I DO NOT OWN ZERO DAY. SHOUTOUT TO ANYONE WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THIS STORY.
John looked out the window as Dr. Robertson was writing on his notepad. Bringing back the memories that he had tried to bury in the deep dark places of his mind was beyond painful and he didn't really see how it was helping him at all.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Doctor." John said quietly. Dr. Robertson looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and curiosity.
"OK, well why don't you write about it instead?" He offered as an alternative to verbalizing his thoughts and feelings.
"Why would I do that?" John asked, turning to face the psychiatrist.
"You told Calvin Gabriel that writing brought you solace." The doctor offered.
"It sure didn't bring anyone else much solace." John replied with sarcasm, remembering how also many people in his life had told him to give up his dreams of writing and to pursue a more stable career path.
"No one else has to read it but me." Dr. Robertson said. "I'll put it in the paper shredder afterwards, if you wish. You need to get this out John. Holding in these feelings, not dealing with the experiences that you have experienced, it's what caused your breakdown and what landed you in here in the first place. John, you need to come to terms with what happened and you need to mourn your friend."
"Mourn my friend?" John asked incredulously. "Whenever I tried to mourn Cal, people told me that I was a garbage person and that I was being disrespectful to the people he killed. How the fuck are you going to tell me to mourn him?"
"Because despite what Calvin did, he was your friend and you clearly care about him. You need to grieve this loss." Dr. Robertson explained, staying calm as John tried to calm himself down.
"So...you want me to write about my friendship with Cal?" John asked wearily.
"If you see a person, a thing, a place. Write it down." Dr. Robertson commanded as he handed me a blank yellow notepad and a blue ball point pen. As I went back to my room, I thought about what he said. I picked up a pencil and paper and started writing about the first time I saw the army of 2 in action.
Iroquois High School. New Stratford, Conneticut. June 23, 2000
Iroquois High School was a intimidating place. When you first pull up to it, it looks like a kind of fortress. Unassailable, God forsaken, pretentious. My parents wanted some alone time for themselves, so I got on my bike and decided to take a ride around town. As I rode past the school and saw it for the first time, I saw Cal and another guy talking in front of a camera that was held on a tripod. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but they looked real macho. As I rode up to them, I could make out some of what they were saying.
"God, I hate this fucking school." The guy said angrily as I could see the rage behind his shades.
"Hate it?" Cal asked mockingly. "These are the best years of your life."
"Hey Cal." I said as I rode up to them.Cal seemed happy to see me, while his companion looked indifferent.
"Hey John." Cal replied as I got off the bike. "John, this is my best friend, Andre Kriegman. Andre, this is John McCartney, he just moved next door to me." Andre and I shook hands, clearly trying to appease our mutual friend.
"Hey Andre." I said with a smile as he kept on a face of utter disinterest.
"What's up?" He asked, trying to sound the least bit interested for the sake of Cal; despite the fact that he clearly was hoping I would piss off so he and Cal could get back to making the first of their Zero Day videos.
"Just getting some fresh air, what about you guys?" I asked, at the time blissfully unaware of what was going on right in front of me. I just assumed that Cal and Andre were making some kind of video to record their high school experience. I wouldn't know what was really going on until after Zero Day; at least, that's what I tried to tell myself.
"It's a top secret operation." Cal said with a chuckle. He sounded like he was joking around, so I just laughed with him. Even Andre cracked a smirk, probably at my expense if nothing else.
"Are you making memories for senior year?" I teased as Cal and Andre shared a look with a pair of wide smiles to go with it. They looked like I told a joke, even though I don't think that what I said was really that funny. It was another red flag that I missed and wouldn't even realize that I had missed it until after Zero Day had come and gone.
"Oh yeah, no one's ever gonna forget this." Andre said with a smirk that looked like something a high school bully would show after he'd just pocketed whatever cash you had on your person. As we kept talking, I got a weird vibe off of Andre. I mean, he seemed like an interesting guy. He was a huge robotics bluff and he'd done a lot of video work for the school, getting their assemblies and plays on tape for their data record, but there was something about him that made me uneasy. It would be awhile before I saw any red flags that Andre Kriegman was someone to be wary of.
When it came to Andre Kriegman, there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that he was someone who was not to messed with. You wouldn't expect a shy and quiet guy like Calvin Gabriel to hand out with his ass.
REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.