by Cole, Jason
Then she thought about the morning that he woke her up licking her face. Even if he was liability, it didn’t matter. She would give up the world for him.
I’m coming for you, big boy.
Kira walked back out into the hallway, making her escape from the hospital. Sight unseen, everything was as easy as she anticipated. It was a calm night in the hospital, the muffled voices of staff producing a relaxing white noise. As she entered the stairwell and looked down to the ground level, she saw the top of a hooded figure exiting. Their feet floating along the floor made an identical sound to the shuffling she heard in the patient’s room.
Is someone following me?
Chapter 4
She had the vial in between her thumb and pointer finger. Very carefully, she walked towards the two men. They were dressed in expensive suits, and they arrived in a rented box truck.
“Let me see Tank or I destroy this vial, and you never get your gene.”
The man in front of her signaled back to his partner standing by truck. He opened it up, grabbed a piece of steel chain, and yanked on it. Out jumped Tank. The chain was tied around his neck. Seeing her baby shackled like that almost pushed her over the edge. Kira was ready to snap both of their necks.
The man standing by Tank held a gun to Tank’s head and shouted, “Don’t do anything stupid or his brain will be all over the ground.”
Tank sat down next to the man. His eyes locked on Kira, and he started to bark, as if he was calling out to her, “Save me, Mom.” Her heart began to bleed as she heard his bark, his cry of desperation. She teared up.
“You’re almost safe, boy.” Kira was dying inside. Just fifty feet from Tank, but it felt like miles.
The man in front of her walked closer, now just three feet away. “The vial.”
Carefully, she extended her arm and handed it to him. He wrapped his hand around the vial and smiled. Something about the smile made her almost throw up in her mouth.
“Now give me my dog.”
The man was walking back to the van and said, “Hang on just a second, missy. I need to make sure you didn’t give us some bullshit. Although that would be surprising considering what’s on the line.” The man with the gun laughed.
Kira muttered to herself, “Yeah, you’ll see what’s on the line all right.”
She heard him shout from the van, “I’m going to run a test to confirm we have the goods. If it looks good, we will consider giving you the dog back.”
Kira said nothing. She stood there patiently, but her heart was racing. The adrenaline was unreal. She felt as if she could reach the two of them before the gun even went off.
A moment later the man returned from inside the van.
“Well, well, well, she delivered.”
Kira was unresponsive. She wasn’t concerned with anything either of them had to say.
“Tell your partner to take that gun away from Tank’s head. I just want my dog back, and he better be unharmed.”
The man in front of her laughed. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and put his hands on his hips. “Are you in a position to be making the demands now? Is that how you think this works? I know you’re not well versed in negotiations, but you can’t be that dense, can you?”
Kira had a calmness to her, it seemed to be irritating him. Her overall demeanor was getting under his skin quickly and without pushing the envelope, she enjoyed every second of it. Whether they realized it or not, she was in complete control this entire time. Every word, every step, and every move was already accounted for and planned. These guys were so far in over their head that they didn’t even see it coming. She looked at them and saw two men paddling out at sea with a great white shark lurking just below the surface. Any minute now they would see the first fin, a sign of something dangerous headed their way.
The man began to sway back and forth as if he had had a drink or two. She saw the man back by the van crane his head forward to see what was happening.
“Look, I don’t want anything to go wrong any more than you do. I want Tank back, and I would like an answer or two. How did you even find out about me?”
The unstable man was fighting to gain his bearings, and he seemed to be losing.
He looked up at her, a look of confusion and fear in his eyes, unable to wrap his mind around what was happening. He said, “Nothing special. We overheard someone talking in a hospital about how they had ways to get genes from remote parts of the world. Long story short, they were willing to spill some beans when we pushed the right buttons with the right amount of force.”
Kira had so many questions in her head flying around, she didn’t know where to start. These were the first guys she had ever come in contact with that could lead her somewhere.
“Who were they? What were their names? Where did you find them?”
The man had just about reached his breaking point. He turned back to the other guy, and Kira was starting to get worried that he would give the command to kill Tank.
As she looked around him to the guy by the van with Tank, she noticed he too was starting to dance around a little bit. Inside she was having a good laugh, but on the outside she made sure to remain unwavering. She did not want to tip them off to what was really going on here.
Tank laid down. He seemed tired of all these games, too. She wanted nothing more than to run over and grab his chubby face and give him a big kiss on his nose. He deserved better than this, better than these men touching him with their grimy fingers. Kira imagined herself taking a pair of snips and removing each finger, one by one, for having touched her precious Tank. No one was allowed to touch Tank but her.
She looked at Tank and smiled, his mouth opened up, and his tongue shot out.
Just a few more minutes, Boy, and we will be walking home like nothing ever happened. I told you I would never let anything happen to you. Just wait and see.
