A Necessary Kill

by James P. Sumner

Ruby looks back the way we came, keeping watch. “Will you hurry up?”

  I try another key. “I’m going as fast as I—” The door unlocks. “Okay, I’m in.”

  I pull it open, holding it so she can go through. I follow her, locking it behind me.

  We’re in a maintenance area, which is dimly lit by fading lights affixed to the walls on either side. The ground is plain concrete with patches of water all around. Overhead, exposed piping wrapped in silver duct tape runs along the ceiling.

  The corridor is narrow, and after a few hundred yards a metal staircase descends into more darkness.

  “Well, this isn’t creepy at all…”

  She ignores me and makes her way down. After a few steps, lights flicker into life above us.

  “You happy now?” she calls back over her shoulder.

  “I am, thanks.”

  We reach the bottom and follow the corridor around. It opens into another hub of sorts, a central space with corridors stretching out on every compass point, presumably running underneath the entire building.

  It’s damp and dark and the air is stale.

  “Which way?” I ask her.

  “I don’t know,” she replies abruptly. “You’ve been down here as many times as I have.”

  “Okay, let’s think about this and—”

  “You two alright?”

  The voice startles us and we jump, spinning around to find the source of the question. Over in the doorway of a small room is a man wearing maintenance coveralls and a baseball cap. He’s skinny, probably late fifties, with a thick, gray beard.

  “Who are you?” I ask urgently, taking a step toward him.

  He holds his hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m just the janitor. I didn’t do nothing.” His voice is raspy and his hands are trembling.

  Ruby moves in front of me. “We need to get out of here. The inmates are loose and running riot upstairs. Is there another way out of the building down here?”

  He thinks for a minute as he looks both of us up and down. “Sure, there’s the back door I use.” He nods over to his right, down the corridor opposite us.

  “That’s great!”

  She takes a step toward it, but I grab her arm to stop her. “Hang on—if it’s a main door, it’ll be covered by the Fed—” I look at the janitor. “…The other guys. Any other ways?”

  He shakes his head. “No… well, except…”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Except? We like except… Except what?”

  “There’s a service tunnel contractors use when they clean the sewers.” He points down the next corridor directly ahead of him. “There’s an access point that leads into the main sewer network beneath the city. It runs for miles.”

  “Sounds perfect, thanks. And if anyone comes down here asking, you didn’t see us, okay?”

  The guy shrugs. “I don’t see nothing. I’m just the janitor.”

  “Good man.”

  I jog over to the corridor. Lights flicker on as I approach. It’s short and a dead end. On the left is a small room containing cleaning supplies with the door open. Against the wall at the end is a large machine for buffing the floor tiles.

  In one wall is a hatch. I move over to it and spin the circular handle in the middle, unlocking it. I pull it open to reveal a tunnel, maybe three feet high and the same across.

  Oh.

  “No way,” says Ruby next to me. She leans forward and sniffs. “I’m not going in there—the place stinks!”

  “Oh, well, that’s fair enough. Tell you what, you head back upstairs and distract the crazy people until the FBI arrives so I can get out of here…”

  She flips me the middle finger but says nothing.

  “Look, I don’t really want to crawl on my hands and knees through shit, either, but it’s that or leave in the back of a van surrounded by two SWAT teams. It’s your call, sweetheart, but I know what’s getting my vote.”

  She briefly looks down at herself. “I’m wearing nothing but this dress…”

  I shrug. “So you’ll have less laundry to do afterward—bonus. You wanna go first?”

  She shakes her head and sighs heavily, then steps aside gesturing to the entrance. “Age before beauty.”

  I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”

  I climb inside. I’m struggling to fit comfortably, even on all fours. It’s as if the tunnel itself is smaller than the entrance. And, it really does stink in here! The sides are greasy and covered in a combination of mold, some kind of weird slime, and cobwebs.

