That was good though. If it did then I probably would’ve killed Elias and I wouldn’t be able to go through his memories to find where Tanya was. Glass crunched beneath my feet. The burnt bodies of the giant, the hellhounds, robots, and the copies of Elias lay sprawled around the room. If everyone could do things like this then more people would have psychosis.
Dimly, a part of me wondered if that’s why Elias was so off his rocker. His mind was trying to create an entire world inside itself with lots and lots of creatures. The amount of energy he’d have to spend to create something that complicated would’ve put a lot of strain on him.
Elias’ voice boomed and the ground shook, “You win, Markus.” I reached through the fractured shell of the engine and stuck my hand inside. Memories flowed through me. Elias as a child, Elias killing his first man and from there it only got more twisted. There was a darkness here that I had never seen in him before. He hadn’t hurt Tanya.
Tanya.
She was in a warehouse on forty fifth and sixty second street. I swallowed, there were an awful lot of warehouses there. I opened a portal and stepped out. Has anyone ever had a seizure before? They suck, a whole lot. I floundered around on the floor and screamed incoherently. A hand clamped my mouth shut and muffled my screams. Alice placed her thumbs on my temples and my legs slowly stopped shaking.
She leaned over by my ear, “Someone’s here. They’re looking for us.” She took a deep breath and swallowed, “They work for Elias, I don’t know how they found us.” She stood up and looked at Brutus, “He’s not ready yet, we have to stay here for a little while longer. Leave him be for a couple minutes.” Jonathan shook his head.
Brutus growled, “He’s got five, or we’re leaving without him.” They closed the doors. I’d won. Well, I almost had. They might get Elias back, but I knew were Tanya was. Alice said people were coming. This was going to be bad. We couldn’t get out of here safely through the windows, and there was only on elevator. I hadn’t come this far to fail now. I was going to go get Tanya if I had to kill every last punk that worked for Elias. I stood up. It was payback time. Alice smiled at me and I grinned back at her before picking up my twelve gauge.
“Let’s bring the pain.”
Alexander smirked and cracked his knuckles, “Darth hulk?”
“Smash,” I smiled. He grinned and turned to point at his chest. Alexander wore his black tactical armor with a name tag that read, “Hello, my name is Darth Hulk.”
I gave him the thumbs up, “I like.”
“Are you all ready to go?”
They nodded and I smiled, “Let’s go show those thugs who’s boss.” I swung the door open and fired the twelve gauge down the hall. The thugs were dressed in jackets and beanies. It was obviously that the bravest and dumbest of them had decided to come get us here. That would make the fight at the warehouse way more exiting.
The air swooshed by me, and the goons went flying back down the stairs. Some of them hit the wall on their way down. I reloaded and started down the stairs, firing at everything that moved. It was around noon, almost no one would’ve been in here. Besides, the bullets were mostly slowed down by the thugs they went through.
I cocked the gun and fired again. I blasted the crap out of everything as I went down the stairs. The police would be coming after someone reported the shootout going on here, but we’d be long gone by then. Part of me wondered what was going to happen to me after I got Tanya, but now was not the time for that.
Alexander hopped over the banister and slowed himself so he only dropped at a quarter of the speed he should’ve. He held his hands out and roared as he fell, he smashed everything in his path as he fell. We all had to avoid the thugs who started screaming and lay mostly unconscious. One raised his gun and I shot him in the shoulder. He howled and dropped down.
I swung over and started flinging myself down from banister to banister while screaming, “Parkour!” at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t even hear myself after all of the gun fire. I dropped down the last two flights and rolled as I hit the floor. I came up and hit the guy in the temple with the butt of the gun. The thug dropped like a sack of potatoes.
I swung my shoulder forward and smashed the door to the outside. I ran outside and Alexander followed me. Everyone else followed a couple steps behind. I scanned the parking lot, looking for the getaway vehicle. A dented, blue Dodge van squealed as it backed up and headed down the road.
