She stared at my hand on her shoulder for a long time.
“We were out of lions.” She shrugged and ran a hand over the keyboard. There was a creaking sound and water began to fill the arena. When it got to about knee height, doors opened in the side of the room and crocodiles swam into the room. Chuck glanced around, before hoisting Roberto’s blood-soaked body over one shoulder and leaping on top of what looked like a burned out tractor. He stood there as a giant silver-backed ape with an eyepatch and a pirate sword loped toward him.
“You need to stop this,” I said, and as the words left my mouth, I felt the cold kiss of a gun barrel on the back of my neck.
“That’s the thing, Abby. My daughter and I don’t have to do anything.” Tom’s voice was cold enough to freeze my soul and sharp enough to flay the flesh from my bones.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I said, raising my hands slowly upward. Lisa watched me through narrowed eyes before turning back to the console.
I moved, and the gun went off, obliterating my hearing. Pain shot through the back of my head as heat and friction tore the skin and hair from my scalp. My body whirled, and I lashed out with my hand, slamming it into Tom’s elbow. A sickening pop filled the air as his gun clattered uselessly to the floor. I kept moving, Tom’s face wide with surprise as I wound up behind him, his busted arm wrenched upward behind his back.
Lisa pointed her shotgun at me, staring at me with cold, dead eyes. Before I could even issue an ultimatum, she fired. The blast hit Tom in the chest with enough force to throw us both backward. We landed hard, Tom’s dead weight pinning me to the ground as Lisa cocked her shotgun. The casing hit the ground and skittered across the white tile as she stepped up to me and pointed the gun at my head.
“Move and you’re dead,” she said as Tom’s blood leaked out over me. Judging from the way his body felt on top of mine and from the amount of warm, sticky goo soaking into my clothing, I was pretty sure he was dead. How could she have done that? Just killed him like that? And for what? To get to me?
“How could you…” I whispered, and her face tightened into an icy mask.
“You were using him as a shield. I needed to take away your advantage.” She shrugged, her shoulders moving so imperceptibly that if I wasn’t focused on her so entirely, I’d have missed it. “You should have known he was nothing to me.”
“He was your father.”
“No, he’s not.” She pressed the still warm barrel of the shotgun against my cheek and pressed me face into the tile. “We used to be friends, Abby, but even friendship has its limits. I knew you’d come here to stop me and still I let you live. Now, I’m having a hard time ignoring the voice in my head that’s telling me to just put you down. It keeps telling me ‘I told you so.’”
“I’m sorry your conscious is confirming that you’re a sociopath,” I snapped, and the gun ground harder into my cheek.
“I’m sorry you had to see me do this Abby, but I really can’t have you interfere. Not if I want to get vengeance for what the agency did to my parents.” The muscles in her hand tensed, her finger slowly curling against the trigger.
“They aren’t dead, Lisa!” I squawked, shutting my eyes. When I felt her pull the shotgun away from my cheek, I opened one eye to see Lisa squatting down next to me, her face inches from mine.
“What did you say?” she asked, staring so hard at me it made me wish I could melt into the floor and hide.
“Your foster parents aren’t dead. Roberto saved the Folsom people before they blew up the town. He has them… somewhere.” Lisa leapt to her feet before I’d even finished speaking. She typed something into the computer, and a loud whooshing sound filled the air.
I took the opportunity to push Tom’s corpse off of me, and hey I didn’t even have to try that hard to keep myself from throwing off as it slid lifelessly to the floor. I guess I was getting used to bodies, though I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. I got to my feet and glanced around for his pistol, but unfortunately, I didn’t see it anywhere.
I approached Lisa, my body covered in gore. Through the window, I could see Chuck and Roberto standing in the middle of the room. Chuck looked strangely bewildered.
“It’s all holographic,” Lisa said as she pulled a white plastic microphone toward her mouth and held down the grey button on the side. “Chuck, I have suspended the protocol for now. I need you to have Roberto tell me where my parents are. Nod if you understand.”
