Marie (Teumessian Trilogy Book 1)
Page 6
“David, David, David!” she yelled but there was no response. David was dead, burns covered his entire body. Samuel walked to the safe. There it was, the RPG. He grabbed it.
“We have it secured.” Samuel said placing the weapon in his backpack. Marie was still sitting over David’s lifeless body, tears running down her face.
The rat began to laugh, “You may have gotten it back but I got one of yours.” Michael walked over to Marie placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I have had enough of this shit head.” Samuel pulled out his sword and separated the rat’s head from his body.
Justin turned to the group. “David said we have 20 minutes like 10 minutes ago. We need to move, like now, before more show up or we all blow up.”
“Justin’s right, let’s move.” Michael ordered. They all started to move towards the stairs, except Marie.
“We can’t leave him here” she said with tears still falling down her face.
“We don’t have a choice, Marie, we need to move and the body will just slow us down.” Justin yelled. Samuel and Ethan had already left the basement, Justin followed.
“Marie, we have to go now!” Michael yelled at her. She was trying to pick up David’s lifeless body.
“Michael, please. We can’t leave him here. He’s one of us and he doesn’t deserve to be left here to burn!” she wept. Michael hesitated, then he ran to her side and grabbed onto David.
Austin came over the radio “I see three of you, where are you Michael, Marie, David?”
“On route; get ready to load up.” Michael came though. The two of them pulled David’s body out of the house as it blew up behind them. The blast knocked both Marie and Michael to the ground. Justin saw them and ran to them.
“Are you crazy stupid?” He helped Michael up, Marie was slower to move. Justin helped her up as well. “Well I guess I’ll help you two idiots.” Justin said as he helped Michael with transporting David to the truck.
“What the fuck?” Austin was confused. “Is he dead?” Austin saw the tears in Marie’s eyes, it left no doubt that David was in fact dead.
The drive back to the facility was silent; none of them said a word and none could. They were all trying to hold back their tears. Only Marie would allow her tears to be seen. She didn’t have the same control as the others. Once they arrived back at the facility, they loaded David’s body into the prep room, laid him out on a table. Nobody was speaking, they all just sat around, heads down. Marie was holding back her tears as best she could only a few were rolling down her cheeks. Finally she could take no more she burst into sobbing hysterics and ran from the room. Michael started to go after her but Justin stopped him.
“Let her go, she’ll be ok.” Justin reassured him.
Moments later Bruce, Kenneth, and Frederick entered the room. “Where is it?” Frederick ordered. Samuel reached into his backpack and pulled the RPG out.
Kenneth walked over and took it from him. “Nice work,” Kenneth said with a smile.
Bruce was less enthusiastic as he looked at David’s lifeless body. “How the fuck did this happen?” Bruce yelled looking directly at Michael.
“It was as booby trap on the safe. I don’t know how he didn’t see it.” Michael answered head down.
“How he didn’t notice it? How the fuck didn’t any of you!” Bruce yelled. Nobody could speak. They knew they had failed, they had lost a man.
“Can any of you explain why you brought his body here?” Frederick asked. They all looked at each other but none would speak. “So I am to believe that you as a group decided to slow yourselves down by bringing back a dead body so that what I would have to dispose of it. The explosive you had would have decimated everything there. He should have been burned with the rest of the evidence!” Frederick was yelling now. “Weakness; that shows fucking weakness. You are all pathetic!”
Samuel stood up.
“You got something to say?” Frederick asked.
“Ya it wasn’t us. It was her. She wouldn’t leave him.” Samuel said.
“Shut up.” Michael yelled.
“Oh ya let’s protect your stupid girlfriend and take the heat for her again” Samuel yelled back. Michael and Samuel were in each other’s faces at this point.
Justin stepped in, “Chill out both of you. It’s not helping”
“Where is she?” Frederick ordered. His order was met with silence. “I’m not going to ask again, where the fuck is she?!”
Austin lifted his arm and pointed
to the door, “She went that way probably to the nursery.”
Michael shot Austin an angry look.
“What? They were going to find
her anyway,” Austin said.