“Alexander?”
“On it,” he replied. He flew forward as though he was propelled by a giant hand and landed in front of the truck. He threw his hands out in front of him and picked up the truck. It lifted a few feet off the ground and kept hurtling forwards. Alexander threw himself down on the ground as the truck sailed over. It landed on the ground going less than five miles an hour and he screamed.
Smoke poured off of the tires. I stepped to the side and coughed. Burning rubber is probably my least favorite smell ever. The driver side door was flung open. A man jumped out. He cocked his head and smirked at me. Another thug.
“Game over, punk.” I fired both barrels at him. He stuck out his chest, and the bullets tore through the fabric and glanced off of him. He ran forwards with his mouth hanging open.
Alexander stepped out from behind the truck and flung his hands out towards the man. The thug was picked up and thrown backwards as though pushed by a giant hand. I got a good look at the thug as he hurtled through the air. He was wearing a white coat and he had goggles on his face with green hair. It made his smile ten times creepier.
He landed and stuck his hand out in front of him as he made the superhero landing. His fingers tore through the concrete as he flew backwards. Like I have said before, the superhero landing was stupid. It was popularized by comic books because it looks very cool from an artistic standpoint but, unfortunately, it is almost sure to kill anyone stupid enough to try it. Alice swallowed and looked over at me.
This guy was tough. The landing had become a globally recognized signal for “I am not an Enhanced you want to mess with.” I reloaded the gun and fired again, heck, I wasn’t that good at listening to instructions anyway.
Alexander swung his hands in front of him and clapped. Two invisible walls of force pounded Crazy-Brains and squished him. Anthony’s hands fell to his side while Crazy-Brains fell onto the ground. The body popped back to normal with a sound like a balloon filling back up. The Enhanced rolled backwards and landed on his feet.
I grabbed Alice’s arm, “He’s trying to distract us. If he holds us till the police can get here then we’re all toast.”
Alice nodded and grabbed Brutus, Alexander, and Jonathan. I felt as our minds joined.
You know what he’s trying to do, right? Brutus asked.
I groaned and nodded at Brutus, What’s the plan? He lashed out and Crazy-Brains flew back another dozen feet. He again went with the superhero landing.
I’ll stay here, guys, Alexander said finally.
I cocked my head at him, Come again? He’ll murder you.
Alexander shook his head, No, he won’t. Crazy-Brains jumped through the air and sailed towards me. He flew past and shook on the ground.
Jonathan grinned and held up the taser, Alexander and I got this, you go get your daughter.
I smiled and nodded. Brutus, Alice, and I climbed into the Enhanced’s van and tore off down the road. Alice punched the directions in the GPS. I floored it as we went up the onramp. We were so close. We could do this.
“Five minutes and you will reach your destination. . . on the right.” Cop cars flew by on the other side of the highway. Their lights flashed and they had their sirens on.
Guys, the cops are headed your way, split if you can, I told Alexander and Jonathan.
No time, boss, we-, Jonathan began. The connection snapped shut and I swerved into the other lane. Some drivers blew their horns at me. I glanced at Alice.
“We’re gonna make it, Markus.” I nodded and swallowed. Alexander and Jonathan were okay mos
t likely, it was just the distance that had snapped the line shut. I hoped.
Brutus coughed, “Who was that back there?”
“Someone who worked for Elias. He was a scientist that worked on the AI lab project that set off the Enhancement.”
Brutus choked, “He’d be over two hundred years old, then.” I nodded. I felt sick, Elias was doing something, something far more evil than what he’d been doing before. I swerved off of the ramp and we continued tearing through town. I ran a couple of red lights and narrowly avoided two accidents before we arrived at the warehouse.
I grabbed my gun and loaded it with a fresh magazine. I stuffed my jacket full of extra magazines. Crazy-Brains knew how to plan. I bet Elias wouldn’t be too happy if he knew that the ammo he paid for was used to signal the end of his reign of terror on Newopolis.
