“They kidnapped her,” I said. “They took her away from me. I don't know what those assholes did to her, but I will get her back. I don't care what I have to do.” I shrugged and turned away. I sure didn’t need to give Andy my whole life story.
“I'm sorry,” he said. “I know how hard it can be to-”
“I've said too much,” I said as I stepped forward. “Let's keep moving.”
We continued down the street, then took a left.
“I'm sorry about what happened,” he said. “Again, I'm sorry, but I still think we can reach a compromise with these people.” He paused for a moment. “Sorry about your-”
“Just drop it,” I grunted.
“Fine. I'll drop it.”
The two of us walked down a couple more streets. We stepped through another alleyway, and Andy led me into a rat shit-infested alleyway. Heaps of flea-swarmed garbage bags oozed a pungent, dark liquid. The windows of the surrounding brick buildings were boarded with muddy planks. I could hear someone's voice talking nearby, whispering something softly.
Andy led me down a small staircase and knocked on a wooden door. We waited for several moments before the door swung open. A husky woman, towering at about six-and-a-half feet, stood before us. Her arms were covered in tattoos of roses and daisies. The woman's face must've had at least a dozen piercings, maybe more. Then, she let out a huff.
“Andy,” she said. “It's been a while. Thought they'd killed you by now.”
“Not yet, I'm still breathing!” Andy said.
She grunted and snorted through her bulging nose ring.“Eh, for now.”
Andy looked away and gazed at the ground. He took a few moments, but then his eyes turned up toward her.
“Mindy, we're here to see Leon. Is he still here?”
“Oh, he's still here. You should take him. I don't like havin' that kinda liability 'round here. Ya get what I'm sayin'?”
“Just fucking let us in,” I said.
She snarled at me, but I wasn't afraid of her. This woman may have intimidated a lesser man, but I wouldn't have it. The bitter woman stared into my eyes.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked. “I'm Quincy Abrams, the mercenary. If you don't let us in, I'll tell all of the Elites about your operation over here. They'll have you arrested or worse, killed. Do you want that to happen? No? Then just let us in.”
“And what if we just kill you?” she said as she stomped up to me.
I shrugged and cocked a brow. “Go ahead. Try and kill me.”
We stared into each other's eyes for what felt like minutes, then she laughed and swung around.
“Come in,” she said. “Come in. Just don't stay too fucking long.”
“I wasn't planning on it,” I said.
We stepped through a cloud of smoke into the spacious barroom. A few scantily-clad women guzzled down some liquor at the bar. A couple scruffy older men played pool in one corner. Chipped brass chandeliers hung from the mold- encrusted ceiling. We walked farther in, and I locked eyes with the bartender, who was a ragged old man with a big, dead eye. I turned ahead and took another step forward.
“There he is,” said Andy with the point of a finger.
Ahead of us, a young Asian man sat on a ripped red, plush couch. His two arms were wrapped around two bare-breasted women. Flamboyant ink coated their thick bodies.
He smiled and waved us over. We crossed over to him. Andy stepped up to Leon, folding his arms.
“Leon, my friend!” he said. “I see that you've been well taken care of.”
“Ha! Those Elite bastards ain't gonna kill me,” he said, grinning a toothy smile.
“But if I were you, I wouldn't hang out in the open like this,” said Andy.
“What if the Elites come here and find you?”
Leon shrugged. “I'll be fine. I'd rather risk being caught than be bored to death. Might as well enjoy myself while I'm in hiding.” He nibbled on the neck of one of the women. “We'll have fun later. How about you two get yourself something to drink? My treat!”
He fished a hand into his pocket and pulled out several bills. The women both plucked the money from his palm and scurried to the bar. Leon leaned forward.
“So, Andy, I thought you'd be busy with 'the revolution' you were talking about. Now, tell me, have your people finally turned on you? I keep telling you, man. You gotta get out of this city before it buries you alive. Feel me?”
