Vending Machine Lunch

by Roadbloc

  “Unfortunately, the system ended up overlooking certain critical issues, becoming rather out of touch with reality. We missed the fact that the Ninety-Nine were not a secret Enforcer unit, but a secret Security Unit from Union. I’m assuming, Ninety-Nine members, I don’t know. They infiltrated Elision, manipulating and influencing our course towards defeat. All it took was a member to get involved with managing the Deimos facility to prematurely cause the facility to melt-down.

  “We weren't stabbed by Union. We ran into Union’s knife without even knowing it. By the time we realised, we were already dead. I have read the Ninety-Nine’s files, they were hidden in our system. Didn’t take long to find, it’s just that nobody had looked before.”

  Another silence followed.

  “So basically, it’s all your fault?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry. I was too controlling that it got to the point where we were on a different level of reality.”

  “That isn’t going to fix the land. I’m sorry, but your clone plan has failed. There is nothing I can do,” said James, feeling the heavy weight of despair on his head, “I... I can’t do this. I don’t know where to begin. My citizens are all dead and will attempt to feast on me the moment I step foot out of this place. I have no resources and no experience because you’ve kept me in the dark all my life. You’re mad.”

  A beep came from one of the CRTs. Six thirty.

  “One more question,” said James, after a moments silence, “What inspired you to have ultimate control? What inspired you to become so obsessed with keeping control of things that you even refused to let death take Elision away from you?”

  His father turned around away from him, as though thinking. The air sucker pumping in and out as the last of the orange sunlight bounced off his masked face, his old mind searching for the one memory that still made his circuits cringe.

  I'd Love To Stay and Chat, But I'd Rather Have Type Two Diabetes

  He came to bring the God-damn pain. He strode through the door, like a boss, wielding the gun around. At first Jeremy didn’t believe it. He thought it was some sort of joke. He thought he was just having a laugh, waving around what could be at most, a fancy cigarette lighter. In a split second he realised he was wrong. Oh so incredibly wrong. More wrong than St. Wrong on St. Wrong’s Day Tuesday. The glimpse of anger in his eyes stabbed him in every pressure point; Jeremy was stuck, not able to drag his eyes away from the seething hatred that was projected from his. Nought but a split second had passed. No-one had even any chance to react.

  The barrel came level to Jeremy's forehead, a small gap from point blank. Someone said something of utter confusion behind him. It may have been Jenny. Who knows? Who cares? Jevaun had a gun Jeremy's face. All he could do was keep his cool.

  “Everyone! Get back to the walls!” he hissed, gesticulating with the weapon. A few of them started shuffling backwards unconvincingly, “Now!”

  “Do as he says,” Jeremy spat, swallowing a lifetimes worth of nerves. They began to move back. Things no one really cared about were muttered.

  “Silence!” he instructed, glaring around, the gun back level with Jeremy’s forehead. Jeremy's brains were working overtime, trying to find a solution. He knew there was none, but it insisted on searching anyway, flicking through archives of old memories that he had forgotten about previously. All useless. Never had a gun in his face before.

  “Mobile phones! Throw them at my feet! Now!” ordered Jevaun, “I want to see six mobiles at my feet. Don’t even attempt to call anyone, I will shoot anyone who does! Understood?”

  A rush through jacket and jeans pockets confirmed that people understood.

  “Jade, do as he says,” Jeremy said, glaring at her as he sacrificed his phone before Jevaun.

  “It’s in my bag,” she replied, stammering slightly, “Over there.”

  “Well get it out of your bleeding bag and put it on the pile!” snarled Jevaun, gesticulating with his weapon again.

  Jade walked carefully to her bag, Jevaun’s angry eyes mentally breaking her every step of the way. She bent down and hurriedly rummaged through it, desperately trying to find her device. Her phone was ripped out of her bag, sending several womanly handbag items sliding on the floor. She placed her phone gently on the pile and then returned to her place back at the wall.

