by Michael Todd
She feigned shock. “Please, what do I have to be jealous of? I will forever have you in my ear. No other woman, besides maybe the electronic ones, can say that.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think your ear is the place you had in mind.”
Billie sipped her water. “Did you finally figure that out?”
The two laughed and he drew a deep breath. He looked around and then at her. “So, why do you suddenly wonder about the intentions of our boss? Whoever they may be.”
Chapter Four
Hickok looked at the first course, a traditional hare terrine with foie gras and truffle roscoff onion compote. She poked at it with her fork. Marcus glanced quickly at her. “Not your cup of tea?”
She shook her head. “No—I mean, it looks delicious. But I’m used to eating jerky and trail mix to survive. I’m not really used to fine cuisine. Not after so many years, away.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “I thought you always ate at places like this.”
“And risk being seen by someone who would recognize me on a mission?” Billie smiled. “Not a chance. In the past, when I was more ballsy, I would go out in disguise to eat something real every now and then but usually stuck to the mission.”
He chuckled. “I have met and heard about so many other people in your position and none of them take it to the extremes that you do. They live in large, beautiful houses in the middle of nowhere, dine at the best restaurants around the world, and do whatever they like. Of course, always under a fake name and identity, but still.”
She shrugged and took a mouthful. “I guess that’s what has made me the best over the years. And that’s what has also stirred my interest when it comes to our puppet masters. I see everything and although I’m trained to push it down, it never truly leaves me.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Marcus sighed.
Billie shook her head. “Not a chance. And I would suspect that in your position, you wouldn’t want me to either.”
Marcus looked around again, always on the watch and never settled. “I don’t know exactly who they are. No one does. But I guess I’ve heard—or been told—a few things along the way.”
“I have a hard time believing you actually speak to real people, but I’ll go with it.” She smiled. “Tell me whatever you know.”
Marcus blinked and turned his attention to his food. “I know that our boss, for want of a better word, is a black operative for multiple nations.”
“I figured that. I didn’t think our direct boss actually lounged in a mahogany office in his smoking jacket and drank bourbon.”
“No, probably not.” He chuckled. “I also was told that although these people have done this a long time, they have shifted their focus in recent years. They are the people who believe that the aliens who tossed the missile at us in the first place will be back.”
Billie’s eyes opened wide. “What? When, do they think? Do they have a plan?”
Marcus put his hand up to stop the questions. “Calm down, crazy. They don’t know any of that as far as I have been told. Maybe they’ll come back in a few decades, maybe not for generations. However, the entire point of it all is that we put earth first. Humanity is our greatest focus and will always be until you are the last bitch standing on the planet.”
She nodded with a mock-haughty expression. “I’m glad you realized who would survive. I will actually become their queen if they eradicate our species. I am too precious to be enveloped by the Zoo. But don’t worry, I will convince them to keep you as my slave. I will give you quarters at the end of my bed and dress you in a very lovely loin cloth and chains.”
“Mm-hmm.” He snorted. “Sure. I think I’ll choose to go down in a pile of goop and duo-bear shit before I become your sex slave or anything like that. I don’t do well with hot weather. I don’t get shiny like the men in the movies. I get sweaty and sticky. It’s more like a sheen than a shine.”
Billie frowned. “But wait. That assumes the ability to think and plan past generations. To plan for times that we can’t even see in our own minds. Times in which we don’t know what the Earth will be like, what technology will be like, or what the Zoo will have done with itself. It’s already getting bigger and bigger by the day.”
Marcus laughed and blotted his lips with his napkin. “Why do you think there are Chinese in the group? Simply because they are a super power? No. It’s because they can plan for generations and actually accomplish what they set out to do. They have shown that over and over throughout history. They are at the forefront of all this. It took some negotiation and a few big-headed politicians pushed back, but they finally conceded because none of them want to lose their money or legacy.”
She wrinkled her nose slightly as her mind ran amok. “Then what about the Americans? I mean, we have smart people, sure, but are we working alongside the Chinese to help?”
Her companion shrugged. “We have Americans for their R&D, kickass now, kickass tonight, and kickass tomorrow. Plus, other nations both big and small are in on the whole thing. In fact, the feeling I get is that black ops met United Nations and the two had sex while singing the Coke perfect harmony song.”
Billie’s forehead cleared as she laughed. “Did you have that metaphor waiting in the wings this whole time, simply waiting to be shared with me?”
Marcus pursed his lips. “Believe it or not, I’m not always about my technology. I happen to also wonder who pulls my strings to pull your strings. I am a person, not a sheep, but I go about things a little more covertly than you do. I don’t beat them up for answers. I ask nicely and then move on. I do worry about you and your situations out there.”
She dropped her spoon in the bowl. “Wait, did you just say that you worry about me? Oh, my God. It’s true, there is a soul in there. I had begun to think that you were actually one of your machines.”
“No. No!” He shook his head wildly. “I worry about what you have to do in the technology that I have spent years developing. You don’t know what it’s like to spend your whole adult life creating something only to hand it over and watch it get beat to hell in the process.”
