Sinners and Saints

by Ambear Shellea

  “Vylette. Go. You must get out. They have shoot to kill orders on all agents. Leave me, I’m alright. The bullet just grazed me, but one of the men pistol whipped me and I passed out. Now Go!”

  “No. Give me your hand, I’ll help you up.”

  Reluctantly, he did as she told him.

  “Are you sure you're okay, Chef?”

  “Yes, I believe so.”

  “Good, I think they are done on this end of the warehouse, go back into the main room and get all of those who are still alive and get them out of here. Go to the large picture of the fountain, there is a tunnel that leads out of here hidden behind it. It is a failsafe in case something like this were to ever happen. From there go to the back training field and hide among the course in the Jungle set. There are a lot of hidden holes and crevices that are not easily spotted. Do you have all of that?”

  “Yes, please be careful, Vylette.”

  “I will. Now go!”

  She didn't wait to see if he complied. Getting through the dining hall, she stepped into the southeast hallway toward Dorrian's office.

  There's what I am looking for.

  Sliding along the wall she made her way around the corner and into the gear room. Slipping quietly inside, she locked the door behind her. She spun and jumped.

  “Damn! You guys nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  There in the midst of the room standing among scattered gear and weapons were her friends, Mike, Jared, Lewis and Jazmin, all doing just as she was fixing to—getting locked and loaded. She walked over to a locker and pulled out a pair of black jeans, black shirt, boots and a weapons belt. Not caring that she wasn’t alone, she stripped and dressed before all of them.

  After her clothes were on, she walked to the wall of weapons and started equipping herself. She strapped a gun to her thigh and slid knives into the sheaths inside her boots. She caught a pair of gloves when Jazmin tossed them to her and pulled them on. They were half gloves, with the fingers cut out.

  Just the way I like them.

  Attaching her back up pistol to her hip, she snatched up her other gun and turned toward the group.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  They all had the same answer.

  “I don't know.”

  Lewis chimed in. “I don't understand how this happened. We have so many securities in place to prevent this.”

  “Well, it doesn't matter. They have Travine and Lissa I know for sure. I was told about them, but I have no idea if they anyone else. Let's go!”

  Jazmin hurried up beside her, waiting.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Outside. They have made their way through the warehouse, so it looks like they are headed to living quarters, where the rest of the rescues are living.”

  The rest fell in line as they made their way out of the room and down the hall. Each of them decked out and ready for war. Lewis was right next to her with Jazin and Jared behind her and Mike watching their backs. As they lurked down the hall and out onto the grounds, they checked each room and dark shadow along the way.

  Never taking her eyes off her mission, she said, “We shoot to kill agreed?”

  A collective, “Agreed,” sounded softly behind her.

  “They have come into our house, they have hurt and kidnapped family. They have brought a war, now let’s give it to them.”

  Again they all agreed, and this time she felt their tension and readiness and all thoughts of fear were replaced with training and instinct.

  The air outside was humidly thick and the smoke from fires only made it worse. She gave them the signal and they fanned out. Tall buildings where the permanent rescues lived were just a few feet ahead and it was completely black. Vylette stopped there advance. She cocked her head and perked her ears. Motioning Lewis, he came closer.

  “Something is off.”

  “What do you mean?” Lewis asked.

  “We’re outside.”

  “So...”

  “When have you ever been outside in the middle of summer and heard nothing? No crickets, no birds...and given the situation we are in, why are there no screams, no evidence that anyone has been here. Other than the fires, that's it. This smells like a trap...it feels like a trap.”

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “Info, Go! Lewis.”

  “I’m here to guard you, I will do whatever you want.”

  “Jazmin, go!”

  “I think if we are going to go to the apartments we need to go way around and come up on it. I agree, this feels like a trap. That building having no lights on is like a beacon. It seems like that is where they are hoping we will go.”

  “Agreed. Mike, Go!”

  “I think it’s a trap too, but there are also people in there that may need our help.”

  “I think the same, I am trying to work out how to keep from falling into their trap and saving them too. Jared?”

  “I am in agreement with all of it.”

  Vylette surveyed their surroundings and came up with a plan.

  “Okay, here is what I propose. We make our way the long way around and get to that security fence. When we get there we can climb that pole, the one in the middle there, see it has no electric lines until you get to the very top. We can move from that pole to the line of trees that extends to the roof of the building. We don't have a helicopter so they are going to assume we are coming from the ground. What do you think?”

  “Game time.” they all said.

  Game time was the code word for when they were all in agreement and ready to execute their plans. With that in mind, she moved them all as one unit, like thieves across the landscape, fulfilling the arrangement. Once on top of the building, they scaled down to an open window and slipped inside. The room they had landed in was a maintenance room full of supplies, two guards stood just outside the door in the hallway.

  Vylette signaled to Lewis.

  “I will shoot the one on the right, you get the one on the left.”

  He nodded he understood.

