The Evolution Trigger (Evolution Trigger Trilogy Book 1)

by C. S. Won

  No, damn it, no! Gabe picked the gun up from the floor, nearly juggling it in his haste. Choking it with both hands, he curled a finger around the trigger and looked up, ready to take aim, but was blinded by a brilliant flash of light, a gust of steaming heat filling the air.

  The rookie pulled back, screaming. A spark of fire swallowed him whole. His skin flared up into sheets of flickering red flames, his face vanishing inside a cowl of fire. He fell on his back, thrashing about. Several of the firefighters broke from their stupor this time and jumped into action, using their turnout coats to bat away at the flames, slapping at the rookie as his flesh took on a darker hue. But the fire persisted, hissing each time a flap of cloth punched at it, and it soon became apparent that the rookie was in his final throes, his screams turning desperate and soft. The firefighters kept going, faces wrenched with exertion as they fought to at least preserve the body, striking at the flames until they sizzled away into a dusting of smoke.

  When the firefighters were finally done, they pulled back with their blackened and bloodied coats hanging by their sides, sweat trickling down their faces. The rookie that remained no longer resembled the rookie they knew. Much like the chief, the body had been cooked through, skin flaking and dark, smoke leaking from every open orifice, all distinguishable features perished from the fire’s raking. One man dropped to the ground and sobbed, burying his hands into his face. Another crouched beside him to offer comfort, draping an arm across his slumped shoulders and whispering into his ear. Adam had been forgotten, Station 4 focused on the bodies that lied before them. But Gabe hadn’t forgotten. Swelling with grief and anger, he raised the gun at Adam, who was sitting on the floor with his back turned to him.

  “Get up, Erste. Get your ass up!” Gabe said.

  Adam turned to look at him, showing nothing as he stared at the gun. “What do you think you’re doing, Kwon?”

  “Shut the fuck up.” He motioned for him to stand. Adam obliged, standing up slowly. The rookie had done a number on him. His cheeks were swollen and bleeding, and he made pained noises whenever he tried to straighten his posture.

  “Are you going to shoot me?” Adam nodded toward the bodies. “You want to punish me for what I did? You want revenge?” He hocked up a comet of bloody mucus and spat it across the floor. “You won’t have a better opportunity than now. Do it.”

  Gabe gripped the gun tighter, so tight that it began to shake, the trigger biting into his index finger. With just the slightest bit of pressure, he could end this once and for all. Adam would no longer be a menace, and people would no longer have to live in fear. Armed police officers wouldn’t have to prowl the streets, searching for one man anymore. Gabe would be hailed as a hero by the people for stopping the mad man, for bringing peace back to their city. All he had to do was apply pressure with his index finger and the world would be a better place, but as Adam stood, one arm wrapped around his torso, staring back with those bloodshot eyes of his, Gabe found great difficulty in completing the task. Even as he tried to harden his resolve a great fear took him, one that promised a heavy burden upon his soul for the rest of his life if he proceeded with his action. Could he live with himself if he took a man’s life, even one as dangerous as Adam’s? It would be a simple act; only a minimal amount of effort was required to pierce a bullet through his heart. Pull the trigger and the bullet will do the rest. But the cost, he feared, would be too high. The gun rattled louder in his hands. The weight of the entire world was upon him.

  “Can’t do it, coward? Killing is such an easy thing to do, once you try it. All you need to do is take that first step and the rest will follow.”

  “Shut up,” Gabe said.

  “I was horrified too, when I first killed somebody. It was a complete accident, something that I didn’t mean to do. It made me sick to my stomach, and it took me a long while to get over it. But once the shock wore off and I revisited the act again, and again, and again, and again—well, you get used to it, and soon enough you become numb to the sensation. It’s not so bad. Here, let me show you.”

  He began to move, grimacing as he made his way toward him. Gabe widened his stance and shoved the barrel of the gun in the space between them. Adam pressed on, unfazed.

  “Don’t come any closer,” Gabe said.

  “How long are you going to dip your toes in the water before you jump right in? If you’re going to shoot, then shoot. Pull the trigger and get this over with.”

  “What happened to you? Why are you doing this?” Gabe asked.

  “Why do you keep talking? Just shoot me for fuck sakes.”

  “You never went around killing people and looking to settle scores. You used to save lives, not take them. You enjoyed the work we did; you used to relish in it. What happened to that man? What happened to the Adam that did a lot of good for the world?”

  “That man never existed. You only saw what you wanted to see. You thought you saw a man who enjoyed what he did, but in reality, I couldn’t care less. I hated my job. I hated how I had to risk my own ass to save some weakling trapped in a fire. You think I cared if some brat was burned alive? I couldn’t give less of a shit if I tried.”

  “Then why not just quit? Why stick around?”

  “Because of Madeline.”

  “Madeline?”

  “I had no means of access to her, but Jae does. I figured if I stuck close to him, then Madeline would invariably be close by, always there to support her man. So, I applied and took the job here, and used him as a proxy for Madeline.”

  “That’s the only reason why you hung around? For a girl that was off-limits?”

