Lilith Cohen Retribution

by William Manning

  “That is why we are going to runs tests, Mrs. Cohen. So there is not a repeat of the Praetorian Program,” she adds stuffing her hands in her coat pockets. “Mrs. Cohen, my boss is offering you a great deal. Please take the deal you do not want thealternative, trust me.”

  He grins at her and turns to me. “You know what they say; you should always listen to your doctor.”

  My jaw pulsates with rage. “Take your deal, and shove it sideways up your ass.”

  He glares down his nose at me. “Tsk. Are you seriously going to be a loser like your husband?”

  My eyes burn with fury. “You will pay for what you've done to me, even if I have to kill myself to do it. All of you will die screaming I swear to fucking god!” I snarl. He slumps his shoulders and laughs. “Are you for real right now? Karl betrayed you, and you’re still on the vengeful widow train? Oh, that is just sad. Honey, he didn’t love you, it was all a ruse set up by Lauren and me. That was Karl’s job to make you fall in love with him and get close to you and eventually lead you right to us. However, the weakwilled asshole lost sight of the plan and succumbed to his feelings for you.”

  I grit my teeth. “Tell me who killed my husband!”

  He scoffs and shakes his head. “Fine, if you just gotta know, but this is going to be a real buzz kill. You burned him alive in your home and by the way, thank you for getting rid of that stupid asshole.”

  “Bullshit, it was Lauren.”

  “Now that, is bullshit! I told Lauren not to get involved. The freelancers will cost us less money, but as it turns out the ageold philosophy holds up “sometimes you get what you pay for” and when you spend cheap, you get cheap shit.”

  As much I hate to believe it, this makes sense. He strikes me as the guy who would try the efficient and cheap route. The problem was he overestimated Alexi.

  He crosses his arms and exhales. “Now that you got your vengeance, will you stop tearing apart my company, and be a patient? I am willing to forgive all the grief you’ve caused me. That’s how much Athena means to me.”

  I lower my head, narrowing my eyes. “Are you deaf? I said shove that deal up your ass sideways.” He laughs. “You really are a loser like your husband. Okay, Doc. You heard the lady she wants the Guinea Pig

  Package.”

  “What is the protocol now, sir?”

  “I want Patient Zero in lockdown. That means when she's not restrained, I want her sedated, just enough so she’s awake. Relay this info to your team. I'm sure Lauren has already reminded you how dangerous she is.”

  She sighs. “Yes, sir.” She glances at me and frowns. He gives her a sidelong glance. “Is something wrong, doc?”

  “No. I just wish we didn’t have to go this route.” “Get to work, doctor.” He turns and leaves. A scowl forms on her face. “Are you stupid?” she hisses.

  “I could ask the same of you. If you really believe Colvin is going to use me to usher in a new era of nanotechnology so that he can give people a better life; you’re an idiot. Athena is nothing more than a weapon to him.”

  She slowly blinks and stuffs her hands in her coat pockets. “You’re wrong about him. He cares more about humanity more than you know.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen how much he cares about humanity.”

  She shakes her head. “You’re going to regret turning him down.” The doctor turns her attention to the scientists. “Okay, people listen up. New orders from Colvin. Patient Zero is to be in restraints and sedated when she’s not restraints. You all know how dangerous she is so I don’t have to remind you one mistake with her, and she will kill you. She has been trained to be an effective killing machine. Do not let your guard down or go near her without an armed escort. She points to a room behind me. “Put her in the holding chamber. The first array of tests will begin in thirty minutes.”

  Two mercs walk behind the exam table and lower it. They wheel me into a sterile white room with blinding white lights and a large rectangular window that overlooks the lab. The doctor walks over to me and leans down to my ear. “I hope the people you’re refusing to betray, have the same measure of loyalty as you do.” She jabs a syringe in my arm.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s something to keep you docile while we administer the tests.” She leaves the room.

  The drugs kick in, and the room starts to spin, my breathing becomes lethargic.

  What Dom was afraid of happening, is happening. Most people would have called me stupid for refusing to take Colvin’s deal, but the truth is, I’d rather be dead than help these parasites. Although, if I don’t find a way out of here I may have to resort to death.

