by Ben Brown
Michael once again looked at the leak. The liquid was working its way towards the live power cables. He looked towards Doc and the others. I hope they’re far enough away if this thing goes up.
Michael lowered himself down into the cab. It was hard to maneuver; he had to stand on the driver, while he found somewhere to position himself.
“I’m going to pull on the seat; when you feel your arm freeing up, pull it out.”
The driver just nodded, he looked very ill. He looked in his late fifties and was very overweight.
Michael pulled up on the seat — it gave way a lot easier than he expected. The driver screamed with pain as the pressure released.
Michael caught sight of the man’s injured arm — it was a mess. It had a compound fracture between the wrist and elbow, a bone protruded through the man’s flesh.
The man looked at his arm and began to faint.
“Come on, stay awake, we need to get out of here!” Michael shouted as he slapped the man’s face.
Michael heaved the man up and pushed him through the open door.
The combination of fresh air and the prospects of escape seemed to revive the injured driver even further. He turned and offered his good arm to Michael in an attempt to help him from the truck.
Michael shook his head and said, “Move back; I’m coming up.”
Michael jumped straight up and through the door, landing just to the driver’s side. He then lowered the man down to the road before he jumped down himself.
The two ran to Doc’s position, and not a moment too soon.
The tanker blew only seconds later, spraying debris everywhere.
Michael looked down at the unconscious woman and asked, “Will she make it, Doc? These kids will need her more now than ever.”
Doc looked at the sleeping kids; he couldn’t believe that the explosion hadn’t wakened them.
He looked at the burning wrecks. “I think she’ll make it. She’s lost a lot of blood, but she is young and strong, and she has the motivation of looking after these two beautiful kids. I used her mobile phone to call the emergency services, they should be here soon.”
Michael helped the truck driver to the ground next to the injured woman.
Doc tended to his arm as best he could. Michael knelt next to the truck driver as the old man worked on his arm.
Michael looked at the wounded man and said, “We can’t be here when the police arrive. I can’t explain why, but it’s important that Doc and I leave. Will you be okay?”
The man nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’ll keep an eye on these three as well. And thank you … thank you for saving our lives, you did a very brave thing. When the police ask who helped us, I’ll play dumb; you know amnesia from the accident. It’s the least I can do.”
Michael patted the man on the shoulder as he stood. He then helped Doc to his feet and the two headed for the car.
A few seconds later they were speeding away from the wreck.
After about ten minutes of driving in silence, Michael pulled the car over and turned off the engine. He stared intensely through the windshield; his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. They sat there for some time in silence.
“I can’t take you to Dominic. I think he’s going to kill you, and I can’t be a party to that. He lied to me about you; you’re not the man he made you out to be. You’re a good man, and I can’t allow him to hurt you.”
Doc looked at Michael; he felt grateful, but he needed to see his son. “I fully believe that Dominic does want me dead, and I know that I may not survive if I meet him again. I still need to see him; I thought I had made that clear to you.”
“I know you are willing to die if need be, but I can’t help Dominic achieve that. I’ve helped that man kill too many people. God will judge me for that, but no more. I will no longer obey him blindly.”
Michael paused for a few seconds, contemplating his next words. “Dominic was the one responsible for the deaths of my children, wasn’t he?”
Doc turned his head forward to look at the road. It pained him to think of his son as a murderer, but he had come to terms with it over the years.
“Yes, I believe he had them killed so that you would be easier to manipulate. That’s how he works.”
“I’m done with killing, Doc. If you need to see your son, then we will proceed according to his plan. However, I won’t allow any harm to come to you. You don’t deserve to die, and certainly not at your own son’s hands.”
Doc looked back at Michael with newfound strength and said, “Then we’re agreed. You must carry out his plan to the letter, or he may begin to suspect you. So when we come into contact with his other subjects, you must treat me with the same contempt as they do. I know you will find that hard now, but you must.”
Michael nodded as he started the engine.
18
Zac was startled by the computerized female voice reverberating through his helmet.
His descent until that point had been serene, almost relaxing. The combination of extreme darkness and the whooshing of the air around him left him feeling drowsy. He fully expected to feel nothing but terror, but that feeling passed quickly.
“Fifteen seconds until main parachute deployment,” the voice announced crisply.
Sure enough, 15 seconds later the main parachute opened, jerking him to an upright position. His feet pointed towards Earth as the night vision and communications in the helmet automatically activated. Zac was now able to talk with the rest of his team.
“Zac, how are you enjoying the ride?”
“Actually it’s been quite relaxing, James. Thanks for your concern; I’m touched.”
Zac could hear Jacobson and the others laughing.
“That’s good to hear, you seemed a little freaked out in the bomb bay. Anyhow, it’s time to think about the job at hand. We’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes, so everybody, get focused!
“As soon as we’re down, we’ll conceal the suits, then wait until light to move out. Zac, you’ll take the point.” In a split second, all Jacobson’s humor had gone.
“Okay, when we head out I want you all to keep your distance,” Zac responded. “I want at least ten feet between me and the next team member. If things go tits up, I will need all the room I can get … and one more thing. If I tell you to fall back, you do it! Is that clear?”