“I'm not leaving this city,” said Andy. “Not when I have a job to do. Without me, my people would've turned rogue.”
“Ah,” Leon said, laughing uproariously to himself. He slapped a knee. “Your people are rogue, Andy. Can't you see that? You saw what they did in the park. It's a shame what they did to that officer. He was an old friend of mine.”
I furrowed my brows. “For an old friend of yours, you don't seem too shaken up about it.”
“Eh, if I shed a tear for every friend that I've lost, I would've drowned years ago,” Leon said.
I disliked him far more than I did Andy. When I came to see him, I was expecting Leon to be something different. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Either way, I knew that I had to get to the point. I wasn't out to get Leon. I sure wasn't going to kill him. He was a jackass, sure, but I just didn't think I could go through with it. Not to mention, I could just tell Marie that he was dead. She wouldn't be able to confirm my claim anyway.
“Whatever,” I said. “You worked for the Genesis Corporation, right?”
He nodded. “That Marie was a real cold-hearted bitch.”
“Yeah, well,” I said. “Do you know anything about abducted Commoner children?”
Leon cocked his brows. “Huh, so that's why you're after me. Tell me, did Marie send you?”
“I’m the one asking questions here,” I said. Leon nodded.
“And Marie sent you?”
I grunted. “I'm the one asking questions here.”
Leon's lips curled into a twisted frown. “Did Marie send you?”
I groaned but knew that I'd have to answer his question if he was going to be cooperative with me.
“Yeah, but I'm not working for her. I’m not working for anyone. I'm done working with the Elites. I need to find someone. Those Elites, they stole someone from me, and I need you to help find this person.”
Leon's frown faded, and he chuckled softly to himself. “What's in it for me? In case you didn't know, I'm a wanted man. Why would I risk my life to help you?”
“Because if you don't tell me what I need to know,” I said, stepping right up to his seat, “I'll let Marie and every goddamn Elite know where you are.”
Leon stared at me, and I stared back. “If I tell you what I know, will you take down Genesis? How ‘bout you kill some of those eugenic bastards while you’re at it?”
“I'll do whatever it takes to get my daughter back.”
Leon nodded, and I backed up. He gestured toward an iron door to his right. “Whatever it takes, eh? Fine by me, but let's talk out back. I don’t trust half the people here.”
“Fine,” I said.
Leon nodded. “Right this way.”
He escorted us through the door and into a decrepit back corridor that smelled musk and mold. The concrete slab floor was cracked and coated in a sticky ooze.
“So, tell us what you know about Genesis,” I said. “I want to know everything.”
Leon laughed, and I scrunched my face. He was still treating this whole situation like a joke, and I wasn't going to stand for it.
“So, you're working for Marie,” said Leon. “And she wants me dead, right? She definitely wants me dead, right? She sent you here to kill me, is that right? And, you're going to let me go free. Oh, how generous of you.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. It wasn't worth keeping much from him. He already seemed to know too much. “I’m not going to kill you, long as you tell me what I need to know.” He smiled. “Long as you tell me what I need to know.” I squeezed a hand arou
nd his right shoulder blade.
“Relax, my man,” said Leon as he patted me on my right shoulder. I shoved him off. “Look, I always hated Genesis, ever since I was a kid. Both my dad and granddad died during a lab ‘accident’. Those Elites, they're mostly a scummy lot. If I worked for ‘em like my dad and granddad, I could be the man on the inside. The man that could help take down Genesis.”
“Get to the point,” I said.
Leon nodded. “Anyway, Andy and I kept in communication while I worked there. In my off time, I always spent it looking where I wasn't supposed to. There's a sixth-floor in the building. It's top-secret, classified shit. One day, I stole some guard's ID card to get up there. I was real curious, you know? Those bastards were up to something. So, I sneaked in there, and they had these kids who were unconscious. They're sprawled out on these tables.”
