Chapter Twenty-Five
The walk back to the dorm was silent.
Al was in a general state of paralytic despair, while Harry vented his unprocessed grief through a series of violent outbursts directed at mainly inanimate objects along the way.
Their morale was low. It did not even feel right to perform a ceremony for Rob.
It seemed as though the two of them had adopted the mentality of prisoners within a concentration camp, resigning themselves to what seemed like daily brutality and senseless cruelty for some purpose not quite clear to them.
There seemed a common theme linking the killings.
Matt had been judgmental and overzealous and had applied this trait toward the vindictive destruction of each and every victim he had designated throughout his life.
It was also true that Matt had not cared about the collateral damage resulting from his actions. To an extent, he even dismissed responsibility for this damage, based on the belief that if these unintended victims had a viable moral compass, they would not have been within a vicinity where collateral damage was a possibility.
“Wrong place, wrong time, your own damn fault,” characterized his attitude regarding the people who were unintentionally hurt by his actions.
It was fair to say that he lacked compassion, or that if he had any, it was buried somewhere deep within his heart – and much too long neglected.
When someone like Matt meets the vicious demise they all witnessed, you'd think there would be the overarching sentiment that “He got what he deserved.”
On some fundamental level, each prisoner knew that this was the real motivation for these killings, but it did not change the fact that the killings themselves were brutal, violent, and full of an infectious type of terrorism.
In order to kill a killer, you need to become a killer. Once the transition has been made, the only thing that prevents you from logically wanting to kill yourself is some form of justification.
The excuse may be that they were 'bad people', and it was right to kill them. They deserved it. But wasn't that the case for Matt's attack on the banksters? He thought they were scumbag thieves, and that they deserved to hurtle off the edge of the cliff in a burning bus. He believed that so strongly that he even arranged for those circumstances to take place – regardless of who else was traveling on that doomed bus with them.
What is the difference between vengeance and justice? Is it really only an elected position, or an institutionalized, legislative framework?
These thoughts and more spun through Al's head as he walked back towards the dormitory. He had difficulty functioning and had to stop rest multiple times, so focused was he on the contents of his mind
“That's what this is all about,” he murmured to himself. “Vengeance.”
“What's that?” Harry asked, not clearly hearing Al, but close enough to know that he was speaking.
“I thought perhaps this was about justice, but now I'm not so sure. There is no forgiveness in these attacks. There is only blatant cruelty, under the premise of justified action.” Harry nodded, grimly.
“Rob said that the three burnt figures in the pantry were the victims from the gas station, but they weren't really the figures from the gas station – only representations. The static was the same, the figures were different – sometimes they have guns, claws, knives, matches, gasoline, a cross for God's sake. Even the trees move in accordance with the will of this thing.
Harry let him ramble, and Al noticed his patience.
“The entity replicates the emotional profile of the victims as well as the physical manifestations of the crime.”
Harry considered the statement.
“You mean because we were able to get to him at first, but not the second time – you think that was intentional?” Harry asked.
Al nodded, silently.
“The entity was trying to evoke the same feelings of helplessness and desperation, in addition to giving Rob a measure of security, like the people in the gas station must have felt before John started the fire,” Al responded.
“It is possible,” Al continued, “That this is some kind of supernatural realm, where judgment is dispensed to those who deserve it.”
“A layer of the inferno, more like it,” said Harry, taking a seat next to Al on the grass.
Al turned and stared at Harry, his mind not quite grasping the truth.
“Why do you think that you and I were left as the last two?” Al asked.
“Your question presumes some kind of intelligent design behind these attacks,” Harry responded.
“I think that much is obvious, and you're right, but I do not know why we have been left till last, except to say that maybe the perpetrator of these vigilante punishments has placed us on a list of priorities.”
“A naughty and nice, list?” Harry scoffed.
“Something like that,” replied Al.
“Well if that's the case, then I don't think you need to worry about who will go next,” Harry replied.
Al grew silent.
“I'm ex-military; a trained killer. You've never killed anyone. I can see it in your eyes. You were lying to us since the beginning. You may have even lied to get into prison in the first place – which makes you a fool, but not a criminal,” Harry stated, bluntly.
Al laughed at this assertion, and responded without hesitation.
“You may have killed during your service, but I've seen your heroic impulse first hand. It is true that I never killed anyone. I covered for my sister's actions against a night guard who repeatedly raped her while she slept. I don't pretend to know much about you, but I know what I've seen, and I feel as though there is a reason that you have not been targeted, as of yet.”
The two men stood up facing one another.
A slight wind rolled along the hill sending the surrounding blades of grass into a cascading ripple as a new understanding blossomed between the two, and a mark of respect crossed both their faces.
There was no longer any need to operate under the pretense of criminality as they prepared to face the task before them.
Al took a deep breath, and resigned himself. “As I mentioned before, I feel this place is supernatural in nature. I believe this to be a realm of judgment,” Al began, “As such, I anticipate a run in with whatever is responsible for exacting punishment. When that takes place, I am prepared to accept whatever judgment the spirits of this place have in store for me” he concluded.
“But you've already admitted that you haven't done anything,” Harry reminded him.
“I will accept punishment in my sister's stead, so she can remain safe,” Al replied, simply.
Harry paused a moment. He considered scoffing at the man before him, but Al's resolve was so authentic, that he held his tongue in respect, simply nodding at his fellow prisoner.
“Not if I can kill it first,” Harry claimed.
With that, Harry began moving toward the workshop, with some vague idea about assembling a type of electro-shock tazer out of Matt's rifle experiments, a coil of wire and a car battery.
He wasn't sure if the idea was reasonable, beneficial, or even possible, but he couldn't just sit and do nothing, and he was not simply going to submit to the whim of some violent, judgmental entity.
For the first time in a while, Harry felt as though he had something to fight for, namely, preventing anyone else from being thrown into this purgatory.