  She gave the group the signal and proceeded onward. Pulling the trigger at the same time as Lewis, they shot the men, dropping them to the ground. Inch by inch, door by door, they went through the building checking any place anyone could hide, friend, foe or otherwise. They came across none of the rescues, only the invading men.

  What the hell is going on?

  “I fear we have miscalculated. None of them are here.”

  “They could be on the lower floors, you know to lure us in,” Jazmin said.

  “Could be. We have only gone down three floors, there are still seven more before the ground level. Let's go.”

  They continued on, making slow, but thorough progress. They had taken out more than a handful of men and saved none. The few rescues they had seen were shot dead and left in the corners of their rooms. An hour later, they made it to level four of the building and could hear the sounds of women and men, yelling and screaming below.

  Taking the stairs as quietly as possible, they bypassed the rest of the floors and headed down to the ground level. Standing in the stairwell of the bottom floor, Vylette glanced through the broken window, trying to assess the situation. More smoke, and gun shots had her spurred into gear.

  This is it!

  Vylette and her group. Rushed through the door, shooting the opposition when they popped up as they made their way through, taking the rescues as they found them. Once they came across someone who was part of the family, they were set in the middle of the unit for protection, and they moved with them. Standing in the hall just before you entered the main foyer of the building, something changed.

  Lights suddenly flooded the place, temporarily blinding everyone. Hand shielding her face, she watched as a man in tactical gear moved forward and stopped. The rescues ran past them and to the waiting men in the foyer. She whispered to Lewis.

  “Do you know who this is? Is it friend or foe?”

  “I don't know, I can't tell.”
<
br />   The advancing group of men lowered their weapons and the man in the middle came closer still. He was joined by three more, two women and another man, all in masks as well. If not for the body shapes, she wouldn’t have known the sex.

  Here she stood, her team facing this opposing team, and she motioned to her team to be on the ready, but hold their positions. She said nothing, only stared. Finally after what seemed like forever, the main guy stepped forward and removed his mask.

  “Congratulations!”

  Well damn!

  “This was a fake mission?” Vylette yelled.

  The other three removed their masks as well. Travine, Vallmore, Hardass and Dorrian stood wearing huge smiles.

  “Yes, and you have all passed with flying colors. Go ahead ask me how many of our family here you saved.”

  “How many?”

  “All that were left alive. None of the people you thought were dead are, they are all in on it and don't worry all the ammo was changed out with blanks plus the opposition was wearing bullet proof gear. So no one got hurt.”

  She shook her head, smiled and lowered her weapon.

  “I thought our mission was the one we did today.”

  “No, we needed to see how you’d reacted when you thought it was real and I have to say, You guys worked just as well under pressure as you did in mock trials,” Hardass said.

  Vallmore stepped forward, a huge smile on her face. “I could not be more proud of you. You have all passed this mission, please feel free to join your friends in the dining hall for a celebration.”

  Vylette was still a bit confused.

  “What of the rest of our classes, how did they fair? We haven't run into anyone else from our class let alone any other recruits.”

  “Well you see, we watch all of you in every class you have and eventually recruits will form their own groups they work well with without realizing it. We take notes and names. This week has been mission week. We separated all of you into these groups and sent you all to different locations for your 'mission' when the real test was here. Example, while you guys were gone earlier today on what you thought was your mission, we had group three and four here, going through this simulation. See?”

  “Well, aren't you guys the clever ones.”

  It finally sank in with all of them and cheers erupted. They had passed their mission finals. Which meant, advancement to the next level of training and a step closer to real field work. Vylette turned to Lewis.

  “You knew this whole time didn't you?”

  His smile was answer enough.

  “You told Mr. Buchanan when you first joined that I was to be on your team and within reach for your protection. So, yes, I knew, but I follow your lead...now, before you go all crazy on me, none of you ever asked if this was real or fake...”

  “So, you have us, on that one.”

  She turned to her friends. “Well, we are all advancing to the next level and I can't say I would want to be on mission with anyone else. We are an awesome team.”

  “Hell yeah!” was their reply before slapping hands and walking off with the rest of the crowd.

  She holstered her gun as she noticed Dorrian walk her direction, wearing a smirk.

  “I told you, you would make a great leader.”

  “Nonsense. I am not the leader. We all made the decision on what we did.”

  “Exactly. Now, come on, it's time to celebrate with everyone and then we can do some celebrating on our own.”

  Pulling him close, she kissed him with the fevered passion he always ignited.

  “Let's go.”

  Chapter 25

  Vylette stood in formation with the rest of the trainees. They all faced the front waiting for today's assignments. She had only been out there for fifteen minutes and sweat was already starting to wet her skin and soak her clothes. The sun was high and hot, leaving very little shade frying the leaves off trees preventing them from offering much wind to cool things off.

