“Harper, is there any way we can make this door open faster?” I asked.
“Grab a crowbar,” she replied.
We waited until the door finally opened. When we got there, the soldiers destroyed most of the equipment covering up most of the Union’s trails. One more computer remained intact, and the hard drive was gone.
“It’s gone!” I shouted as I walked up to the computer.
Harper took a look at a nearby monitor showing surveillance footage of Mikhail’s men running down a hallway with the hard drive. We immediately went after them through the door at the other end of the room.
As we moved down the hallway, we found Mikhail’s men trying to escape. Two trucks got out with one guy holding the hard drive. A third truck was about to take off when I pulled out my grenade launcher and shot it, blowing it up.
Gunfire erupted between us and Mikhail’s men. The room was being completely torn up by bullets and explosions. Another one of the seals got shot.
When we secured the area, a big monster came in from the dock doors. It was tall, muscular, and covered with gray-colored skin. It turned out to be Mikhail.
“I must admit. This Type-2 serum works wonders,” he said.
I pointed my rifle at him and shot him, but his injuries healed quickly. I had to figure out a way to kill him. He came in, swung his arm at me, and sent me flying across the room.
I got back up. He walked over to me, threw a punch, and I blocked and threw him across the way. I did a spin kick, followed by a side kick. He grabbed my foot and threw me.
I got up and prepared to attack again. I charged at him and did a tornado kick to his face. This was followed by a side kick to his chest, which barely moved him. He swung at me again, but I dodged his attack and tripped him, knocking him down.
I spotted a rocket launcher lying around, and I ran to grab it. As I ran toward it, tentacles grew out of his fingers and grabbed me by the neck. He started to pull me back, but then I grabbed my karambit, cut the tentacles, and broke free.
I ran to the rocket launcher and picked it up, but he caught up and knocked me over. I got back up, aimed at him, fired the rocket, and blew him up into bits and pieces. Once we secured the area, I contacted my radio contact.
“This is Connors. I need you to track one of the jeeps Mikhail’s men got on. It had four men on it; one of them is holding a hard drive,” I said.
“Stand by. I got it. The jeeps are heading north.”
“Copy that. We’re on it,” I said.
“Great. Now we have to drive through all these guys to get out of here?” Jack asked.
“I guess so. Come on!” I said as we got onto a truck and drove out of there.
We drove to the coordinates with Mikhail’s men pursuing us. I shot at the car next to us, and Jack shot at the other car after us. Soon, more cars came in attacking us. We drove fast and even that wasn’t slowing them down. More cars with soldiers were attacking, but we kept driving as fast as we could.
“How much further until we reach the jeeps?” I yelled.
“Almost there!” said the driver.
We spotted the two jeeps driving off in front of us. I shot out the tires of both jeeps just before a tank got in front of us and shot at us, knocking the truck to its side and knocking the wind out of us. While everyone was stunned, I managed to pick myself up and shoot the remaining soldier with the second to last clip of ammo I had before I went after the tank.
I got on top of the tank, threw a grenade into the cockpit, and disabled it. I then ran toward the jeeps and killed the soldiers. The guy with the hard drive ran off. I sprinted after him. When I caught up to him, a gunship showed up and opened fire as I took cover behind the jeeps. Jack and Harper caught up. The chopper sprayed at us with its weapons, ripping the dirt road apart. I took out my last grenade, loaded it into my grenade launcher, and shot down the chopper. I then continued after the guy with the hard drive. I stopped, pulled out my rifle, and aimed at him. When the wind stopped blowing, I pulled the trigger, and the soldier dropped to the ground.
I ran over to his lifeless body and pulled out the drive from one of his pockets.
“The data has to be on here,” I said.
Jack kneeled down next to me.
“What data?” he asked.
“Everything. Jackson’s whereabouts and maybe info on the Omega Project,” I said as I turned toward Jack.
A pop went off, startling us. We saw more troops moving toward our position. We took cover behind some big rocks and prepped to make a last stand. More soldiers came in and started to attack. We fired back with what little ammunition we had left. I soon ran out of ammo with my rifle, and then Jack ran out of ammo for his gun, leaving us down to our pistols.
“Okay, you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied as we got out and began shooting.
Soon, the troops were being gunned down, dropping like ragdolls, with dirt spraying everywhere. I turned around, and it was the extraction chopper under the escort of two other choppers. We quickly gathered the others, got onboard and got out of there.
When I got back to base, I spoke with Mathis about what we found.
“Good news, sir. The mission is complete: Mikhail is dead, the bio-weapons were destroyed, and we saved the data,” I said as I handed John the hard drive.
“Finally, you completed a mission. It’s about damn time too,” he replied.
John turned around and handed the hard drive to the technician at one of the computers.
“Do you think there will be any information on the Omega Project?” I asked anxiously.
“I don’t know. Just go home, and we will let you know if anything comes up,” John said as I walked out.
When I got home, my mother greeted me. She seemed angry with me. She gave me the cold shoulder.
“Hey, Mom. Good news, we got Mikhail,” I said.