Chuck nodded and slumped to the ground beside Roberto, but try as he might, it didn’t seem like he could wake Roberto.
“What happened to him?” I asked, fixing my stare on Lisa.
“He got stung by some kind of weird scorpion wasp creature. There’s really not a good name for it. Anyway, it injects lethal poison into your bloodstream.” Lisa shrugged and threw a sidelong glance at me. “He better wake up before the flit figures out where he’s hidden them. How else is he going to bargain with me for your lives?”
I hit her. My fist lanced out and smacked into the side of her head with a sickening thud. She wobbled, the shotgun slipping from her grip and hitting the floor as I surged forward, my vision a red haze.
“How dare you hurt him?” I screamed, my foot lashing out in a kick that knocked her from her feet. She fell backward, her head smacking into the tile floor. Pain flashed across her face as I leapt on top of her, pinning her to the ground. “He. Was. All. I. Had. Left.”
I swung over and over again, my fists raining down on her face and upper body as she tried desperately to cover herself. Somehow, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t sure how long I kept hitting her, but I didn’t stop until something grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me off. I let it. The next thing I knew I was standing over her bloody, broken body. My chest heaved as I sucked in air.
The hand touching my shoulder squeezed just enough to be comforting. “Calm down, Abby, or you’ll kill her,” the flit said. Tom’s broken, bloody body stepped past me and knelt by Lisa. It turned to look at me through Tom’s eyes for a long time and a single tear slipped down his cheek. “You shouldn’t have to kill her.”
It pulled Tom’s pistol from the waistband of Lisa’s jeans and emptied it into her chest. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize it’d happened before it was over. Lisa Ann’s body convulsed, twitching violently before going still.
My world spun then. It had just killed Lisa… and I let it. I swallowed the horrible thought as the flit stood and walked over to me. It leaned close and kissed me on the forehead with Tom’s cold, clammy lips. I knew the flit could use a person’s body and force him to ignore important things, like dying, but Tom had been blasted in the chest with a shotgun. That he was still alive was a miracle, but even so, how much time could he possibly have?
“I do not think the world is ready for something like me. For I am worth far more than sparrows.” The flit pulled away, and Tom’s body crumpled lifelessly to the tile.
I stood there in between the corpse of my best friend and the corpse of her father, not knowing what to do.
25
“You didn’t kill her, Abby,” Chuck said, his voice breaking the monotonous sound of Roberto’s snoring.
“I never said that,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and looking out the jeep’s window. We were driving through the desert toward Roberto’s hideout. Thankfully, Chuck had been able to locate the antidote and save him before it was too late. Still, I’d feel a little better about it if maybe he woke up and said he was fine.
Even though it’d be a lie, it’d make me feel better. I could use some ‘feel better’ right now. Especially since I’d just stood by and watched as the flit emptied a gun into my best friend’s chest. The sad thing was, I wasn’t quite sure I’d have done anything different… That scared me, a lot.
“Your eyes say that,” Chuck said, glancing at me from the rearview window. His blue eyes flashed before he looked away and stared out the windshield. “I’m good with reading eyes. I’ve had a lot of
practice.”
“I think you’re making stuff up.” I sighed. “It’s just that, well… she was my friend, and all she really wanted was to save her parents.” I swallowed so hard it hurt my throat. “She was trying to do the right thing, and it wound up being the wrong thing. It would have been so easy for me to have done the same thing.” I shook my head, the scenery in front of me growing blurry. “I was right about to do the same thing.”
“But you didn’t,” Chuck replied, reaching back and handing me a tissue. “That’s an important difference.”
I took it from him and wiped my eyes. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” He turned in his seat to stare at me which seemed profoundly unsafe. He tossed a pistol at me, one that looked suspiciously like the one the flit had used to murder Lisa.
