Neuroagent

Chapter Ten

((((((TRIGGER::::: SUICIDE WARNING))))))))

When I got close to Willow, I noticed she had the gun to her head and was about to pull the trigger before I yelled, "stop" and closed the distance between us before she turned the gun and pointed it at me.

"Don't try to stop me." Willow said and her voice broke.

"I have to." I told her. "You have a baby that is depending on you."

"You take care of him." She told me. "Now back up. If you come any closer, I will shoot you."

"He is your son." I told her, getting mad. "You would abandon him with strangers, people you just met?"

"I can't handle the pain anymore." She whimpered.

"You can." I said. "I did."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I lost the love of my life as well; although, it wasn't because of this outbreak or anything. It happened years before." I told her. "He was in a car wreck, the police have evidence that someone was with him but can't figure out who. When he wrecked, he hit the steering wheel so hard that it pushed his ribs inward and it pierced his heart. They found him facedown in a mud puddle and the cops flipped him over and was talking to him until the ambulance arrived. They ended up flying him from the local hospital to the hospital in the big city about forty five minutes away. They were operating in hopes of saving him but he died on the operating table. He and I weren't dating when he died, so I wasn't able to tell him I loved him one last time. I wasn't able to tell him I was sorry, I wasn't able to tell him goodbye. When I went to his funeral, he didn't look like himself because the morticians put so much make up on him in order to cover up the bruises on his face. At least you got to say goodbye, at least you got to hear him say I love you, one last time. You have a piece of him back in the VEE. You two have a child together. You need to think about him."

"I can't go on without him. We have been together since the eighth grade." She said as she lifted the gun to her temple, "please take care of my son. His name is Justin Michael Alexander, his birthday is August 6th. Take care of him like he is your own." She looked me in the eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek as she pulled the trigger. As soon as she pulled the trigger, it seemed like everything got silent and moved in slow motion. The bullet went in her right temple and exited through the top left of her head. The gun dropped on the ground and Willow followed a second after. She fell to the ground and Jace ran up behind me.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

All I could do was nod. I have killed Rotters before and sure, I killed the 'bandits' back at the grocery store but I had never seen someone commit suicide. I was in shock. I just stood there and stared at her body as blood began to pool around her head. Jace bent down and picked up the gun, he tucked it in the back of his pants and picked up Willow's body. Jace carried her body to the van quietly. I walked to the back doors and opened it up so Jace could lay Willow next to Jeremy.

"We have to go. Rotters are coming." Aiden said from behind me.

I nodded at him and brushed Willow's hair out of her face which resulted in me getting her blood on my fingers. I stood there and stared at the blood on my fingers. I felt Jace come up behind me and wrap his right arm around my waist and used his left hand to wipe the blood off my fingers. He guided me to the passenger door of the van and opened it then helped me in the seat.

All of a sudden I jumped up and asked Aiden, "how's the baby doing?"

"We got him to sleep. He is fine." Myles said.

"Put him in the van next to me." I said as I climbed to the first row seat behind the driver seat and sat down. Jace walked over to the VEE and unstrapped the baby then brought hin over and put him in the seat next to me. Aiden was behind him and put the diaper bag in the floor behind the driver seat; under the car seat. I looked down at baby Justin sleeping in his car seat and the tears started falling. I understand where Willow was coming from, wanting to end it because she lost the man she loved but I didn't understand how she could leave her child behind. My oldest daughter brought me back from the edge time and time again after the man I loved died, I don't understand how she couldn't think of her child in the end. I rested my head on the handle of the car seat and let the tears fall, landing on baby Justin's baby blanket.