  “I’ve loved Madeline since I laid eyes on her so many years ago. She should have been with me. I could have shown her a love richer than anything Jae could have given her. So, I waited patiently for the day that they would break up because I was going to swoop right in and take her for myself.”

  “You’re an idiot. They were never going to split.”

  “Yes, and I learned that the hard way.”

  “Then all that shit you said about her—about how you slept with her—that was a lie, wasn’t it? A lie that you used to drive a wedge between the two?”

  Adam shrugged. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re full of shit. You’re nothing but a pathetic orbiter. You never slept with her. You just wanted to piss off Jae and throw shade at their relationship.”

  Adam shrugged again. “I don’t care what you believe.”

  The entire station was on their feet, urging Gabe on, barking at him to shoot the bastard dead, to make him pay for his sins. They were a gallery of snarling lips and bared teeth, demanding that blood be spilled, their need for it driven by a thirst for revenge. Even Stephanie had been swept up by the mob, her focus no longer on the chief’s burnt body but on Gabe, screaming at him to kill the motherfucker.

  “Are you going to shoot me or not?” Adam asked. He was closer now, so close that Gabe could count the individual scars streaking across his face. Adam’s hand was glowing dark orange like a departing sun, but even with danger so imminent, Gabe found he could not pull the trigger. That hesitancy acted a counterweight to his desire for revenge, and the former was winning the battle for his soul. Even as Adam reached up with his hand, Gabe could not do what needed to be done.

  “Give my regards to the chief,” Adam said.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Adam pulled back, hand losing its luster, and looked out the opened garage door, eyes searching through the pale light. The sirens grew louder and more distinct, their volume suggesting a sizable mass of pursuit vehicles. Adam looked at Gabe, let loose a sneer, and broke into a sprint through the garage door, disappearing into the winter mist. Gabe followed with the gun, the barrel tracing the path of Adam’s movement, following him until there was nothing left to aim at but the cold air.

  Gabe slumped to the ground, letting the gun fall slack in his lap. He thought he would feel relieved, knowing that he didn’t have to stain his own
hands with the blood of another man, but all he felt was disappointment weighing heavy on his mind. He may have spared his own soul by showing mercy, but such naïve compassion could result in someone else getting hurt, something he could have prevented. The thought of it made him burn with regret. He cursed himself for his cowardice, his unwillingness to do what was necessary.

  Lights flashed outside the garage, squad cars pulling up to the driveway. Car doors opened and slammed, and a swarm of blues descended upon the entrance, guns cocked and ready to go, a sea of stern faces and thumping boots. Gabe saw how ready they were and how eager they seemed to put a bullet in Adam’s brain, their eyes searching for the suspect they’d been chasing for several days. If only they had arrived five minutes earlier; then, he could have witnessed the conclusion that should have been.

  Chapter 15

  Breath smoking in the air, and one hand gripped tight around the collar of her coat, Madeline stopped near the edge of the curb in front of the hospital. She looked up at the sky. Clouds darkened the world in a misty smear, spread out from one end of the horizon to the other like jelly on toast. The wind had picked up considerable speed since she’d left for work, howling in her ears like a ghost. Tree branches groaned as they shifted in the bluster. Droplets of rain prickled the ground, painting a faint pattern of black spots across the parking lot. Soft thunder rumbled somewhere in the far distance.

  The forecast had called for a storm to pass through the area in the evening, but it appeared nature had other ideas, pushing the storm through hours before it was supposed to begin. Thunder rumbled again, closer this time, close enough for Madeline to grip the collar of her coat that much tighter.

  Is this a continuation of the storm from six months ago? Will it be me that ends up in a coma this time?

  She stood at the edge of that curb for what seemed an eternity, watching the world dim, fixing her hair as the wind whipped it around. Her keys were dangling by the tips of her fingers, jingling from the wind that passed by, waiting to take her where she desired. But, she stayed as she was, unsure of what to do or where to go. For years, she had developed a consistent routine, one where she would drive home for lunch, either to eat alone or with Jae, take a thirty-minute power nap if time allowed, and then come back to finish up the rest of her shift. But today that routine was altered. Home was no longer a place for respite, no longer her sanctuary. After her fight with Jae she was in no mood to go back—back to where it all started. The words that were spoken rang in her ears, those harsh, hurtful words, clear as the moment she heard them in, the sting of them still prickling her skin with the heat of anger and frustration.

  How could he accuse her of sleeping with Adam? Blatant and obvious would not even begin to describe the nature of the lie, and yet, Jae chose to entertain the idea of it for some reason. She cared nothing for Adam, even before his accident with the fire. He was someone that was just simply there, another passing face in the crowd. He had spoken a few words to her throughout the years, much of it brief and forgettable, but beyond that he was not a part of her life in any way, shape, or form. And yet, when Adam chose to invent a falsehood, Jae believed him. Why? It didn’t make any sense.

  Madeline leaned back on her heels, pushing her breath through her nose. What would motivate Adam to even say such a thing in the first place? What was his intent? She fidgeted with her keys, grinding them between her thumb and forefinger. She had heard the rumors growing up, the whispers being passed around how Adam had a major crush on her. But that was many years ago, when they were teenagers dealing with raging hormones. There was no way his crush could have lasted this long, not for more than a decade. The man even got married. Any feelings he had left for her should have been squashed into the ground by that point. To still be obsessed with her would have been sad, pathetic even.