  Thirty minutes pass and two armed guards come and take me to the center of the lab. A lab geek shove’s a needle into my arm to monitor my vitals and the nanites. Ms. Doctor Frankenstein strolls up to me wearing a bright smile and her hands in her pockets. If I manage to escape, I’m going to rip off her lower jaw.

  “You feeling okay, Patient Zero?”

  “My name, name... my name is Lilit,” I slur. “Not Patient Zero.” My head feels like a ton of bricks. “Are you feeling okay, Patient Zero?”

  “Wha-what the hell did you do to me I can barely

  move my fingers.”

  “As I told you earlier it’s something to keep you

  docile.”

  Blinding surgical lights force me to jerk my head

  away and shut my eyes. A young scientist pierces my skin

  with a needle extracting a blood sample. “No don’t do that!

  I scream. “You’re going to kill people by doing this.”

  Doctor Molyneux picks up a scalpel. “Next test we will begin

  the timing of her healing factor.” She unties my gown and

  places the cold steel against my abdomen. She winces. “I’m

  so sorry, Patient Zero, I’ll make it quick.”

  My screams fill the room as the blade slices deep

  across my belly. She steps back and clicks the timer. Five

  minutes pass, the wound heals, and the doctor starts the timer

  again. “Impressive. Now we see how long deep puncture

  wounds take to heal.” She picks up a broadsword. My body

  convulses in pain as she sinks the blade through my gut. Blood pours from my mouth as my head slumps toward the floor on the verge of passing out. She yanks the sword out,

  and blood spills on to the white tile, forming a puddle. She clicks the timer again and taps me on the cheek.

  “Patient zero! You with us still?”

  “I’m… going… to kill you all,” I mumble. She stuffs gauze into my wound to prevent me from

  bleeding to death because it would be a real shame to rob

  them of their fun.

  “Patient Zero, are you still with us?”

  I force my head up while working up a wad of spit in

  my mouth. “Are you okay, Patient Zero? How are you

  doing? I need to know if you’re healing factor is kicking in.” I lurch forward and spray a crimson mist in her face

  causing her to stumble backward. The gaping wound in my

  stomach gradually heals.

  Her hand trembles as she wipes her face with a

  sanitation wipe. “Note: deep puncture wounds take 10

  minutes to heal.” She clicks the stopwatch. “Now we will

  time the bone regrowth test.”

  Fuck, this going to hurt.

  The bitch picks up a wooden bat on the table. She

  winds up and slams it into my leg. My whole body tenses as

  I grit my teeth releasing a growl, choking back the pain.

  “Interesting, it didn’t break. Let’s try the crowbar.” She

  swings it against my leg snapping the bone and deforming

  the knee. A shriek escapes my mouth echoing throughout the

  room. My body writhes as tremors of pain shoot through my

  body. Vomit ejects from my mouth. “Fucking,
assholes! I’m

  going to rip you all to pieces!”

  After what feels like a day of wallowing in my blood

  and vomit, The Bitch returns to examine my leg. “Note! It

  takes 24 hours for Athena to heal the subject's bones fully.” She frowns. “I’m sorry, Zero. You wanted this. Colvin

  offered you the easy way, and you refused. So here we are.” I wince and clench my teeth. “Y-you’re not sorry.

  Not yet.”

  How long have I been here? A day? Two days? Either way, I know I’ve been here at least a day, but I don’t know. I’ve lost all concept of time from all the drugs they’ve been pumping me with. The guards dumped me back in my cell this time no restraints and no tests. This is the longest I’ve gone without a being cut, beaten and impaled. I guess they got what they needed from me, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

  I sit on the bed and tuck my legs up to my chest and rest my head on my knees. A rapping on the window gets my attention. It’s the bitch who broke my leg and cut me open like a frog in anatomy class. She points at the black button just under the window above a deposit box. I stand and walk over to the key. “What the hell do you want? What is the test this time? Cut off my tits and see if they grow back?”

  She lower s her head to the floor and sobs. “I’m so sorry, Lilith, I hate doing this to you.”

