Of Freedom's Fall (Death Prediction Project #3)
Harrison Mercer

Fort Hamilton, NY

February 22nd, 2021

2:00 pm

The ambulance arrived about fifteen minutes after Austin and Ryker fled the boat. They assessed me, loaded me onto a stretcher, and took me to the nearest hospital. They made me consent to surgery to have the bullet removed and did it immediately.

I woke up in a hospital bed hours later around noon. The television in the room was tuned to the news. It showed the FBI in boats going out to Staten Island, and raiding the place. Apparently, they had gone to the apartment building Ryū and the others were staying at and questioned them. One thing that was showed over and over was Ryker running out of the crowd to Porter, hugging and kissing him. I was relieved they had found each other after everything.

People were being led away in handcuffs on the boats and in army and police trucks. It wasn’t just Staten Island either, Omaha, Nebraska, Aurora, Colorado, California, Florida. Everywhere we had gone looking for a kid, bases were being raided, people arrested and taken away to jail.

A knock came at my door around 1:00 pm. I looked up and Andy was standing there nervously with a FBI agent behind him.

“Just give me ten minutes, okay?” he says to the agent.

The agent nods unceremoniously and seems annoyed before disappearing out of sight. Andy steps inside the room, he approaches the bed and sits down in the chair beside it.

“They’re here to arrest me, right?” I ask.

“Yeah, following orders blindly doesn’t exactly go off well with them,” he replies. “You doing okay?”

I look down at my side where they removed the bullet and patched me up.

“I’ll be okay,” I reply.

He gives me a small sad smile before looking away.

“Umm, I don’t know how to say this…” he starts.

“Are you breaking up with me?” I reply.

I suspected it. After everything that had happened, we weren’t the same, and he was young and I was going to jail for a long time. I wasn’t going to make him wait for me or expect him to.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he replies quietly.

“No, don’t be sorry. After everything I did to you, I’m surprised you’re not yelling at me,” I reply.

“Tom confessed, too,” he continued quietly.

I smiled at him.

“I knew,” I state.

“What do you mean?” Andy asks.

“He was always watching you, when the higher-ups ordered me to replace a way to keep an eye on you and keep you in line, I felt like I was taking what he wanted,” I explain quietly.

“I hope you’re happy,” I reply, genuinely.

“You’re not mad?” Andy asks.

“Our relationship was never going to work out built on lies,” I reply. “I’m going to prison, Andy. Relationships are unrealistic in there. I don’t think we were right for each other, anyway.”

He reached out and touched my hand, I smiled a little.

“Where are your tags?” Andy asked suddenly.

“In the drawer, why?” I reply.

He opens the little nightstand beside the bed and digs the dog tags out of the plastic bag of possessions they removed from me before I had my surgery. He removes one of the three tags from the chain and does the same to his necklace.

“Just because I’m moving on doesn’t mean I hate you or want to forget you,” he replies.

He secures my tag to his necklace and his to mine.

“I highly doubt they’ll let me keep that in prison, I could use it as a noose or file it into a shiv,” I reply.

“A lot of you will be in solitary confinement, especially you because you betrayed them. I doubt you’re going to do anything with it, I’ll tell them to let you keep it. Maybe I’ll come to visit you every once in a while,” he replies.

He glances at the door knowing the clock is ticking away.

He stands up and steps closer placing a kiss on my forehead.

“I’ll miss you,” he says quietly.

“Me, too,” I reply quietly.

He releases my hand slowly and steps back.

“Goodbye, Harry,” he whispers.

“Goodbye,” I reply.

He steps outside the room and lingers by the doorway with one of the agents. The others come in, read me my charges and rights, and explain where they’ll be moving me after I’ve healed. I’m not really listening, the agent Andy was talking to finally steps inside leaving Andy outside by himself, he waves to me before disappearing out of sight.

I hoped he found happiness with Tom and freedom with the DPP off his back.