The two men were looking at each other, more concerned than ever, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They now had their hands on each other's shoulders in an effort to help stabilize and balance themselves. It was as if their legs had turned to Jell-O, went on strike, and refused to support their dumb asses any longer.
Kira burst out into laughter. She couldn’t hold it anymore; she couldn’t refrain from laughing at these two rookies. It was already too late for them. They had reached the point of no return. She could show her hand, and they had no choice but to fold anyway.
Chapter 5
It’s a shame I can’t hang around and interrogate them too much.
Kira knew with enough time and effort, she would be able to glean some useful information, but it wasn’t worth the risk. As much as it killed her inside to do what she was about to do, she knew it was necessary for Tank and her future. There would be a time where she would be able to discover her past and who she was, but it turned out that this wasn’t that time.
“What the hell did you do to us?” Anxiety mixed with some rage filled his voice. The man in the suit was losing control, and it drove him insane. “What are you looking at you idiot? All you had to do was look for the gene and take care of the dog. You’re good for nothing!”
The man standing by Tank started to yell back, “You are the one who went into that drunken stupor first. Whatever kind of crazy shit you got, you passed to me. It’s your fault, not mine.”
Kira was laughing out of control, doubled over, trying to catch her breath. The muscles in her cheeks cramped up from smiling so much.
When the man in the suit noticed this, it infuriated him. He tried to sprint towards her, but she just kept on laughing. He made it about five feet and stumbled, falling onto the ground face first. This made her laugh so hard, she started to cough. It was a perfectly executed comedy show she had put on just for Tank and herself. Front row seats to the Intoxicated Newbie Heist Show.
The man staggered to his feet and made another run for her. He only stumbled another three feet before he had to lower himself to his hands and knees.
“Herpes simplex virus.”
He looked up at her while he held himself up on all fours. He asked, “What did you say to me?”
Kira smiled from ear to ear. “Herpes simplex virus. I applied a transdermal application of the virus with a gene that induces retrograde amnesia. I also took the liberty of adding some fun chemicals that put you in the state of inebriation you’re in now. I still haven’t told you about the cherry on top gene.”
The look of fear and anger turned to one of hopelessness and desperation. She felt the energy drain from him as if someone pulled the plug. As physically inept as he was, she knew he was mentally able to understand her.
Both men were breathing hard, fighting to stay conscious. Tank was almost free.
“The cherry on top gene was something I found in the far northern corner of Finland. Their rates of Alzheimer’s intrigued me, so I went on a solo mission to investigate. Turned out there was this variant of unknown significance that piqued my interest. After some homework and finagling, I was able to deduce that it increases the likelihood of Alzheimer’s tenfold.”
She could see their eyes begin to rain. The reality of the situation revealing itself. Their control and power was abolished, and their forgettable future was unfolding. The two men remained speechless. Kira wasn’t surprised.
“In the near future, you will struggle to form new memories, and as the Alzheimer’s progresses, you will begin to lose the existing ones. Memory after memory will be wiped clean from your consciousness. I will become a distant memory, and then a nonexistent one. So while I would love to tell you never forget the day that you encountered the gene thief, I may as well save my breath. You will remember me until you forget me.”
As her exterior portrayed this manic and powerful girl, Kira was hurting inside now. Her hand had been forced, and it pained her to wipe the memory of the first two men who had potential answers. Links to the puppet masters had been caught and because of Tank, she couldn’t do anything with them. Things could’ve worked out far better, but the risk was too great. Tank, that cancer gene, it wasn’t worth playing with fire just to find out her past. The time would come.
She made her way over to Tank. He sat there patiently and calmly. He licked her and cried out to her as if she had gone away to war and finally returned.
She started to rub his big head, “Did you miss me?”
As she reached down to give him a kiss on his head, he jumped forward, tackling her to the ground. He began to overwhelm her with kisses. Slobbering all over her, his big mouth devouring her face.
She was hysterically laughing, “Get off of me, you big doofus!”
Kira rolled him off to the side and started to rub his belly. She grabbed her shirt from the inside and wiped her face with it. Reunited at last.
She hooked the leash up to his collar and walked over to the two men now lying motionless on the ground. Looking down on them, she almost felt sorry for them. Had she been weaker and allowed for more emotion in her life, she probably would have felt guilty and sympathetic. Lucky for her, the only emotions she had patience for were the soft spots in her heart for Tank.
She gave Tank a big hug and said, “Let’s get out of here. Time to go get you some of those big steaks I promised.”
As they walked away, Kira looked back at the two men. She realized that they may have ended up better than she did. They would forget everything that happened, never knowing she existed, or what cruel intentions they had. Eventually, they wouldn’t even remember the cancer gene they were going after to make their money or what money even was.
On the other hand, she would always be haunted by the fact that she encountered two people that had answers. They had faces and locations that she could’ve gotten from them. If only she had a gene that made people speak the truth. That would have changed everything.