Billie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. You know I wouldn’t purposefully destroy your stuff—except for that time in Hiroshima when I took a ball peen hammer to the HUD. That was more out of frustration, though. It had fritzed for the nine thousandth time and it made me have to kill my mark even though the instructions were merely extraction.”
Marcus chuckled. “I remember that. I turned on the HUD camera and all I saw was your pissed off face and the head of the hammer slamming into the device over and over again. I was upset at first, but I kept that footage. Every time I am angry, I realize that unless I am Billie-with-a-hammer angry, it must not be that bad.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t a good look for me.”
“Why are you worried about all of this?” He pushed his bowl aside.
Billie folded her hands in her lap as visions of her past jobs ran through her mind. Everything from the theft of money, jewels, and documents to the assassination of foreign dignitaries. There were bodies all the time, and some in excess. She swallowed hard and fixed him with a more serious look. “I do some pretty ugly shit, and it had better be for the good of mankind. Otherwise, I’m fucked in the afterlife. I’m talking hot drinks with Mussolini in the fiery pits of hell kind of fucked.”
Marcus thought about it for a second. “That actually would be fascinating but only for the first few days. Then, it would be torture for an eternity. So, if you are worried about this job, quit.”
She threw back her head in genuine laughter. “And do what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. If I quit, I would open my own technology company. I’ve spent years saving every bonus and all the extra pay that we received. I have sold patents to the people who run the show, created systems, and done everything else I can think of. I could really change the world with the technology I have.”
Billie looked at him, genuinely
impressed. “I never thought about you outside that dungeon before this moment. I can totally see you doing that.”
Marcus tilted his chin at her in definite challenge. “What about you?”
“Shit, I don’t know.” She exhaled a long breath as she considered this. “Obviously, being a stripper is off the table. I never really thought about it. I guess I would travel, first, and see the world from a relaxed viewpoint. Then maybe teach combat for the military or do private protection. I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really put a lot of thought into it. Let’s face it, I’m not even sure it is possible that we quit. They might not even allow us to.”
Holly stood in the staging area and stared in wonder at the Zoo that sprawled before her. The colors were so vibrant and untamed and the whole place looked as if it moved together like a single breathing entity. She had never seen anything so wild in her entire life.
Alvin walked up beside her. “It’s beautiful, ain’t it?”
“Honestly? It’s probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” She chuckled.
He smiled. “Beautiful and deadly. How are you feeling? Are you ready to get this educational field trip underway?”
“I’m ready.” Holly laughed a little breathlessly. “Scared shitless, if the truth be told, but there is a rush in my chest I’ve never experienced before.”
Aki walked past. “The Shinpi-tekina rasshu. The spirit of the jungle brings you a mystic feeling. It’s a way to lure you into its beauty. Beware, or it will distract you.”
Alvin frowned. “He’s a little superstitious. All you have to do is keep your eyes on the prize, your ears open, and watch us as we move. You’ll be fine. We have your back.”
Holly swallowed hard and nodded before she donned her helmet like everyone else and looked around the group. She was no stranger to danger, that was for sure, but this was a completely different and new experience. Despite the fact that she had studied the science of the place for weeks by that point, she honestly had no clue what to expect,. The reality of it began to slowly sink in.
Trigger called everyone closer. “All right, we will go into this section of the jungle because it is the least violent area. We are here to introduce Holly to the Zoo, to let her possibly practice her fighting skills in real time, and to collect any Pita we might find along the way. It’s an in-and-out and you keep your eyes open. I will lead the crew and Alvin will take the rear. Holly, you stay in the middle and don’t shoot your weapon unless you are specifically told to do so. We don’t want to start a war with the animals on this side if it’s avoidable.”
Everyone nodded and they filed slowly into the jungle. Holly stood between Misha and Aki, with Adisa behind Aki and Alvin as the rearguard. She held her gun in her hands but aimed it away and kept her finger away from the trigger. As she stepped through the veil, she gasped instinctively. Inside was a world of its own. Birds fluttered through the canopy of the trees, alien flowers bloomed wildly all around, and even the temperature was different. She could definitely see why her wonder of the place could distract her from the danger that lurked beyond the beauty of their surroundings.
They trekked steadily through, mostly silent except for Trigger’s occasional instructions. Holly relied on her heightened senses as she read through different documents uploaded to her HUD. There were a lot of creatures out there, but she had been told that there were also many still undocumented. “How do you operate if you come upon an animal not found before?”
Trigger pushed through the brush. “You document it, kill it, take samples, and anything else you can do to get information to the government. Take notes on how it moves, how it looks, how it fights, and most importantly, how to kill the sonofabitch.”
She nodded. “We should be close to finding all of them at this point, right?”
Misha chuckled. “The Zoo constantly changes. New animals sprout up all the time. There is no end to this place.”
Their leader stopped abruptly and held his fist in the air. “It seems we have a rat. Come up here, Holly, and take a look.”
She frowned a little as she moved toward him. “A rat? I’ve seen hundreds. I live in New York City. What can be so dangerous about a—holy fuck.”