  Pacing back and forth, I stop and glare at her like a tiger about to sink its teeth into a deer’s neck. “I thought my name was Patient Zero? Now you’re addressing me as a human being? I lower my head, flaring my nostrils. “Humanizing me is not going to stop me from gutting you.” “She wipes her face on the sleeve of her lab coat. “You have every right to want retribution for what I’ve done to you.” She wipes her nose and sniff. “However, the gifts I left you may buy your forgiveness.”

  I stalk to the container, my gaze locked on her. I peer into the receptacle, and there’s a pair of hospital scrubs, and a .38 revolver with three-speed loaders and a copy of Macbeth.

  “A mutual friend told me you like Shakespeare.” Her voice timid.

  What the fuck is going on here?

  She pushes the button again. “Open it to page twelve there is a great scene. I think you’ll love it.” She walks away and exits the lab. I flip to page twelve, and there is a message written on the page in red ink.

  Agent Cohen, get dressed its Josef. I have been with you since you arrived here. I notified Dominic, the cavalry is inbound. ETA forty-five minutes.

  I rip off the hospital gown and change into the clothes. I load the gun inside the deposit box to keep the mercs from seeing the gun.

  Fuck I guess I’m S.O.L on shoes.

  A brown haired merc guarding the door yanks a suppressed pistol and paints the wall with the merc’s brains. Another guard raises his shotgun and is about to fire. My mysterious savior hurls a knife into his trachea. He drops his rifle gargling as blood pours from his throat. He rips the blade from his neck and roundhouses the guard in the gut. His body slams into the cell window cracking it. He snatches a keycard off the dead body and rushes to my cell opening it. “Josef, I assume?”

  “Da,” he says, with a heavy Russian accent. “Let’s get out of here before the lab crew begins their shift.” “Right behind you.” I nod.

  Advancing down the long corridor, I turn to him. “Guess Doctor Frankenstein was with you?”

  “Da, I turned her. Now she is a collaborator in our war against Black Reign.”

  We reach the end of the hall. He and I peak around the corner and see two guards on patrol. “Take them down at the same time, on three,” he whispers.

  I grip my sixshooter with both hands and nod. “Got it.”

  “One, two, three.” We simultaneously lean around the corner and drop them with precision shots to their heads. I move up with Josef watching his six. We reach two elevators at a crossroads in the long corridor. “These elevators will take you to the surface. Where you will rendezvous with the Hunter’s Guardsmen.”

  “My brow creases. “Where the hell are you going?”

  “You weren’t my only mission. My mission was to rescue you and destroy Colvin’s experimental weapons facility and link back up with Nina. So get going,” he says, slipping on a balaclava.

  My brow furrows. “That’s kind of pointless now isn’t? They saw your face on the cameras.”

  He flashes a crooked grin. “Not unless Nina fried the surveillance systemon this level with Clare’s assistance.”

  Goddamn, I love that little nerd more and more every day.

  “Nice going there, Rookie.”

  He taps his watch. “Get going, Agent Cohen.” He rushes down the hallway and disappears around the corner.

  I stuff the 38 in the back of my trousers and pick up a drum-fed AA12 auto shotgun and summon the lift. A few seconds later the elevator doors open. Stepping into the elevator the doors close and it ascends.

  Ten minutes into the ascent alarms scream inside the lift and blinking red lights. “Warning Security breach. Unauthorized personnel on the lift in the sublevel 1 Bwing,” the P.A alerts.

  Fuck!

  I push the stop button on the car. I don’t know why I used the elevator anyway; I am just asking for a firing squad to greet me. Granted they want me alive, but there’s always human error. I look at the roof access, and I force the roof hatch open and pull myself up. A five-foot gap separates me and the ladder. I leap over the divide. My hand catches the ladder, and I start climbing.

  As I’m passing by an elevator door, it opens putting me at point-blank range with a squad of heavily armed assholes with automatic rifles. I snap the sights on them and let loose with the drum-fed meat grinder showering me with gore and flesh.