She looked down at Tank, “You better be nice to me after this one, you butthead,” and she playfully smacked him on his side.
Chapter 6
As they walked away, she heard a faint voice. It was the men talking to each other. They had made it to their feet, but they still looked dazed and confused.
She stopped in her tracks and turned back to see if she could make out what they were saying. She sat down next to a tree and pointed her ear towards them.
"What are we doing here?"
She heard a voice answer, the one who had the gun to Tanks. "I have no idea. What did you bring me here for?"
"What did I bring you here for? Is this another one of your stupid guessing games? Bringing me on some moronic adventure? Whose van is that anyway?"
Kira had to cover her mouth with her hand so she didn't alarm them with her laughter. The comedy show was offering some final highlights apparently. She couldn't have scripted it any better. The perfect ending to a gross situation.
Tank sat down next to her and licked her cheek. She started to pet him and looked back at the men. She was reminded of the fact that she wasn't able to get anything out of them but stupid answers, and the fact that they were blinded by their greed. The closest she had ever been to finding something out, and yet here she sat, no better for it.
"Hey, why are we here?"
The whole conversation started all over. She must have made the virus a little too potent. The retrograde amnesia seemed to be in full strength, kicking their ass. It only seemed to be taking sixty to ninety seconds for their minds to wipe, and they started back at square one.
Eventually their bodies would fight it off to a point where they could function again. Far from the level that they were functioning at before, but it served them right. Had they not been after something so vicious and malicious, she wouldn't have felt as inclined to destroy their way of life. With people like that and her experience, there was no playing games, no messing around, or trying to play nice. You either struck first, or you had your ass handed to you. In this case, at the cost of ruining her chance of getting information, she knew they needed to be stopped.
They stood up from the tree, and started to walk back to the apartment. Kira noticed a partial outline of a human figure at a tree off in the distance. She wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but from her vantage point, it seemed like the same hooded figure that had exited the stairwell of the hospital. As she blinked, the figure was gone. Kira began to walk again with Tank and every few feet she would turn her vision toward the tree as fast as she could, hoping to catch whoever it was in the open. If anyone was really there that is. Kira began to wonder if her exhaustion was getting the best of her, making way for her imagination to play games.
At this rate she had to practically drag Tank’s lazy butt the entire way and she knew she wasn’t up for the task of chasing anyone down. So they marched on back to the apartment with Tank taking on the role of the stubborn mule. All Kira could think about was sprawling out on her worn in, spring-in-her-back couch. So she pulled him along every step of the way.
As soon as they got into the apartment, Kira looked over and saw the notebook on the roundtable in the room that was filled with her notes from all of the spontaneous memories she had endured. The mother and daughter by the ice cream truck, the little girl hiding in the hallway hearing her parents speak, was all in there. Afraid of ever forgetting one of the flashbacks, she knew she had to keep a record. Maybe there was something between the lines, dots that she hadn’t thought to connect. When she thought about how these two men were able to locate someone who had answers about her, she was inspired. It was possible. Whether or not she knew the details, her past existed, and possibly a childhood. The one thing that continued to eat away at her was who that little girl was in the bed. Was it a sibling? A friend? There was no way to know, but one day she would figure it out. If that girl was still around, she would save her.
Kira sat down at the table and started to flip through the pages. She licked her finger as she turned them one by one and read the descriptions and emotions she felt during the memories.
In a matter of minutes, it was proving to be too much. She was getting choked up just by reading her own notes of these memories she didn't even remember, as if she was reading somebody else’s story. It was a brutal reminder about why she never bothered to do this. Why these dots had remain unconnected and probably would stay that way for years to come. All it proved to be was a painful slap in the face. Kira had to accept the undeniable truth that she had no idea who she was, where she came from, and worst of all, she didn't know who she was helping or hurting. These types of questions kept her up at night and chewed at her insides. On any given day, they induced one hell of a depressive state. How was anyone supposed to enjoy life when they don’t have one to remember?
She looked over at Tank who was fast asleep at the bottom of the couch.
“You didn't even get to eat your steaks yet, boy."
His snoring made her laugh, breaking her out of the fog that she had entered from reading the notebook. Just looking at him made her feel better. He probably had a past and wished he could forget it. Just like so many other people she saw in the park, living those forgettable lives, going through the motions like robots. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered how different she was from everyone else. At least she was forced to be in the moment, to be present in her day-to-day life because she had nothing else to take her away. No past and no future to time travel with.
She closed the notebook, walked over to her couch, and laid down. Her hand dangled and rested on Tank. The feeling of his breathing helped ease her into a deep sleep. Even though he would practically go with anyone for the right piece of meat, he still made her feel safer than ever.
As her eyelids began to close, she said, "Welcome back, boy. Welcome back."
