Atlas

by Alanna K Puzak

  I made my way over to my bag that had gotten tossed by the front door. I looked through and got some clothes and put the rest of the bag inside the grungey closet of his. I tried to hop around the cold floor avoiding all the glass, broken wood, plates, the broken table and chairs collapsed in the small dining room, the smashed tv, the puddles of dried beer below the holes in the walls, and everything else he decided to destroy. I made my way to the bed and put some jean shorts and a white top on. I threw my hair into a low ponytail and started to clean up everything. I noticed how much of me and him he had in the apartment.

  I slowly started going through things bit by bit. Running my fingers across the dust collecting on the small shelves he had on the walls, shutting the cabinets he had thrown open, just looking at the way he had been living without me. He had photos of me, letters that I had written him, memories of things we had done together everywhere. It was like a gallery of our messed up love on display for my heart to see. Most of it now broken, but that just made it even more meaningful. It was almost as if we both had the feeling that day that we needed to be together. He could not do anything about it so he broke everything to try to forget what he could not have.

  I started to clean to get my mind off of things and try to wrap my head around what we had been through, what we were going through, and the start of our happily ever after. I just wanted to be done with all of this and move on. I finished the last dustpan of broken glass, cleaned up the dishes, dusted what I could, made the bed and sat down for a slight second and thought to myself, “Yeah I could make this home if I needed to. After all, home is where your heart is, and Atlas has my heart.” I love him and just wanted to start our life, together.

  While in a state of complete serenity, the doorbell rang. Not thinking I walked over the freshly mopped floor to the door. I was taught better than to answer the door like this. The RED training had taught me when alone, do nothing and trust nothing. That is the basic elementary 101 of our line of work. But at that point, love had taken over my common sense.

  As I unlocked the deadbolt and started to turn the nob and felt pressure coming through the four inch wood. Two men busted down the door leaving splintering wood everywhere. Both dressed in jeans torn up and dirty and button-down shirts with white undershirts stained with sweat. Both with black ninja looking masks covering their faces. Both with guns strapped to their backs. I tried compressing the door against them but they were too strong. They badgered their gun butts through the door causing one to knock the wind out of me right in my chest. It pushed me back all the way to the coffee table making me trip and fall backwards onto the couch.

  I rolled to the left as one came fist first towards me over the table. As his hands went through the cushions I pushed myself up. I grabbed the lamp next to me and ripped it from the wall. I ran towards the piece of shit coming through the door and smashed the porcelain on to his head. I wrapped the cord around his neck while wrapping myself onto his back. That did not last very long. He threw me onto the floor. I got up as fast as I could. I then saw more coming at me. As one tackled me on the ground breaking the table, I sternly reminded them, “God damn it! I just fixed that you assholes!”

  One man was continuously pinning me down, and one reaching for something in his pocket. I noticed more coming up the beaten stairs. I was really in over my head but never in my lifetime would I admit that out loud.

  I rolled over and tackled the one man. I started throwing my fists into his face like I had no stop button. Blood splattering everywhere I was not about to give up what I had worked so hard to get. When we were taking a minute to recover, I got up to try to get to the gun I had hidden under the couch earlier while cleaning. The other man rushed over across the room before I could grab anything.

  He took out his gun and tried to backhand me. I stopped him and shoved the gun right into his nose. Two men knocked out and blood everywhere. I had to run. I ran out the front door onto the broken metal creating the balcony for Atlas. I was tackled back inside the door by a man throwing me back on to the couch. He tried to hit me but I kneed him in the groin and ran. I jumped out the window right by the kitchen shattering the glass, landing on the balcony below, and kicked my way through the next floor.

  I came out through the door on the third floor, hit the next douchebag so hard with the door and then I pushed him off of the stairway balcony. These places were all the same, all beaten down, all too easy to get into, and all abandoned. As I continued to run down the next set of stairs, the same man I thought I took down in Atlas’ place comes flying down after me, literally jumped off of the balcony and swung into where I was, kicking me and taking me down.

  I got up. As he runs at me, I run the other way. I run up the wall and flipped behind him so he would run into the apartment I just came out of. Kicking the door behind him.

  I see a truck down there with men waiting for me. Men running at every floor for me. I swing down banister after banister. I run through the middle apartment now on the second floor and go through the back.

  As I got down to the dirt road at the bottom of the stairs, I was knocked to the temple with the rifle of a particularly large man who looked like he had been on steroids since he came out of the womb.

  I don’t know why but these men had me. I could usually get out of anything but not these guys. They must know who I am. The next thing I remember is feeling a shocking pain all down my spine. Not being able to move, speak, and barely think.

  I lay on the ground pondering what was going on. I could not do anything but lie there with my eyes open. They carried me back upstairs. They were leaving Atlas some kind of tape. Maybe of where I would be, to be honest I was not quite sure what was happening. They were obviously going to use me as bait but why?

  From that moment on, I remember nothing. Maybe a glimpse here and there of being in a car and tied to a chair. But how I got to where we started is all a blur.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE END OF IT ALL

  L et’s flash forward to where we started, where we are today. As you can see Atlas and I have a very complicated, messed up, unclear history. I guess that is what makes us work so well. Others may not get us, but we get ourselves.