  A different alarm wails. “Warning. Evacuate the facility immediately. Multiple explosive devices detected in R&D labs. Levels 1and 2.”

  That should keep them busy. Most people don’t want to be buried alive, and I am most of those people.

  I reach the top and climb on to a catwalk and kick open the emergency exit door. The night air of the desert chills me to the bone. I race down the slope to a clearing, an explosion rocks the ground beneath me, knocking me off balance. I regain my footing and keep running.

  I hope Nina and Josef got out in time. I rest behind a boulder letting my adrenaline dial down while I wait for my ride. The roar of Mercury jets swarms the area, lighting up the base with searchlights. An earsplitting hiss fills the air as my close air support lets off a salvo of Hellfire Missiles into the escaping Humvees blasting them to flaming scrap. A Gatling gun from one of the jets squeezes off a stream of green tracers into a fleeing helicopter causing it to erupt into a fireball. The chopper crashes on the road and skids a few feet down the slope. The aircraft explodes again as a Mercury jet hits it with a missile. A jet hovers several meters away. A squad of Hunter Guardsmen in black tactical gear and balaclavas, fast-rope from the sides and make a B-line to my position. “Relax, sis. We come to pull yous out,” she says in a Cockney accent. She removes her mask, and it’s a short black woman with a buzz cut and a narrow face with a dimpled smile. “It’s nice to see they didn’t slot yous.”

  Marisol was one of the first Hunter Agents like me. Dominic plucked her from the British SAS.

  “Marisol? I thought they had you training recruits?” “They did, bu' I 'eard you was cap'ured an' I insisted on leadin 'he rescue op.”

  “Thanks. However, you’re behind on your Intel. The director fired me.”

  She lets out a boastful laugh. “I do believe someone may ‘ave an objec'ion 'o ‘ha’ load ov bollocks.”

  I shrug. “Who?”

  I hear a woman’s voice behind me with a Japanese accent, but with clear spoken English. “Lavana was the director, but not anymore. Her abuse of power was becoming intolerable. Now she sits on the council.”

  I turn, and there's a middle-aged Asian woman in Black BDU’s leaning on her sleek black cane with a silver wolf’s head on top; her long silky black
hair flails in the wind as she limps over to me and extends her black gloved hand. “President Connie Kimura of the United States. I am also the Head Director of the Hunters.”

  “I know you’re the president. But I didn’t know our head director was also The President of the United States.”

  “Well, being the leader of the country is why I hid who I am. The public would flip if they knew their leader was also the leader of an agency of assassins.”

  I’ve heard talk of the Head Director, but this is my first time meeting her. The Hunter’s council made sure to keep the identity of her a secret for security reasons, but it seems she got tired of being reclusive. A risky move for her considering she is also the US President.

  “How did you find me?”

  She smiles. “A nerdy girl by the name of Clare activated the tracker ping in your nanites. Black Reign’s knowledge of Athena is still limited thankfully.”

  Nerdy chick saving my life, how about that?

  “Clare has been a damn good asset to my team. I wouldn’t replace her for anything.”

  “She is the reason we found you, so that is a wise decision. Now, we have a lot to discuss, Agent Cohen, regarding your transfer to the American sector and your reinstatement.”

  I take a deep breath. “Look, Ms. Kimura. No disrespect, but I’ve been drugged, kidnapped, drugged again and poked, prodded cut and impaled, beaten till my leg broke. Now I’m expected to work for a fucking politician?”

  She frowns at me. “Agent Cohen, I know you've been through hell down there.”

  “No, you don’t know the hell I’ve been through down there. In fact, you don’t know the hell I’ve been through period! You’re just another pencil pushing bureaucrat like Lavana.”

  She throws her cane on the ground hobbling closer to me while grabbing one of her Guardsmen’s flashlights. “You say I don’t understand what it is you’ve gone through.” She hikes up her pants leg above her kneecap and shines the flashlighton an old gunshot wound. “Sniper round straight through my knee while undercover in Beijing ending my career in espionage.” She pulls off her black leather glove revealing her hand; it was severely scarred from horrific burns. “Complements of the Chinese government after they shot me in the knee.”