I wasn’t sure how long I stood there staring, but when I turned back to Lisa, she didn’t look at all horrified by what she had done. Instead, she was glaring at me so hard I was pretty sure I didn’t have words to properly describe the way it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up because that was just the tip of the iceberg.
17
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lisa screamed, shoving me so hard I had to take a couple steps back to avoid falling on my butt. “Why are you so damn stupid?”
“Lisa, what are you talking about?” I asked, swallowing.
A horrible guttural sound that reminded me of a wounded hyena ripped out of her throat as she turned back toward the computer. Her hands flew across the interfaces as maps and locations sprang up on the screen. “You have all this power at your fingertips, and you’re too weak or too stupid or both to use it to stop those people,” Lisa snarled, still not looking at me. “This could have all been avoided if you’d just done what needed to be done days ago.” Tears dripped down her cheeks and spattered on the panel, leaving a glistening trail under her fingers.
The sad thing was, I knew she was right. This is what Donovan had been trying to tell me. He had called me a killer and told me to just go in and slaughter everyone. Still, I’d refused to acknowledge what it would actually take to win against a force like the Agency. The closer I got to routing the Agency, the harder it became to make myself carry through with their plan. I kept looking at all those people, and no matter how bad they were, I just kept thinking that Gabriella was worse, that despite everything they did, there had to be a good reason for the way they acted.
I kept thinking that maybe we’d all be screwed without them to stop people like Gabriella, that maybe they were ratcheting up because they had to do it. What if I destroyed them and something worse came along, something the Agency could have stopped? Could I really be responsible for killing all those people and then find out they were the good guys after all?
“Lisa, I know you’re upset.” I reached out toward her. She whirled, smacking my hand away as red rectangles appeared over what must have been fifty spots on the map. The screen to the left of me lit up to reveal a silo filled to the brim with missiles. How had Gabriella gotten a hold of so many? I shook away the thought, now wasn’t the time.
“I am upset,” she snarled. “Those bastards just killed my parents.” She jerked a thumb at Tom. “He doesn’t count.”
“Lisa, calm down.” The screen began flashing as the boxes seemed to lock on. Wait, were they targeting those spots? Was Lisa going to fire all those missiles? “You can’t just kill everyone. It’s not right. It’s not what heroes do.”
“Abby, you’re not a hero.” Lisa tried to shove me again, but this time I caught her hand by the wrist and held her there so she couldn’t move. “You’re just some stupid girl who is in over her head.” Lisa shook her head and pulled her hand away. “I thought we were friends…”
“We are friends Lisa. That’s why—”
“That’s why you let them abduct me and use me as bait?” she asked, and the words leapt from her throat like a pouncing jungle cat and landed straight on my heart, claws first. She spun back to the mainframe, but before she could type anything, I grabbed her by the shoulders and flung her away from the keyboard. She hit the chair with a loud thwap and fell, striking the ground so hard it made my stomach do a little flip flop.
“Sorry,” I murmured, rushing toward her, worried I’d hurt her. “But I can’t let you kill all those people. They can’t all be bad, and besides…”
Lisa shoved me away and stood on her own, one hand using the toppled chair for balance. Murder filled her features as she reached up and stroked her left temple with one hand. She looked at her fingertips, and the blood on them seemed to incite her even more.
“I don’t care, Abby. I don’t care if I have to kill a million innocent people to stop them. They murdered my parents. They killed your mom. They are the source of all that’s wrong with the world, Abby. You may be too weak to do what’s needed to stop them.” She took a menacing step toward me, her hands clenched into fists. “But I am not.”
“Fortunately for the world, I’m not going to let you kill anyone,” I said, my jaw set in determination as I moved between her and the computer chair. “You can’t beat me, not here, not now, Lisa.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re Abby Banks, wonder-girl.” She laughed, a hoarse gaudy sound that rankled along my flesh. “Too bad you forgot one teensy weensy little thing, Abby.”