As Leon spoke, my heart kept sinking. I kept thinking about my daughter and what she could've gone through. She could've been one of those kids. She could be dead. No, she wasn't dead. I knew that it had been a while, but there was still a chance that I could save here. Hope wasn't lost, yet. My little girl needed me more than ever.
“What were they doing with the kids?” I asked, grabbing back onto him.
“Changing them,” Leon replied.
“Quit being so goddamn cryptic,” I snapped. I squeezed tighter around his shoulder, and the little worm winced.
“They take the kids with the most potential to become Elites, and they alter their genes,” Leon said. “Sometimes, the child dies, but sometimes the child survives their procedures. The kid changes and he becomes genetically perfect. Tell me, have you ever seen an Elite baby?”
I thought for a moment, and then I realized that I hadn't. Leon nodded. “They can't have children. Why would they want babies? All babies do is scream and cry. The Elites would rather adopt a genetically-perfected child. With their infertility, those Elites can fuck each other all day long with no consequences. It's perfect, really.”
I wondered if my daughter had been turned into one of those Elites. Maybe she was still in the city. Either way, I didn't care if she was an Elite or not. She was my daughter, and I would find her. Then, we could run away together.
“And they take these children to other countries, too?” I said, remembering back to my experience on the docks.
Leon nodded. “There's facilities around the world where these kids are taken and changed. Their new ‘parents’ decide exactly how they want their new ‘kid’ to be or how ‘perfect’ they want them to be. I’ve seen those kids. Genetically superior, my ass. They act like personality-devoid robots.”
I cleared my throat and needed to divert the conversation back to my next action. “Either way. I need to get to those kids. So, I steal an ID card and get up to the sixth floor?” I said.
Leon frowned. “Whoa. Whoa. Listen, man. You want to get yourself killed?”
I needed to get up there. My daughter could still be up there. I was going to save Anna. She needed my help. I could hear her cry my name right then. I didn’t care what Leon said. I was going to save Anna, and I was going to kill everyone who got in my way.
“Quincy, my friend,” said Andy as he turned to me.
“Please, think about this. You're a good man. I would hate to see anything bad happen to you.” I glanced over to him. “I know that you have a bad reputation, but you're not a bad guy. You're just doing what you have to do to survive in this city. We all are.”
I shot a glare back to Leon. “Tell me more,” I said. “Tell me everything.”
“Hey, man,” he said. “I-”
“Fucking tell me everything!”
I wasn't prepared to have him hold me back. I needed to know everything about getting to the sixth floor and being reunited with her again. Her voice rang in my ears, and I shed a few tears. I was close, so close to finding my daughter. She was probably still alive in this city. She couldn't have been exported at the docks, like those other kids. No, she had to be here. She was waiting for me.
“Quincy, you need to calm down,” said Leon. He gestured toward the door. “How about you take a drink? It'll be on me. Just one to calm the nerves?”
“Don't tell me to calm down!” I said. I shoved him against the wall and pinned him between two of my fists. “Tell me everything. I don't care if they kill me. I need to know everything.”
“Okay,” Leon said. “But if you're going up there, it's your funeral, man.” He paused and took a heavy sigh. “The whole place is heavily armed. There's going to be at least a dozen security officers, all with assault rifles. They're trained shots, and they'll shoot you dead in seconds. Whatever exactly you plan on doing, you don’t stand a chance.”
That didn't scare me. I was a tremendous shot myself after my father had spent weeks training me with firearms. He'd always tell me, “Boy, it's a dangerous world out there. This world ain't fair, so you gotta defend yourself.” My old man may had been a piece of shit, but he was right about a few things. It was dangerous out there, and this world sure wasn't fair. I would enact justice, and I would right the wrongs of whatever the hell those Elite bastards were doing.
“Go on,” I said.
“The whole upper floor is designed like it’s a goddamn labyrinth,” he said. He sneered. “But follow the green signs, and you’ll end up where the kids are. Those kids…the ones I saw were all sick looking. They didn’t even look conscious.”
