“How would you like to die, Denny?”
A deafening silence followed my question; I hadn’t expected an answer. It would be interesting to know though if he had any preferences. It said a lot about a person, their choice. And it might help us if he had an appropriately bizarre idea.
“What do you suggest Eliza? Since you seem to have the most experience with this it seems.”
Denny had me worried; he seemed defeated. Was he perhaps worried that he would actually die today? Time for reassurances, he hadn’t even asked about the drug I picked up.
“I do have experience with this, more with actual death than simulated but still. Enough to know that this will work and you will walk away tonight a free man.”
“As free as a dead man can be you mean?”
“Oh, you will learn just how free that can be Denny. Far more than you realize.”
He shook his head and sunk back into a sulk, what an immortal he would make. This pup had no idea just how good it could be if you could sink your teeth into it.
“Denny, please trust me when I say that I will keep you safe. That this is only fake, it will appear real enough to fool the examiner.”
“Why do you care, why do you want to keep me alive then? I am nothing to you, wouldn’t it just be easier for you if I died?”
“Yes it probably would be Denny, but I can’t. I can’t explain to you right this minute why but I promise I will. I will tell you exactly why I am saving you.”
“Of course, you will, just as I will wake up tonight and walk away a free man.”
I wanted to reassure him, tell him of the drug but I suspected that it would all land on deaf ears. He was in a dark place and not ready to deal with more truths. Or possibly just not willing to deal with all I had to say for now.
Eventually, I would have to tell him of our connection, and I knew it would be a conversation that neither of us would enjoy. He probably wouldn’t even believe me, but he would be alive and free of the Man.
Something I only dreamed about, night after night. In the endless void of daily tasks, that consumed a bit of my soul each time. At one point, I thoroughly researched the people I was assigned to kill and in many cases their existences were distasteful, and there were very valid reasons to end it for them.
But some others were average people, seemingly in the wrong place and at the wrong time. I assumed that they saw something of the Man that it was deemed too close to revealing them and their actual dealings. But it was almost impossible to know the truth of it, most of the ones I interrogated didn’t even understand.
As we drove in silence to Denny’s little haven at the end of a neighborhood, I knew that today was the last time I would do anything that appeared in service of the Man. Today was the change for me, the actual change in my heart and being.
No longer would I be their slave, doing as expected and in the manner they expected. I would appear to kill Denny and they would be satisfied. But I would know that I had defied them fully.
“I want to die in my car, exhaust fumes filling the inside. I know it isn’t all that interesting a way to go but I have read it is peaceful. You fall asleep and aren’t aware of what’s going on.”
I was startled, Denny’s request was an odd one. Not one that I had expected and one I knew from experience weren't nearly as peaceful as he thought it was.
“Ok Denny, we can do that. The medical examiner has probably seen enough of these to call it on the scene and just send you off to the morgue.”
“Thanks, Eliza.”
“You are welcome Denny, but you don’t have to worry about anything hurting. The drugs will make sure you aren’t aware of any of the scene dressing I will be doing.”
“If you say so, I am still not entirely sure I will wake up.”
“You will, the drugs are efficient. They wear off on time and with few side effects. You probably will be hungrier than you have ever been in your life and tired.”
I looked at Denny; he had the look of a condemned man about him. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed when he seemed to lose hope. He appeared to have accepted actual death is waiting for him at the end of this trip.
We turned into his drive, a small house at the end of a lane. It was a pleasant little place by the looks of things, the garden small and neat. No rose bushes or many flowers other than what grew wild decorated his garden. Not quite bare but not over crowded.
He remotely opened the garage door and I parked the junker centered in the garage, not sure if that’s how he parked it usually. But no other vehicles would make it seem logical.
I sat back and waited for the garage door to roll back down again. Looking at Denny’s tortured and sad face made me itch for action. I gathered my bag and exited the car quickly when the door finally slid back into position.
“Where is your garden hose, Denny?” I asked as I dumped my bag on the tool bench he had to the one side of the garage. Taking out the little bag of drugs that held his death and future I waited for his answer.
When he didn’t answer I turned around, not sure what to expect, would he be holding a gun or just be lost? He stood in front of his car staring out into nothing, hand resting gently on the hood.
“Do you think I’ll be able to get a good car in my afterlife, Eliza?”
I walked over to him and took his hand, attempting to bring him back to life. To get his attention, he needed to focus and go into this with a better attitude than he currently had.
“There will be many good cars in your afterlife, heck possibly even some awesome motorcycles.”
He smiled a little and nodded, held my hand tightly and pointed with the other to the other end of the garage. I let go of his hand and quickly moved over and grabbed the coiled hose from the floor.
Denny brought over duct tape and we quickly stuffed the hose into the exhaust pipe and taped it in place. I rolled down one window and inserted it securely in place. Afterwards, we stood back and looked over our handiwork.
“I love this car, never thought it would be where I died, though.”
“And you won’t, not really. Only officially.”
“That’s not nearly as reassuring as you think you know.”
I clapped him on the back, “Let’s get you drugged up and ready Denny.”
By now it was early afternoon, the day was flying by and much still needed to happen. I took out the two little pills that would do their magic. They would slow his heart down to almost nothing. So slow that it would only require a beat an hour and the odds were in our favour that no EMT would have the luck to pick up when they found him.
“Here you go Denny, drink these. They will slow you heart down and for all the world it would look like you aren’t breathing. Your body will take on the death pallor and to the EMT’s you will be dead.”
“So this will work Eliza, I will wake up won’t I?”
He held the two little pills gingerly as if they would be able to do their thing by mere proximity.
“I promise Denny, this will work. And tonight after the morgue employees have left I will get you. You will wake up to a friendly face and your new life will start.”
He grunted, closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed them down without any water. I helped him into the car and set up the rest of his death by myself. After the car was idling, I left his garage to make the call.