A twinge of worry made my heart start pumping a little faster. “What’s that,” I asked, glancing from her to Tom. He shrugged. He had backed up as far away from us as possible.
“You need to take her down now, before she kills you,” Donovan said in my ear, his voice so sure and confident that I almost believed him. But this was Lisa…
“Pay attention to me,” Lisa growled, spittle flying from her lips as she reached out and grabbed me by the throat so fast I couldn’t even react. Her hand tightened, cutting off my air as something robotic glinted in her eyes for a second.
I threw my hand up instinctively, slamming my palm into her chest and knocking her backward. Her nails scraped at my flesh leaving burning claw marks on my skin as she tore free of my neck. “What the hell, Lisa?”
She shook her head, her black hair falling down over her face, shielding it from view. “See, I told you guys I figured out how the flit worked. What the problem was. Well, I also added a little patch. I wasn’t sure if it’d work, but I used the uplink in my brain to access the flit’s database…” She curled one hand into a fist. “Let’s just say you’re not quite so special anymore, Abby.”
I was too stunned to move as she came at me, her fist lashing through the air beside my face. I think she could have hit me if she had wanted to do so because I didn’t move. I was too shocked to even defend myself, so I was glad she hadn’t hit me. With speed like that, it would have knocked me flat on my butt.
She opened her hand and flicked my ear. “You can’t beat me, Abby. I’m faster and smarter and all around better than you. I’m not sure what they stuffed in your head, but I have all the knowledge of the world in mine.”
I punched her. She must not have expected it because my blow slammed into her face. The feel of her nose breaking beneath my fist made my gut twist into a knot. The spray of her blood across my face as I lunged, throwing my knee into her midsection made me want to gag. Lisa was my friend, but unfortunately, she’d lost it.
She countered my next blow, swinging her arm around to block my elbow. The force of it rattled down my arm, shaking me. How could she have recovered so quickly? That should have hurt her… only it didn’t seem like it had. Why didn’t she care?
Her fist slammed into my cheek before I could ask her. I fell, the taste of blood filling my mouth. I barely managed to roll out of the way as her foot slammed down on the ground next to me. I scrambled to my feet as her knee whooshed by my nose. It didn’t hit me, but it threw me off balance. I stumbled backward before dropping into a fighting stance a couple meters from her.
Lisa wasn’t looking at me anymore. She had her hands on the keyboard, but as she typed, the whole thing shut down. She let out a cry of frustration as I tackled her from behind, driving my shoulder into the small of her back.
Our impact against the panel should have stunned her, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She drove her elbow into my side without even a backward glance. The breath shot from my lungs as she whirled, grabbing me by my arm and flinging me across the room like last night’s garbage. I hit the ground hard, skidding to a stop on the metal floor in a way that left my skin crying out in agony. I got to my hands and knees, blood dripping from the corner of my mouth and tried to will the suddenly blurry world back into focus.
“Access denied. Access denied…” the voice of Gabriella’s holographic form said as Lisa tried to make the computer work. “Flit presence detected. Access revoked. If you be
lieve this is an error, please input a ticket and someone will be able to assist your shortly.” The computer screen winked off, leaving a faint hum in the air as Lisa turned toward me and glared a hole into my chest.
“Abby, give me access again,” she snapped. Her footsteps echoed in the tiny room, reverberating in my brain like a gong. I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in my head, and got to my feet. The room swayed when I reopened my eyes, but I ignored it.
“Not happening, Lisa. You just need to calm down. Think this through—”
She slapped me so hard my teeth rattled in my head. I staggered backward as she hit me again, knocking me to the ground. My head bounced off the metal with a sickening crack, and the world went dark around the edges. Her weight settled on my chest, pinning me to the floor with her knee.
“I’m going to repeat myself this one time. Give me back access.” Lisa’s voice was hard and angry. Good. If she’d been calm, it would have been way scarier because she was coldly logical, and well, angry people don’t usually think straight. If she was angry, maybe I could take advantage of it.