  You could have cut the silence with a knife. No-one dared breathe. Jeremy had seen guns in movies. He had even played with toy ones as a child. However, nothing comes close to the real thing. It was so… metal. So heavy in Jevaun’s hand. It made a heavy imprint in the room unlike the plasticy ones he toyed with as a child. It shined. It gleamed proudly in his hand. You could tell this was no toy. It was the real thing.

  With one foul stamp, Jevaun brought his foot crashing down on the phones below his feet. Heavy steel toes met the array of emergency number callers with force. Some shattered to pieces, however, some of the more expensive ones held their own. He twisted his foot on the pieces just to be sure them he had broken were broken.

  Mesmerised by the anger in his eyes still, Jeremy mentally tried to pull himself together. He was on the verge of being shot by a total loon, and unless he played the few cards he had remaining right, he'd be screwed. Despite his relaxed appearance, his head was screaming with panic; he couldn’t think straight. Jevaun had a gun in his face, it was there, for real, and he could pull the trigger at any time. Knowing him, it would be at the least expected time as well.

  Jeremy took a deep breath. He felt his forehead getting hot. He was beginning to sweat. Forcing his mind to stop racing, he took another long, slow, laborious breath and said as coldly as possible, “Why am I still alive then?”

  Jevaun didn’t reply. Jeremy narrowed his eyes. He had to either make out that he didn’t have the guts to shoot him, to get the upper hand, or let his mind cave his nerves in, resulting in his death.

  “Huh?” he huh’ed a little louder, “Well? You want to kill me! So come on! Give it your best try.”

  There was a silence, the hatred in Jevaun’s eyes not faltering, not giving away what he was really feeling about what Jeremy had said. Was ‘try’ the best word Jeremy could have used? Maybe he could have used ‘shot’. Jeremy mentally shook his head. Of course ‘try’ was better than ‘shot’. It implied that it would be a challenge for him to do it. It implied that he didn’t think he would do it. ‘Shot’ would invoked inappropriate humour. Hours, years could have passed, them both standing there like the north and south going Zax, both in refusal to move, both wanting to win. The difference being that it was possibly a little easier for him to get Jeremy out of his way, and the time that had passed was minutes at most.

  He finally spoke. “What do you mean?” he snarled, attempting to imply that Jeremy was just babbling and that he was keeping him for some final moments of entertainment for himself.

  But Jeremy could see right through him. His eyes seemed to have softened a little in the time they stood. It hadn’t been his expression that changed. His eyes had begun to water slightly. Only slightly. But enough to make Jeremy realise he could possibly have the upper hand on the situation despite the circumstances. There was a slight possibility, that he wouldn’t do it. Very slight. Minute. But enough for Jeremy to continue. However Jade got there before him.

  “Please Jevaun, don’t do it,” Jeremy cursed silently as she pleaded. Pleading was just the ego boost Jevaun needed. It made him feel more in control of the situation. It confirmed to him that he was the one in power, and that the weapon he was holding was in his full control. The room was his oyster and the people inside were meaningless amoebas. Especially the one in front of him. Jeremy.

  “We’ll do anything just don’t shoot,” Jade continued. A smirk appeared on Jevaun’s face. He was beginning to enjoy this.

  Like dominos, the rest of the girls also started trying to reason with Jevaun.

  “Listen Jevaun,” said Jenny in a slightly panicky version of her reassuring voice, “Whatever it is, it can be sorted ou
t. Just put the gun down and let’s talk about this. Is this really what you want? To take someone’s life and spend the rest of your life in prison?”

  Eliza began crying. Janet next to her hugged her like a child does with a teddy bear when they’ve just been told off and sent to bed early by their parents.

  “You can get help to sort this out,” continued Jenny, really thinking she was getting somewhere, thinking she was getting through to him, “Whatever it is, help is at hand. Just put the gun down and we can talk.”

  Jevaun let out a small breathy laugh, “Yeah right,” he snapped, “You don’t know anything. Tip of the iceberg love, tip of the iceberg.”

  “Look at me Jevaun, we can solve this. Just put the gun down,” Jenny continued.

  “Please do it,” muttered Jade.

  Eliza tried to say something, but was too caught up in tears to say it in a way anyone could understand.