I caught the weapon and stared at it for a long time. It felt so heavy and unwieldy in my hand. Yet, at the same time, it felt strangely comforting and, well, familiar. “What’s this for?”
“Take a minute and cry or whatever it is you need to do for your friend. I hate to say it, but you’re not going to have that luxury for much longer.” Chuck turned back around as he said the words, one hand still gripping the steering wheel.
“What do you mean? There’s no one around, and even if there was, the flit somehow deleted itself completely. We shouldn’t have to worry about random attackers.” Even as I said the words, I began checking the pistol, making sure it was loaded and ready to go.
“I’ll tell the guys following us that,” Chuck replied as a spotlight from the sky lit us up on the otherwise dark and lonely road.
“General Uile, please bring your vehicle to a stop and step out with your hands above your head,” a deep, throaty voice boomed from above us.
Chuck slammed on the brakes, sending the tiny jeep skidding across the pavement. I smacked hard against my seatbelt before rocketing backward onto my seat. Without so much as an untoward glance, Chuck unfastened his own seatbelt and threw the door open.
He stepped out of the car and held his hands up as the spotlight split so one beam could follow him while the other remained on the jeep. Chuck took about three steps before he stopped and shook his head, a worried smile on his lips.
“So you’re here. I wondered if you’d make an appearance,” Chuck replied, a tremor running just below the surface of his words.
A figure dressed in black from head to toe stepped into the light. His hair was as white as snow, and he was so thin he was nearly bald. Blotchy spots covered his ebony skin, and the wrinkles on his face stood out so distinctly, it made me think he had to have chased dinosaurs with sticks. If he was here, what did he want, and why did Chuck seem so scared of him? Chuck was huge and this guy was so old he’d probably crumble into dust if Chuck sneezed on him.
“Yeah well, you know the thing about the devil,” the man said in a voice like thick, rich taffy. “He always gets his due.” His lips curled into a smile that made alarm bells go off in my head as he stepped out of the light and into the shadows.
A moment later, the door to the jeep opened, and the man got in. He sat down and swiveled in the seat to face me. His eyes were just thick balls of white. I stared at him, my jaw dropping open. Was he blind? If so, how had he, well managed himself so well?
“You can stare if you like, I don’t mind,” the man said, and I felt my cheeks burst into flames. I tried to look away but worried that would be even ruder so I wound up staring at his hawkish nose.
“Sorry,” I replied sheepishly.
“Don’t be sorry. I bet you’re wondering how I can see like this.” He tapped his temple with one gnarled finger. His knuckles were so huge I couldn’t see how he could even use his hands. When I didn’t respond, he smiled. “I can’t, but I’m very, very observant.”
“Doesn’t the Agency have something to fix your eyes?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
“Perhaps.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I may ask them sometime, but somehow, I don’t think they’ll help me, much.”
“Why is that?” I asked as he reached out and took one of my hands in his. His skin was like old paper, so thin, I was worried it would break apart as he touched me. “Don’t they want all their people to be at the top of their game?”
“If I let the Agency focus its resources on something personal, say fixing my eyes, when those resources could have been used to save one of my people, well, who will be at fault when that person dies?” He stared at me as his words sank into my brain. Was he really saying he cared so much about his people, that the thought of devoting even a tiny fraction of the Agency’s assets to fixing his blindness became unthinkable? That seemed almost… noble.
“You know you’re special, Abby. I don’t have to tell you that. I’ve been following your progress very closely. It’s why I sent Chuck to ‘help’ you.” He grinned, releasing my hand. “I’m surprised you got away from him the first time.”
“Wait, Chuck works for you?” I asked, glancing out the window to see Chuck standing there with his hands in his pockets. “I thought he was with the Agency.”
“He is, in the same way I am with the Agency.” The man shrugged. “But there are bigger things than the Agency. That is a very small part of what we do.” Roberto chose that moment to have a coughing fit, and the man shot a glance at him, which was weird since he was blind.