“Maybe they were drugged up,” I said.
“It's possible,” Leon said, shrugging. “But, hey, man...you still sure you want to go through with this? It's suicide.”
“Don't fucking question me,” I said. “Tell me everything.”
"You really want to know, huh?” he said.
Leon reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out three pictures. I snatched them from his hand and stared wide-eyed at the images of children being experimented on. “I took a few photos when I was up there,” Leon said.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me, otherwise.”
I needed to find out where my daughter was. If she was somewhere in this city, I would find her. I didn't care how many men I had to kill in the process. If anyone knew where she was, it would be Marie. I would make her tell me everything she knew.
Andy turned to me. “Quincy, I'll do whatever it takes to help you.”
“Things are going to get violent, Andy,” I said. He paused and stared at his feet.
“I know.”
“If the Commoners come together,” I said. “If we get all their anger, all their rage together, we can overrun all the goddamn Elites. If we get the police to fight back against the Elites, they've got nobody to protect them.”
Leon chuckled. “The police? Eh. They won't help us.”
“No,” I said. “They will. I've got some connections with them. They're angry, too. They're upset. Their numbers are down. With them on our side, we'll burn down their whole district.”
“Good,” Leon said, nodding. “Very good.”
I finally lowered my hands. “It’s time for a revolution.”
Leon laughed. “Excellent.” His smile returned. “So, Quincy, I was curious. Before going into hiding, I eliminated any evidence that I was working with the protesters. So, how’d you find out I was working with ‘em?”
“You had some letters you wrote to the protesters.” I told him. “You left some in your desk drawer. They had the red insignia right on them, too.”
Leon scrunched his face. “What? Why would I even?” He laughed. “You think I’m that stupid? Why would I even store those notes in such an obvious place?”
I froze, and it hit me. Marie had set me up. I should’ve known that this was too easy. Suddenly, shots rang out from inside the barroom. I pulled out my revolver.
“The fuck is that?” Leon snapped.
The door burst open, and several Commoners came rushing forth. In the distance, I could see several men in black armor gunning down the citizens. They were w
earing the same armor as the men at the Genesis Corporation. They must’ve been following me this whole time. They must’ve been using me to track down Leon.
We rushed away from the men. Shots were fired from behind us. I raced ahead, closely followed by Andy and Leon. We ran around a turn and burst up a set of stairs. The three of us ran out into an alleyway as Commoners burst from the hallway behind us. I panted, knowing that I had to think quickly.
“Who are they?” Andy asked.
“Marie's soldiers,” I said. “They want us dead.” I gestured for them to follow me. “This way. Now!”
I ran ahead with Andy and Leon following close behind. The Commoners’ screams were drowned out by the firing of an assault rifle. As we turned a corner and ran out into the streets. The time for peace had ended.
Chapter 16
Leon, Andy, and traversed the streets, which were stuffed with frantic civilians. The people ran through the streets, screaming cries of terror. I kept my head down as I hurried forward. Keeping my revolver to my side, I kept running. I crossed through a few alleyways and was lucky to not see any of Marie's men.
My heart throbbed and ached. A knot wretched in my stomach, but I kept running. I glanced behind me and saw Leon and Andy following close behind. Sweat drizzled off my forehead as I rounded another corner. Taking down the Elites would be easy, and I couldn't do it alone. I needed help.
I ran ahead and took another turn. My black sedan glistened in the distance. I sprinted ahead. We each hopped into my sedan. I slammed the keys into the ignition, and we drove off.
“At least now she thinks I'm dead,” I muttered.
“And where are we going now?” Andy asked.
“We’re gonna need to unite as many commoners as possible,” I said. “If we’re going to save our children from those monsters, we're going to need all the help we can get.”
“No, I can't go through with this,” said Andy. “I just…I
just...I can't do this. We can talk it out. We don't need to fight back.”
I shook my head. “They left us no choice. They just gunned down a bar full of your people. You think they're going to listen to reason?”
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