A Husband and Wife

She was dead. Her face was blue and her body was rigid. Her heart shaped pendant hung around her neck like a noose. He sat across the room from her, whiskey in hand. It wouldn’t be long before the dogs would come. He knew his fate, he was reserved to it. He shouldn’t have done this. But to him, she deserved it. He’d given her the world. He’d Shown her the shining city. They’d dined above the stars. He’d given her a job at the ministry of money. He would have gone to hell and back for her. She would never have returned the favour. She didn't have a history. No date adorning her arm. He believed it to be a mistake. He was wrong. He peered down at his arm, and checked the clock. It was always going to end this way. He had five minutes. Five minutes of life left. As soon as the time came to be the same as his marking, he would stop. His life would end. He should have seen it coming. He knew now it was always coming. She was a lie. A pretty face in a red dress with the devil in her eyes. She’d lied to him for years. The anger built inside of him. She’d sold him out when the ministry found a data leak. She claimed innocence and pointed the finger. He dined alone whilst she toasted success. It was only invertible. Four minutes. He tried to calm himself. He didn’t want to waste the last four minutes of his life in anger. His thoughts turned to his mother. She was always wise and always there. And now she would bury her son, her only son. He didn’t have a will. It was redacted by the ministry. How would she pay the expense. There would be no holodeck for him. Just a hole in the ground. He chuckled slightly at the thought. His father had always told him the ministry would leave him in the mud. Seemed after all he was right. He always was a smug son of a bitch. Three minutes. He began to ponder how she had kept it from him. How did she hide her intentions? She was helping the worst people, yet came across like a saint. It baffled him. He knew what the machine was. They were taught about it from a young age. A group of hateful people, looking to bring the ministry down. They were told they could turn anyone into a weapon. He never thought it could be true though. She was sweet and innocent and full of life. Yet they twisted her into a monster, willing to hurt her own husband and destroy their life. For what? Revenge for the take over? Or was it just spite? He would never know now. Two minutes. A bittersweet feeling arose in him. She was evil. She had ruined him. Yet, he still held love for her, even now at the end. He wondered why that was. Maybe he was defective. Maybe he should have been sent down south. Or maybe it was just love. He didn’t know and nor did he have the time left to rationalize his feelings. They did not matter now. Nothing did. One minute. The sirens sounded like a deafening hiss. He could hear them now. They were at the door. He knew it was time. His final thought turned to his life. He had wasted it. He had spent all of his life doing what others told him to and now, it had gotten him killed. The dogs burst in. Their metallic guns shining from the spotlight. This was right, he knew it was right. He smiled one last time as the muzzle of a gun flashed. It was over.