As he panned down the length of her body, a wry grin appeared. “You April 14561?”
April backed away from the door and replied to the Sector 1 detective, “Yes, sir, I am.”
“That’s good.” He breezed past April and made his way into the small living room of the apartment, Southern twang in full affect.
April asked, “Can I help you gentlemen with something?”
Mr. Kellington replied, “Yes, y’all can, ma’am.” Keith Kellington pulled out a small slip of paper and read it. “Connor 24612 and Matthew 25871; I need to ask ‘em a few questions about what they saw last night.”
April positioned herself between Mr. Kellington and the door to her bedroom, “I don’t think the boys know anything about what happened last night. I’m not even sure what happened.”
Mr. Kellington smirked. “Now, ma’am, you can either go get those two boys yourself, or I’ll make you get ‘em. It’s your choice.”
April cowered back and flashed a quick smile to the detective as she turned her head to her bedroom door and called out, “Boys, please come out here.”
Both of the boys emerged from the bedroom, as they tried to avoid eye contact with the team of security personnel that looked them over. April put her arms around both of the boys. “Boys, this nice detective needs to ask you a few questions, so make sure you tell him everything you know.”
Mr. Kellington thanked April and made his first comments to the boys. “I want you to be honest with me, young men, and if you are, this’ll be real simple for the both of y’all. You understand me?” The boys both replied, “Yes, sir.”
“We have video that shows both of y’all lookin’ out your bedroom winduh around eleven p.m. last night. There were reported light refractions occurring in the warehouse right across from your winduh. Did y’all see those light refractions?”
The boys tried not to make eye contact with Mr. Kellington and looked at each other. Connor motioned to Matthew to speak up. Matthew cleared his throat and answered, “Well, sir, I’m not sure who you saw on that surveillance tape, but it couldn’t have been us.”
Connor jumped in. “We were already asleep at ten, and we know the rules about being out of bed after hours.”
Mr. Kellington walked closer to the boys, a foot from each of them, and confronted the obvious with a firm and adjusted voice, no accent. “You are not answering my question boys. I don’t care when you went to sleep and I don’t care that you know the rules of the sector. I care that you were both up at eleven p.m. last night and that you saw the occurrence of light from that window.”
Mr. Kellington made his way into the boys’ room and pointed at the exact warehouse window where the boys saw the mysterious bald man the night before.
“In fact, this is the perfect spot to see what occurred last night; not a tree in sight. The light must have been blinding coming through this window.”
Connor sucked back some air and found some courage. “We didn’t see anything, sir; honest.”
Matthew shook his head in agreement. “That’s right, sir. We must have just missed it. We are really heavy sleepers.”
Mr. Kellington bopped his head up and down and began to lick his teeth with his mouth closed. His accent returned. “I tell y’all what boys, Why don’t you go on back into the bedroom. I need to have a private talk with, Ms. April, right?”
“Yes, sir.” The boys walked to April’s room but looked back to her multiple times before they got there. Mr. Kellington instructed the rest of the team to leave him for a minute with April, and he closed the boys’ bedroom door behind them.
April began to speak to the detective, but only got out, “Sir, I really think that my boys—”
“Stop talking and don’t move a muscle.” At that moment April became motionless, like an old statue. She stood prone to Mr. Kellington. She strained to move any muscle in her body—a finger, a toe, even blink her eyes—but she couldn’t. The only muscle that was working in her entire body was her mind and it raced with fear and terror as the detective looked her over.
Mr. Kellington took his finger and placed it on April’s forehead. “It is so frustrating, isn’t it? You want to move, you want to push me away, but you can’t.”
A quick chuckle left Keith Kellington’s mouth. “But I can.” Mr. Kellington pushed on April’s forehead and she fell backward onto one of the boys’ beds. The bed broke her fall, but she was still in a stonelike state as she stared up at Mr. Kellington. He stood over her and spoke in the same sadistic tone she had heard after the boys had lied to him.
“It’s strange, but you remind me of someone I used to know quite well. Funny how a look can jog an old memory.” Mr. Kellington walked to the side of the bed and went down to one knee; his mouth was just clear of April’s ear. He spoke in a volume just louder than a whisper. It was unnerving to April.
“I have thousands and thousands of memories in my head. I take them as I need them and never have a second thought about it. I could take your memories and those of your boys and make them mine in a matter of seconds if I wanted to. In fact, I could take a lot more than memories.”
A small tear began to develop in the right eye of April 14561, and it slowly made its way down the side of her cheek. Mr. Kellington rose from his knee and spoke, as if to the air. “You may move.”
April regained control of her body. She could move her arms, legs, and fingers. She blinked and wiped the tear from her face. She began to stand when Mr. Kellington stopped her progress.
“Now, we do not condone using these types of controls on our younger population. The Supreme Leader has decided that it’s not good to introduce young people to these types of realities until they have been properly taught to respect authority. We will only use them in the case of security or as a last resort.”
