by Wolfe Locke
He was left with the last man. He realized this was going to be a difficult task and then he decided not to think so much about it. He knew the pillar the man was in. It was directly in front of him. The pillars were spaced evenly enough to hold the place up and give room for whatever used to be in here.
Niles fired at the pillar. He knew he was almost out of ammo, so he kept firing and running towards the pillar and when he got there, he didn’t give the man time to aim. He pushed the gun to the other side, the bullet hit the floor. Niles elbowed him in the face and then headbutted him while dragging the gun with him.
He heard the groan and rammed his knee into the man’s stomach. The soldier shoved him away, but Niles held on to the gun and gave a weak punch. The man squeezed the trigger and the shots rang out near them. Niles cursed, whoever this soldier was, he was stupid. Either one of them could die from a ricochet. It would be stupid to get taken out of the game like that. He head butted the soldier, his head rang with pain, but he ignored it.
They were both fighting with their non dominant hands. Niles groaned and attempted to pull the gun away, but the other soldier was strong. He stopped fighting and with his other hand, he held the soldier’s gun-hand and yanked. He tried a wrist lock but the man punched out with his left hand, Niles groaned.
He tasted blood. He wouldn’t be able to take the gun, he realized. So gambled on the last move he had left. He held the man’s throat with his left, but the man knocked it away and very quickly he left the gun and punched the man’s throat with the right. The gun fell down as the man held his throat. He couldn’t cough, nor breathe.
Niles watched him for a moment, then the soldier fell back still choking. Niles staggered to pick up the gun. The man’s struggle to swallow or drag a breath into his lungs was killing him, but Niles didn’t want to watch anymore. He picked the gun and put it to the soldier’s head and pulled the trigger. The struggling stopped and Niles sighed. He crouched beside the man and pulled the mask off. There was blood on his face and his eyes were stern. Niles wondered who he was, what he had done.
He stood up and walked towards the door. It opened and on the other side was Grisham and two other men. The men’s suits said they were rich, more than rich. They were smiling as Niles walked up to them. He nodded at them, not knowing what to do. He had just killed a couple of green soldiers who probably thought killing would give them a promotion or some kind of reward. Now he was standing in front of two wealthy assholes with no clue how waging war changed a man. Great! They shook his hand while Grisham stood beside like an uncomfortable child.
“Niles, this is John Greyson,” Grisham said, pointing at the huge man in the two, “He is the chairman of the board.”
“I’m Michael,” the other one said before Grisham could introduce him. “What you showed in there was interesting. What we have seen you do on our platform is even better, except yesterday when you killed about—” he activated his implant’s display and read from it. “—thirty-six users in the space of ten minutes,” he said looking up. Niles looked from Grisham to John, and then to Michael. He was pissed but he sighed, pushing the emotions away. He was standing in front of men who could order Grisham to shoot him on sight and Grisham would pull out his lightweight, 22mm pistol and put a steaming hole in his head. Simple as that.
“I’m very sure they are all safe and alive in their homes right now. Of course, except they go out without a breather today,” Niles said. Michael smiled but his eyes were darker. Niles knew it the moment he saw both men. John was dangerous, but Michael was the one to watch out for. The threat was always present in the eyes.
“Of course, they are, Chief, we’ve checked. It’s why you had the opportunity to prove yourself to us again. We won’t accept that kind of error again, though,” Michael said.
“You call that an error?” Niles asked. His voice was still level. He was hoping Grisham would intervene but it seemed like the other two men were enjoying themselves. “I pull up a gun and while shooting at one of your OD problems, I kill a user. That is a problem, sir. But an explosion caused by someone I’m trying to eliminate for you, that is not. Try to know the difference.”
Michael was silent for a while, then he grinned. “I like him,” he said, turning to Grisham. Niles frowned. Michael shook his hand again and walked away to join the other board members.
“We need to talk to Kubrick,” Niles said to Grisham. John was still there but Niles didn’t care, he needed to do something. He was pissed and he wanted to put the anger to use.
“I think he is about to find the—” he looked at John, Grisham prodded for him to keep going. for him to go on.
“He’s about to find the mole.”
“A mole? Here?”
“Yeah,” Niles said.
“Or not,” Grisham said. “This is not the only facility that has access to the complete SynaCAID structure.” John nodded his head. Niles couldn’t understand at first, then he got it. The base was just one of the arms of the system. He was looking at the main hub for the SynaCAID operation.
“Where is it?” Niles asked
“Mansville,” John said. “It is a cold location. People only know about some of the branch locations. It takes eyes away from the main thing. If what you guys are saying is true, we are probably fucked.”
“No, my guy is going to trace it there if the person is there,” Niles said.
“I hope so. Let me know what you need, Colonel.” Grisham said.
John turned to Niles and shook his hand again. I appreciate what you are doing, and that, just now, that was good to see..” Grisham chuckled as the man walked away
“We have work to do,” Niles said. Grisham nodded and gestured for Niles to follow him.
Chapter 28: Countermeasures
* * *
Marcus called while Niles was doing his run. He stopped and took the call. The window pulled up with Marcus looking like he not slept for days. Niles frowned, when he saw how worried he looked.