  Jenny went on, “We all feel down from time to time-“

  “Down?” snapped Jevaun. She had just touched a nerve, “Down?! You don’t know the meaning of the word, so shut up!” before she knew it, the gun was pointing at her.

  “Okay okay okay!” Jenny’s voice went higher and higher like the beginning of an air raid siren, “All I’m saying is-“

  “Yes?”

  “…is..” Jenny was beginning to break down.

  A metallic click was heard as Jevaun readjusted his grip on his weapon.

  “…is…” she caved, “Oh God, please don’t kill me! Please oh God!” she collapsed down, sat on the floor, she began crying into her hands, muttering pleas throughout.

  “Don’t shoot her!” said Jade, tears also welling up into her eyes.

  “Don’t shoot anyone,” said Janet, looking at Jevaun fearfully.

  There was a tear filled silence. All eyes were on the gun, which was still pointed at Jenny. Again, years could have passed for all Jeremy knew. The situation was rapidly breaking down, the girls were giving Jevaun the attention that he wanted. If it continued like this, everyone would be shot. He had to take action. Now.

  Now.

  Jeremy mentally beat himself. Why had he lost his nerve all of a sudden? The gun wasn’t even in his face but in… Jenny’s. He couldn’t, just couldn’t let him shoot her. The guilt would last a life time and there’d still be enough left to fill an ocean after he died. This was his problem and if anyone was to get shot, it was himself. None of the girls had done anything to deserve this. A bead of sweat was forming at the top of Jeremy's head, about an inch to the right. He felt it seeping out of his pours, desperate to gain the weight and momentum to go tumbling down his forehead and face. He couldn’t let him see how he was really feeling. No chance. And as mentioned before, he had to take action. Now.

  “Shoot him.”

  The voice hadn’t been Jeremy's, but Eliza’s. Her words were cruel, twisted and fear filled. All eyes turned to her, slouched on the wall, protected in a layer of Janet’s hands, which suddenly dropped. Her face was covered in tear tracks. She was shivering slightly. She looked a total wreck.

  “What?” said both Jade and Janet practically in unison. Eliza didn’t reply.

  “You want me to shoot him?” sneered Jevaun, the gun now back in Jeremy's face. He was grinning at Eliza who had begun crying again, “Yeah? Why not now?”

  “No!” screamed Juno, the only one left not to speak thought the ordeal, “Please don’t.”

  “Eliza! That was an awful thing to think!” said someone. Jeremy thought it was Jenny.

  “Shoot him,” said Eliza again, “This is not my problem. I am not- not- not going to die because some moron upset another moron.”

  “Eliza, shut up!”

  “You shut up!”

  “Everyone, shut up!”

  “Please Jevaun, don’t do it!”

  “Get off me Janet, I don’t need-“

  “I think we should all just sit down and-“

  “-I’ll do anything, just put it down-“

  “-Shut it, everyone you’re all-“

  “-This is nothing to do with me. I’ve done nothing wrong. It isn’t my faul-“

  “-ouldn’t be so selfi-“

  “-Just please shut up-“

  “-Please don’t do it-“

  “-oh God-“

  “-ut it away for Gods sa-“

  “-shut it! Just shut it gu-“

  The situation was rapidly breaking down. Jevaun and Jeremy, perfectly silent, glaring at each other, the barrel of the gun he was holding still firmly in Jeremy's view; whist everyone else yammered on amongst themselves, trying to get their view, their opinion, their plea out for everyone to hear. They were arguing amongst themselves, turning against each other. Jeremy could see Jevaun was loving it. He didn’t have to say a word to get them to confuse and hate each other. At this rate, his final moments would be better than the ones in CRT movies.

  Throughout all the noise of everyone screaming at each other, something made Jeremy's ears prick up. It was Eliza, and she said something. Possibly not as bad as begging Jevaun to shoot him to save herself, the ginger bitch, but it would compromise everything. Everything being Jeremy's life and probably everyone else’s.

  “I’m getting outta here,” she said. Pretty quietly, but he heard it. He glanced over to her, she had begun to move towards the door as everyone else was busy arguing amongst themselves.

