“This whole thing will end after we murder him, right?” When David asks James, he feels terrified.

They both wear black suits, black shoes, black hats, and black sunglasses. David has removed his sunglasses and placed them on the car roof. James carefully scans the surroundings as he lights a cigarette leaning against the car.

James doesn’t respond as swiftly as David anticipates. By inhaling the cigarette, he passes some time. He doesn’t appear to be as afraid as David. He seems the contrary. He is unperturbed and at ease while David is trembling from head to toe.

On the roadside of a deserted highway, they have parked their car. Since they arrived, not a single vehicle has driven through the road in the last thirty minutes. James is eyeing the horizon where the sun has spread a yellowish hue around the landscape as it descends into the earth.

As far as the eyes can see, it is all arid land. There are no homes, parks, buildings, or even any sort of infrastructure. It is the perfect location to kill someone and bury him so that no one would ever know. The car’s boot emits a sound that sounds like a person groaning. Inside the car boot, the sufferer is struggling with his final breaths. David feels his body quiver as he hears the groaning.

David can no longer wait for James to respond to his query. He asks the same question loudly a second time as if James missed it the first time. “This will end, right? after we finish him, We are then free, aren’t we?”

James exhales the cigarette smoke. “What makes you believe that?” he asks in response to David while holding the cigarette in his left hand.

“Because… Because this was the agreement. When we kill him, The CHIEF will provide us with cash. We leave no trace for the Police to find us. Once we get the money, we will run far away and continue our ordinary lives.”

James exhales once more from the cigarette. David knows James will take some time to respond to this question too. Therefore, he mutters to himself, “We shall be wealthy. My family will become rich. We will no longer be short of anything in the future. They’re waiting for me. I’m only doing this one awful thing, and it’s the last, for my family. After this, I’m leaving. I won’t be doing any more work for him.”

“Do you believe he will let you go?” James draws David’s attention.

“Who? The CHIEF? Obviously, he will. That was the deal. We finish this guy in the trunk. We take money from The Boss and we depart. We shall resume living our normal lives after that.” David immediately responds although he lacks confidence. He makes it sound as if he needed affirmation to accept his own assertion. He does not want to believe that something will go wrong even though it appears like he knows it will.

James laughs.

“What is so funny?” James has David in a tizzy. He is alarmed by James’s calmness.

‘That’s not how it works, my friend,’ James responds.

David is in awe. He knows what’s coming. But, He is not prepared to hear it, though.

“Once you kill him, you’ve plunged into a quagmire of regret and remorse,” James continues. “You try to get away from it, but it won’t allow you. You stay up all night trying to resolve this very moment but, it’s too late. Now, there is no turning back. My friend, you have slipped into the realm of murders and outlaws. And you belong to this group. You will now kill to survive until someone else kills you.”

David realizes he must continue listening even though he doesn’t want to. Even though his eyes are already watering, he is fighting the need to cry.

“Do you believe the CHIEF will let you get away with this? You now serve as proof of his crimes. One of the many possibilities for his doom now includes you. You cannot escape him.”

“But….B-Bu-But, I won’t rat him out”, David somewhat sounds pleading.

James laughs. “You are a fool if you think Trust works on this side of the world. On this side, even a hint or doubt of betrayal makes us pull the trigger.”

David begins to shiver. “Are you saying I must continue working for him forever?” he asks, slurring a few words. “Until my death?”

James treads on the cigarette as it falls to the ground. He uses his handkerchief to clean his sunglasses. He releases the button on his coat, revealing his handgun, which was hidden at his waist in his slacks. He pulls it out and uses the handkerchief to clean it as well.

Slowly, he raises the gun to David’s face.

“You had to work for him. But, As I said, even a hint or a doubt of betrayal makes us pull the trigger.”

David becomes mute. He has trouble breathing. Thoughts that he wants to speak but can’t get out of his mouth. His eyes widen, and tears begin to emerge in them. Finally, he murmurs, “No… No… You can- “

BANG.

He collapses to the floor. He got shot in the forehead and is now dead.

After hearing the gunshot, the sufferer on the trunk began to groan louder. James grins as he notices his dread. James lights another cigarette and takes a few puffs as he watches the sun’s final rays go behind the horizon. He then places the cigarettes in the car’s fuel tank. He walks toward the barren land that will eventually reach the horizon.

The victim within the boot is killed when the car explodes. David’s body is inevitably turned into ashes by the fire.

“We got rid of the target”, James says while placing his cell phone over his right ear.” David died alongside him. He didn’t have the guts to be part of this world, sir. I had to take his life, sir. I shot him”