green Eye and into the distance, the boy was long out of sight, but far from out of mind of the man without pain. Although every part of him wanted to pursue the child and reassure him of his safety, he knew that he could not make that promise genuinely without handling the threat of Valiance, leading him to continue his search for the white knight.
Moving his way past more destroyed buildings, and even more dead bodies, the Green Eye eventually found his way to a small gas station, where two individuals could be seen on their knees inside the convenience store within. Finding new signs of life inside this destroyed town at last, the Green Eye moved further up to investigate.
Coming to contact with the two kneeling individuals, a man and a woman, the Green Eye took notice of where their attention mainly lied. The two gave him a brief glimpse upon his entering the building, but their eyes were immediately reverted back to the person holding more of a threat to them.
Following their eyes with his own, the Green Eye turned towards the object of their interest, finding the target that he was at last seeking, and finding more than he was in store for. Remembering Valiance's normal outfit and appearance, seeing the new change was a surprise to see.
Soaked in blood that stained his white cape and cowl, Valiance's suit of armor was loaded for bear with knives and grenades tactically assorted all over his body, with two submachine guns attached to his wrists and a heavier machine gun slung on his back. On his arm was a series of tally mark scratches in the metal, counting up the kills he had accumulated so far.
Seeing the tally marks cover almost all the forearm guard, the Green Eye's thoughts grew heavier with dread, knowing that this opponent would not go down easy.
Knowing this fact best was Valiance himself, even if his confused mind did not seem to be consciously aware of it at this moment in time. Nonetheless, turning to his side, he finally took notice of the Green Eye entering the room, and, underneath his knight's helmet, he began to give a smile.
"Hey Arnold." Valiance said.