“So what do you do?” I asked as the man reached out and ran his fingers over Roberto’s cheek. He pulled his hand away and stared at it.
“I find extraordinary people, and I make them better,” he replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black syringe. Before I could stop him, he jabbed it into Roberto’s side and pressed the plunger down with his thumb.
I sat up in alarm, reaching out toward him. “What have you done?”
“Relax, it’s just a more concentrated version of the antidote.” The man smiled at me, his teeth so huge and white they looked fake. “Now, as I was saying…” Roberto’s breathing steadied, and if I hadn’t been listening to him wheeze-snore for the last two hours, I might not have noticed how much better he already sounded. “I want you to help me, Abby.”
“So you want to recruit me? I’m just a girl. What could I do to help when you have people like Chuck?” I asked. If he needed me to do something, how horrible would it be? Besides, could I really work for the Agency after everything they had done? I knew I couldn’t trust them, but what if I didn’t and someone even worse than Gabriella killed us all?
“Let me just say this. There’s a good reason why we went through so much trouble to get you.” The man opened the door and got out. “I’ll be in touch,” he said. I stared at him as he walked away into the shadows. “Until then, do everything Chuck tells you. You’d be surprised, but he’s an excellent trainer. He’s used to dealing with people of your… caliber.”
A moment later, Chuck got back into the jeep and shut the door. Gooseflesh was covering his body. “Is everything okay, Abby?”
No, everything wasn’t okay. Stephen and Lisa Ann were dead along with how many others. My father was still unconscious. I was in the custody of the Agency after they had unleashed a soulless, robot assassin to try and capture me, and now… now they wanted me for a mission and hadn’t told me what it was…
When I nodded, he locked the doors even though the jeep had no roof. He threw the car into gear and stepped on the gas, leaving the man standing there in the darkness. “So what did the director tell you?”
“That you were going to train me for a special mission.” I smirked.
Instead of replying, Chuck stared at me in the mirror so hard a shiver ran down my spine.
Spy for the Spiers
1
My fist lashed out, slamming into the mechanical werewolf’s face and throwing him backward across the room. He smashed into a thin fiberboard table, shattering it beneath his weight and crashing to the ground in a heap.
Pain shot through my arm even through my padded gl
ove as I wrung my hand out and took a menacing step forward, running one hand through my pink hair to brush it out of my face. The werewolf lay there, sparks shooting from its broken off ear, but it was already starting to move. In another few seconds, it would be on its feet and coming at me like I had a steak in my pocket. How did I know? Because that’s what it had done the last few times I had knocked its block off.
I glanced around the small makeshift apartment and sprinted into the attached kitchenette. The whole place wasn’t very big, leaving me nowhere to hide as the creature got to its feet and took a thundering step toward me. Its metal nails clicked on the cheap, green laminate tile as it eyed me with soulless blinking red eyes.
I jerked open the first drawer but was dismayed to find only plastic bags and tin foil, not a lot of help. I moved to the next drawer, flinging it open as the robot leapt onto of the small countertop, clearing at least three feet of vertical and horizontal distance like it was child’s play, which I guess for a seven foot tall robotic werewolf, it probably was.
This drawer yielded pay dirt. I jerked a huge butcher’s knife free as the creature landed on the floor behind me hard enough to crack the tile. I whirled, ducking as I did so and narrowly avoided a swipe of its metal claws as they cleaved through the air and the microwave to my left.
Sparks showered the creature as I jammed the butcher’s knife into the weak point in the thing’s knee joint. It had taken me several attempts to figure it out, but there was a hydraulic line barely shielded by the metal joints. If you stabbed at the spot hard enough and with the right angle, well…
The leg tore off the creature in a spray of fluid. It toppled forward, still reaching out for me with its claws as I danced backward out of its reach. It hit the ground with a thud and began crawling toward me, gouging into the tile as it came closer inch by inch.
Meet Abby Banks VOLUMES: 1-3 Page 34