: Sweet Release

BEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP

Grunting, I rolled the tattered blanket off my body. Instead of getting up right away to finish my morning routine, I stared at the ceiling, laying in my bed.

[Why am I doing this? What's the point? Why...]

I thought this line to himself, slowly - almost sluggishly- several more times before I mustered up the energy to stand up. As I walked to the bathroom the wash my face and brush my teeth for the day, several letters scattered on my bedroom floor caught the bottom of my feet.

I picked them up, and quickly looked them over.

[Dammit, I still need to pay these off, how in the hell am I going to manage?]

The letters I had picked up were bill notifications, some were from college, others were for my car, and the last portion were from the hospital.

I had recently almost graduated college, but dropped out last minute. Why? Well, I was working full-time to pay for expenses and by the last semester I had just gotten burnt out. I figured I should take a break, and just work for a bit.

Turns out, I was getting burnt out from my job too. I had a shitty boss and shitty hours and the job was stressful as hell. Long story short, the job sucked. I wanted to quit, but I couldn't find another job that paid as well as this one, and I really needed to pay for car repairs.

But to top it all off were the hospital bills. I have had clinical brutal depression since a young age, and the medication I needed to take was super expensive. The medication helped, yeah, but only to the point where I could be functional. Plus the check ups and appointments costed a lot too, but without the medication I couldn't get myself to work.

Because of all this bullshit in my life, I tried to escape my feelings often. Usually that consisted of video games, working out, napping, or drinking, but I had recently tried getting into the dating scene.

Unfortunately for me, all the women I met either just wanted sex or ended up breaking things off with me due to personal reasons. Occasionally, it was because they found someone better. I couldn't really get upset at them though, I was a pretty cynical and jaded person and I realized that they probably escaped a fate worse than mine. Good on them. Definitely didn't help with my depression though.

Obviously not the hardest life or the worst life, but wanting to die even though there's really nothing wrong except for your brain can make you feel insanely guilty, and I always felt like a piece of shit knowing that fact. The only reason I could choose not to end myself was because I cared for my family too much. Knowing they would cry at my death sucked, but it kept me from offing myself.

Either way, this had been continuing for a couple of months and my depression had been getting worse. Each thing in my life fed the troubles of another thing, and I felt like I was sinking into a spiral of hopelessness and pain.

It was all just a vicious cycle.

I slapped myself quickly, bringing myself out of my thoughts and back into reality.

Pushing all the letters and thoughts aside, I quickly finished my morning routine and ran to the bus stop.

I quickly found a seat on the right of the bus, sat down, and looked out the window, numbly staring as the landscape rolled by. I quickly got bored and looked around the bus for something new to look at.

An old man sat in front of me, and a couple of rowdy teenagers sat a couple of seats back to left. The teens, 2 boys and 1 girl, were cracking crude jokes and laughing loudly, but it didn't really bother me. Let them have their fun and joy. At least one of us should.

The old man in front of me, however, must have thought I was getting irritated or upset, and started talking to me.

"Young man, I know it's early in the morning and their loudness is annoying, but it's too early to start anything, and I'd rather have a peaceful start to my day."

I turned to face him, slightly startled that I was being talked to.

"Oh, sorry sir. I'm not upset at all."

"Really? Your face says otherwise. I may be old, but I'm not senile, and I definitely know when a man looks upset."

"Ahah, sorry sir, I am upset, just not with them. I'm actually a bit envious they're so happy."

"What troubles you, young man? Maybe an old ear can help."

"It's nothing really, I ju-"

I quickly cut off my sentence when I noticed a large man boarding the bus, with the bus driver's hands up.

The large men turned and pointed a handgun at us, then and yelled.

"HEY! STAY IN YOUR SEATS AND DO WHAT I SAY! OR I'LL FILL YOU ALL WITH LEAD!"

Immediately, one of the guys in the teens group started screaming, leading to the other guy and the girl trying to calm him down. The old man looked tense, staring at the man with the gun as he walked to the group of teens.

"Dammit, if I was a few years younger I could take that punk down right now..."

The old man grumbled, completely focused on the gunman walking to the teens.

I looked out the window to check the situation outside. It looks like there were other gunmen getting ready to board the bus, but were struggling with something in the trunk of their car.

[Well' it's now or never, I suppose...]

I leaned over to the old man while the gunman on the bus was distracted with the teens, and whispered,

"Listen gramps, I'm going to try to cause a diversion, I'm counting on you to find the right time to grab the gun."

"Wait, are you crazy?! Hold on, don-"

I had already stood up, and began walking over to the gunman. The gunman was yelling at the crying teenage boy to stop screaming, while his guy friend stood between him and the gunman apologizing. The girl was hugging the screaming teen while crying. I swallowed, trying to get close enough to obscure the gunman's vision of the front of bus. The gunman noticed me, turned around, and aimed straight at my head.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! SIT BACK DOWN OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

I crack a small smirk nervously, and do my best to keep him busy.

"Hey dude, do you know how people work? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure screaming at people to stop screaming with a gun at their face is going to have the opposite effect."

As I talked, the gunman's face grew redder and he was much more focused on me. The old man noticed this, and slowly began moving. I had to keep this idiot's attention.

"You know, I used to study some psychology in college, and numerous research studies show that if you-"

"AAAAGGGHHHHHHH SHUT UP!!!"

THWACK

I crumpled down on the ground, dazed and confused as to how I got down there. Looking up, I saw the gunman kneeling down in front of me, pointing his gun to my head.

"You wanna die, kid?"

I smirked again. Dying? That would be a blessing. I would actually be happy to be free from all the burdens of life.

No, I shouldn't be focused on that, I need to keep distracting this fucker.

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but you see, I work this week so I'm kind of busy. If you want to reschedule, You can kill me-"

Swiftly, I reach up and push the gun upwards. The gunman and I struggle for the gun.

BANG

After the sound of the gunshot, the old man rushes over to us, and the teens huddle together. I felt a coldness sweeping over me. I looked down, seeing both me and the gunman covered in blood. My blood.

The old man kicks the gunman in the face, grabs the gun out of his hand, and shoots him.

Yelling, I hear yelling. The other gunmen board the bus, but are shot down by the old man, who placed a single bullet in each of their heads with deadly precision.

The bus diver rushes over, looking at me in the face. The old man yells at the teenagers to call the police, then faces me.

"Hey kid! HEY! STAY WITH ME, YOU HEAR?!"

The old man and bus driver look at my face, and the bus driver's face looking panicked and the old man filled with concern.

[Funny, I feel so calm. I feel... so... free....]

I smirk, and the bus driver and old man let out a brief chuckle. The old man asks,

"Hey kid what's your name?"

"Seth..."

"Well Seth, the ambulance is going to be here soon, you'll be okay."

I feel faint... tired.... but I need to tell the old man something. I weakly gesture to him to lean closer. He does so. With a smile, I try to lighten the mood.

"Damn gramps.... didn't know.... you were so..... badass...."

And then there was darkness.