I cracked my neck, “Showtime.” The warehouse looked new. Fresh paint coated the walls and the guys standing out front looked like professionals, not at all like the cheap thugs Elias seemed to favor.
“Hey,” I waved, “long day?” The thug closest to me sneered and aimed his gun. I howled. This day was going go down in infamy. I stepped over him and kicked the door open. I stopped. Something was wrong. That hesitation nearly cost me my life. I jumped to the side and fell on my side.
Sniper. Something was weird. There was no smell of water. It was completely dry. I’ve been in warehouses that seemed to have no moisture in the air, but this one was right across from the harbor. There should be some moisture in here. I scanned around. Shipping containers sat stacked on top of each other in long rectangles. The storage containers had been welded together to create an operational structure. A glint on top of the nearest one gave the sniper’s position away.
I smiled, “There you are.” I fired and unloaded my entire clip in short, clipped bursts. The body slid off of the top of the container and hit the ground. I’d like to say that the sniper hit the ground with a thump, but my hearing was shot again. Enormous power cords covered the floor and snaked towards the center of the room. Fans blew, and this side of the room was several degrees warmer than the entrance had been. I swallowed. I had a bad feeling that maybe Elias hadn’t built his mental sanctum off of pictures. The mad scientist, his snide comments, the cars that had followed our limo.
Something far bigger than a kidnapping was going on. I felt a pain in my chest. Someone was going have to stop this and once again, Markus Flak had drawn the short straw. Alice dropped to the ground as muzzle flashes burst on the other side of the room. I saw the flashes, but right now it sounded like popcorn popping.
“Find Tanya, I got this,” she whispered. I ducked around and fired back at the guards on the other side. Brutus and Alice rushed to engage the new target while I ran into the first of the cargo containers. The smell of unwashed bodies slapped me in the face. I tried not to gag as I walked through the middle of the container. If Elias wasn’t dead yet, I was going to end him.
Hands reached out at me, and I frowned. I’m sure they said something to me, but I still couldn’t hear anything. I ran up the stairs. I fired. A goon was hidden behind the door. I stopped for a second. I didn’t feel any guilt. Anyone who was okay doing this to people didn’t have a right to live.
Tanya wasn’t in the first cargo container. I checked the next one, but it was filled with batteries, wires, and electronic things I’d never seen before. It looked like a high-tech workshop had exploded all over the inside. I frowned and checked the third one.
Have you found her yet? Alice asked.
I shook my head, No, what’s the situation?
There’s a computer here, a big one, it looks like the one in his mind.
I swallowed. I ran into the last bunch of containers. This one was empty on the ground floor. Crates made it difficult to move, but there weren’t any people. I ran up the stairs and saw Tanya behind a glass door. I cried and ran towards her.
She looked up and her jaw dropped, “Dad?”
I nodded, “I found you! Honey, I need you to step back from the door. I don’t have the keys, and we don’t have time to look for them.” She stepped back and pressed her back against the far wall. I aimed at the lock and fired. It smashed through the lock. The door swung open. She jumped into my arms. I could barely hear her, but we both cried. I blinked and we were on the ground.
“Tanya, Tanya, look at me sweetie.” She stared into my eyes. I felt my heart melt again. I wanted to scream and dance and cry and hit something all in the same moment.
“I love you so much.”
She flung her arms around me, “I love you too.” I helped her up and we walked out of the shipping container cell.
I found her, guys. The tears ran down my face, but this time they were happy tears. Alice’s eyes teared up and she ran towards us and stopped. I nodded, and she wrapped her arms around me.
“Alice?” Tanya asked.
“It’s me, yes.” We stood there with our arms wrapped around each other for what felt like an eternity.
“Uh, hey guys?”
I looked over at Brutus, “Can’t you see we’re having a moment?”
Brutus nodded, “Someone pulled up outside.” I tensed up. Not now.
“Who is it?”
