“Most impressive,” Howie exclaimed as he replaced his regular glasses with a pair of high-tech “smart” glasses and checked himself out in a nearby mirror. His outfit was comprised of basic body armor and a waist-length, black jacket. I shuttered at the thought of Howie having to fend for himself and hoped that if he ever actually needed his body armor I would be somewhere nearby.
“I’m guessing we’re getting all dressed up for a reason. What’s up your sleeve, Echo?” I said as I looked at Howie. My mask made my voice sound much deeper and somewhat distorted.
Howie smiled and took a seat at the main computer near the conference table. It was a colossal mountain of a machine with a display the size of my bedroom.
As Jason and I watched, Howie logged in and opened several files in a matter of seconds. A seemingly abandoned warehouse in the middle of an old farm appeared on the display.
“That place looks familiar,” Jason said, his voice electronically distorted by his mask.
“It should. It’s only thirty minutes away from here,” Howie replied as he continued to type and focus on one of the peripheral screens attached to the main display. He dropped a line graph from the smaller screen into the larger screen and spun around to face us.
“What you’re looking at, gentlemen, is what I believe is one of many outposts operated by The Strangers. I found out through an encrypted, online chat room that this may be one of theirs but I wasn’t sure if that was usable info because, as you can see, the structure clearly appears to be abandoned. So, I did some digging and came up with this.” Howie gestured toward the chart onscreen. “This is a graph of the amount of electricity used by this site over the past year. As you can see, for the first four months of the year there was almost no activity, but over the past seven months, their power usage has increased by over 800 percent. It may still look abandoned, but something is going on there. My guess is that most of their activities take place underground.”
“How can we use this?” Jason asked.
“It’s not exactly the lead I was hoping for but for now it’s our only connection to The Strangers. We need to get in and get some surveillance equipment planted.”
“Surveillance? I thought we were supposed to be taking them down,” I grumbled.
“We will take them down but we have to do it the right way. The Strangers have been around for years, but before now, their most serious crimes were identity theft and credit card fraud. In order to defeat them, we’ll need to take down The Suspect. He’s not only their leader but he’s the reason they went militant. The only way that we’re going to find him is by tracking their movements and communications. As of this moment, they have no idea that we are after them. That gives us a significant advantage, but if we barge in there with no real plan, we lose that advantage.”
“Fine,” I mumbled. I still wanted to take a more direct approach but I knew Howie was probably right. If The Suspect was their leader, then he was the one that I blamed for the death of my brother. If we had to play it quietly for a bit in order to smoke him out, then I was prepared to do so. At the end of the day I was willing to do whatever it took as long as it ended with my hands around his neck.
“The Strangers have been busy. Earlier today they executed the entire Irvington High School Boys basketball team,” Howie said.
“Irvington High? Where’s that?” I asked.
“It’s a private school located in central Florida, approximately four hours from here.”
“Anything new on the congressman’s daughter?” Jason asked. Howie spun back toward the computer and began typing again at 1000 words per minute.
“What’s going on with the congressman’s daughter?” I asked. I didn’t watch much TV and I didn’t own a cell phone or any other device that would have allowed me to follow the news online.
The picture of a young, blonde, teenage girl appeared on the main screen as Howie typed. Finally, he faced us again. I could tell that he was enjoying himself but it didn’t bother me as much now because I knew that the work he was doing was leading me closer to The Suspect.
“April Larson, the 17 year old daughter of prominent Florida senator Chuck Larson, went missing shortly after the attack at Irvington High. Survivors of the first Stranger attack at Fox Valley State University reported seeing The Strangers take a few of the dead body’s with them as they fled the scene. What’s interesting about April’s case is that the police are calling it a kidnapping. They’re saying that they have proof that she’s still alive.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m having trouble understanding why this is important,” I said, not bothering to mask my frustration.
“Well, I certainly don’t think it’s a coincidence that she disappeared on the same day that her school was attacked by The Strangers-” Howie started.
“So, that’s our real mission, is it? You’re gonna have us wasting time, trying to save some girl?” I grumbled.
“Taking down The Strangers and eliminating The Suspect is and will always be our primary mission, but if we find any information on the girl in the process, I don’t think we should ignore it. Chuck Larson is a very big deal, Reaper. If we can find his daughter, I’m willing to bet that The Suspect is somewhere nearby.”
I had to remind myself that Howie was a million times smarter than me and I should probably just trust his judgment instead of wasting time by making him explain the logic behind every tactical decision he made.
“Alright then. Let’s do this,” I suggested. I was getting tired of standing around. I needed to feed the craving for danger and excitement that was still lingering within me.
“I’ll take my bike. You’ll be okay on foot, Reaper?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I said with a wink. Of course he couldn’t see the wink or my smile beneath my mask. As Jason and I prepared to leave, I popped the collar of my black trench coat and checked myself out in the mirror one last time. The Reaper, I thought as I marveled at how intimidating my outfit looked. After years of being called the Grim Weeper at school, it felt like I had finally reclaimed my name. How could I have ever doubted Howie? I thought.