All the men answered at the same time, confirming Zac’s instructions.
“Thirty seconds to drop zone,” said the on-board computer.
Thirty seconds later they all landed lightly on the ground.
The team then set about the task of hiding their high tech suits and preparing their kit. Once completed it was simply a matter of waiting for daybreak. The five men sat in silence; Jacobson chewed on a piece of grass. He seemed to take everything in stride.
Finally, the sun broke above the canopy of the trees. As it crept higher into the sky, Zac looked down the mountain towards their intended goal. The view was both breathtaking and intimidating. He began to realize that reaching Dominic’s camp was going to be harder than he had expected.
With a simple look towards his companions, they began the trek down to the village, where Zac hoped he would find Lea.
A knot formed in his stomach. If I have this wrong, then we’ve missed our chance.
As he led the way down the mountain, he activated the Sat-Nav device strapped to his wrist. The device was no bigger than a watch, and was pre-programmed to direct them first to the village, then to their extraction point. The hike was estimated to take around three hours.
Zac soon came to the conclusion that it would be all but impossible to keep within that time frame. The jungle was much denser than he’d been led to believe. He drew a machete from his pack and began to hack his way through the thick foliage.
After an hour of intense labor, they had only covered half a mile. All but Zac felt extremely fatigued. Zac stopped and looked at his small team; he knew he nee
ded to stop. They clearly needed to rest.
“I think we should take a break,” he said. “Just five minutes.”
The others instantly dropped their packs and grabbed for their water canteens.
Wiping sweat from his forehead, Martinez approached Zac.
“Unless we can pick up our pace, we’re going to lose a lot of our time advantage,” he said.
“I know, but I don’t think we can go any faster. Maybe, with luck, we’ll stumble across a path that leads to the village. Surely there must be some.”
Jacobson grabbed Zac’s wrist to look at the Sat-Nav. “Man, we’ll be lucky to make it by night fall at thi …”
Zac gestured for silence; instantly his team froze. He could hear movement — it was close and human.
Zac signaled the group to take cover as he moved, carefully, towards the noise. He could sense a subject around a hundred feet from his location.
His senses suddenly intensified. He could not only feel the presence of the subject, but also other creatures in the area.
As Zac approached the noise, he subdued his emotions, heart rate, and breathing. He knew that the subject causing the commotion would soon sense him. The longer he could suppress his body, the closer he could get to the subject without detection.
An odd sensation started to creep over him. Zac could feel the eyes of a monkey perched high in the forest canopy, boring into him. He looked up at the small primate; instantly, he could see himself from the tree-top vantage point. A feeling of nausea washed over him; it passed quickly. Somehow, he could see everything the monkey could see.
The monkey looked in the direction of the noise. Zac could see a group of four men standing over two young African women. The women knelt on the ground in the middle of the group.
Zac needed to hear their conversation, but the tiny primate was still too far away to hear clearly. Then, as if the monkey had sensed his needs, it swung down through the branches in the direction of the group. It settled on a branch just above the heads of the men. Zac could now hear all that they said.
Doc had told him he would be able to do things that no other subject could, but he’d never talked about this. Zac could feel, see, and hear everything the tiny animal did. It was amazing and exhilarating.
Suddenly, the largest of the men stopped talking and looked in Zac’s direction.
Damn, I let my guard down! Control Zac, control. Come on!
His heart rate slowed again, and his breathing steadied.
“What is it, did you hear something?” the smallest of the four men asked. His scrawny face moved back and forth as he scanned the dense undergrowth.
“No … no I thought I felt something, but it’s passed. It was nothing. Get these two bitches on their feet, we need to move.”
The man looked straight up at Zac’s tiny spy in the trees. He eyed the monkey, hungrily. A scraggly, dirty black beard almost covered his large unwashed face. The top of his bald head was covered in sweat; it gleamed in the sun. He smiled at the monkey, revealing a mouth full of gold teeth. Zac knew this man was the subject he could sense.
He beckoned to the monkey with his hands. “Hey, little guy, why don’t you come down here? We could do with some fresh meat.” The filthy looking man spoke in a thick South African accent which matched his companions. The other men seemed uninterested in the monkey; instead they pulled at the two women roughly.
“Get to your feet or I’ll kill both of you, you bitch!” screamed the weasel-faced man as he kicked one of the women in the face.
The two remaining men laughed as she hit the ground, spraying blood and teeth from her mouth.
Weasel-face looked at his laughing companions and grinned, and then he too began to laugh, pleased by their response.
The sound of his cackling turned Zac’s stomach.
The largest man, who apparently led the group, turned his attention away from the monkey and back to his men. He pushed his way through the rabble so he could tower over the two terrified prisoners.
“If the little bitch doesn’t want to move, then I’ll have some fun with her here. Then you boys can have a go,” he growled. He began to unbuckle the belt of his trousers.
“No please, we just need a rest. Please wait! We’ll get up, my sister is hurt … all she needs is a minute.” The woman flung herself over her unconscious sister as she begged for mercy.