  I get maybe fifteen feet in and begin to feel an involuntary anxiety. Only natural, being in such an enclosed space, I guess, even if you’re not claustrophobic. I take a moment to compose myself and calm down before pressing on, clearing my mind of any concerns it has.

  I hear Ruby climb in behind me. “Oh my God… this sucks.”

  “Will you quit moaning?” I shout back. “I don’t like it, either, but we have no other choice.”

  We shuffle on in silence and soon reach a junction where we can go either left or right. I move slightly to one side, making more space beside me for Ruby to move level.

  I look back at her. “What do you think?”

  She’s cursing under her breath as she moves next to me. “I don’t know… Ugh—I hate this! It was nicer in my cell. But you had to come along and ruin things for me, didn’t you! Oh, whatever…”

  “I’ll remember that when it’s time to pay you twenty million dollars…”

  She sighs, pauses, and looks down each direction before shrugging. “I dunno… right?”

  I smile. “Okay, right it is.”

  She sets off and I follow. I try to avert my eyes while still looking where I’m going because all I can see in front of me is Ruby’s ass. And she’s in a short dress without underwear…

  “You better not be looking at anything back there!” she says a little too playfully.

  “I’m doing my best…”

  The air’s becoming stagnant, and the smell of sewage is strong.

  I just had an awful thought…

  I hope the way in and out through these tunnels is marked in some way, otherwise we could be in here for days…

  My hand rests in something warm and sticky.

  I look down and sigh.

  Shit.

  8

  12:59 EDT

  We’ve been in the tunnels for a half hour, maybe more. The entrance under the asylum feeds into the main network that runs beneath the city, which, thankfully, is much larger. There’s shallow water running along the middle of the tunnels, with walkways along both sides and connecting footbridges periodically along the way.

  Unfortunately, lighting is sporadic at best, and signs don’t appear regularly enough to be useful, unless you work down here for a living and understand how to navigate this… labyrinth.

  Yeah… we’re a little lost.

  We stop at another junction. “I hate you,” says Ruby.

  I nod. “Fair enough. I hate myself most days, too. You get used to it.”

  “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

  “Yeah, because I often traverse the Baltimore sewer system…” I sigh, immediately angry with myself for being unnecessarily flippant. “Sorry. That was a little uncalled for.”

  She shakes her head. “No, it’s me. I stink and I’m frustrated and I’m filthy… but I’m grateful for you getting me out of there, and for the work.”

  “It’s alright. Let’s just focus on getting out of here. The good news is that if we’re lost, the chances of anyone finding us are pretty slim.”

  She shrugs. “True, but the streets above are gonna be crawling with Baltimore PD and, presumably, FBI agents, too—all searching for us.”

  “Well, let’s see where we end up—no sense getting ahead of ourselves. Come on.”

  We make our way across another bridge, moving over to the other side of the waterway. Up ahead, I see a sign on the near wall, which I point to. “That street name mean anything to you?”


  She squints in the gloom. “West 39th? Yeah… it’s a couple miles northeast of the asylum…” She laughs. “Oh my God—we must’ve traveled directly beneath the university! That’s great!”

  I smile. “I think we’ve been very fortunate to go in a consistently straight direction, under the circumstances, so I’m not complaining.”

  We speed up and turn the corner. It’s a dead end with a ladder ascending the wall. I follow it up with my gaze and see the pinprick of light from outside shining down through the manhole cover.

  I put a hand and foot on the ladder. “Come on, I’ll go first. Watch your step, okay? It’s a good twenty feet top to bottom.”

  I set off, climbing the ladder carefully. The steps are slippery from a combination of grime and moisture. I hear Ruby follow a few moments later.

  It takes less than a minute to reach the top. I stop in a hunch, leaning my head forward so my shoulders and neck rest against the cover above me. I adjust my grip and set my footing, making myself as sturdy as possible. With some considerable effort, I use my legs, back, and shoulders to push up against the cover.

  It moves, but barely.

  I try again. Same routine… same result.

