If there wasn't going to be any human sympathy at least Chris's body gave him a respite. Once the puking ended the headache ended with it.
Johnykin snuck up from behind or Chris was too busy spitting out the stomach acid flavored saliva to have noticed, “I would say ‘I told you so,’ but I never warned you in the first place. So, I will say ‘it sucks, but you should’ve known better.’”
“Thanks for the timely advice,” said Chris.
“If you’re done, we’re heading into a small town to pick up some supplies.”
“We out of beer?”
“Yeah and we’re going to run some intel.”
“Intel?”
“Come on. It’s time to go.” Johnykin didn’t wait for a response or even for Chris to follow. She walked straight to the SUV and jumped in.
Chris took in the rest of the campsite again. He was standing alone and the other SUVs were ready to go. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and wished for a breath mint as he made his way to the last open door held by Frank. Nothing was said, but Frank smirked at the state of Chris and then climbed in himself to squish his fellow sidekick in the middle.
The drive was bumpy but short. They stopped without an announcement and everyone immediately stepped out to take in the morning scene. Chris pinched his eyes against the glare of the sun. He wasn't sure what he expected. In front of him stretched old stone architecture mixed with modern concrete and brick buildings. The majority shared a light sanded color, but reds, yellows, and aqua greens popped out to give the impression of life. A few people walked the streets; no cars drove on the roads.
Things felt empty even for the early hour. They were outside what Chris believed to be a general store. The drivers took the lead and went inside, while the Supers milled around outside. Small talk about hangovers crawled through the group’s conversations. Chris was about to relate his miserable experience when Frank grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to the side.
“Check it out. They already put it online,” said Frank. He pressed the play button on the screen. Before it played, Chris already knew what to expect. It was yesterday’s mission. The video started zoomed out to show the entire warehouse. Then Chris saw Alan and Grant as near blurs descending on the two guards.
“What? They were not moving that fast yesterday,” said Chris.
“Look, it’s us.” The video was now shaking slightly as it tracked Frank and Chris inside the warehouse.
“Did Johnykin wear a camera?”
“No, it’s Klaus. See.” Johnykin was centered in the screen. She looked at one of the crates and then with ridiculous ease brought it over her head. The camera panned down to a crate and Klaus’s shoes. He did the same.
“Why were they picking them up? We just pushed them outside.” A loud burst of gunfire came from the video and Klaus moved along with the camera to see Frank finishing up his fight with the computer.
“Damn, I wish they hadn’t left that in. I look like an idiot.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Thanks, dick.” Frank slugged Chris in the arm. The video ended with the helicopter flying the crates off into the horizon.
Chris half-expected them to jump together for a team high-five. “Why did that look so different? What the hell is this?”
Frank peered at Chris for a moment’s hesitation then said, “You’re probably still hung over from last night.”
The streets gained more people as Chris pondered over the state of his mind and whether he could trust memories from only one day earlier. This deep thinking didn’t last long as the people filling the streets weren’t naturally moving about, but were congregating specifically in the area. ‘Hello’ was directed at and returned by the waiting Supers, then waves and smiles.
Hundreds of people made their way to within as close a distance as they could. The attention pulled the Supers away from any small talk with each other. Chris thought about the video and how it might have already spread here, or maybe they were enough of a spectacle as is. At the very least what was thrown at them was positive.
Eventually the drivers carried bags and cardboard boxes out of the store. Klaus jumped to grab those out of their driver’s hands. She grew bashful and tried to hide the smile spread plainly across her face, then hurried to open the trunk so as not to have her job completely taken away. Chris watched Klaus ignore the adoring crowd around him in order to focus on the woman he had met less than a week ago.
Chris couldn’t help to think of Sadie. His vanity could not help but enjoy the praise. But what exactly did he do to deserve it? A couple of cameras shot to pieces. He didn’t want the crowd’s attention or admiration for that.