  He glanced at Jevaun. He hadn’t noticed. He was still looking directly at Jeremy. However, Jeremy knew it would be seconds, nanoseconds even before he noticed Eliza was attempting to leave the room. He had to do something and do something now. Something that wouldn’t make the situation any worse and would maintain his outer calm nature. NOW.

  “Will you all just shut the hell up!” Jeremy shouted at the top of his voice. He was heard, most of them stopped talking, but Janet was obviously too good to follow his rule, “All of you! Shut up! Christ!”

  He looked around at them all, wiping his forehead as he did so, removing any possible sweat.

  “Christ’s sake! He’s attempting to give a damn while you all beg for mercy! All of you need to sit down and shut up. This is my problem, it has nothing to do with any of you. Do me a favour and just sit down and shut up. I don’t want to hear another God damn word out of any of you. Hear me?”

  Jeremy breathed. Those who weren’t already sitting, sat down. Including Eliza. He continued breathing and resumed his usual position of staring at Jevaun’s eyes and barrel. Phew.

  “Where were we?” he smiled. The anger had returned to his eyes. They were back to square one, “Ah yes, I’m waiting for you to pull the trigger.”

  “You should be begging for your life,” spat Jevaun in return, “You should be at my feet with all them mobiles.”

  “You’re not worth giving the satisfaction to,” Jeremy replied, “You’re-“

  “Beg!” demanded Jevaun, interrupting him, “Plead for your life you puny weed! I want you to do it!!” the gun was shaking in his hand as he spoke. Jeremy knew he was at a possible advantage.

  Breathing deep again, forcing his mind to quit it with the panicking, Jeremy continued.

  “Too scared to pull the trigger, eh?” he mocked, narrowing his eyes, “Why don’t I put this another way then. You want to kill me? Do me a favour and take my life.”

  There was a nasty silence. It was God damn nasty. To Jeremy's horror, Jevaun's finger tightened around the trigger and began to squeeze. Jeremy's mind desperately wanted to back off and beg for his life. He almost did. He flinched, his eyes began to water as he knew this could be his last possible moments. His last few seconds alive. His head was hotter than ever, a new bead of sweat rapidly forming. The last thing he wanted to do was to start crying and sweating. He wanted to show him that he was out of his depth and just being stupid.

  His finger relaxed. Jeremy had called his bluff. Now it was time to start verbally attacking him.

  “Or maybe I should rephrase that. Do me a favour and get a life,�
� Jeremy said, grinning with slight relief that he hadn’t pulled the trigger.

  Jevaun's hand was shaking again. He was beginning to break down. His eyes were watering again, struggling to form a single word. Maybe the gravity at what he had just attempted hit him, or maybe he was just baffled and confused on why he hadn’t shot Jeremy yet, but the next bit was a spanner to Jeremy's plan.

  Jevaun’s hand went to his head. The hand with the gun in it. He was going to shoot himself.

  Anger surged through Jeremy. He wasn’t going to just let him get away with it now. He’d somehow got a gun into the land and tried to shoot him. He had another thing coming if he wanted to get out easy.

  “Christ! Oh no you don’t!” Jeremy muttered, before laying into him.

  All his energy, all the adrenaline, all the testosterone went into one clean punch on the side of Jevaun's chin. His head went flying backwards, as did the gun.

  Both Jevaun and the gun hit the floor. The room took a sharp intake of breath, expecting the gun to possibly fire. It didn’t. Before anyone could react, Jeremy was pulling Jevaun back up by the front of his t-shirt.

  “Christ, you’re an idiot!” Jeremy shouted in Jevaun's face, “You God-damn pathetic fool! You pathetic coward!”

  Jeremy head butted him in the face. His forehead crunched with Jevaun's face. He tried to escape, or fight back, Jeremy couldn’t tell which. He was just flailing around, his hands trying to grab whatever they found.

  “Are. You. Listening!?” Jeremy growled into his face, “Are. You. Listening!?” he repeated pulling him a little closer. He threw Jevaun on the floor, he landed on the shattered pieces of mobile phone and instantly got up to try and escape. As he was getting up, Jeremy grabbed his hair and sent his face flying into the wall.