Hostile Takeover ❖ Jake Riley | ✓ [book 1]

19~ The Abyss will Gaze Back at You

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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Every gun in that room was drawn and pointed at Max's head, every owner with itchy trigger fingers. Everybody, except Jake. Jake didn't draw his gun, he didn't become hostile; he just slowly began to remove his helmet, then his vest, then his jacket.

"Jake, what're you doing!?" Lex asked him.

"It's okay," he assured him, "It's okay everybody. You can all stand down,"

"Is he serious right now?" Vicki asked. Jenna met Jake's eyes, seeing the seriousness and sincerity of his plea.

"Listen to him," she said. The others looked at each other, adrenaline pumping through their veins, but they slowly put their weapons down. Jake took off his gun and tossed it to the side, then he put his hands up, warily eyeing the trigger in Max's hand.

"Max, think about what you're doing here," he said.

"I know exactly what I'm doing, Jake," he sneered back, "I've been wanting to do this for a long time,"

"Do what? Kill yourself, and take several million people with you?" he took a step forward, but Max held the trigger higher.

"I'd watch my step if I were you, Jake. This device is filled with particles extracted from Virus 1-8-6-4-9. One wrong move, and the virus spreads at the rate of a hydrogen bomb, all across the state, maybe even the East Coast," he said, "I believe many of you are quite acquainted with this virus, right Lex?"

"Max," Lex took a step forward, "I get that you're angry for what happened to your family. Like Jenna said, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair. Believe me, man, I know how you feel," he said.

Max gave a pitiful chuckle, "You know how I feel? You know how I feel!? You have no idea how I feel! You don't know what it means to have everything ripped away from you, to have an entire city turn its back on you for the color of your skin and the stigma behind your culture. You have no idea what it means to be truly out-casted from society, and bounced from home-to-home like a dog! You have everything, you don't know how I feel at all," he spat, "You all wanted me to be a terrorist, well fine. Now, I'm a terrorist,"

Jake looked at Max with sad eyes, but not out of pity, out of compassion, "I know how you feel, Max," he admitted. Max glowered at Jake.

"Oh, do you now? Your family was accused of being terrorists?"  he asked.

"No. Just hear me out, okay? I know why you're angry," he took another, slow step forward, "You're not angry at these guys for making a mistake, because let's face it, Slater was still a rookie detective sixteen years ago," he said. Everybody then turned to look at Slater, who's face was scrunched up in confusion.

"You're not angry at the government, you're angry at life," Jake continued on, "I get it. Life seriously sucks. You know, you start out as a young kid, you're playing pretend in the backyard with your buddies, and then all of the sudden, you're cramming for finals, or you're sweating over your job interview. You're stressed at work, you have bills to pay, you keep letting the milk run bad. We work hard for years and years at a time, and how are we rewarded?"

Max's eyes were glued to Jake's, he gulped back the pain in his throat as he answered, "We die,"

"That's right, Max. Everybody in this room is going to die one day. Who knows, by the looks of it, it might even be today," he took another step, "I know what it means to be pissed off at life. I grew up in a cold home, with cold parents, and not that many friends. I had my issues, and I tried to numb my issues through other things. Booze, girls, I even tried pot once. And then, the first outbreak occurred, and I was caught in the middle. Throughout that first day, I just kept thinking to myself 'Jesus Christ, this is it! This is how my crappy life ends'. And then I met somebody, and she... she gave my life a whole new meaning. I fell in love with her because she wasn't just another face I'd pass on the street, I could see my life revolving around this girl, my life could actually have a purpose. But then she died, life took her away from me, and I was back to crappy," then he took another step.