Weasel-face pulled the screaming woman from her sister as the other two men eyed her menacingly.
Suddenly Zac was back in his own body and moving fast. There was no way he would allow those animals to hurt the sisters any more.
As he ran through the bush, he drew his sword with his left hand, Doc’s handmade gun in his right.
Zac burst from the cover of the trees, but the large bearded man had already turned in his direction, gun raised. He was ready for Zac’s attack. Clearly, he’d sensed Zac’s presence before hearing him.
The bearded monster let loose a wide spray of bullets.
Zac launched himself into the air, flying clean over the man’s head. The gunfire withered the trees, missing their target completely. Zac landed in the middle of the group of unenhanced men.
The three seemed dazed and unsure of what was going on.
Zac realized these three could wait; he needed to deal with the bearded monster that was turning in his direction.
With his gun now pointed at Zac’s chest, he let loose another volley of gunfire.
Zac twisted sideways, turning his back to the group. The bullets shot past him, ripping through the chest of one of the man’s companions.
Zac raised his gun. He was clearly much faster than the bearded subject, and the filthy maniac knew it. His eyes widened as Zac fired a single shot at his head.
The shot went wide as weasel-face hit Zac’s arm with the butt of his rifle. Zac once again twisted on the spot and brought the blade of his sword down and through the man’s scrawny neck. The smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a scream; his head toppled from his shoulders.
The remaining unenhanced man began to pull one of the women from the ground to use as a shield.
Zac had no time to deal with him. The bearded maniac, who had so narrowly missed death only a second earlier, was now trying to wrap his hands around Zac’s throat. He felt no pressure in his grip, and no pain.
Zac wondered if his abilities had grown over the past twenty-four hours. Doc said he would continue to gain strength and abilities over the months. Was this an example of that increase? This giant attempting to kill him posed no more of a threat than his companions did.
Zac hit the man in the middle of his chest with all his strength. The bearded goon shot backwards as his ribs broke from the force of the blow. He landed in a heap in the middle of the shredded foliage.
“Put your gun down or I’ll kill the black bitch!” shouted a voice in a thick South African accent. Zac turned slowly with his gun at his side. The last of the four men stood with his handgun pressed against the woman’s temple. The woman’s body obscured a clear shot, but the elbow of his gun arm was cocked high and to the side of her head.
The poor girl was sobbing, clearly terrified.
Zac watched him intently as he screamed abuse from behind the woman’s head. Zac didn’t respond. Instead he focused on the only part of the man’s head that was visible; his eye. He was struck by how blue it was — it didn’t look like the eye of a cold blooded killer.
The eye began to blink. Zac felt things slow to the now familiar speed which meant … the man didn’t stand a chance. Feeling his adversaries fear, he cocked his gun — he knew this would be his only chance to save the woman. As the eyelids met, he raised his weapon; and fired. The bullet ripped through the man’s forearm, knocking him sideways revealing more of his head. He fired a second shot, obliterating the eye that had once looked so blue. The lifeless body hit the dirt, with half its head gone.
The young woman began to fall to the ground; Zac darted forward and caught her just as
his team burst through the foliage behind him. Martinez led the way, closely followed by the others.
“Damn, Zac, can you leave a few for us?” Jacobson shouted.
He surveyed the scene, then turned to the two Platt boys. “Jason, you check the men, make sure Zac’s finished them off. Matt, you check the women’s injuries. Do what you can to help.”
Both men nodded and set off to carry out their orders. Jacobson then turned to Zac, who was staring at the tiny monkey in the trees. Zac wondered if the animal had felt anything, or knew what was happening. Had the whole experience been one way? Jacobson’s eyes followed his gaze upwards.
“What went on here, Zac? And what’s up with our little friend up there?” Jacobson asked. He too was now staring at the tiny primate, who now returned their gaze.
Zac got the feeling that the little creature did understand what had just happened. It really felt like they had shared a single consciousness, a single purpose.
“The big guy is a subject, the others are his henchmen; they’re all unenhanced. As for our little friend in the tree — well, this will be hard to believe, but somehow I could see and hear whatever he was experiencing. He was my eyes and ears. I don’t know how, but for a while it was like my mind was inside his.”
Jacobson and Martinez were both looking at Zac as he spoke. Zac’s eyes were still firmly fixed on the little monkey.
The two men looked up just as it got to its feet. It looked at them one last time, and then disappeared off into the trees. As if some spell had been broken, all three men turned to check on the injured women.
“Zac, the things I’ve seen you do — well, quite frankly, I would believe anything you tell me. Even if it is that you possessed a monkey,” said Martinez. Jacobson simply nodded in agreement as they headed towards the two women, who now lay on the ground.
Matt stood as the three reached him; almost immediately his cousin joined them.
“Sirs,” Matt said, “I’ve managed to find out the women’s names. The first and least injured is Mary Nwosu. The other is her younger sister Elisa Nwosu. Elisa, well she’s in pretty bad shape. I think she has a broken jaw, plus she’s lost a lot of teeth. It looks like someone kicked her in the face. Neither is saying much, they’re both terrified.”