This truly was fate. As I tightened the black gloves on my hands, I wondered why I had ever thought otherwise. I was The Reaper and this was my destiny. As far as I was concerned, The Strangers were all dead men and I would be the Reaper that emerged in the end to collect their wretched souls.
Outside, Jason hopped onto a sweet jet-black sports motorcycle and revved the engine.
“Race ya!” he said as he looked back at me.
“As long as you’re okay with second place!” I quipped.
Jason revved the engine again as Howie approached him carrying a black backpack.
“You got my stuff?” he asked Howie.
“It’s in the pack,” Howie said as he handed Jason a black backpack. Jason strapped on the pack and placed both hands on the bike handles.
“There’s a miniature aerial drone that I designed in there as well. Make sure you deploy it before advancing onto the compound,” Howie said.
“It’s go time, Boys. Good luck out there,” Howie said while pressing a button on the side of his high-tech glasses, allowing Jason and I to hear his words inside of our masks. He and I locked gazes as he revved the engine of his bike. We both struck out simultaneously, leaving a smiling Howie in our dust.
The suit fit me perfectly. I was worried that it would restrict my movements once I started to run but to my surprise, I was able to move quite well in it. My long black trench coat fluttered in the wind behind me like a cape as Jason and I zoomed toward the unknown dangers that lay before us.
26. STEALTH
WE LEFT JASON’S BIKE A HALF MILE AWAY FROM THE FARM and approached the site on foot. Howie watched our approach on the main screen at 3D through a high definition video feed from the aerial drone that quietly buzzed around, fifty feet above us.
“How’s it looking, Echo?” Jason asked as the seemly abandoned farm came into view tw
enty meters ahead of our current position. It was pitch black out, and there were no streetlights in this part of the nearly deserted rural town in which the outpost lay. Our masks were equipped with night vision so we easily navigated our way through the abandoned farm as we headed toward the main building.
“It looks like I was correct about the underground rooms. The good news is there aren’t many people inside. I only noticed four human sized heat signatures when I scanned the building with the drone’s thermal imaging lens. This is probably a communications outpost so I don’t expect a great deal of security.”
“10-4, Echo. I’ll take point. Reaper, you get my six,” I heard Jason say through my earpiece.
“You lost the race! How do you get to take point?” I whispered.
“He’s right, Reaper. This is a stealth mission, remember?” Howie said.
“10-4,” I mumbled, begrudgingly.
“Echo, any activity above ground in the building?” Jason asked.
“Negative, Ace. All four heat signatures are below the first level.”
“10-4. Let’s move, Reaper.”
As we stealthily moved forward, I was kind of pissed, partially because Howie agreed that I shouldn’t take point and also because of the way that Jason was carrying himself. It was as though he considered himself to be our leader or something just because he paid for our suits and equipment.
His cat-like strides covered a surprising amount of ground as he glided across the distance that separated us from the warehouse. I followed closely with my head on a swivel looking for any surprises.
We paused after moving to the rear of the building. My heart was thumping so loudly that I thought Jason could hear it.
“Reaper, is everything alright?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just trying to slow my heart rate. It’s beating so fast that it might give away our position!”
We both chuckled for a bit before Howie interrupted. “Eyes on the prize, boys.”
“10-4,” Jason and I said in unison.
Jason gently tugged the handle of the rear door.
“Locked. I’ll tag it with graffiti and you rip it open, Reaper. We’ll make it look like a random gang broke in.”
Within a matter of seconds, we were inside the dilapidated building making our way through a damp musty room.
“What’ve we got, Echo?” Jason asked.
“All clear. No movement downstairs. After you deploy the bugs and the hidden cameras I need you to make a sweep of the room. I’ll let you know when I see anything of interest,” Howie said.
Jason stealthily worked his way around the room, planting bugs and miniature hidden cameras as I stood guard in the shadows near the entrance.
Back at 3D, Howie studied the footage that streamed from the cameras fitted onto the fronts of our masks.
“Hold your position, Ace,” Howie suddenly said.
Back in the outpost, Jason stopped in his tracks.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, ready to lash out at any danger that dared to show itself.
“All clear, Reaper. Ace, I need you to bug that equipment in front of you.”
“What is that?” I asked as I stared at the strange machinery that lay near Jason.
“It’s a device that allows them to communicate electronically while simultaneously staying off the conventional grid. Bugging this will allow us to monitor all incoming and outgoing transmissions for this station.”
“Gotcha,” I said, still not completely understanding the significance of the machine.
How’s the party downstairs?” Jason asked.
“Still quiet. Open the control panel and I’ll walk you through the rest,” Howie replied.
With Echo talking him through the installation Ace had the bugs planted in a matter of minutes. We were just about to make our exit when the sounds of dirt bikes approaching startled us.
“Crap, we’ve got incoming, guys!” Howie shouted.
“How many?” I demanded clinching my fists as my heart rate increased.
“Two small vehicles. I’m picking up three heat signatures. That makes it seven on two if you guys are discovered.”
“I like those odds!” I said darkly.