  This, her second summer here, she was finally getting used to it. Her only complaint, all the sweat made gripping things almost impossible. Still, standing next to all these people she had gotten to know, she never felt more confident about the decisions she made to join this cause. In the year and a half she had been there, she now knew almost all the recruits, new and old, with the exception of the women and children Dorrian brought in.

  They had barely had much time together, with her final mock missions and his real ones, but when they could, it was always the same— fun, adventurous and hot. Thinking back on it, she hadn't noticed that Vallmore had started talking.

  “I want to congratulate all of you on a job well done. You have worked so hard, and worked fiercely. We have all seen all of you grow and become the warriors you are now. However, unfortunately, not all you will advance. For those of you who don't, do not count this as a setback for you, because it is not. Granted, you are not advancing, but that does not mean that you have done badly. For a few of you, it just means we would like to work with you on a few things before we advance you into the field. As I call your name, please walk up and allow Mr. Harlow to affix your mission pin to your chest then move past me and over to Travine, so she can update you security clearance. Let us begin...”

  Vylette stood, stock still listening to the names being called and smiled at the people she knew when they turned to the crowd after being pinned. One by one, the group dwindled as they were instructed to leave after getting pinned so that they could get new uniforms and tracking devices.

  Her nerves ignited an air hammer in her chest, accelerating her pulse. Between the heat and her near hyperventilation, it was all she could do to keep from passing out. She had to mentally focus on her inner strength and pushed past it. A cool breeze from somewhere helped her to calm her nerves and gain control of herself and she glanced around. To her surprise and horror, she stood with three other people, everyone else had been pinned and were gone. To her left, was Mike, then herself, next to her was Jared, and next to him, was Jazmin.

  This is crazy? My team didn't advance? How the hell is this possible?

  She looked up at Vallmore as she, Hardass and Travine, moved off the platform and stood before them. When she caught the look on Travine and Vallmore's face as they looked at her, she bit back her anger and replaced it with confusion.

  Clearly something is going on here. Travine looks like the cat who ate the canary.

  Vallmore, stood in front and center, smiling proudly.

  “I know that you may be wondering how the four best recruits didn't advance with the rest of the class, yet here you are, they have moved on and you are still in the training grounds while they are off celebrating. So, in short, this Academy knows who is the best of the best, and in this batch, it is you four. So, you are advancing to something else. The four of you, are moving into the Special Ops program with a real mission...”

  Her knees almost buckled. Real Mission...Finally!

  Vallmore continued.

  “Travine and Harlow will accompany you to the command center for more details. Before you do that, each of you needs to grab some food and shower, quickly. You're new uniforms, which really is just black clothing, will be waiting for you. Once fed, showered and dressed you will take the back elevators and come to the command center where you will be given further instructions. The catch, none of the other recruits are to know what you are doing or your status. From this point forward, your status and rank is Classified. When you are questioned about what it is you are doing, you're answer is: 'The same thing we were doing in training, just more mock missions', but you are not allowed to go into details about missions, real or fake. Congratulations and we will see you in the Command Center.”

  Without another word, Travine, Hardass and Vallmore, walked off leaving them to stand and soak it all in, alone unable to ask any questions. It took all of about two minutes to sink in and when it did fully penetrate her brain, she dropped to her knees, happy as hell.

  I ha
ve done it! This is it, my first real mission.

  It all came crashing in as the shock and haze wore off, it began with the finality of the course, the realization that she had made it and ended with an abundance of excitement.

  She tuned in to her group. “Our first real mission!”

  Like a handful of school girls cut loose with a credit card in a mall, they all cheered, jumped and celebrated their victory and advancement.

  A collection of 'whoops', 'Hell yeahs' and 'whoo hoos' seemed to echo through the trees as they hooped and hollered making their way back to the main building.

  Chapter 26

  Vylette, still shaking a bit from left over excitement, listened very intently as Hardass Haiden Harlow explained the situation. The man held a small piece of plastic and metal between his thumb and fore finger, it looked like a small rectangle smashed into a collection of wires and this was the outcome.

  “This is your tracking device. It will be slid right under the skin, deep enough it can't be felt, but not too far that it can't be removed if there is a need for it. We do this because this job is dangerous and anything can happen at any time. If a worst case scenario happens and you are captured, we need to know your whereabouts. Another neat little trick with this, is that there is very little that can jam it, so you can't be hidden from us. It is very high tech and way above what anyone else has thus far. So if you will have a seat in that chair in the back of the room, Lewis will insert the device for you and I will get them up and running.”

  She made her way to the back of the room to the make shift cubicle, Lewis' smiling face appearing above the curtain. She smiled back, but couldn't keep her comment from bursting forth. “Lewis, did you purposely have them bring in smaller curtains just so you could look taller? Or are you standing on something to seem that tall?”

  His laugh, very deep from his chest, rumbled through the room like thunder. “You know me, Vylette, Gotta be the biggest guy in the guy in the room.”

  Truly, all joking aside, he was always the biggest guy in the room.