The Eleven

by Adrian Popa

  Usually I wouldn't be able to find Thomas in such a big place, but luckily for me, he's serious today. Dead guards and broken cameras scatter the hallways. Tracking him will be easy if he keeps this up. I follow the bodies of laying guards. Looks like he did all the work for me. I look at the different name plates of the rooms. Looks like these aren't in use during the day. I continue the trail until the fourth floor. That was fast, no more dead guards. I walk quietly trying to pinpoint his location. He must be in one of these rooms. I check the hallway for any open lights. I see two, I make my way to the first room, and peer into it. Looks like this one is unoccupied, the lights are on but no one is in there. I hear a group of guards running quickly, I enter the room and duck. They seem to be talking

  "Damn, those intruders, I hear they killed a bunch of guards on the lower floors"

  "Yeah, the Commander is in a serious scramble right now"

  "What if they are on this floor?"

  "Then we just take them out, not going to let a few break-ins scare me"

  "Judging from what they are capable of, you better be"

  "Your just being a wimp, have you forgotten that the higher up you are stationed , the better the Commander thinks you are"

  Whoever this "Commander" fellow is, he thinks really old fashioned. The higher up you are the better you are? Seriously who does that anymore. Looks like they are walking to the other side of the hallway. I better make my move quick. If there is no dead guards here yet, then that must mean Thomas is hiding somewhere on this floor. If the chances are he's in that second room with the lights on, then I better be ready to fight. The guards seem to be making a turn. I quickly open the door quietly and close it and make my way to the second room. I peer in slowly. This one seems pretty big. It's the size of a medium room. I open the door and walk in with my gun brandished. I don't see anyone. This looks like a mini laboratory. I look around and find some documents and equipment laying around. One of the documents are opened, the title is "New life". I continue reading :

  "After much deliberation and experiments, we have come to the conclusion that artificial life is within the reaches of mankind, getting the right components ready and having the execution of the operation is what we are still working on. The Bio Lab on the fourth floor should have the right manuals and equipment ready to start the creation of artificial life. It was merely a dream and a lost ambition but now we can do the impossible, we can go against our biological constraints and become the god that this new age needs."

  What the hell is this. Doesn't seem like a lab report, this is just a short recording made my some guy. Not much here other than a supposed Bio lab that should be on this floor, I guess I should look into this, creating life using science, what are these guys thinking. Whoever wrote this is obviously not using this new discovery for good purposes. Becoming god huh. Well, we don't need more than one god to look up to. If this becomes a big problem later on, than I don't think I can live with myself knowing that I could of done something, and who knows maybe Thomas is there. I exit the room and make my way through the hallway trying to find the Bio Lab. The Bio Lab is unguarded, looks like they went to the other side of the floor. I slowly make my way, a light is on. I peer in through the door. Damn, can't see much. I listen in. I hear some rummaging. This could be him, I take out my gun, and slowly open the door. Crap, I see the bodies of scientists laying scattered across the floor of the lab, blood pooling over their stomachs, and at the very end of the lab is Thomas Hanks. I pull my gun out towards him

  "End of the line"

  He turns to look at me. He was holding two documents with his hands, which where were dripping with blood. His gadgets were scattered all along the table, it looks like he was in a rush. He speaks in a somber and solemn tone.

  "What do you want?"

  "Nothing but a shot to your head"

  "And what do you expect to accomplish out of that? Killing one of Courtlyn's most talented scientist"

  "Ex-scientist, you went rogue ages ago old man, and now your here again, what do you plan to do with those?"

  "These? These documents that these crazed scientists created show their plan to create a perfect utopia, they are trying to create their own paradise. With these new experiments they plan to create artificial life and then sooner or later they plan to preserve us using artificial biological components"

  "Yeah, and why does that concern you?"

  "Don't you get it? If they can create as much life as they need with this, they just don't plan to stop with Courtlyn, they could overrun the entire world if they wanted. Then, when the life they created is no longer needed, they can just dispose of them all"

  "What makes you think they are going to do that? It's pretty ambitious for them to go from a respected group to power hungry lowlifes"

  "Remember what you said? I was an Ex-scientist, of course this kind of information was easily at my hands. When I heard their true intentions, I couldn't handle being their catalyst . So I ran away, took a few documents with me. But what do you know, they made new and better ones. I've been stowing away with my own plans to stop them, and now we have present day"

  "Why are you telling me all this?"

  "If I just said that you asked, I guess you wouldn't be satisfied. You plan to kill me right here and right now, correct?"

  "Yeah, that's right"

  "Rat told me that I should watch my back today, I guess I should of took it more seriously. I'm going to die today, than my plans for revenge and my plans to stop Jeno is going to end right now. But you, you have the ability to stop all of this"

  "And if I say no?"