  The second I heard those shots fired, I saw everyone become frantic. The exact man they wanted was here and they thought they were going to take him down. But as they ran around the cell trying to figure out what plan they had converted, you could see the frantic fear in their eyes.

  Atlas was here to kill, he was done with these men, and he was here to end it all. All I felt was a sense of protection going through my veins. Suddenly, a man covered in dirt with a mask around his face ran in taking the butt of his gun and hitting my temple causing me to black out like a bad movie.

  I can finally open my eyes and do not know how long I have been out for but all I hear is shot after shot. The men I once saw so ready for this fight are now out of the room. I can very blurrily see men lying in front of the door drenched in their own blood.

  I have to keep moving my head and blinking my eyes. Everything is so blurry. My head is killing me. What the damn hell! My mouth is killing me, my ears can’t stop ringing, and everything is such a blur. I wish I could do something. These people knew my every move and every weakness. How could they? Why are they?

  All I see is dirt, barely any light, I can hear people running around, people coming in and out of where I am, and everyone coming to check on that stupid drive in front of me.

  My neck is feeling better; I think I can finally keep my head in one place. I need to keep batting my eyes to get the fluttering dirt out of them. As I crack my neck and take one last squeeze out of my eyes I look up.

  All I see is smoke and flashing orange lights. I see a shadow walking through the door. As he gets closer, I see him take what looks like a black rag off of his mouth on to his neck. His dirty blonde light brown hair making sweat glisten down his forehead, his tan skin sparkling, his white shirt so tight from the dirt, blood, and sweat. Two
snipers and a machete strapped to his back, a handgun strapped to his leg on his black combat pants, black fingerless gloves covering the blood on his hands, and a knife cuddling his leg. He is clear now; it is him, my love, my Atlas.

  He gently lifts my chin as my head is flopping again. He slips some kind of liquid down my throat.

  “Don’t worry baby this will help. It is something Kate gave me.”

  “Uh-huh bummfadagoo.” I may be able to think straight but I sure as hell can’t seem to speak correctly.

  He keeps his eyes straight on me and his hand on my chin looking so deeply into me that I feel as though I am dreaming. “Come on baby don’t let me down, wake up!” I can hear him as he seems to be checking my pulse.

  He grabs the gun from his left side and shoots the man trying to sneak behind him.

  “That was rude,” I say feeling drunk. Atlas just laughs at me knowing I am finally getting back to me.

  “Damn whatever they put in you was stronger than I thought, but you are going to be ok Mel I promise. I am sorry Mel, I should have warned you what I was getting myself into, and this is my fault. This fear, pain, and helplessness I felt the moment I knew you were taken is something I never want to experience again.”

  After the longest moment in my life, I am clear again.

  “What the fuck is going on Atlas?”

  “You see baby, they found out about my plan to destroy the drive. They were not too happy about that.”

  “And …”

  “And so they tortured me until they could attempt to try to find a way to use it without me. Before they figured out they could not, I got out of there. I went to the top floor, stole the drive, ran down the roofs building by building. That is when I think they came and got you.”

  “So they wanted me so you would pussy out and give them the drive for me.”

  “Correct.”

  “Man do these people not know you?”

  “Apparently not.”

  He grabbed a machete from his back holster and cut me out of the wooden chair that had been my hell. Grabbing my lower back, he lifted me up, took the knife from his hand and cut the fabric keeping me trapped, and pushed me into the sweating statue of muscle he called his body. As I started to stand up and shake the cold dirt off my body, he continued. “I have the drive, I have you, and I have a helicopter waiting at the top for us.”

  While staring deep into my eyes like this was the first time he was seeing me, he kissed me. For the first time in days I felt like I could breathe again through that kiss. “Now we need to get to the top. As long as I have this drive, the CPU, and we can get to the roof I can power the codes Harishma created and I can get in, rewrite the algorithm, and that will allow me to destroy the flash drive.”

  “Ok.” Still stumbling around. “Let’s get her done then!”

  He grabbed my arm, grabbed the CPU, and started leading the way.

  “I told you I would fight for you,” As he kissed me again.

  He handed me a gun. “Are you ready?”

  We started to make our way out. We ran to the old bank door, he put his hand on my chest while he cleared the area. I stayed behind him as he guided me through the rusting dirt that trailed the hallway. He kept me pushed back like a mom holding their child when she stops too hard at a light. Atlas put a silencer on his hand gun and waits. Men are rushing down the hallway, so he starts shooting. I don’t know why he doesn’t want to create a ruckus but I figure I would just go with it.

  “By the way, long story short, Radinson knew you left to come find me, so he contacted me the morning you were abducted. I told him you were here, but we were done with this whole thing and we were going to start our own life together. He agreed and asked if he could help in any way. Like I said I was captured so it took me a day to get home. When I got there, you were gone and I was devastated because I thought, you thought I left you there … alone. I told him when I got home you were gone and all that was left was a tape telling me it was the drive for you. They showed men carrying you down the stairs and throwing you into their truck. I told him where you were, and I would need to have a chopper at the top of whatever building I told him in less than 10 minutes after I found you. He agreed.”

