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Chapter 1: The court ruling

Today is the final day of my court trial. My defense attorney just sat down from delivering his closing arguments. I sat there trying to keep together my feelings. The feelings of despair and sadness that I was experiencing right now create a knot in my stomach and made my throat feel like sandpaper.

“Mr. District Attorney, you may begin your closing statements”, said the Judge from the bench.

The district attorney was a man in his early 30’s. He had on an expensive black suit with a blue shirt and a dark colored tie. He stood from his chair and buttoned his suit jacket as he walked towards the jury. I sat quietly trying not to show my contempt for this man and what he stood for.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I want to state the facts. One, the defendant is a decorated war veteran. He is an expert marksman with small arms and snipers. He is a former navy seal who was trained in unarmed and bladed weapons combat with the elite soldiers in Israel. This man was turned into a human weapon. The problem is he is not allowed to use those skills now that he is a civilian. He cannot take the law into his own hands. He killed 3 men not out of duty in protecting his country but out of anger and for revenge.”

“They raped and killed my wife and daughter!”, I shouted.

“Order in the court!”, yelled the judge. “One more outburst Captain Washington and I will hold you in contempt of court.”

I sat down dejectedly. My lawyer grabbed my shoulder and whispered, “It’s ok Alex. Just be patient.”

I nodded and tried to calm down.

“These men did break into his house. They did rape his wife and teenage daughter before killing them. However, they escaped before being caught. He did not walk in during the act and try to stop them. He hunted them down using his skills and murdered them one by one”, said the attorney as he pointed to 3 images of the dismembered corpses of the victims.

“He circumvented the law and for that he should be punished. People of the jury I implore you to set aside your feelings about his motives and make your decision on the merits of the case. Judge him based on the law. Find Captain Alexander Washington guilty on all 3 counts of 1st degree murder. I rest my case”, the district attorney said as he returned to his seat.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, please deliberate. Court is in recess until the jury comes back with their verdict.”

I stood up and shook my attorney’s hand and walked out of the courtroom. Because of my stellar background and service to my country I was able to be out on bail. My lawyer had worked a miracle in that but I had to go home and be in a house that was empty and only reminded me that with all of my training, I was unable to protect the people I cared about most, my wife and daughter. As I drove home my eyes began filling up with tears. My vision became impaired but somehow I managed to make it home in one piece.

I opened the door and hung my keys on the key holder on the wall. I walked straight into the basement to my bar and poured myself a glass of vodka. I was determined to numb the pain I was feeling. I quickly emptied the glass and poured several more before lying on the couch in the fetal position with a picture of my beautiful wife and daughter in my arms. The alcohol began to take its effect and I began to lose consciousness.

[Sixteen years ago in the delivery room]

“Breathe honey…. I love you. You are doing great!”, I said.

“Ahh…. It hurts! Baby I can’t! It hurts too much!”

“I know it’s almost over. The doctor said just a little more.”

“One more big push Mrs. Washington”

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”, my wife screamed as she pushed.

Then I heard it the most beautiful sound that ever passed my ears, the cry of my baby girl. The doctor and nurses quickly cleaned her off and brought her to my wife and I. I looked at my wife holding our little girl.

“I can’t believe you did this! She is so beautiful. I love you so much!”, I said as I looked at my wife holding our daughter.

“We did this and I love you too. I’m really tired honey can you hold her please.”

“Sure you rest now I will take care of her”, I said as I picked our daughter up.

“I know you wanted to name her but I think we should name her after her daddy”, she said with a smile.

“Alexandria?”

“No, after your nickname, Alexis.”

“I like it”, I turned and looked my baby girl in the face and saw her beautiful hazel colored I and said, “Welcome to the family Alexis Washington.”

I awoke from my drunken stupor crying my eyes out. I missed the two of them so much. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 4 in the morning. I changed out of my suit and put on my sweat pants and a t-shirt. I walked to gym in our basement and began stretching. I tried to relieve some of the tension I had as I went through a few of the basic techniques I learned through my training in Karate and Krav Maga. I practiced on my heavy bag that I had hitting it with precise strikes. I threw elbows, knees, kicks, and punches to attack all while moving to change the angles of my attacks.