  But that, she supposed, was the point. Adam was a sad man. Even in their brief interactions she could see it. When she thought back to the restaurant fire and listened to his declaration of love, she remembered feeling nothing but disgust. To hear an undesirable like Adam say such a thing made her skin crawl. How can he still fawn over her like some lovesick puppy when she had ignored him for so many years? It angered her, knowing the fool couldn’t take a hint and move on. What delusion was he sustaining himself on to think that he still he had a chance with her? He was not even a tenth of the man Jae was. He wasn’t even fit to sulk in his shadow. There was no comparison between the two. If Adam had no hope of subverting Jae’s place on the hierarchy, what made him think he could be with Jae’s girl?

  She sighed. Thinking about the situation made her want to go home and speak with Jae—if he was still there. Ugly words had been spilled, some very hurtful, but words could also mend and heal. Madeline found herself longing for a reconciliation. It would have been foolish to break everything apart because of some madman’s deranged lies. She wanted to sit with Jae and hash things out, to do what they could to recover their relationship, and God willing, their engagement.

  If not for them, then at least for the sake of the baby. She put a hand to her stomach, staring down at the bump that should be forming in the coming months. The child was everything at this point. All the moves they make from here on out had to take into the account the baby’s future. She did not want her child to grow up without knowing the father. Jae had to be around for the sake of the child’s wellbeing.

  She made her way across the parking lot. The wind picked up speed, inflating the bottom of her coat into a bell shape. The rain grew in intensity, a steady drizzle pattering against her face like small kisses. I hope Jae will be home when I get there. If not, then it can wait till later tonight. We’ll fix this, no matter what it takes.

  A swell of heat enveloped her as she entered her car. “Dear Lord,” she said. Why is it so hot? Did I leave my keys in and forget to turn the heater off? She rummaged around the ignition but realized she still had the keys in her other hand. What the hell? Then why is it so—

  “Don’t scream.”

  The hand came into view, glowing bright in the deepest shade of orange she’d ever seen, drawing close enough to nearly blind her. “What . . . ?”

  “Start the car. Drive.”

  Squinting through the brightness of the hand in her face, she looked in the rearview mirror and glimpsed scars, networked across patches of dead, blackened skin, shifting until two bloodshot eyes stared right at her. She drew in her breath, stomach twisting into a thousand little knots.

  “Adam.”

  “I said drive.”

  There were fresh wounds on his face; a swelling in his cheeks and a busted lip. Bruises too, maybe, but it was difficult to tell with the burnt skin. Teeth clenched together in a show of pain, Adam had his stump pressed against his ribs. What happened? Was he in a fight?

  He moved in closer, almost touching her face with his hand. The light nearly blinded her, its heat so warm. Despite his warning she felt compelled to scream, but her rising panic sealed her voice. She tried to back away, but the hand followed like a snake following the movements of its charmer, and she had little space to move to.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Madeline, but I will if I have to. Drive.”

  She nodded stupidly, fumbling with her keys. Her hands were slick with sweat. She tried to slow her breathing but found it impossible to do so. Her choked breathing turned to whimpers. She wanted to cry, but she was too scared to do even that, afraid of what Adam might do. Finally, the key found its way into the ignition. Lights flashed; the engine roared; and as Adam commanded, they were out of the parking lot and onto the road. To where, she did not know, but she figured as long as she followed his directions, she wouldn’t get hurt.

  “Take a left up here,” Adam said, hand curling into a pointed finger.

  “Where are we going?”

  “My place. I’m going to pack up a few things, and then we’re going to get out of here, you and I.”

  “What? No, I can’t—I can’t leave. There’s no way
.”

  “You have nothing to worry about. I’m going to treat you well, better than Jae. You’re going to love me more than you ever loved him. It may take time but our love will blossom. I can promise you that.”

  Adam’s hand stopped glowing, becoming nothing more than blackened flesh mapped with the scars of a horrible fire, and pulled it away, freeing Madeline of its oppression. She looked around to see if she could spot a police vehicle, but the streets were sparse on this rainy afternoon. Only a couple cars passed by, their drivers ignorant of her dilemma.

  A hand draped across her shoulders. She recoiled in fear, nearly screaming.

  “You won’t burn. It took a while to get used to, but I finally learned how to control it. I can turn it on and off now, like a switch. I don’t even have to think about it. Look.” Adam reached forward, and his hand began to glow like before, orange in hue. After a moment, the glow went away, the scarred hand back in its place. “See? Nothing to be worried about.”

  “Why are you doing this?” She asked.

  “Doing what?”

  “Kidnapping me.”

  “Kidnapping you? I’m not kidnapping you. This is simply the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. We’re finally going to be together. After all those years of pining for one another, we can at last be united as one without fear or shame.” He pointed forward. “Keep going straight, past this light, for another two miles. After that, you’ll make a right into a subdivision called Woodland Drive. My house is the fifth on the left.”

  “Pining for you?” She wanted to laugh but dared not to.