He looked at me over his shoulder as he ran towards the door, “I’ll check.” Alice reloaded her gun and put one in the chamber. I handed her my P-90 and she reloaded it. I wasn’t letting go of Tanya.
Brutus skidded to a stop in front of me, “Sir, it’s Elias and that lab coat guy.” My heart sunk. “There isn’t any blood on him, maybe Jonathan and Alexander got away.”
I swallowed. I hoped so. I handed Tanya my ear protection that I never used anyway. She put them on. She had a lot of life yet, and she wasn’t going to do it deaf if I had anything to say about it. I brushed her hair out of her eyes. She bit her lip and hugged me as tight as she could.
Alice looked over at me, “What’s the plan?”
“We end this, Elias doesn’t get to live, not after this. Go cut the people down. There’s dozens of them in there,” I snarled.
Alice nodded and ran towards the first storage containers. Her guns stayed on her shoulder straps and hip holster. I wrapped Tanya in a big hug and held it.
“Brutus, watch the door, let me know when they are about to come through and tell me what they’re doing.”
He nodded and ran back to the doorway, using our mind meld again, Roger that. I held Tanya tighter and wrapped her up in my arms. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to have with her, so I’d make it count.
“Tanya.” She looked up at me and smiled. “I might not be able to protect you, I’ve done a lot of bad things-”
She squeezed me, “I know, it’s okay.”
My eyes got wet, “No, I’ve done a lot of bad things recently. A lot of people have died since Elias took you. I-I killed most of them. They’re going to come for me and I don’t want you to have to live a life on the run.”
Tanya buried her head in my shoulder, her voice was muffled, “I don’t care.”
I shushed her, “I do, you’re going to finish school and get a great job. You don’t need your father sullying your reputation and ruining your life again.”
Tanya quivered and she looked up at me, “I am not losing you again.” I cried. Help me, but I bawled into her shoulder.
“It’s going to be hard to get everyone out here. I’ve got a plan.”
“What is it?” She asked. I leaned over and I told her. Her eyes widened. “You think that’ll work?”
I nodded, “It’s the best shot that we’ve got.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
I squeezed her hand, “I will catch up, you and Alice get away safe. Brutus and I will handle things here.” She nodded and I took a deep breath. Elias was about to get what was coming to him.
22
Chapter 22
The prisoners burst through the door. They screamed as they ran away from the returning Elias and Crazy-Br
ains. I had originally considered letting us go out with them, but Elias wouldn’t hesitate to kill the innocent bystanders if it meant he got a shot at me. Alice and Tanya hid along the back wall.
Alexander, Jonathan, are you here? Silence. I looked at Alice and frowned. Two level ones and a level three versus two Level fours. Life sure is never boring. My arms ached. I wanted nothing more than to hold Tanya, but if I did that then none of us would make it out of here alive. She was safe, regardless of what happened to me, she was safe.
I crouched down behind the shipping container closest to the door. Elias was vulnerable to bullets, so we’d incapacitate him and then Brutus and I would see how much Crazy-Brains liked electricity. If brute force couldn’t kill him, then hopefully electricity could. If not. . . well I’d already made my choice.
“Markus, oh Markus. Come out, come out wherever you are,” Elias smirked. Chills ran down my back, I didn’t care about what happened to me, but as long as Tanya was in here, I wasn’t going to die. When a human gained his or her abilities there was a flash, an explosion of heat. When a Tweener died, it was more like a detonation. Elias would have to be careful about killing me. The last Tweener that had been killed brought down a skyscraper. I flicked an empty magazine end over, and it flew towards the back of the second storage container. It clattered and slid until it pinged into the metal wall. I spun around and fired.
Crazy-Brains got a tight burst of hot lead directly in his face. He howled and fell backwards and onto the ground. That guy was way too tough. Crazy-Brains howled something, but my hearing was already not doing too good. It sounded a little like, “You’re dead.” I ran around the front of the container and sprayed from the ground up in an arc.
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