  “Does he know what you‘re going to do with the drive?”

  “Yes. I told him nobody on this planet is ready for this kind of technology, so nobody will know this ever existed. It took a while to find where they were keeping you, but once we added up everything on the map, the books, the papers I had been stealing, I knew where they were finally hiding it all, and you!”

  He finally lifted his hand from my chest and signaled me to come to the left with him. We walk cautiously as we want to hopefully have people think we are dead. As we continued down the hall, he signals me to stop. He points to the left, then at me and to the right. I listened to his command and I quietly prevailed around the corner jumping on to the man strangling him with my gun making him fall quietly. Atlas knocked him out at the temple with the back of his machete.

  “The dynamic duo is back!” I said bobbing my head. Figures, the drugs are probably not fully out of me quite yet.

  We continue to make our way out of this clay landfill. There are barely any windows, the walls are nothing but dirt, bodies upon bodies, we see that there is light a little down the tan hallway. Finally, some stairs! We slowly start making our way up. We hear whispers. Atlas pokes his head up the baluster and sees men making their way down. He looks at me and pushes me towards the wall. He waits. As the voices get louder he slowly creeps his way closer as I stay back. I see him up a couple floors as he runs behind one to shoot him in the temple. He then kicks that man into his friend causing both of them to dive down the stairwell.

  He runs back to me, “we are clear, let’s go!” As we start running the rest of the way we realize were almost to the top. All the sudden we got into a big room, the floors dirt like the rest, the walls white with stains covering them, stairs and bridges creasing every inch above us, almost like that of a cafeteria-like area. There is only one door that leads out right in front of us. Men scattered all along the railing, pointing their guns at us. A very tall skinny man walked out of the door towards us.

  “You are surrounded. Give up the drive Atlas.”

  The man walks closer and closer to the light. More men make their way around us pointing their guns at every angle of our bodies.

  “Never! I could never give it up to a jolly green giant such as yourself, plus you can’t use it without me anyway.”

  “Ha-ha, kind of a smart ass I see. I know you have to be alive for me to use it, but nobody said she has to be.”

  I look around as does Atlas. We hear a few more guns loading. I start to squint to make view of what ghost I am seeing in front of me.

  “Holy shit Victor!” I yell surprisingly. “Is that your dumb ass over there?”

  Holding his gun up trying to find the right shot at this man, Atlas quickly whips his head to me, “Holy fuck Mel you know this man!”

  “Not really. We worked for the same branch of the CIA out in Detroit. He was the one who convinced Radinson to put me on the mission to eventually kill you.”

  “Aww well, hello Mel, I did not think you were still alive.”

  “Yes but she does know me.” Another man walks out of the shadows. Tall, pretty nicely built, still too dark to tell.

  I am thinking to myself … “I know that voice.” Oh please don’t be …

  “Well hello, Gerald.” Victor grabs his buddy and brings him to his side.

  “What the fuck!” I yell.

  “Yes, Mel. You see while we were together I was not really a doctor helping the underprivileged. You see, that was my cover. Victor and I have been working together long before you and I ever met Mel. We have been searching for a way to destroy everything and come out on top for so long and you were the key to making it happen.”

  He slowly started pacing the floor and with Atlas following him with his gun, he c
ontinued, “When he got the job at the CIA and met you, he told me.” Flashbacks were running through my head, this fucked up story was all making sense.

  “He told me you would not last long and would most likely get transferred to RED and soon. So he hooked us up. I made you stay longer so I could find a way into the CIA and RED. He became close with James and that is when we found out about Harishma. Once we knew our way in and where to find the things we needed, I made you feel as though you were worthless so you would leave me and go to RED. Just like I needed you to.”

  “You sick bastard,” Atlas yelled as spitting to the side.

  “We knew one of the agents from RED was playing us down here in Rio, we just could not for the life of us guess who it was.” He scratches his head then turns and waves his hand directly at Atlas. “But then you fell in love … and pointed us to the man we needed. Victor was the one who oh so kindly suggested that you should kill Atlas to Radinson. He pointed out that it was a win-win. If Atlas was the “bad guy” really going to destroy the world with its number one reliance in everything, technology, then well he would have been dead and problem solved, and if he was not the man we would have known who to find when he escaped you, because let's face it he would have escaped you trying to kill him. Just like he swapped drinks with you at the bar giving you the truth serum and not him.”

  I looked at Atlas, “you did what!”

  “Well babe you were trying to drug me and I knew it, so I told you the truth and figured I would find out why you wanted to know me so badly. But I swear that is all I did! I had no clue about the mission to kill me or anything until you told me. I figured you were hired to find more about Rio and when I wouldn’t talk they took you off the mission. I figured we were real until … well … let’s just drop it. It is the past. And I am staring straight at my future” He points the AK right to the forehead of Gerald.

  “I can’t believe it! So you played me when I was trying to play you and then you made me live through hell because of it! Wait. Is this why my photo was in your room?”