Johnykin bumped into Chris, “Did you get enough?”
“Huh,” said Chris.
“You can really feed off this. Doing something right and people being grateful for it. It’s amazing.”
“Yeah. I just… you deserve this. The Supers do. Frank too. I didn’t do anything.”
“You did enough. You’ll do more. Let’s go, though. Can’t stay here forever. Positive energy doesn’t last.”
They waved goodbye to the locals and not so locals who had stopped walking by and now stood watching or recording with their phones.
In the SUV, Chris gazed up front at Klaus and their driver talking comfortably. Again his mind connected to Sadie. The driver was nothing like her. Klaus was more similar to Sadie than her. What was her name? She took them around everywhere, Klaus was dating her, and he had no idea what her name was.
“Hey,” said Chris to the front. Klaus stopped talking to look back at him. “Sorry, Klaus. I don’t want to be rude, and I’m so sorry I didn’t ask this before.” Chris looked at the driver, “What’s your name?”
Klaus was about to speak for her in less than kind words before she said, “It’s okay. I should have told you before. My name is Jane. Boring, I know.”
“Hi, Jane,” said Frank.
“Hi.”
“Okay. We've made the proper introductions, but let's get back to our own conversations,” said Klaus with a wave of his hand towards Chris.
Johnykin laughed and said, “Let's do that Klaus. It was nice talking to you for five seconds. But don't worry, Jane. Even if he's a little rude you got a decent enough catch up there.”
“Thank you for the wonderful compliment,” said Klaus. He turned away from the back seat to end any more discussion about his love life.
“Where we going now?” asked Frank. “I didn't see any of the Supers running to get intel like was planned.”
“We did it,” said Jane. “The owner of the store we stopped at is a major contributor to the rebel movement. He didn't have an exact location, but gave us enough to get started. Alan should be calling in for aerial views of the spot. We should have a destination in a couple hours.”
“Setting up base or camp or whatever is next, right?” asked Chris.
“Yep. Starting to get the hang of it aren't you?” said Jane. “We have an hour drive to the next camping spot.”
Klaus turned back around and formed a smile that warned not to interrupt them again. Johnykin laughed off the threat and gazed outside. Frank was all over his phone and didn’t catch it or didn’t care. Chris thought again of Sadie.
Chris hadn’t charged his phone in days. The battery showed red, but he typed as fast as he could a message that’s main idea was ‘I miss you/Sorry/My phone is dying.’ The phone promptly turned off after the message was sent.
They drove on in near silence. Klaus tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible while discussing nothing in particular with Jane. Chris still heard every word, but didn't care. He was happy for Klaus and Chris was more concerned with yesterday and the video Frank showed him. He didn't drink that much last night and that was after. The memories from the warehouse still popped up clear in his head. What the hell was he not piecing together?
The inevitable present burst whatever work had been done in his mind. They made it to the next camp site.<
br />
Chapter Nineteen
“Are you serious?” asked Chris.
“Why not? Look at this place. It's practically identical. We're moving too fast for them to implement any kind of change yet,” said Frank.
“How do you know? You're just guessing.”
“Fuck. Get past your bullshit, Chris. Are you going to do this every time? You're making this harder than it really is.”
Frank and Chris waited behind a tree each for Alan and Grant to give the signal. There were only two guards again. None of them were sleeping this time, but in the darkness the Supers' black suits made them near invisible especially with the cloud coverage. Grant ran into view with his thumb raised high. Frank jumped out from behind cover first. Chris knew he couldn't hesitate and put himself a step behind.
The cameras were in the same position as the first warehouse. Chris improved his aim and took out two with a couple shots between them before meeting up with Frank at the front door. Continuing to parallel the mission from yesterday, Klaus and Johnykin were on Chris and Frank's backs as they pushed inside.
