Chapter 24: Yes or No?

I scream bloody murder and stare mouth agape at where my arm had just been seconds before. Zaroff takes his foot off of me and I clench the bloody stump of an arm with my right hand, tears streaming down my face. A pool of blood forms under me, the pain numbed on adrenaline alone. I bite down hard on the collar of my jacket in an attempt to lessen my shreiks of agony. 

"Ruri!!" Leon and Haine charge for me, ignoring the guns already pointed in their direction. General Crimson blocks their path and punches them both back. Haine curses, but immediately runs for me again, only to be taken down by General Crimson once more. Suddenly the only thing I can feel is unearthly cold as black spots dance around my vision.

"I didn't give you permission to die yet." Zaroff smiles down at me. More spots cloud my sight until only Zaroff's wicked smile is the only thing I see. He turns to Braun and throws him a first-aid kit handed to him by one of his underlings. "You're a doctor, right? You should fix up her arm before it's too late." 

Braun doesn't need to be told twice. One moment he's on the other side of the room, and the next moment, he's by my side, trying to stop the blood flowing out like a river. Axel and Lexa can only stare with wide eyes and hold their breath. I hazily look up at Braun and catch sight of his white hair.

"Haine?" I slur quietly, shivering. "I'm really...cold... Where's Braun...?"

"I'm right here." Braun says reasurringly. "Stay with me, Ruri. Hey! Are ya listenin'?!" I weave in and out of consciousness, as I stare up at the man with white hair standing over me.

"I'm cold..." I murmur over and over. "I'm so cold...cold...I'm cold..."

Darkness swallows my vision completely.

~~

I'm awaken by a sudden jump. Slowly, I open my eyes and see Haine's red eyes looking down at me. I move my head off his shoulder and blink in confusion at the ropes that tie his hands behind his back.

"Haine...?" I groan groggily. I look around at my surroundings and realize we're in the back of a truck packed with other Free Army soldiers. My attention turns to the bandages wrapped around the stump of my left arm and I let out a sigh of anguish.

"Two freakin' days we've been traveling." Haine says in exhaustion. "You sleep like a log."

"Well, excuse me." I grumble and move to place my hands on my hips. I look down at where my arm use to be and frown. Haine looks at me and raises a concerned eyebrow.

"Ruri...?" He trails off.

"...I'm like a ghost." I say quietly. "The memory is all still there...it's weird, but...I can still feel my fingers moving even though they're gone. And it hurts so much..."

"Phantom pain." Leon says and I turn, seeing him for the first time. "Braun has the same problem." Thinking of Braun, I shake my head, angry at myself for complaining.

"Speaking of Braun, where is he? Axel and Lexa too?" Leon looks away.

"...I don't know." Leon says quietly. 

Camps. My mind says. They've been taken to camps...

"...Your eyes are back to normal." Leon gives me a small smile. I give him a puzzling look, then remember back to the morning a couple days after we found Lucy as a corpse. Your eyes are different.

"What do you mean?" I ask. 

"Nothing, much." He smiles. "Just...whatever happens...promise me you won't blank out again." I nod my head slowly and he smiles.

"Do you know where we're going?" I ask.

"Straight to Zaroff's HQ." General Crimson grins from a small corner of the truck. An AK-47 is strapped across his chest and he holds it with a cocky smile. "We'll be arriving in moments, actually. Generals go first." I look around and realize every person in this truck has the thick, shiny gold pin of a general rank attached to their uniforms.

"So why am I here?" I ask and he grins.

"It's because Zaroff isn't through with you yet." General Crimson states. "You should be honored. He's taken a liking to you." Rather than telling him how disgusted I am, I decide to show him by raising my middle finger at him. He simply laughs.

"Very cute, Miss Scarlet." He chuckles. "If I could tie your hands behind your back, I would. Too bad you've only got one."

"Don't you feel anything?" I ask with a shake of my head. "Tricking us, hurting us, and now you're leading us straight into the lion's den? Have you truly forgotten what it's like to have a heart?" For once that cheery smile of his leaves his face and he looks at me with an unreadable expression.

"I threw away my humanity a long time ago, Miss Scarlet." He replies. His face is cold and uncaring, but something about his eyes capture my attention. Empty. Alone. Sad. 

"You say that..." I begin icily. "You say that, but you don't mean it at all. You're afraid so you flock to Zaroff hoping you'll find your meaning to exist. In reality, you're crying out to be saved...aren't you?"

"Are you my therapist now?" He laughs with a shake of is head. "You're so naive, it's quite sad, Miss Scarlet."

"There's no use talking to him, Ruri." Haine growls. "He's completely lost it." Crimson nods his head in agreement then looks away.