“Then she’s mine.” Frederick said
as he stormed out of the room towards the nursery. Everyone else quickly followed.
Frederick stormed into the nursery; Marie was in the corner of the room knees to her chest crying. Frederick walked right over to her, she looked up, but he had no sympathy for her weakness. He took her by the neck and stood her up pinning her against the wall. Michael tried to step in but Bruce stopped him.
“I knew you were a fucking mistake. You’re weak, and you’re pathetic. If you think for one second that Michael can protect you forever you’re wrong!” Frederick tightened his grip on her neck.
She began to panic and grab at his hands.
“Stop it!” Michael yelled and tried to rush to her but Bruce and Kenneth held him back.
Marie’s eyes grew wild with fear and desperation. Suddenly she got grip on his hands and pulled his hands from her throat and landed a head butt straight to his nose. Frederick stepped back grabbing his nose as blood ran down his hands. Marie quickly pulled out her knives. She was shaking, her eyes filled with rage.
“If any of your worthless pieces of shit ever touch me again I swear I will cut it off and feed it to you!” She yelled. She clung to her knives prepared to attack the next person who came near her. Michael stepped up to her. She turned the knives towards him, holding one to his throat.
Michael put his hands up, “Just calm down. It’s over. Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise.” Michael calmly told her. She was shaking but refused to lower the knives. “Marie, please put the knives away. Nobody else needs to get hurt tonight.” Michael put his hands out for her to hand him the knives. Her breathing calmed and she collapsed into his arms. He held her tight, her tears were flowing. Michael looked up at everyone, “Shows over! Move on!”
“This isn’t over!” Frederick yelled back.
“It is for tonight” Justin stepped up in between Frederick and Michael.
Bruce touched Frederick on the shoulder. “That’s enough. Tonight has been too much as is. We have lost too much of value already.” Bruce and Kenneth led Frederick out of the room. Justin led the rest of the pack out.
Marie clung to Michael. He pulled her away from him. “It’s going to be ok, trust me.” He said. She hung her head afraid to make eye contact. “Tell me you trust me,” he pleaded with her. She nodded her head. He placed his hand under her chin lifting it up till she finally made eye contact. He lightly kissed her on the lips. She smiled and fell back into his arms. “We’re going to be ok, I know it.” He repeatedly whispered to her. She couldn’t say anything she just kept clinging to him. He was her strength; she couldn’t imagine life without him. He carried her to her room and gently laid her down on her bed, pulling her covers over her. “Just sleep, you will feel better in the morning.” He calmly told her stroking her hair. All she could do was nod her head, slowly she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 9
“Can someone please explain to me what the fuck happened last night?” Henry yelled at the group. It was the following morning and the management was meeting to discuss the mission from the previous night. “I am not sure how we ended up with a dead body and Frederick here with a busted nose.” Henry laughed “Frederick she fucked up your face. It’s kind of funny, you hav
e to admit.” Frederick wasn’t laughing,
“I’m not sure what got into that bitch but she will pay for it.” Frederick sneered.
“Oh come now you went too far and she fought back.” Kenneth chimed in.
“Killing her wouldn’t have fixed last night and then you would have to dispose of another body and we would have lost more property,” Bruce added.
Ivan spoke, “I find it interesting that she got so violent last night. It is not like her, she tends to be the soft one. She appears much more volatile lately as is. Do we have a chemical explanation for this or is it just the fact that she is apparently crazy?” Ivan looked directly at Stanley. Stanley knew the answer but was too afraid to say it. Jones spoke up, this was a first for him; normally, he just sat in the back and let Stanley do the talking, but he knew Stanley couldn’t today.
“She’s pregnant.” Jones calmly told the group.
“What?!” Henry yelled. “How the fuck did this happen?!”
“Do you need a birds and bees explanation?” Kenneth laughed.
Bruce punched Kenneth in the stomach, “Shut the fuck up!”
“Why in good god’s name did we allow something like this to happen? Why wasn’t she sterilized along with the rest of them?” Henry yelled.