“Not going to happen, Lisa,” I wheezed through clenched lips as I tried to get my hands underneath me, but as I did so, she struck me hard in the side and stars flashed across my eyes.
“You know. I don’t need you, anyway. I can just waltz in there and take over. The flit has given me access to everything in their system. I don’t even need you. It would just be easier.” Lisa sighed and stood up. “You always want to do everything the hard way, don’t you, Abby?”
I stared up at her as she loomed over me, tapping her chin with one stubby finger. She was still angry, but not as angry as she’d been only a moment before. That wasn’t good. A calm Lisa was a smart Lisa… and I wasn’t sure I could beat a calm Lisa. Especially since she was willing to kick the crap out of me, and I wasn’t really willing to do the same to her…
I started to get to my feet, but as soon as I moved, Lisa nudged me with the toe of her tennis shoe. “Don’t,” she said, still studying me. “I haven’t decided what to do with you. Part of me thinks you’ll come around, but most of me knows you won’t. Leaving you alive and in control of this.” She waved her arms at the room. “Seems unnecessarily foolish. But still…”
“Are you thinking of killing me, Lisa? Is that what you’re trying to decide?” I asked and couldn’t keep the tremor out of my voice. Lisa was supposed to be my best friend. She’d been holding my hand a few minutes ago and now, now, she was contemplating putting me down like a naughty puppy. “We’re supposed to be friends.”
“Not in quite so many words, but yes.” She huffed out a little sigh as she knelt down next to me and touched my cheek with her fingers. Her skin was like ice. “The flit doesn’t want me to do it if it makes you feel better. I think he likes you.” She smirked. “All the boys always seem to like you, Abby. Well, now that you’re ‘special,’ anyway. First Stephen, now the flit.” She shook her head. “I’m rambling now. I guess. I know boys don’t really like you. They like Shelley back home. I was just trying to make you feel bad, and to be honest, I’m not sure why.” She ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ears. “God school seems like so long ago.”
Lisa stared at me for a long time, and as the silence stretched between us, I wondered if she was waiting for me to respond to her special brand of crazy. When I didn’t, she let out another sigh. “It must feel like it has been even longer for you. Can you imagine going back now knowing what you know? How mundane it would all be.” She gestured at the computer. “How mundane life in general will be.”
She stood. “Because we’re friends I’m going to let you live. Please don’t try and stop me. If you do, I will end you. Just let this one go, Abby. Someone’s got to do the dirty work and get rid of the Agency. Otherwise, well otherwise, they’ll win. You don’t fight a disease by letting some of it live because it’s playing nice. No, you eradicate the whole thing.” She grinned at me. “Besides, someone’s got to be the bad guy.”
“Lisa, please don’t… we can find another way,” I said, and this time she let me sit up, which I suppose was nice of her.
“I don’t need to find another way. I like my way.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’m smarter than you. How could you possibly think of something I couldn’t?”
I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely asking me or not, but to be fair, I hadn’t exactly come up with a better idea. Hell, her idea had been my idea just a few hours before. That felt so long ago… and besides, maybe she was right. Maybe I should just let her take out the Agency even if it meant a little collateral damage… No. I pushed the thought away. There had to be another way, right?
“I can see from your eyes you believe I’m right too.” Lisa smiled so broadly I wondered if it hurt her mouth. “I’m glad you agree, but I still don’t trust you not to try and stop me.” Her knee shot out, catching me on the side of the head with a horrible crunch. I fell, my vision spinning as I struck the floor, though I don’t actually remember hitting it. Lisa’s blurry form stood over me as she reared back and kicked me in the face. Everything after that was blackness.
18
“Abby, wake up!” The world swayed as I opened my eyes and blinked away the haze. Roberto was kneeling over me, one hand cradling my head in his lap while the other gently stroked my face. He smiled as he came into focus and let out a sigh of relief.