  “What’s the hold up?” Ruby shouts.

  I grimace as I try a third time to no avail. “It won’t budge.”

  “Do you want me to try?” she asks, with no attempt to hide her sarcasm.

  I look down and glare at her. I clench my jaw muscles and grip the sides of the ladder tightly until my knuckles turn white. I take a breath and through gritted teeth I growl a muffled roar of anger and frustration as I push up one more time, with every ounce of strength I can muster.

  It gives way and goes flying off like a Frisbee. I almost lose my footing, unprepared for how easily it moved. My head breaches the hole and the fresh air hits my nostrils. I take a deep lungful, as if welcoming an old friend I haven’t seen in years.

  The rain hasn’t relented its onslaught. It’s still gray and cold because of the low cloud cover. I move my head to look around, trying to get a feel for where we are, and—

  “Oh, shit!”

  I duck back inside the hole, narrowly avoiding the front tire of a car. I close my eyes, breathing heavily and resting my head against the ladder.

  “What is it?” asks Ruby.

  “We’re in the middle of the goddamn street! I’m guessing there was a car stopped on the cover, which is why it wouldn’t move before…”

  She starts laughing. “Well, try not to lose your head about it…”

  I look down and narrow my eyes at her. I don’t like not being the funny one…

  I ignore her. “Come on, we’ll need to be quick.”

  I move up again, more cautiously this time. I peek my head out and scan up and down the street. A car’s approaching. I quickly duck and wait for it to pass, then look out again. Beyond it, the lights are on red. Cars are slowing all around.

  It’s now or never…

  “Let’s go.” I climb out and hold up a grateful hand to the car that brakes early to avoid hitting me. I kneel down and reach for Ruby, who grabs my forearm. “Got you.”

  I help her out, and we quickly run over to the sidewalk. There’s some grass and trees to the side of a parking lot at the rear of a school. We take cover from the steady rain under one of the trees, catching our breath and letting the adrenaline subside.

  I look around and see nothing worth worrying about, although I can hear sirens in the distance. “It won’t be long before they set up roadblocks around the city. We need to move.”

  Ruby laughs. “Roadblocks? I’m not that dangerous y’know…”

  I smile. “They’d be for me, sweetheart.”

  “And what makes you so special?”

  “I just broke you out of an insane asylum to help me kill the president… Have you not stopped to wonder why?”

  She shrugs. “Been a little busy. So… go on—why are we killing him?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  “On the way where?”

  “We need to head back to the institute. I’m not bothered about the car I stole, but I need my bag out of it—if it’s not been taken already.”

  “Are you kidding me? Why?”

  “For my guns.”

  “There are plenty of places for us to get weapons.”

  “I know, but these ones are special.”

  “Oh, wait… Don’t you have those—what are they—matching… Berettas?”

  I nod and smile weakly, feeling a little embarrassed that my reputation continues to precede me.

  “Adrian, I get the whole ‘boys and their toys’ thing, okay? I do. But if we go back there, after what we’ve just done… shit, you should be locked inside there!”

  I sigh heavily. She’s right. I mean, obviously it’s a stupid idea… But I really like my guns. I have very little consistency in my life nowadays. I lost my original Berettas in San Francisco a few years back. These replacements were a gift from Robert Clark—a man who became the closest thing to a friend someone like me could have, and a man I watched die trying to stop the CIA director from nuking half the planet. They’re a legacy.

  On the other hand, logically, they’re just guns. And Ruby’s right, I can get weapons anywhere… I guess.

  I move my hand to my chest, absently feeling for the flash drive around my neck underneath my shirt. It’s still there, reassuringly.

  Fuck it. I’ll get new guns. Bob wouldn’t have minded.

  “Okay. First, we find a car.”

  Ruby nods and gestures behind us with her thumb at the almost full parking lot. “No issues there.”

  “Second, we get you some clothes, then third, we need to get the fuck out of Baltimore.”

