The End Of Life

Mark had no expression on his face as he looked at the three thugs in front of him. He felt irritated and said, "Don't waste my time. I need to search for my friend." 

The one in the middle smirked and said looking at the other two, "Did you hear him? He says he is in a hurry. Wasn't our mission is to stop him in his tracks. The reward should be a gun. So shall we get on with it?" Looking at Mark in the end. 

The one I'm the left was to move first as he ran with a rod in his hand. He went for his head. Mark ducked in time and took out his sword from its sheath and sliced his stomach. The knife went deep as he staggered back in pain and knocked down a painting. He clutched his stomach in pain, looking at Mark with venomous eyes. 

Before Mark stood back up properly, he felt a strike from the right this time and rolled away. Dodging the strike perfectly, he moved the knife on top of him, stopping a strike from the middle thug. As he noticed the left one timing towards him, he jumped and kicked him in the stomach. The guy slammed into the wall and fell down, clutching his sides. 

Mark pushed the man above him and stood up. He looked at the remaining man and quickly cut his knees. He fell down, clutching his knee tightly. But as Mark looked around, the one on the right rammed into him. They both hit the opposite wall, and the sword fell to the side. Mark groaned with pain and slammed his elbow into the guy's back. He was persistent, but after Mark slammed his elbow a few more times; he fainted due to the pain.

Pushing the guy aside, he stood up, rubbing his back. He finally got a good look at the three people. He exhaled, picking up the sword he kept it back inside and walked out of the room with Suzie behind him.

But he remembered something and came back inside. He looked at the main thug and asked pointing the gun at his head, "Do you know where the person I am searching for is kept? Don't lie." 

The man could only shake his head and say, "No, I don't know anything about this person you are searching about. They only asked us to stop you and promised a reward if we did. We are the lowest thugs around here. So spare us." With genuine fear as the gun pressed harder.

Mark could feel his fear and so walked away, leaving him. Walking down the hallway again, he stopped at the end. The doors to the outside were only a few steps away from him. He could see the zombies outside. They were not many compared to what they faced in the morning, but they would face a lot of difficulties while fending them. He then looked at the two long, broad hallways to both of his sides. 

Both of them lead to a bigger part of the western museum. He decided to go left and walked into the hallway. There were no lights in the hallway, almost completely dark. At the end, they stepped into another mini dome like the one I'm the center. It was almost one by fourth compared to that one. 

He looked at the different paintings and all of them were huge. The biggest covered the whole wall right Infront of its entrance. The painting showed humans, angels, and demons on three sides. Intersecting in the middle to become one. Mark felt the painting was conveying a greater meaning. 

He snapped out of it when he heard the footsteps coming from above. Only then he noticed that there was a second floor to this section. There were books on the second floor, all enclosed in glass. He looked towards the sound and noticed there were two men with two guns. The guns were the standard Glock 17. Judging by the looks, both seemed like brothers. The one on the left looked younger based on his facial hair and looks as a whole, the one on the right looked rougher. 

Mark sighed and asked, "Is it this again. Don't you both have guns? What did he promise you guys?" 

"A better life in a camp. So please surrender for us." The one on the left asked. 

Mark spat saliva to the side and said, "Yah, yah. I don't know why you believe that idiot, but let's get on with it." Taking out his gun. He pushed Suzie back into the hallway and whispered, "Go into the hallway. I will deal with both of these morons."

Suzie quietly backed away into the hallway and looked at Mark. Noticing she was far enough he looked at both of them and noticed they already had their hands on the trigger pointing the gun at him. He leaped to the side, hiding behind a couch. The bullets hit right on the spot he stood and he noticed these both knew how to use the gun. 

The bullets rained on the couch he was using to hide. The couch became tattered as the bullets hit the cushion and went through the other side. Suddenly the bullets stopped as they tried to reload. Mark did not miss the opportunity and turned around. He first aimed for both their knees. The elder brother noticed this and pushed his brother away. The bullet pierced his calf. 

"Ahhhhhh-" he screamed in pain as the bullet went through the calf and came out the other way. The gun in his hand dropped as he clutched his leg. He slowly crawled to a corner and took the support of a wall as he tried to tie the wound. 

His brother was startled by seeing the wound on him. He ran up to him, trying to talk to him. Mark did not miss this chance and continued to shoot both of them. But most of them missed as they took cover behind a bookshelf in the corner. The younger brother could take it anymore and turned around. He looked at Mark with bloodshot eyes filled with rage and began shooting.

But this time he did not have the same accuracy as his bullets missed a lot. He was clouded by rage and continued to shoot. Mark couldn't take it anymore and shot at his hand. The bullet went into his hand as he dropped the gun. With both of them down, Mark made his way up using the stairs to the side. 

He bent down to pick up the guns when the right brother took out a knife and tried to slash Mark's legs. Mark was caught surprised as the knife struck him slightly on his leg while dodging it. The wound was not big enough to make him stop, but it pained a lot as it was right on his calf too. 

Mark grit his teeth as blood oozed out faster and kicked away the knife in the man's hand and searched for magazines on both their bodies. After searching, he found only two extra magazines with them. He kept the guns and magazines inside his bag and looked at his wound. The blood was still oozing out, and he ripped off his jeans. He slowly wrapped the cloth around the wound to stop the blood. He can't lose more blood.

He turned towards the unconscious bodies. He dragged them to the wall. He squatted below the elder brother and splashed water in his face. Slapping it a couple of times, the man woke up and looked at Mark, surprised. Before he could shout, Mark kept the gun on his neck and asked, "Do you know where the person I am searching for is kept at? Do not lie." Using the same method once again to interrogate them. 

But unluckily they did not know where they kept Kevin. But they also said that the only person who knew was Oliver and his bodyguards. Oliver was always with his trusted and equally twisted bodyguards. Mark sighed and stood up. 

He got back down and searched the entire room with Suzie. Finding nothing, they went to the other side. The other side was also the same, but there was no one inside waiting to strike them. 

They went back into the main hallway and exhaled. They searched the whole west side part of the museum but could not even find a clue about where Kevin might be kept. He felt frustrated as he noticed the time was already 12. They spent an entire two hours on only one side of the museum. 

They made their way back towards the center once again. Unlike last time, there was no one there. Standing at the center, Mark could only hear faint noises from the first floor where most of the people were situated. It looked like they allowed no one to stay on the ground floor.