Before her stood a large, furry animal about the size of a full-grown pig with large front teeth and rows of tiny sharp ones beyond those. It resembled a cross between a rat and a mole but looked much angrier. Trigger nodded. “They aren’t the hardest bastards to kill, but they definitely don’t like to be fucked with. Your M-16 won’t be of any use. You have to pin this guy to the ground and slit his throat.”
Holly looked warily at Trigger when he handed her a dagger. “You want me to kill it?”
He nodded decisively. “It would kill you in a heartbeat if you gave it the chance. We can’t get through while it’s there. This will be good practice for you.”
She sighed, removed her pack, and placed it on the ground. The dagger held resolutely in her hand, she stepped cautiously toward it. It snorted and hissed when it saw her step out of the trees into the clearing. Her knees were bent and her hands out, ready for anything. The beast sniffed and lurched suddenly into the attack. It moved faster than she thought it would be able to and charged without hesitation. Startled, she flung herself to the side.
Before she could find her feet, it attacked again. This time, tiny spikes emerged from the flesh on the top of its head. Holly’s eyes widened and she knelt on one knee, tense but ready. When it drew close enough, she shifted to her right, grabbed the creature around the neck, and flipped it hard onto its back. It scratched and snapped at her and managed to rip into the armor on her forearm. Fortunately, the vicious teeth didn’t penetrate beyond what might be a slight scratch to her skin.
Holly put her head back and lifted the dagger. “Hold still, you fucker.”
She slammed the blade down into the rat’s throat and hot, blue blood erupted from the wound. Instinctively, she wrinkled her nose as she sliced a gash across the beast’s flesh. It went limp and she could hear her team celebrate from where they stood behind her. She stood, wiped the dagger on the leaves, and handed it back to Trigger.
He shook his head. “Keep it. You are obviously pretty damn good with that thing. Grab your gear and let’s keep moving. You never know when the goop will attract other predators.”
She retrieved her pack and gun and smiled as the others patted her on the back. The dead rat’s wounds shimmered and vibrated but she couldn’t stop to look closer. “Why does it still move after death? Is that the whole reincarnation of the animal?”
Alvin glanced at it. “I suppose. I’ve never stayed around long enough after a kill to see that actually happen. It’s way too dangerous. I won’t fuck with no zombie Zoo creatures. No thanks.”
Misha glanced at him with a smile. “It’s okay, Alvin. Zombies eat brains. You wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
He gave her the middle finger and turned and took his place as the group trekked through the forest. After perhaps an hour at the most into the walk, Trigger stopped again. This time, he dropped to one knee. “All right, crew. We have some jags ahead—about six of them. That makes one for each person if Holly is up to it.”
She wasn’t entirely sure that she was but chose not to share that. “Got it. I know all about the jags at this point.”
Trigger flicked his wrist back and forth. “Line up next to me, crew. We march in with guns blazing.”
The team hurried to take their places in the line and waited for their leader’s command. Holly held her gun tightly with the barrel facing the jags. When he gave the call, they rushed toward the beasts with a barrage of bullets, hard and loud. She stopped and dropped to one knee, using that position to provide a more accurate shot than she could achieve on the move.
Holly looked through the scope and tried to ignore the growls and ferocity of the battle around her. She drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she squeezed the trigger. Her slugs landed true and struck the creature
repeatedly all over the body, but most importantly, one bullet landed right between the eyes. The beast went down hard and died almost instantly. She scrambled to her feet with a look of wild disbelief. “I did it!”
Just then, another jag jumped from the side and tackled her violently. The gun flew from her hand and she reached up instinctively to grab each side of the massive head before the jaws could find purchase on her helmet. She struggled wildly and pushed back against its enormous strength. With a low groan of desperation, she fumbled for the dagger she had been given after the earlier fight. She took a deep breath when she remembered the info sheet on the jag. “A stab to the throat will do the trick,” she muttered to bolster her courage.
She jammed the blade into its throat and held the handle with both hands as it thrashed back and forth. The flesh on its neck tore with each movement, and Holly kicked hard and somehow managed to heave it off her. By the time she had found her feet, the beast was dead. She put one foot on its body and yanked the dagger free. When she finally looked up, she saw that the rest of the team stared over her shoulder into the forest.
Holly’s face fell and she turned but nothing immediately jumped out at her. Trigger walked up to her and lifted his finger to the front of his helmet for silence. Large crunches emanated from not far beyond the bunches of vines that hung like curtains through the forest.
She leaned toward him and whispered, “What the fuck is that?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. We shouldn’t have anything that big this far outside the main part of the Zoo.”
Chapter Five
Billie stepped out of the elevator with a cup of coffee. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she wore a pair of light tan cargo pants, her boots, and a tank top. In her other hand, she held that day’s paper and read the articles on the happenings in the Zoo and beyond. She rarely read the paper, knowing that what was reported was only a fraction of the chaos that happened in the world—chaos which, by now, had simply become part of her routine. In the Zoo, she didn’t have the time or energy to pick up a paper every day simply to be disgusted by it.