After a few moments I felt nauseous and ran to the bathroom throwing up everything in my stomach. The world was spinning around. Drinking heavily and then trying to work out wasn’t my best idea. I sat by the edge of the toilet trying to recover but my stomach was tossing and turning like the waves during a violent storm. I ended up passing out again . After some time passed I woke up while my head was laying on the bowl of the toilet. I was a sad sight to behold. There was vomit on my shirt, my eyes were bloodshot red, and, I smell awful. Once I managed to make it to my feet, I began slowly walking up the stairs to my bedroom.

I entered my bedroom and a wave of emotion hit me. My stomach began churning again and I rushed to the bathroom vomiting again. This time is was even worse. I had no food in my stomach so now only water and bile came up. It was awful. My sides ache from the rapid contraction of my stomach while vomiting. I wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet. I looked at myself in the mirror and I barely saw the man I was before this happened. My beard was overgrown, my hair was nappy, and my hands and nails were filthy. I shook my head and turned on the shower. The hot water felt amazing. I washed my body and looked down in the bottom of the shower seeing all of the dirt come off my body. I washed my hair before exiting the shower.

I could smell the difference that washing all of the filth on my body off did for me. I grabbed a towel and dried off before giving myself a complete shave. My sink was full of my beard and hair. I was completely bald with a goatee. My dark browns still looked empty but I no longer looked like a cave man. I threw some after shave on.

Ring Ring Ring! The telephone rang.

“Good morning Alex. I will be there to get you in 15 minutes. Are you dressed?”, asked my attorney.

“Why what’s going?”

“The verdict came back this morning and we have to be to the court by 11:00 A.M.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I’m not sure but you will have to face whatever it is once you get there.”

“I will be ready when you get here.”

“Ok. Well I am on my way.”

My mind raced with all of the possible outcomes. Was I going to jail for life? Would I be executed or locked away in the dreaded suspended animation prison that has become popular. I had to get a hold of myself so I dried off and grabbed some clothes and got dressed. I had a black suit on with a white shirt with a red tie. I almost looked like a dark skinned version of the man from the “Hitman” movie. I went downstairs and made some toast with some fresh fruit for breakfast as h knew my stomach wouldn’t allow me to eat anything more. I finished eating and washed the dishes then sat down on the couch and awaited my fate.

A few moments after getting dressed there was a knock at the door. My lawyer was there in a blue pinstriped pantsuit. Her dark hair was pulled back in a bun and frameless glasses were tinted in the sunlight.

“Good morning”, I said as I put on my coat and gloves on. “I’m ready”

“I’ll wait for you in the car”, she said as she walked away.

The drive to the courthouse was silent. Neither of us wanted to talk and my mind was replaying memories of my wife and daughter. After about 30 minutes we pulled up to the courthouse where numerous reporters were there trying to get a quote from me and my attorney. We walked through them silently and entered the courthouse. We boarded the elevator and headed to the courtroom. Once we entered the court, we were ushered by court officers to the defendant seat and waited for the judge to enter.

“All rise. The Honorable Judge Henry Thomas presiding”, said one of the court officers.

Everyone in the courtroom stood as the judge entered.

“You may be seated”, said the judge.

Everyone in the courtroom sat down and a hush fell over the room. I had no family at the trial nor did any of my friends come. No one believed that I could do something so savage. It was ok though I was used to being alone. In the military there were times where I had to wait for days or even weeks on a target to snipe so I learned to relish the solitude.

“Defendant please rises”, said the judge.

I stood and my lawyer stood with me.

“Madam foreperson, what say you?”, asked the judge.

“In the matter of the people versus Captain Alexander Washington, we hereby find the defendant guilty of all charges.”

My heart sank down to my feet and I fell down into my seat.

“Officers take the prisoner into custody. For the heinous acts you have committed, you will be detained for 150 years in suspended animation.”, said the judge.

“What! I killed those murdering rapists and you put me imprison!? This is a farce!”

“Get a hold of him!”, yelled the judge.

Immediately, I felt a huge pain in the back of my head. One of the guards must have hit me in the head and my consciousness faded.