“ They knew,” Marcus said. Niles was confused. He didn’t understand what Marcus was saying and his face showed that confusion. “They knew about the tracker bug. Whoever we tagged is either dead or his seed has been removed. And that’s not all. I just found out someone is trying to find out where you are. Makes me wonder why,” Niles mused.
“That could be a good thing still. Can they tell I am here?” Niles asked. Marcus shook his head. “You have been blocking them?” Marcus nodded. “Thanks, but since we can’t get them we have to let them come to us. To me.” Marcus frowned, his hair was tousled like he had been pulling at the strands for hours. His teenage face seemed overworked. He had been frowning for a while.
“What do you want to do?” Marcus asked, scratching his eyes. “The moment they know where you are, you are dead, Chief. You have to know that by now. We can wait, I will get the person soon. Whoever they are, I think they are too busy trailing you, their defense has been down a notch and I am digging through it.”
“That is why we need to give them something. Trust me, kid,” Niles said. He was sweaty. His body felt good and his legs felt worn out in a good way. He wiped his face with his arm and stretched for a bit. “I will let you know when to let them see me. Don’t worry about it.”
“Just don’t die,” Marcus said. Niles frowned. He had been talking to the kid for a while and he had this idea of him as someone who was trying so hard to not be emotional. That was why it surprised him when he said that. The synch snapped shut before Niles could assure him. But then, he didn’t need to. He would have to get off the system though.
He rushed out of the pod and then quickly showered and as he walked out of the facility, he called Grisham. Grisham didn’t grant the synch request. Niles guessed the man was busy. If the person tracking them was not here, that would explain why they hadn’t gotten to him. He took a cab.
The air was good, the toxicity level was low. Low enough to not need a breather, but he took one anyway. He made the cab stop at a hardw
are store close in his neighborhood. The owner knew him in a way Niles had never really understood. The owner was a small man who wore glasses and liked whistling. He smiled a lot too.
“Thought you died,” the man said. Niles frowned. The man chuckled. He was old, older than Grisham, but Niles liked the man. “The story is in the neighborhood. People believe you were killed or the poison got to you. I didn’t though, you didn’t look like the kind to be that stupid.” Niles smiled. He didn’t know what to say. He looked around, looking for a tool, an extractor.
“What do you want?” The man asked. Niles looked around some more until the man touched him slightly. Niles turned to him. “What do you want?”
“An extractor,” Niles said. The man seemed to think, then he gestured for Niles to follow him. The man told him of some kid dying from the poison some weeks ago. Niles feigned shock. The man smiled, shaking his head. They got into the back room. There were lots of packages of stuff Niles hadn’t seen in a long time. There was a fax machine, it was clean but there were marks on it. A phone, handheld, was kept somewhere on a wall—a microwave too. But among the heap of antique trash was other stuff too. Parts of machines, hover-blades. Parts of super bikes.
“Where do you get this stuff?” Niles asked. The man shrugged.
“From all around,” he said, his face spreading into a smile. He walked to a heap and pushed some things out of the way and he pulled out a cylindrical extractor. The tool looked old, and filthy. Niles made a face. The man smiled and waved at him. He told him to come with him and Niles followed. They walked to the front of the store again. He put the extractor in a machine that looked like an oven. He pushed a button and came to meet Niles.
“The world is going to shit, son,” he said. “I…I don’t think I have ever wanted to die as much as I do these days,” he said. Then he saw the alarm on Niles’ face and shook his head smiling. “Trust me, I am not planning on killing myself. I am just saying, there is not much enthusiasm to be here these days. On the days the air is breathable, there are fears of a spike happening suddenly,” The man said. Niles nodded understandably, he experienced days like that too.
“We are always stuck indoors otherwise. I am tired of my four walls, I am tired of looking at photos of years I have lived and left behind. Before this chaos, before the world broke down, it was not the best time but we had the choice and ability to make it better. Now? We don’t get a choice in much of anything.” The machine rang and he turned back at once.
He scuttled over to the machine and looked inside. He looked at it and then used a piece of rag hanging on the machine to bring it out. Niles frowned when the man showed it to him. The filth was gone and what was left was a shiny extractor. It looked new, spotless. Niles looked at it closely.
“What did you do?” Niles asked, examining the tool closely. The man shrugged. He pointed at the machine behind him.
“I cleaned it. It is what I use to make the junk I get look better. It was either that or I wouldn’t be getting any more customer. It cleans and treats whatever I put in there. It can’t wash some minerals and metals, but it works on most of them.” Niles explained. He took the extractor from the man. The man scanned his implant and got paid.
“You should stick around more,” he said, stopping Niles in his track. The man smiled. “I didn’t believe that you were dead, but there was the possibility that you could have been. It would have been sad.” Then he looked at Niles and grinned.
“Thanks,” Niles said.
“I see you the cane isn’t getting as much use. Getting better?” The man asked.
Niles nodded. He was. He was already feeling better than he had been months ago. In his book, that was good enough.
“That is good, I hope to see you soon,” The man said as he walked out. Niles nodded without looking back. He walked the rest of the way. He sent a message to Marcus.