“That’s nice, honey,” she said as she read her book. She didn’t even turn to look at me.
“Look, Mom. I’m sorry about lying to you,” I said as I sat down on the couch next to her.
“Don’t worry about it. I got this letter in the mail for you,” she replied as she handed me the envelope.
I went upstairs to my room and opened the letter. It was a check for $5 million made out to me with a note which said:
“Nice work. He was number five on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5 million reward for anyone killing or capturing him.”
I felt like I passing out. I sat on my bed smiling as I held the check.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The last day of freshman year had arrived. When the bell rang in English class, we handed in our papers as we walked out.
“Okay, class. I know it’s the last day but let’s just keep it down, please. Thank you,” he said.
I handed him my report.
“Nice work,” he said.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how long to make it, so I did three pages of the report,” I said.
“It will do. I will have this graded by the end of the week.”
“Thank you for letting me do that paper for extra credit.”
“No problem.”
Later in drama class, for our final, we had to do a scene that we made ourselves. Sarah and I did the scene we made up at the park a few months back, except we added some more scenes. I stood next to her as she leaned on the wall with a piece of paper, pretending it was a fan.
“Does your husband know you’re here?” I asked.
“No. He’s a boring man. I like to sneak out and find men to woo,” she said sarcastically.
“Well, your man is a lucky one. He has certainly picked a beautiful woman,” I said.
Sarah turned her head to the side and smiled.
“So, do you want to come with me after the ball?” I asked.
Sarah turned back toward me.
“I would love to,” she said.
The class applauded as we sat down.
As I walked
out of the classroom, Sarah joined me.
“You did awesome in there,” she said.
“Thanks. I have to admit, practicing those techniques you showed me did help me loosen up a bit,” I replied.
As we walked out of class, we bumped into Emily.
“Do you mind watching where you’re going, loser?” Emily said.
Sarah froze up. She turned to me, and I smiled a little, and then nodded at her. She turned back to Emily, lifted her chin and chest up, put her hands on her waist.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you. After all, you really are the best, and I wish I could be you. Oh, wait. No, I don’t. By the way, is it hard always trying to look hot? Or are you just that desperate to look like that because you know that, under all that makeup, you’re a fake?” Sarah said, telling her off.
Emily just stood there with her arms folded. She couldn’t think of anything else to say. She stormed off in rage. After she walked away, I walked up to Sarah.
“Nice work,” I said.
“Thanks. That felt so good,” she said smiling.
Watching Sarah standing up to Emily made me feel proud of her. She finally got the courage to stand up for herself.
We continued to talk on our way to our next class. As I walked out of sixth period, I saw all the seniors celebrating their last day of school by throwing papers in the air and cheering in the hallway. I still had three more years until my friends and I would be doing that.
Before I left, I went over to the counselor’s office to return the book he gave me.
“Here you go,” I said as I entered his office and gave him the book.
“Thank you. And how are your grades?” he asked.
“Much better,” I said.
“Great. Have a great summer,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said as I walked out.
Summer break officially started, and I just went home to enjoy. I did not do much. I just watched some TV, played some video games, and mostly relaxed. After dinner, my parents pulled me aside to talk. My parents went to sit on the couch, and I sat on the loveseat.
“We need to talk,” Mom said.
“Sure. What’s up?” I asked as I sat down.
“Your father and I were talking, and we decided that if you want to stay in the STR, it’s okay,” Mom said.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Thank you!” I said as I got up and hugged them.
“What made you change your mind?” I asked as I let them go.
“We understand how much it means to you to find out what happened to the program that created you. Not to mention the world needs saving, and you seem capable enough to do that,” Dad said.
“Thank you. I promise, I will keep you guys safe. I want to give you something. This check has five million dollars on it, and I want you to have it. The other day when I went to cash it, I realized that you guys did a lot for me, and I changed my mind. This is just my way of saying thank you for letting me into your life when I had nothing,” I said.
My parents’ mouths dropped as I handed them the check.
“I don’t know what to say,” Mom said.
“You don’t owe us anything. We’re your parents and we love you,” Dad said.
“I love you too, Mom and Dad,” I replied as we hugged.
While we hugged, I heard a knock on the door. I got up and answered it; it was the gang.
“Come join us, Alex,” Mark said in a funny way.
We stopped at the café and talked about what everyone had planned to do this summer. We all got milkshakes.
“I might not do much this summer. I could make a cheesy movie, if anyone is interested,” Mark said.
We all declined and laughed it off.
“I’m going to make a collage of pictures I will take over the summer,” Katie said.
“I know what I’m going to do. Sleep,” Max said.
“I think the last time I got any sleep was before the first day of kindergarten,” Melissa said.
“Do you have any plans, Alex?” Sarah asked.
“No, probably not. Just hang around and not do anything serious,” I replied as I smiled at Sarah. She smiled back.
We continued to talk until dark before heading to the park to hang out.
We sat on the lawn when the sprinklers went off, and we got sprayed. We got up and ran around, getting soaked. It felt awesome and quite a way to wrap up the night.