  “Where are you thinking of going?”

  I pause for a moment, then smile as a brilliant idea hits me. “I know a place about three hours from here. You’ll love it.”

  16:41 EDT

  I boosted a dark green sedan, and we stopped off to borrow a change of clothes for the both of us from a nearby store. I ditched the flannel shirt look in favor of a more comfortable and familiar plain T-shirt to go with my jeans. My old leather jacket was in my shoulder bag, which is now lost forever, so I had to settle for a regular brown jacket with a hood attached to it. Probably for the best, given the weather.

  We cautiously navigated the streets, avoiding any sirens, and eventually made it onto I-95. We turned onto I-476 just before Philly, and headed north.

  Overall, it took a little under three hours to reach Allentown.

  On the way, I brought Ruby up to speed on everything. Being incarcerated the way she was, she didn’t have access to TV or newspapers, so she was genuinely unaware of everything that had happened.

  She reacted the way most people do.

  It’s interesting that regardless of who I tell and what they do for a living, they’re all affected the same way. She’s a contract killer, and arguably certifiable, yet she started crying when I told her about the attacks and who was behind them. She had fallen asleep after an hour or so, leaving me to drive on in silence.

  It feels… weird. So many flashbacks and memories rushing into my mind. I made this exact journey almost three years ago. Josh was driving his Winnebago, and I was heading into battle.

  Christ… that feels like a lifetime ago.

  But that man, the one who tore the corrupted fabric of this city down piece by piece is long dead. I’m coming here now to see what was left in his wake.

  Last time I was here, I did some business with a man named Oscar Brown—owner of the first and, as far as I know, only superstore for black market weapons. I’m going to need hardware—for me and my new team. Oscar’s come through for me more than once in the past, and I trust him not to advertise my latest visit.

  I pull up outside the warehouse complex and kill the engine. It still looks like I remember. It’s even raining, like last time. I look at the first of the three units fa
cing the entrance and smile fondly.

  I wonder if he still has that chopper in there…

  I nudge Ruby’s arm, and she snorts as she wakes up. “We’re here.”

  She blinks hard, clearing the grit from her eyes, and looks around. “Where’s here, exactly?”

  I smile. “Candyland.”

  I get out and pull the hood on my jacket up to protect me against the rain. I walk around the front of the car and meet her as she steps out. She’s wearing black leggings with low-heeled brown ankle boots. She has a white vest top on underneath a brown fitted jacket. Her hair’s tied up. She looks nice—certainly different from the first time I saw her.

  She sees me looking and stares at me challengingly. “Hey, you want a picture? It’ll last longer.”

  I shake my head, snapping myself out of it. “Sorry, I wasn’t staring, I was—”

  “Yeah, you were…” She smiles. “Come on, I’m getting soaked.”

  I feel my cheeks flush a little. We jog across the street into the complex and head toward the warehouse, which is standing alone on the right. We make it to the steps leading up to the entrance when the door opens.

  A man appears in front of us. He’s tall, well built… I don’t recognize him. “You lost?”

  I shake my head. “I’m looking for Oscar. I’m an old friend.”

  The man scoffs. “Oscar doesn’t have friends.”

  I smile. “No, he has customers. And I’m one of those, too.”

  The man shakes his head. “Dunno what you’re talking about. Fuck off.”

  I sigh. “Look, we all know what’s in this warehouse. I came here a few years back, and I’m looking to do some… shopping. Now, let us in. We’re getting wet, and I have money to burn.”

  “I told you to—”

  “I know what you told him to do,” interrupts Ruby as she walks up the steps and stands in front of the man. He’s easily a foot taller, but she’s unfazed. She just looks up at him. “But like he told you, we’re returning customers. Now go and get Oscar so we don’t have to add the recruitment of new security to his to-do list.”

  I smile. I like her.

  The guy glances at me and raises an eyebrow in silent query.

  I shrug. “Don’t look at me—I was just about to break your arm.”