  "Well, then only the future can tell what will happen next, even if you choose to walk away right now, at least consider it. All you need to do is head to the fifth floor and destroy the Cloning Lab. That will set them back quite a while. The rest will be up to my old friend, whom I entrusted the rest of the job to."

  He grabs a gun on the table and aims it at his own head

  "Adam, I have faith and expectations in you, I know how stingy K-, I mean John can be, and I would hate to cause more troubles then what I'm asking you to. Save the ammo, you will need it"

  "Wait, what!?"

  And with that he pulled the trigger. The guards should be here soon, I make my way to the stairs of the fifth floor. What does he mean John!? Who exactly is Thomas. Or rather, who was he. How much did he know. Shit, if only I could have asked him more, he seemed to know more about my situation than I did.

  Chapter 11

  I search the fifth floor for the Cloning Lab quickly. If I spend too much time here, they will find me. He knew about John, I don't know what his situation was with him, but he knew, and judging by what he said, letting Thomas live would of been bad. Either way, I will carry out his wish. I find the Cloning Lab. I break the lock, and throw a grenade in. I back away to the emergency exit. A huge explosion occurs and I make a run for it. The more I get done, the more questions pop up. But at least I see a subtle pattern in John's targets. So far, with the exception of Haylin, they all knew John in some way. That might be connected with his choice of targets, but who knows. I make my way back to my base. Mission complete, for now. It wasn't as climatic as I thought it would be, but whatever.

  I wake up to the ring of my phone. Before I get to pick up it stops. Instead I receive a text message. I look at the sender. Private. The message was simple and told me exactly what it needed to.

  "Your next target is George Haywin, I will leave you to the details"

  I guess I better get started, I better not expect any breaks. Once again I fire up the web to scrounge up some info on my new target. Looks like he's an informant for a large gun cartel. According to this, the cartel he works for doubles as a gang. They call themselves the Blue Mitts. They trade firearms to various other gangs and even to the police. They smuggle goods from other cities as well. They don't do much as a gang, but occasionally they start territory fights. The "gang" part must just be a title they put on so that
they won't be targeted by gangs frequently. Either way this George fellow seems under the radar. His main benefactor is the Blue Mitt. He goes around as if he's a neutral party, and gathers info that way. He's wanted by most gangs and even the police. Being an informant must be tough, but to be wanted, that's a different story. Rat is a good example. He's purely neutral and sells information to anyone. But I guess being part of the cartel adds an extra layer of danger. The information being gathered is no longer for self profit, but is now being used for criminal activities. It seems he gathers all kinds of information that isn't limited to the trading parties they work with. They range from information about other gangs, the police, even the government. It says here that in one incident the information George gathered led to the defeat of another gang and them losing their territory. I guess I better get started. I call up Rat to find out the next trade the Blue Mitts are going to be involved with. Maybe I can get some leads if I stake it out. George on his own may not be all that tough, but if he's in a gang, he has his own system of bodyguards all for himself. I better be careful about how I approach this one. I pull out a picture of George. Seems like an average man, nothing too special, brown hair, black eyes, not too tall, pretty slim , wouldn't be surprised if he had a daughter, he sure as hell looks like a typical father here.

  The warm summer sun shines brightly into the apartment of George Haywin. The clock indicates that it is still early in the morning. George Haywin slowly wakes up and takes a big yawn.

  "I better wake up Lily now"

  I walk over to the room beside mines and knock quietly. After a while, I open the door and enter. In front of me was my sleeping daughter. Lily Haywin, thirteen years old, she had long brown hair which reached below her shoulders and had a gentle face while sleeping, she never really got angry, and when she did she did it in a cute way.

  "Hey, time to get up"

  Lily turns in her bed and says with an annoyed voice

  "It's Saturday, there's no school today, come on"

  I crosses my arms and say

  "I promised to take you to Haylee's grave today so come on, we don't have any time to waste"

  Lily gets up slowly and scratches her eye, with a yawn she replies

  "Okay, I'll be ready soon"

  Lily and I have been living together for thirteen years. My wife, and Lily's mother ,Haylee died from an accident ten years ago. Because of this Lily doesn't remember much about her mother. The few things she does remember, she cherishes. I walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. Lily walks in with a slouch and says

  "So what's for breakfast?"

  "The usual"

  "Come on, that's no fun, you could at least say the whole thing"

  "But you already know what I mean"

  "That's true, but you could at least get me pumped up for it"

  "Is that how it works nowadays?"

  "How about just this once?"

  I sigh and say with a defeated voice while rolling my eyes

  "Fine, bacon, toast, eggs, happy?"