“We didn’t sterilize any of them and we didn’t give any of them anything other than the injections so it wouldn’t affect the results. If they had not developed ‘normally’ then the drugs wouldn’t have worked,” Stanley replied.
“Because the drugs have worked so well so far.” Frederick barked back.
“Condoms would have been a smart investment,” Kenneth said with a laugh
Ivan just rubbed his temples. “Are we sure?”
Jones nodded his head, “We confirmed it with her weekly blood test yesterday. Her sample revealed a lot.” Jones added.
“What do you mean ‘a lot’?” Frederick asked.
“Well it also showed a variance in her DNA. It appears to be changing.” Jones answered
Ivan sat up in his chair. “Hold on, are you telling me that finally this drug mixture is working?”
“It looks like it is.” Stanley replied.
“Can you explain how?” Frederick asked.
“No, we are not sure if it is related to her pregnancy or if it is unrelated.” Stanley answered.
“How do you intend to figure this out?” Henry asked.
Stanley shook his head, “I am not sure.”
“Really am I the only one who sees the obvious answer here? You terminate the pregnancy and retest.” Frederick added.
Jones chimed in,” We could allow the pregnancy to continue to see if it in fact the combination of the pregnancy and the drugs will continue to alter her DNA.”
Stanley knew he was just trying to help Marie but he knew they would never allow it.
“Are we sure this alteration is in fact the outcome we are looking for, that is self-repair?” Bruce asked.
Stanley nodded his head, “Yes, it appears to be that way.”
Ivan sat back, rubbing his temples again. “Terminate it and lab rat her, we need to find out exactly what went right and what went wrong. We cannot base our drug on it only finally working on a pregnant female. It needs to be ready to build soldiers.”
Stanley felt his heart drop from his chest, all he could do was whisper “No” to himself.
Stanley was not alone is his heart break, from his spot in the ceiling, Justin felt panic take over his body. Justin had a habit of listening in on the big bosses. It kept him a step ahead, he always felt. Justin quickly moved from his hiding spot back to the hallway. He had to warn Michael, he had to help them. Justin rushed down the hallway. Justin found Marie and Michael together in Marie’s room. “They know!” was all he could blurt out, he was panicked and out of breath. Marie just looked to Michael, panic in her eyes, but Michael was calm.
“They aren’t going to allow it are
they?” Michael asked Justin.
Justin could just shake his head.
“Then we go now,” Michael told Marie. She nodded her head and quickly moved to her drawers. They both knew they couldn’t keep it a secret forever and if it wouldn’t be allowed they had to run. She had bags packed, weapons, clothes, and money they had stolen all ready to go. Michael retrieved a bow and his arrow bag he had hidden behind her dresser. He strapped it on to his body and threw one of the bags over his shoulder. She put her black backpack on her back.
“Where are they?” Michael asked Justin.
“They were in Ivan’s office but they may be moving. Ivan has ordered the baby terminated and her experimented on,” Justin exclaimed.
. Michael looked around the room, then made his decision.
“Out the window, let’s go now” Michael ushered Marie to the window. She climbed up and out the window and into the bushes. Michael turned to Justin, “Buy us as much time as you can.”
Justin nodded, “I’ll do my best.”
Michael then climbed out the window and joined Marie. She looked up at him, he took her by the arm and led her out of the bushes. It was a rainy day so the sky was dark and they knew the security down to exacts. They moved past the guards and through the side gate that the guards always left unlocked to make their own movements easier. Justin watched from the window and saw them disappear into the night. He closed the window and calmed his mind. His friends’ lives were now in his hand he had to buy them more time to get as far away as possible before anyone discovered they were gone. Justin sat down on Marie’s bed, rubbing his hands on his head. Suddenly Frederick, Stanley, and Jones entered the room along with three guards, Justin instantly stood up.
“Where is she?” Frederick commanded.
“I think she is with Michael in his room.” Justin answered.
“Then why are you in here? If she is not in her room, why are you?” Frederick asked.
“I was looking for her and she was not here so I figured she is with Michael. I was about the head that way.” Justin said trying to keep his calm.