“Hi,” I murmured, trying to smile back at him, but it hurt too much. That was a little odd. It shouldn’t hurt to smile, right? I tried to move, to get up, but the movement made the world spin out from under me. I reached out, grabbing him by the arm to steady myself even though I was lying down. So why was the world moving?
“Be careful,” Roberto said, rubbing his calloused thumb on my forehead. “You might have a concussion or worse…” His dark eyes filled with concern. “I’m going to try and get you to the infirmary. I didn’t want to move you until you woke up. I remembered reading something about not moving people with neck injuries…”
“Do I have a neck injury?” I whispered through clenched teeth. I didn’t remember hurting my neck, but who knew what happened after Lisa went psycho on me.
“I’m not sure. I only got here a few minutes ago. I woke up on the floor of the cavern. It looks like Lisa and Tom ditched us. Do you know why?” he asked, getting slowly to his feet, and pulling me along with him as though I was weightless.
“Yeah,” I murmured as I took a step that was like trying to walk on legs made of jelly. I sighed. This was going to be a long trip.
Roberto must have thought the same thing because he swept me into his arms and hoisted me against his chest. He was so warm I had to resist the urge to nuzzle against him like a cat. I wanted to shake away the notion, but I was worried that would make the world spin again. I wasn’t quite sure my sloshing stomach could take it anyway, and to be honest, I was pretty proud of myself for not throwing up all over him, though it wouldn’t have been the first time that’d happened.
“So why did we get ditched, Abby?” he asked, reaching for the elevator and pressing the button with his thumb. He must have been stronger than I’d thought because holding me against his chest with one arm didn’t even make him breathe hard or grunt or anything. It made me immensely glad the flit hadn’t been able to take him over.
“The agency attacked us and blew up Lisa’s foster parents. Well, I think they did. I couldn’t exactly confirm they were in the city block they destroyed.”
“Why did they do that?” Roberto asked. He wasn’t upset about it, more inquisitive, and I had to remind myself he was a soulless killer like the rest of them. Just because I was his offspring didn’t negate the fact he had been Gabriella’s number two. I was pretty sure you didn’t get that high up in a terrorist organization by playing with bunnies and kissing babies. No, Roberto was bad news, and I couldn’t afford to forget that.
“Because they were trying to get me to trade myself for them, and I took too long, I gue
ss.”
He stared at me for a long time. “Obviously it didn’t work since you’re still here, albeit unconscious and broken.” The elevator opened, and he stepped inside and leaned against the wall.
“Yeah, well… I didn’t go out there because Tom armed a missile Lisa shot into the recovery team. They were right outside the door, and I guess technically they still are, but now they’re in paste form.”
Roberto crinkled his nose at my analogy. “That doesn’t explain why I found you unconscious, or why Lisa and Tom are gone.”
“Well after that, Lisa tried to launch missiles at all the bases in the world, and I stopped her. She somehow harnessed the flit and kicked my ass. Fortunately, Gabriella’s system locked her out.” I tried to smile, but it must not have been pleasant because Roberto scowled at me.
“So let me guess,” he said as the elevator beeped and opened up to reveal a room with a single bed and a weird tank filled with purple liquid. At least I think it was liquid. It looked a lot more like raspberry jam. “They left to go infiltrate one of the bases and kill everyone?”
“Pretty much,” I said as Roberto set me on the bed and moved to one of the computers by the wall. Instead of being fancy, it resembled an oblong black box with a dial and three green buttons. He turned the dial, and the tank began to whir. Bubbles shot up through the liquid before popping on the surface reminding me of swamp gas and mud.
“It figures. I knew Tom wanted revenge after Mimi was killed last year, but this is ballsy for him. He’s more of a lab guy…” Roberto turned and gestured at me. “Abby, take off your clothes please.”
“Um… not happening,” I replied. He looked at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. He had just told me to undress in front of him, and somehow, that made me the weird one?
Meet Abby Banks VOLUMES: 1-3 Page 29