April peered into the eyes of Mr. Kellington and a rush of anger flooded her system. She wondered, Is he making a threat against my boys? Is there any way I can stop him from hurting them?
Mr. Kellington continued, “I did not read your mind because I don’t think you really know what happened here last night. If you don’t get what I need from your boys, believe me, I will.”
Mr. Kellington walked to the door of the bedroom, pointed to it, and made one final command, back to his Southern drawl. “You have one last chance, Ms. April. Now, you go into the other room and convince them boys to tell me everything they know.”
At that point, Mr. Kellington’s tone deepened and his voice rose to an alarming pitch.
“Or I will take both of those boys with me, run them through the ringer in Sector 1, and you will never see either one of them again!” Mr. Kellington walked back to the bed and calmly said, “I’m sure they would fit right in with the other inhabitants of the Mercury Camps.”
April was able to stand and with a lowered head said, “I’ll get them to tell you everything. If you promise not to take them away or put them through this, I’ll get them to tell you everything they know.”
Mr. Kellington stood toe to toe with April and raised his hand to her chin. He raised her head with his hand.
“Does a cat make a deal with a gutter rat? You’ll do it and then I’ll decide what happens next.”
April knew she had no other choice and replied, “Yes, sir.”
“By the way, how did you like that accent I was playing with? I found that one years and years ago. I like to bring it back up every so often. The rube that had it didn’t require it anymore.” April composed herself as Mr. Kellington looked at her with a menacing grin.
Matthew and Connor were alone in April’s bedroom. The security team waited just outside of the door, so the boys had to be quiet. Matthew, worried for April, asked Connor, “What do you think that man is going to do to her?”
“I don’t know, but she told us not to tell these guys anything, and that’s what we’re gonna do. Just k
eep our mouths shut.”
Matthew asked, “What if they do something to her? We’ll have to say something. Maybe we can make something up?”
Connor pondered for a minute. “Nothing is going to happen to us; stop being so dramatic. They won’t do anything to us or April as long as we stay consistent.” Connor walked to the bedroom window and stared out, “This whole idea that we are being controlled and that the government can just do anything to you that they want, it’s just talk, you’ll see.”
Matthew curled up in a ball on the bed. “I hope you’re right.”
Mr. Kellington had April in the living room and commanded one of his security team leaders to get the boys. The boys emerged and made their way toward April. Mr. Kellington announced to the room that April had something to say to Matthew and Connor. April approached the boys and leaned in between their two heads, so each boy had one ear to her mouth. She slowly rotated her head, in order to see all of her surroundings and whispered to both of the boys, “Run.”
April pulled away from the boys and lunged at the one security team member blocking the door and knocked him to the ground. She yelled, “Run!”
The boys took off toward the door and heard Mr. Kellington, in a loud, strong, monotone voice, “Stop at the door and do not move!”
For a moment, the boys did stop, but only for a moment. Matthew looked back through the open door and heard April scream, “Run, boys! Don’t stop!”
Mr. Kellington, amazed, looked down at April being picked up from the floor. Mr. Kellington exclaimed, “What the hell is going on here?”
Seconds later, a loud explosion rocked the building like a sonic blast from the past. Everyone rushed to the living room window. A transport was on fire in front of the building. There were screams coming from all directions. Things like this just didn’t happen in Sector 37.
Mr. Kellington ordered his men to go down to the street and help with the fire. “Take this woman to the holding location in Sector 37.” He also told one of them to follow the boys and get them back.
They made their way to the apartment door and four more security team members showed up. They had something for Mr. Kellington.
A large man, six feet eight inches tall, led this particular team and said to Mr. Kellington, “Sir, we caught these two boys trying to run from the building.”
Mr. Kellington looked into the hall and saw both Connor and Matthew standing there, no movement, just blank stares.
The large security team leader continued, “I’m a third-level team leader of Sector 37, so I forced them to tell me what they were running from.”
Mr. Kellington, a smile on his face, told the boys, “There is no running from me, boys. I always get the information that I need.”
“What is your name, third-level team leader from Sector 37?”
“My name is Johnson, sir.”
“Good job, Mr. Johnson. Do you think you can handle one more request for me?”
“Of course, sir. It would be an honor to serve you in any way that you need.”
Mr. Kellington told Johnson that his team needed to investigate the explosion, so he asked him and his team to lead the boys and their caretaker to the Sector 37 holding area.
“You have already done a wonderful job catching these boys. I can trust you to get them to the holding area, right?”
Johnson responded, “Absolutely, sir. I won’t let you down.”
Mr. Kellington signaled his men in the apartment to hand over April to Agent Johnson. “Now, Agent Johnson, I want you to be in complete control of these boys and their caretaker for the entire time you are transporting them. You can release them at the holding area and I can do my job from there.”
Agent Johnson replied, “I was thinking the same thing, sir. I currently have the boys under my control.” Agent Johnson broke a wry smile and gave a stern command to April. “Do as I tell you and nothing more, except breathe.” April stood perfectly still as she awaited instruction from the young security agent.