Frederick looked suspicious but waved his hand for the guards to follow him as he left the room.
Stanley knew Justin too well, “Thank you” he whispered to Justin as he left the room to follow Frederick.
Justin let out a deep breath and sat back down on the bed.
Justin could hear Frederick yelling from Michael’s room, “Search everywhere. They have to be here somewhere!” Guards were scrambling in the hallways searching rooms for Michael and Marie. Justin knew it was only a matter of time before they realized they had been tipped off and were gone. He just hoped it will have been enough time for them to get far enough away.
Chapter 10
“It’s been a mother fucking year, can someone explain to me why we still have no fucking clue where they are?” Henry barked at the group. The management had been meeting regularly and plotting and planning and yet none of their plans had worked in successfully finding Michael and Marie.
“Let’s be honest. Do we really even still need those two?” Bruce asked.
“Yes, she is the only one to have responded to the treatments and we need to find out why.” Ivan replied.
“So I take it we have had no success with the new subjects?” Frederick asked.
“No none, they have all died” Stanley said with a heavy heart. He had buried ten baby girls; each one had broken his heart a little bit more. They didn’t even last a week on the treatments.
“So, to be short, for some fucking reason this girl is the only female we can find that can withstand and respond to the treatments and none of the remaining four original subjects have shown any DNA modification.” Henry yelled.
“We have regularly sampled the remaining four and none show any improvement in their ability to naturally heal,” Jones responded.
“Your fucking formula is a dam failure! All this money and time and no fucking result but one we cannot even fucking find,” Henry yelled.
“The form
ula isn’t a failure. It worked. It just doesn’t work on everyone,” Stanley defended himself.
“Let’s do some math, twenty subjects and only one success, that’s a shitty level of success. I don’t think it is successful I think it was a waste of time and money.” Frederick added.
Ivan raised his hand for everyone to be silent. “One success is enough to find the key to properly manipulating the formula to work on a large population. Remember the end game is to create human weapons that can be sold to the highest bidder. We need to have her back to find out the key or any other experiments will be a waste of time and money. Torture the remaining four till they give them up. I have a nagging suspicions they have help within these walls.” Ivan looked directly at Stanley. “We have found the communications; you have been using Justin to pass messages and intel.” Stanley felt his heart drop. Ivan waved his hand. Frederick pulled out a pistol and fired directly into Stanley’s head, blood spattered everywhere. Nobody flinched but Jones who was shaking.
“Seriously, Frederick, you were supposed to do that outside now it’s everywhere. Shit those were new chairs. You’re cleaning that shit up” Henry yelled.
“Fine. Whatever it’s done isn’t it?” Frederick laughed. “You have his formula correct?” Frederick asked Jones. Jones nodded his head, still shaking. “Good you’re in charge now.” Frederick said with a smile.
“Ok then, let’s get to work, I want them found within the week.” Ivan ordered.
Things had not been well for the remaining four pack members since Marie and Michael’s disappearance. The scrambling to try to get a result from them had resulted in torturous treatments and extensive physical experimentations. Austin had lost an eye, Ethan had lost several fingers and toes in a failed experiment, Samuel was covered in scars and was missing several ‘unimportant organs’ or at least that’s what they kept telling him. Justin had it the worst. They blamed him for the loss of Marie and Michael. He was hardly recognizable. His once sweet face was covered with scars, he had lost all of his hair from the experiments, and he had lost several fingers and toes after a test of cold extremes went badly. They were all a far cry from the pictures of physical fitness and health they once were. Their bodies weren’t the only thing that were broken. So were their spirits. They had nothing left but to just follow orders or die. Austin, Samuel, and Ethan did just that. They followed orders and Austin and Samuel even seemed to rise in the ranks within the company. Justin was always the subject of their rage and it showed but he never wavered in his dedication to Michael. However, he could only be pushed so far. The four of them were in the prep room preparing for what they were told was another training exercise when Bruce walked in. They stood at attention awaiting their orders. Bruce took a breath then walked right up to Justin and punched him in the right eye.