“Cough…Cough… Shit! It hurts.” A man mutters, wiping the blood off from his lips with the back of his right hand.

He takes a deep breath while looking around but the pain in his chest and lungs makes him stop. He struggles to breath; he tries to ease the pain, pressing his chest with his hands but the cold prick rising from his stomach towards his heart makes him give up and he falls from the bench.

A few passersby notice his fall and they come to his aid. A young woman with a track-suit kneels besides him, “Are you okay? Should I call for help?”

The man takes a moment to grab his breath, he then looks at the woman and smiles, “I am good. Thank you.”

“Don’t overwork yourself.” The woman gets up and starts jogging.

The man gets up and looks around, the few people that were remaining also disperse. He sighs and sits on the bench while wiping the sweats off his forehead.

He looks at his watch and shakes his head, “Still have to wait few hours.”

The man looks at the moon and gets lost in his thoughts. The sun rays start diminishing and the moon starts to dominate the sky while the stars act as shiny decorates. The few people that were jogging and others that were having a great time viewing the sunset start heading home. The man remains seated still looking at the sky.

Few hours Later.

An old man around late fifties walks towards the bench where the man was sitting. He slowly makes his way while looking at the man with pity and sadness in his eyes. The old man sits on the left side of the bench as he too looks at the night sky. The two remain silent and after few minutes the man speaks while clearing his throat.

“You think there is life out there Greg?”

Greg looks at the man and asks, “Lev, you interested in aliens now? You are in your thirties for God’s sake.”

Lev chuckles, “You know what I mean to say. So, do you think I will get a second chance?”

Greg runs his hand through his white hair; Levs smiles and raises his eyebrows. “What!” Greg asks getting slightly annoyed.

Lev raises both his hands while backing off, “You always rub your hair when you don’t know the answer.”

“I know answers to every question out there in the world.” He stands up spreading his arms and giving a smirk.

“Try me, boy.” He yells.

“Okay then. What came first Chicken or an Egg?” Lev asks placing his hand under the chin and giving a smug smile.

Greg’s smirk disappears, and he points at Lev, “That’s unfair.”

“That’s what ..” Lev clutches his chest in extreme pain. It was like a sharp toothed jaw eating every fiber of his body. He knelled on the ground gasping for air.

“Fuck... Fuck... Hang in there, boy.” Greg yells giving encouragement despite knowing that it is of no use.

After few minutes of hard fought battle, the pain subsides, and Lev breathes in a regular motion. The pant that Lev wore is drenched in sweat and dirt while his shirt laid few meters away from him. Lev lays down flat on the ground as he has no strength to get up.

“I didn’t believe you, I thought you were giving up on life.” Greg sits down on the ground not caring about his expensive clothes. Lev does not speak, not because he doesn’t want to but because he can’t.

Greg looked at him with tears in his eyes, you could see the wetness in his eyes and yet not a single drop of tear was seen in his face.

“Please…” Lev struggled to speak.

Greg rubbed his eyes and reached towards his pocket with a determined face. He grabbed something, but he hesitated to take it out. He looked over at Lev and their eyes met, he could see the pain and desperation.

After taking a deep breath he took out a gun from his pocket, he walked towards Lev on his knees and hands him the gun. He has turned off the safety and clocked the gun, only thing left to do is pull the trigger. Lev struggles to get up and barely manages to sit on his butt.

“Thank you…” Lev nodded taking the gun away from Greg with a smile.

“Please. Maybe there is cure out there,” whispered Greg.

“You think I am a coward for not fighting for my life.”

Greg shook his head. He knew that the man in front was the strongest and bravest person that he met in his life. The fifteen years that they spent together in prison was one of the most memorable part of his life.

“I want to die by my own hands not because that motherfucker wants me dead. If I die this way he will win.” Lev spoke with fire in his eyes but the fire slowly dimmed down as he realized that no matter what his enemy had won eventually.

“But why here? Why in this way?” Greg asked as he was still not sure why Lev wanted to die here in a park and with a gun. There were many options out there to commit suicide and he could have used some easy way that involved no pain.

“I was imprisoned for twenty years at the age of ten. I thought I would get freedom after my punishment, but death is what I am given. I just don’t want my death to be inside a closed room like my life.”

Lev motioned for Greg to come near and gave a hug, “Thank you for everything. Father”

Tears started falling the moment Greg heard the word father. He remembered the first day he saw the frightened boy in a prison meant for adults. He remembered the first smile that the boy showed him. He was immersed in his thoughts and did not realize that Lev had moved away.

Lev took the gun and pointed at his head. He had never used a gun before but who would miss the target from few inches apart. Greg moved back a bit and looked away as he could not bear to see the incident.

“Father, this will be the 50th. Don’t forget to mark me.” Lev smiled while ters poured from his eyes.

BANG

Greg cried for few minutes before he looked back, his eyes red, and his shoulders hunched. He knelt and looked at the lifeless body of his son. On his left arm, he saw 49 marks, each mark represented the person that he had killed inside the prison.

Greg took out his phone and dialed someone, “Hey, bring few people to carry a body.”

Hello People, this is going to be a new fiction from me. I will be releasing few chapters a week. I am writing after a long time so please tell me if there are any mistakes. Please review this fiction, so I can improve on my writing.