Agent Johnson then commanded, “Everyone follow me to the elevator and enter it once the doors open.”
The two boys, April, and the three security guards made their way to the elevator and awaited the doors to open per command. Mr. Kellington continued barking orders to the other guards.
“I want you to coordinate with local security to make sure that the fire is put out quickly. I want you to coordinate with the local housing authority to keep the Sector 37 civilians away from the blaze.”
Mr. Kellington paused and took a peek back down the hallway as the doors to the elevator began to open. The security guards were leading the boys into the elevator when Connor turned his head and stared at Mr. Kellington. Mr. Kellington was taken aback. He shouldn’t have been able to do that, unless Agent Johnson had released control of him.
Mr. Kellington scanned the room again to see which of his men were still available. “You there; it’s Quigley, isn’t it?”
The older guard responded, “Yes, sir.”
“I need you to go downstairs quickly and catch up with Agent Johnson and his team. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I want to make sure he gets our assets into that transport.”
“Yes, sir. I will call you once they are loaded and secured.”
Mr. Quigley made his way from the apartment to the stairwell. A jaunt down nine flights of stairs for a security team member was no problem at all.
Back in the elevator, Agent Johnson gave orders to his team and his prisoners. “We are currently in a government-controlled housing elevator with cameras and surveillance in every corner to see what we are doing. I would suggest that the young people and lady in the elevator stay perfectly still until I tell them that they can move.”
Agent Johnson told his team to exit the elevator first, followed by the two boys, and then he and April. “I want to make sure that we are clear of any official personnel and then we are to make our way toward the abandoned warehouse on the right of the building.”
The elevator doors opened to the lowest level of the apartment and the security team moved out as directed. The area was covered with first responders dealing with the fire on the other side of the apartments. Sirens sounded in the background, and the air was filled with smoke and the remnants of the vehicle.
The team began to make its way toward the old warehouse when Mr. Kellington’s man came running up behind them. He waved his hands and tried to get Agent Johnson’s attention. He yelled, “Agent Johnson! Agent Johnson!”
Johnson turned around and ordered his men to continue moving forward. “I’ll see what this officer needs.”
“Can I do something for you?”
Mr. Quigley responded, “Mr. Kellington wanted to make sure that you don’t have any problems. I am to report your progress once these assets are loaded onto a transport.”
Quigley looked around and asked, “Why are you going this direction? The transports are back the other way.”
Agent Johnson popped a smile and put his arm around the veteran guard. “We are simply trying to avoid the commotion from the explosion response. It wouldn’t be good for other citizens to see us removing a couple of boys and their mother from this complex; it would look bad.”
Mr. Quigley looked over Agent Johnson’s team and asked a simple question. “Do you think seeing a mother being arrested with her sons would look bad?”
Johnson realized his mistake and had to make a quick decision. His cover was blown.
Before he made a move, Quigley reached for his communicator and declared, “Code 10! Code 10! I have a Code 10 at this mark.” A Code 10 indicated that assistance was needed for terrorism against the state; every security team member within twenty miles was now aware of it.
Quigley reached for his chest, as Johnson, clearly not an agent, reached for something in his pocket. He hit Quigley with it before his hand reached hi
s chest. Quigley went down to the ground and began to twitch, but it was too late; there were now dozens of guards running over from the fire toward Johnson and his team.
Johnson grabbed April by the hand as she grabbed Matthew and Connor and yelled, “Run to the warehouse! Follow me and stay out of range of those guards!”
Johnson led the group to the side door of the warehouse. The sector guards began to catch up to their position. Johnson couldn’t believe that he was stupid enough to say the boys and their mother. No one said “mother” anymore, certainly not an agent of the state. His mistake could lead to all of them getting caught.
Mr. Kellington exited the apartment building and asked what had happened. He saw Quigley on the ground and grabbed one of the guards who had rushed over to him.
“What’s going on? What happened to that man?”
The guard responded, “It’s an attack, sir. We saw some men dressed in security uniforms with a woman and some kids. I bet they had something to do with the explosion, too!”
Kellington threw his communicator on the ground and howled, “Damn it! I knew something was wrong with those boys. Where are they now?”
A sector guard came up behind Mr. Kellington and explained, “We have them cornered in that old warehouse, and we’re moving in on them from the top and bottom of the complex.”
Johnson continued to encourage the group. “We have to get up these stairs and get to the thirteenth floor. It’s the only way out!”
Matthew yelled to April, “What’s going on? Where are we going?”
April, sweat pouring from her head, replied, “Just keep up with Johnson. He’ll get us out of here.”
The clanking footsteps of security guards could be heard behind Johnson’s team, catching up to his group. They were on the tenth floor and needed to keep moving as quickly as possible. “Climb boys! Faster, faster! We’re gonna make it!”
Bang, bang, bang! The guards made more noise and were getting closer. Matthew and Connor could hear them yelling out threats. “Stop or we will be forced to put you down! I order you to stop! This is Sector Security!”
Last Chance Page 7