More familiar territory spread in front of Chris, from the crates to the layout and his role. Klaus and Johnykin pushed a few of the boxes to get a feel for the weight and then moved them towards the large sectional door in the back. Chris looked them over for the hidden camera, but couldn't find it. Frank called out to Chris.
Chris jogged over to his voice, “What's up?”
“What do you mean? Get to work. We have the tools,” said Frank, crouched next to a computer terminal with an open bag.
“Tools? Oh, shit. You want to try that?”
“You said you could, now come on!”
“Okay, okay.”
The muscle memory never forgot and Chris's hands went to work. He hardly put any thought into disassembling the computer case and soldering an access point on the motherboard for Frank's USB to attach. In less than five minutes it was ready and Chris stood up in disbelief at his own resourcefulness. He also stood in deep thought at whether or not this was what he believed to be right. He just did it because Frank ordered him.
Frank took no notice and went to work. His fingers were just as fast on the keyboard as Chris's were on the hardware. In a short few moments Frank hit the last keystroke and yanked the USB stick free. Klaus and Johnykin had as many crates as they could moved in front of the sectional door and waited. Chris still stood in his moralizing state when Frank slapped his shoulder.
“Let's go buddy,” said Frank.
Chris didn't want to respond. He wanted to stay where he was until he found an answer, but a small 'yeah' slipped out and his concentration was broken.
Frank was at the door panel, Klaus and Johnykin behind a crate each, and Chris raised his gun for support. The sections of the large metal door clambered up and out of the way. The night outside was pitch black besides the escaping light from the warehouse. Chris and Frank walked out first, scanning the area with the tips of their guns.
Everything was clear and Klaus and Johnykin followed behind with the first cache of chemical weapons. Alan and Grant ran in to the warehouse next to help before all the Supers pitched in. The combined effort took ten minutes and then Alan was on the radio calling in for the pickup.
Chris continued to circle the group with his eyes on the open dirt and then the trees and back to the warehouse. The pattern allowed his brain to branch off back to its earlier dilemma. This wasn’t a job for him. It wasn’t even a job. It was the military, but completely out of his league. His mind wanted to continue the tired argument, but the droning sound of helicopter blades cut off any more gestation of this self-doubt or self-awareness.
The reassuring sound put everyone at ease and jokes crisscrossed among them. Frank leaned his gun against his shoulder and caught Chris’s attention with a smirk. Chris could see a joke or sarcastic remark ready to fly from Frank’s lips, instead he along with the rest of the group looked up startled when the helicopter threw a spotlight on all of them.
A few laughed at their skittish behavior; Hal and Bernard flipped the pilot off. In the near blinding light bathing them, the Supers waited in dumbfounded awe for the pallet to descend.
It was an eternity from that point on. Because a loud hiss of wind cut overhead marking the barely visible passing of a long thin metal tube embedding itself into the side of the helicopter. Chris saw it all, though. He saw the missile in slow motion stick itself into the metal door of the copter before finishing with the expected explosion.
The ball of flame that was the helicopter sprayed its debris in less than equal parts into the dirt, trees, the roof of the warehouse, and a couple of crates. Chris was on the ground like the rest of the group. He assumed their ears were ringing like his, but that didn’t interfere with the sound of gunfire reaching him.
Chris kept his head down and peeked around the corner to find the origin of the threat. There was no one in plain sight, but it had to be coming from the trees. Frank came to the same conclusion and from two crates over leveled his gun in that direction. His eyes narrowed to pierce through the darkness and to find a target. Nothing appeared so Frank took the aggressive approach and fired randomly. Bullets returned from the trees as Frank pushed his back into the semi-protective crate. The wood couldn’t keep all of the bullets away and one splintered through to graze his arm. He yelled and grabbed at the newly bloodied wound.