“This is a re-con mission, Reaper! Remember the plan! Try to find somewhere to hide.” The desperation in Howie’s voice let me know that he somehow knew how wound up I was.
My heart thumped wildly in my chest as Ace quickly darted across the room and stowed away in a supply closet. I was frozen in my tracks as I heard voices and footsteps approached the building.
“Ace to Echo, I’ve found cover. Reaper is still visible.”
“Stand down, Reaper! This is not an offensive! You’ll jeopardize everything if you take them on now!” Howie’s voice rang in my earpiece.
I knew he was right, but the adrenaline that coursed through my veins compelled me to fight. What good was all my strength if I wasted it skulking in the shadows?
The shadows of the three figures nearing the building were cast across the entrance as they approached the door. Jason watched as I braced myself and clenched my teeth in anticipation of an impending battle.
“Reaper, snap out of it!” he hissed. The sound of his harsh whisper in my earpiece brought me out of my trance in just enough time for me to zip over to the space next to the entrance.
As I pressed my body against the wall, the three dark figures entered the building without noticing me. The swinging door hid me from their view as they proceeded forward without bothering to look behind. Their black combat gear and expressionless white masks made it evident that they were Strangers. As they strolled across the room, I fought hard to suppress the urge to charge them.
I could snap their necks before they even knew what hit them, the darker side of me thought. But I could also risk ruining my chances of getting Suspect if one of them managed to escape, the more rational side of me fired back. Not yet, I repeated to myself as I watched the three figures disappear into the level below.
Minutes later, Jason and I were zooming away into the darkness in silence.
Jason finally broke the silence as he revved the engine of his bike. “What were you thinking?” he barked.
“I wasn’t thinking. Just drop it, alright? We did the job didn’t we?”
“Yeah, but you almost compromised the mission!”
I knew he was right but he was still pissing me off.
“It’s the adrenaline. You don’t know what it’s like, man. At times, I feel like I can’t control it. I just can’t sit still when it starts flowing. It’s like I have to punch through a brick wall just to get some sense of equilibrium,” I grumbled.
“It sounds like someone needs to blow off some serious steam,” Howie offered.
“What did you have in mind, Echo?” I asked, intrigued by Howie’s tone.
“If action is what you wanted, all you had to do was ask, Reaper!” Howie said jokingly. “I can access pretty much all police communications from 3D. If you guys are up for it, I say we dish out some good old fashioned vigilante justice.”
“Hell yeah!” Jason and I chimed in unison.
“Good. Keep heading south for about thirty minutes. I know just the place.” I couldn’t see Howie’s face but I was pretty sure that he was smiling as he said that.
27. REAL POWER
JASON AND I STOOD AMONGST THE WOULD-BE GANG RAPISTS with no fear. We had been working our way from town to town, taking down whatever scum Howie could find for us. We had been at it for nearly three hours by the time we found ourselves on the worst side of town in Knightsville, Florida. The woman that we had just saved from the savage pack of thugs watched in fear as the eight gang members tightened their circle around us. Her brain screamed at her to run, but she was so terrified that her legs wouldn't comply.
We were out gunned and outnumbered, but beneath our masks, Jason and I were both smiling. My adrenaline overdose had invigorated my senses and made me crave the danger that lay before us. It was
exactly what Jason and I both wanted— exactly what I needed.
Our backs touched as the thugs tightened their circle even more. They all had guns but didn’t bother to draw them, no doubt fooled by the false sense of security presented by their seemingly overwhelming four to one ratio.
I kept my eyes on the guns as the first thug dove for Jason. I whipped around as I felt Jason quickly shift away from the thug’s outstretched hand, leaving him open for the devastating clothesline that I delivered to his chest.
He hit the ground with a solid thud as the other thugs simultaneously rushed us. To my surprise, most of them went for Jason but not one of them could lay a finger on him as he gracefully worked his way through the crowd of assailants dishing out a fierce flurry of polished yet brutal punches and kicks.
For a moment, I found myself watching in awe as Jason evaded every wild punch thrown at him and returned fire with an endless barrage of effortless, yet devastating, counterattacks. It was poetry in motion. The guy that I was fighting at the time must have hit me square in the face about five times before I came back to my senses. I didn’t feel any his attacks but they were getting sort of annoying. I finally caught his fist and hoisted him into the air by his neck just as one of the thugs darted away.
“Hey, Ace! Catch!” I shouted as I tossed the thug that I was holding toward Jason.
Jason’s roundhouse kick connected with the thug’s face as I leapt thirty feet into the air after the thug that was attempting to flee.
The tail of my coat flapped in the cool night air as I soared after the fleeing scum. Two seconds later, he was sprawled on the pavement with my foot on his throat. I was basking in the radiance of my own glory when I saw it.
The glimmer of metal in my peripheral vision sent a tremor down my spine. I quickly kicked the brute at my feet in the head, knocking him unconscious, then turned to face the last sight that I wanted to see.
Most of the thugs were incapacitated, but the last one left standing had a pistol brandished before him with the barrel aimed at Jason’s chest. Jason stood completely still less than two meters in front of the armed thug.
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