  Lily chuckles and says with a smile on her face

  "Yeah"

  For a good portion of the car drive to the graveyard, we both stayed silent. A busy highway stops us for a brief moment . Lily breaks the silence,

  "So, how was she?"

  "How was who?"

  "You know, mom"

  I sigh. I hated talking about the past, moving from the past is the only way that Lily and I can grow as people or at least that's what I think. But Lily just isn't that type of person, she wants to know about the past and embrace it as a part of her. Except, how will she react when she knows the truth about the past ? Haylee, isn't the best role model, neither am I, but is it alright to tell her the truth? . I say with a causal voice

  "Well, she was dangerous yet kind"

  "Dangerous yet kind?"

  "That's all I can say for now"

  "How did you two meet?"

  "On the job, we worked very close together, you could even say our jobs complement each other"

  "That doesn't help since you never told me what you even do"

  "Ha ha, well that is true"

  I worked as an informant for a gun cartel that sided as a gang, the Blue Mitts. Haylee was an assassin for a partner gang that had an alliance with the Blue Mitts. Probably not the best occupation choices and probably something that should be kept secret considering that I quit that job. One day while I was out getting information, I bumped into Haylee.

  "So, what's it like being an assassin?"

  "It's exactly like being an informant, you track down your target, and make their lives miserable"

  "More so for your part, at least I don't do any of the killing"

  "I would rather be the killer than the catalyst you know"

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, in a way, since I'm an assassin, I only get ordered to kill. The real killing intent comes from the person who sent me. I can live with that, I take it as a part of my job, I need to support, so I work. The person who wants the killing to happen, I consider to be the real criminal"

  "That's an interesting way to think, with that, you can be an unstoppable killing machine, feeling no remorse over what you do"

  "But, you gotta do what you gotta do, here in Courtlyn, that's the norm"

  "So is that same as defiling your human pride? Because that is exactly what people like us are doing. Destroying any sense of feeling for the people we are hurting, all for money"

  "But, don't you think, that we take a sense of pride in that? In that case we gain a false pride to fill up the part that we lost. It sounds inhuman, but the fact that you even decided to work for the cartel means that you were desperate. In times of need we must forget our own pride sometimes, and by doing so we can regain it with what we earned."

  Thinking back, she did talk a lot like that, trying to justify what people like us did, in hindsight we were just criminals finding our own justice. We finally arrive at the graveyard. Lily puts out a flower vase in front of Haylee's grave. She says a few words and then stands. I lean down and also says a few words. We stand in silence for a while. I then ask,

  "Well, what do you want to do now?"

  Lily thinks for a while with a finger on her lips, and then finally she gets an idea and says

  " How ab-"

  A car slowly comes to a stop at the front of the graveyard, I hear two doors open and two men get out. I quickly shove Lily's head down in the middle of her sentence. The sound of a gun firing is heard and a bullet zips above our heads. I quickly warn her.

  "Get down and follow me!"

  We both crouch down and hide behind the tombstones. Bullets fly past Us . Lily asks with a frightened tone in her voice

  "What's going on!?"

  "Don't worry!"

  I takes out a pistol and begin firing back. Lily looks confused and scared.

  "What, When did you have that?"

  "I'll try to explain later, for now keep your head down"

  I continue to exchange fire. I look around frantically. I see a pathway that could lead us out of here.

  "Come on follow me"

  We both run while crouched, using the tombstones as cover and leave the graveyard. I lead us both to a rundown antique store while they continue to chase us. I quit the cartel a while back, but it looks like they want my head now, it was bound to happen, the owner here used to be a member for the cartel, but he also escaped, did some plastic surgery and is now living peacefully here, we've been friends for a while, he can slow them down.

  "Cover me, the Blue Mitts have finally decided to tie up loose ends"

  He nods his head and takes out an assault rifle, he then gestures for us to go through the back door. Thanks, I'll be sure to repay the favor later. Lily and I exit the building and make our way through the back alley. Lily once again asks

  "What is going on!?"

  "I'll tell you once we get there!"

  "Where are we going?"

  "To a place where they can'
t find us!"

  We run frantically until I see a small house. I take out a key and unlock the door and enter the house. This used to be one of their old bases back when they were just starting out. I managed to nab this key when no one was looking when I was still part of the cartel. They don't care much about this place so they never noticed. I hid some supplies here a while back, I begin rummaging through the house to find the weapons. Lily once again asks

  "So now do you have time to tell me what exactly is going on?"

  I have thought about it but there is no point in hiding it anymore, the truth had to come out sooner or later, and it would be best that it was now. The only thing I was afraid of, was how this would ultimately affect the person Lily is, I don't want her to ever get involved with anything Haylee and I did. It is true that we live in Courtlyn, but, there is a way to live normally, I do not want her life to be put in danger. And I definitely don't want my past to be hurting her.