That night when I went to bed, I could not sleep, mostly because I wondered what the STR might find about Jackson’s whereabouts.
When I finally went to sleep, I dreamt that I found the Omega Project facility. I walked in; the facility was covered in smoke. I opened the door to the barracks, and I saw the Omega Project kids taking cover behind some beds, and other things they used for cover. They emerged with dirt on their faces, and their rifles almost empty. I approached them. They saluted me and I saluted back. Then I woke up and laid there for a while.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The following morning, I got a call from Mathis about Jackson’s location. Before I went over, Max showed up at my house. My parents let him in, and he came into my room.
“Hey, Alex, can I show you something?” he asked as he came into my room.
“Make it fast. I have a mission, and I got to go,” I said.
Max pulled his laptop and some other gadgets out of his backpack.
“Okay. My cousin sent me some software he uses, and with this, I can use satellite imaging to see where you are. I can also hack into surveillance systems to monitor the area you’re in,” he said.
“Thanks. Is this legal?” I asked.
“No. But I did tell him that I had a friend working for the STR, and that he would need this stuff. He called them, and they confirmed it. You just have to go in to confirm,” he said.
“Cool, but how did he let you use this equipment?” I asked.
“He showed me how to use it. He also figured that since I go to school with you, I could get in touch with you easier,” he replied.
“Thanks,” I said as he handed me an earpiece. I gathered the rest of my stuff and went outside where my ride waited for me. On my way over, I had Max test out the earpiece.
“Test. Testing. Max, can you hear me?” I asked.
“Yeah. I can hear you. When you get to the mission location, let me know so we can test the GPS,” he replied.
“Got it,” I replied.
I arrived at the STR base for the briefing.
“Good news. We finally found Jackson’s hide out somewhere in the countryside of New York. I’m sending you in there with orders to capture him. Kill him only if you have to,” John said.
“Right. How will I deploy?”
“You will be parachuting in and assaulting the hideout. Our intel reports that the mansion is heavily fortified, complete with bullet-proof windows and heavy security,” he said.
“Any bio-weapons in the area?”
“Negative. Intel reports no bio-weapons in the area.”
“I’m on it. Also, did someone here call about me?” I replied.
“Oh, yeah, actually. I guess one of your high school buddies has an older cousin working for the NSA. We got a call from him requesting the use of government equipment. When I heard it would assist you, I allowed it,” he said.
“Cool, thanks,” I replied as I left.
I arrived via plane. As I sat in the plane, all I could think about was getting Jackson and finally finding out what exactly happened to the Omega Project. Max called me on my radio.
“Testing, testing. Can you hear me?” he asked.
“Yes. I can hear you,” I replied.
“Okay, cool. Man, this is awesome!” he said.
“Don’t forget, I’m doing the fighting. You’re just my extra set of eyes.”
“Don’t worry, I got ya.”
“Do you have anything else that you didn’t show me?”
“No, you
got to see pretty much everything. However, my cousin can send me some more software if you need.”
“Perhaps some other time.”
It was time to deploy. The guy assisting me got my parachute ready. When I got the green light, I jumped out. Once I reached the ground, I got out of the parachute and pulled out some binoculars to scout the safe house.
It was a mansion retrofitted with bullet-proof windows, searchlights in four parts of the estate, and armed guards all over the place. I gathered my gear, which included my rifle and a disassembled sniper rifle in a briefcase and proceeded to Jackson’s hide out. I started out by cutting one of the guard’s throats and pulling his body into the woods to hide it. I took out two more guards with my pistol with an attached silencer on the end.
As I reached the safe house, I opened the case and put the sniper rifle together. I got into position by placing the rifle down like I was going to shoot it. I then lay down on my stomach, aimed through the scope, and began taking the guards out. I killed the first four guards with no problem. As I moved on to the next guard, one of the guards spotted one of his dead comrades. All of a sudden, the alarm went off, and guards came pouring out of the mansion.
“Oh, shit! One of the guards spotted you, and they’re starting to go ape-shit,” Max said.
I put down the sniper rifle, pulled out my assault rifle and began shooting.
I ran toward the mansion with gun fire going off in front of me. Puffs of dirt flew all over the place as I ran. I kept running taking out guards as I moved closer.
I reached the mansion and continued my assault. I entered through the main door and took cover behind a wall that led to the staircase upstairs where more guards came in and shot at me, riddling the front of the mansion with bullet holes and debris. All I could hear were the sounds of gunfire and things shattering.
“Do you have Jackson’s location?” I asked.
“Up the stairs and two doors down to the left,” Max said.
The guards kept shooting. Luckily for me, there were not that many. I reloaded my rifle and pushed forward. As I went up the stairs, I shot at the walls where the guards were taking cover to keep them distracted, allowing me to get close to them. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I pulled out my pistol. The guard to my left turned out from cover and was about to shoot, but I grabbed his rifle, shot him, shot the other guards, and knocked him to the ground. I proceeded up stairs. I took out the rest of the guards before reaching Jackson’s office.
The Omega Archives Page 18