“Done. Be careful,” Marcus sent back. Niles chuckled. His security was pulled down when the house identified it was him. The car was still parked in front, by the road, busted. He would tell Grisham about it after this. He got in and sat down in the sitting room.
The cylindrical tube of the extractor was shiny. Niles put the round opening on his wrist and then pushed it down on the skin and turned it on. He felt the pain immediately. He didn’t know what Grisham put in him, but the extractor attracted it. It tore it out, sucking it into the glass. There was a bit of blood in it too. Niles tossed it on the floor and ran to the rig room. He found the first aid kit. It was a small cut, small enough to get it out. He hoped that was what they were tracking.
He took care of the cut and wrapped up the hand. Then he sat down and waited. He leaned back on the chair. He wondered what they were going to do. Come in and get him? Or what? He stood up and walked to the kitchen. It was taking them longer than he thought it would take. He was whipping up something to eat for lunch, there was a song playing through the house. Then everything stopped and there was an alarm blaring. He ran out of the kitchen and ran out the back of the house and hid. He was still waiting for something to happen, maybe to see someone come out to find him. But he was surprised when the house exploded.
Niles was pushed back by the percussive blast. When he came around, his home was gone and in its stead was a heap of rubble of what it used to be. His ears were ringing and his eyes stung. There was fire, but like the first bomb, there was not much of it. He staggered out just in time to see the car speed away. Niles called Grisham as he ran to his car. It wouldn’t do much but he could stay on the trail. Grisham picked up this time and when he saw Niles’ face and hair, he asked what was going on.
“I am on their tail, we can finish this today, I need a unit though,” he said.
“Who?”
“Dominion, Grisham, they thought I was in the house so they blew my home up, I can see them. Tell your guys to meet me. My car can’t go on for long, so they should be fast.”
“Keep on them, we’ll find you,” Grisham said and the synch ended. He followed them at a reasonable distance. He cleaned his face; the puff of dust had spread to him. he could feel a bit of it coating his mouth. They were driving out of the city. Niles wondered if they could tell that he was following them. There were cars in front of them. Niles wished he was still in the system; he would use the bike. His car was dead, or close to its end. He was ignoring the notification on the dashboard.
A synch message came up and he took it
“We are behind you sir, just a few cars between us.” It was Zander’s voice. Niles sighed. He stopped and told them to come pick him up. He got in the car, put it in manual and drove.
There were three soldiers in the car, they weren’t wearing uniforms but they stood out like a sore thumb. Two sergeants and one private. They wouldn’t be enough.
“Just you guys?” Niles asked. Zander shook his head.
“The others are coming, they are locked in onus so they don’t get lost.” Niles explained.
That was better. If he was going to storm a den of enemies Blindly. He wanted to be ready. He raced past some cars, almost grazing some. He didn’t bother apologizing, he was too busy for that. The other soldiers held on as he followed the car until he was a few cars behind them.
They took a few bends and then curved into a neighborhood. Niles was careful not to be seen. He was grateful that the others had the same sense too. The car drove until they got to the end of the street and then they stopped and reversed into the building.
“Can you check that out?” Niles asked Zander. The sergeant nodded and got out of the car. Niles watched him go, moving slowly until he was out of sight. Niles got a synch request and when he took it, Zander whispered.
“Some kind of abandoned structure, much like the homes here, sir. Niles looked around and realized he hadn’t really looked at it. the place was quiet. “According to my scan, there are about sixteen of them. I can’t figure out what kind of guns they have—”
“Not toys, Sergeant,” Niles said. He had see
n what they could do, it was not going to be easy. But they were going to surprise them, in their own turf. They wouldn’t be expecting that. Niles didn’t like it but it was all they had. He would rather end this right now than not.
“Wait,” Niles said and took the other call. It was Marcus. His voice was better and it seemed like he was high on something. But that was not possible.
“Marcus, calm down, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Chief? I figured the shit out of it! I know who it is.”
“Calm down, we are about to move in, I will need this info in a moment.” Marcus groaned and Niles ended the synch. He turned to the other guys, and waited for the acknowledgement. They all got out of the car. In the trunk, they gave Niles his gun. He smiled, this was going to be the best time he had ever had since he got back into the force. They moved slowly. There were probably security measures up somewhere. They got to Zander. He was crouched behind a building. He got as close as he could so he could get a proper look on the area.
“Any security counter measures necessary?” Niles asked looking around assessing the situation. Zander shook his head.
“Not any we can do right now, sir. The best bet is to go in like a bull.” Zander replied.
The building was on the other side. He turned to look at the other men.
“Gentlemen,” Niles called out. “Let’s get these bastards.”
Chapter 29: Deadshot
* * *
Niles’s first shot hit one of the men before he could turn around. He was with two men—one of them was the Sergeant that came with Zander. His face was smooth like he had never had a frown in his life. He looked thirty-ish, but Niles could have sworn that he was younger. The fights could do that, make you age so fast, it felt like you were traveling through time. He turned to them and motioned for them to cover him. He ran in while they kept themselves in a reserve position to offer up suppressing fire if needed.