~~

"I'm glad you could all make it." Zaroff grins. Haine, Leon, and I sit before him in a large room, chained down by heavy locks tied around our wrists.

"Where are your guards?" Haine spits. "Aren't you afraid to be alone without a hundred gunmen at your side?"

"They're currently getting ready to execute your friends on my command." Zaroff grins in reply. "Of course I'm the one who gets the honor of killing off you Generals. It would be noisy to bring you all in at once though, so I'll start with three people at a time."

"So what are you making things all dramatic for?!" Leon roars. "Ruri isn't even a general! Why is she here?!"

"I don't like being rejected. Call it punishment. She refuses to follow me, I kill the two people she cares about most in this world." Zaroff smiles like the Cheshire Cat.

"How do you know we're the people Ruri cares about most?" Haine challenges.

"Did you really think I was going to let your 'Free Army' run amok?" Zaroff laughs. "I've been keeping tabs on every single one of you. The more you know about your enemies, the easier it is to make them suffer."

"Well," Leon says, beaming at me. "I can die happy now."

"Good to know." Zaroff smiles. "But first you two have an option. Now give me a simple answer. Will you agree to follow under me? I will allow you festering maggots to live if you do. What will it be? Yes or no?"

"Eat s____ and die." Haine spits hatefully.

"Well said." Leon agrees.

"How vulgar." Zaroff frowns. "Don't you realize I'm all in favor of the greater good of humanity? Only those that struggle to survive have a right to live! This is why I admire you Free Army soldiers, I truly do. You fight because you feel you have a right to live. You put your life on the line to win! Because I admire you all so, I'm giving you a chance to change the world with me! Don't you understand?! This world is rotten to the core! We must cleanse it by getting rid of the weak and feeble! Humans have always evolved forward, so why have we started moving back?! Why are we letting primates rule and destroy this world?!?! If all men are created equal, why are there humans that are more beautiful than others? Smarter? Stronger?! It's a lie! The truth is, strong devour the weak! So why not kill? Why not rid this world of humans with no purpose?! If your purpose in life is not clear, you will never see the whole picture! I was put on this Earth to unite the strong and destroy the weak! I was born with the sole purpose of cleansing this world of its impurities!! So what is your purpose?!"

"To kill deranged lunatics like you." Haine answers. "Humans are weak. It's a fact of life. As long as we live, there will always, always be a minority. If you think you'll be able to change that, you're dead wrong. Grow up, Zaroff. It's you that doesn't see the whole picture."

"Insolent swine!" Zaroff bellows, his eyes wild. "You're just like the rest of them!! You don't understand the complexity of it all! There's the losing side, and there's the winning side! Black and white! There is no gray! There has never been gray! There will never be gray! In the end, only the strong survive! That is life! That is humanity! And only those that fight to live are granted a chance at the game of life! This world is about conquering! It's about submission, and it's about power! And under my power, I will unite this world! I will fix the flaws, purify and polish it until everyone understands! Join me! You've lost! You're weak! The only place you can go now is before me, bowing down! You have no other options, because you've lost! Losers do not get an option! "

"...Let me guess," Haine smirks. "You were never loved as a child."

"No," Leon grins. "He probably just went crazy from OCD and that's why he wants to clean this world so badly. One dirty bathroom at a time."

"If you could start with the girl's restroom back at base," I continue, "that would be swell."

Zaroff takes in a deep breath and calms himself down.

"I see you think this is all a joke." He snarls.

"Hey," Haine shrugs. "If you're going to kill us anyways, why not screw around?"

"So you're refusing my offer to live?" Zaroff asks.

"Eat s___ and die, remember?" Leon says. Suddenly I have a dreadful feeling in my gut. Leon turns to me and smiles, telling me it's okay. Telling me to be strong.

"Even in the face of death," Haine says, quoting the Free Army aphorism, "stand strong and be triumphant."

"...Too bad." Zaroff sighs, pulling out a pistol. I immediately recognize that it's Haine's own gun. "All I asked for was a 'yes' or a 'no'." Zaroff raises the gun. A hear the sound of two quick fires and everything goes into slow motion.

A bullet explodes into Leon's forehead. I feel my entire body scream, but the only thing I hear is a distant ringing in my ear. As he's falling back, he looks over at me and smiles one last smile before his spirit exits his body. Leon slowly falls onto his back. Debris bounces up from the impact. Haine follows with a bullet to his heart. Everything is splattered red.

"Die?" Leon's words echo in my head. "What's a man without his pride?"

"I still wanted to say the words 'I love you'. So..thanks, Ruri. For putting up with my feelings."

I scream, but I can't hear anything. Everything is red. 

Everything is red.