Chris’s brain jumped into motion. He went for his gun to lay down some covering fire or at least get the attention of the unseen force away from Frank. But his gun wasn’t there. It was twenty feet away next to a crumpled mess of metal and electrical wires left over from the helicopter. There was a lull in the gunfire and Chris leaped across the dirt and open spaces between cover before sliding behind a chunk of helicopter debris. Just as he went to grab the gun, someone else slid into his same cover position. The slide knocked Chris off his butt and put his face six inches from the ground. When he pulled himself back up, he saw Klaus next to him gripping the gun with trained hands.
Their twin decisions garnered the attention Chris had hoped as he felt bullets pounding into the metal against his back. Klaus didn't look at Chris or motion any kind of courtesy for taking the weapon. He waited for the break in fire and then, like any good soldier, popped up from the cover to shoot back into the trees. The enemy stayed concealed as Chris took the smallest of glances to find out. The invisible shooters were much more effective. Like Frank, Klaus had been grazed across his bicep. Chris couldn't tell if it just happened but was sure it hurt. While under cover, Klaus's hand touched the wound and instantly he ground his teeth in pain.
“Give me the gun,” said Chris. He was unscathed so far and thought was in a better position to fight.
“The fuck? Stay down,” said Klaus, who obviously thought differently.
Chris kept down, but without the gun there was no point in staying here. The warehouse was safe. He could see Alan inside yelling into his radio. But he couldn’t leave Klaus there either. The gun fire did nothing. Chris grabbed Klaus’s good arm and pointed to the warehouse. Klaus shook off Chris’s grasp and moved above the cover to fire into the trees again.
This was the moment to run to the warehouse; Chris could see the SUVs coming out of the dark to pick up Alan. Other Supers saw the same thing and made a run for it. Chris hesitated. Klaus needed a way out too. The SUVs would never be able to get to where they were with the masses of sharp metal and splintered wood set all around them.
Chris waited for Klaus to finish his round of useless firing. He would drag Klaus with him if necessary. That's what it came down to. A bullet hit Klaus above the collar bone, tearing the sleek black uniform and flesh away. The force turned him to the side where his gun became even more useless in its aim. Another shot went into his exposed ribcage. Chris's mind thought to yell, but nothing came out. Instead the older idea of dragging took over and Chris hooked his arms underneath Klaus's shoulders. Klaus looked up at Chris. But then Klaus’s head lo
lled forward into his chest.
The firing paused again. Chris didn't stop to see if it was clear to move. He pulled the hulking frame of Klaus as fast as possible to the opening of the warehouse door. Chris heard the sound of gunfire again. He knew he couldn't stop. Seemingly from nowhere, Frank popped out from cover to jump in between Chris and the trees. Frank kept his finger pressed firmly on the trigger in the hopes of doubling their chances of making it to safety.
Their SUV was the last one waiting next to the warehouse. Chris saw Jane keeping her head down in the driver’s seat, but also frantically searching for them. She spotted Chris still pulling Klaus while Frank covered them. The SUV lurched at them and swung into a crate to block off the threat.
Jane leaped from the driver’s seat at the sight of Klaus now being carried by Chris and Frank into the back. There was nothing for her to help with, but she climbed into the back with him still. Johnykin instinctively made her way from the back into the front to be the new driver. She peeled them out of harm’s way without hesitation.
Once they were moving, Chris squeezed himself across from Johnykin. He looked back to see what he left behind. Frank had jumped into the cargo area and tore through the bags looking for medical supplies. Jane held down, the best she could, the blood pumping out of Klaus’s shoulder and side. Eventually, Frank found gauze and bandages. He stepped his way carefully over Klaus’s body that stretched across the seats prostrate.
Frank continued his cautious movements when slipping the white bandages underneath Jane’s red fingers. Chris watched everything. He couldn’t look away. Jane sobbed as Klaus’s eyes opened and closed slowly but never taking their attention from her own. Klaus’s breathing slowed down just as much too and then stopped. Frank moved to the side and sat on the floor of the SUV. Jane pinched her eyes shut and squeezed Klaus’s head against her chest.
Just Another Job Page 17