by Kate Sander
They tasted chalky and acidic. She forced herself to finish chewing them and to swallow. They hurt going down her burnt airway. She thought of Tomo. She thought of Leo. She let anger flow through her. The icy, slow burning anger. She would destroy them all. Her world faded to black. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. She could feel her body convulsing against the floor. She felt her mouth foam. She faded.
A flash of white.
Then nothing.
33
Carter
October 30, 2023, 23:48
Location: Toronto, Canada.
Carter barked the order to find Amanda then watched it all, slack-jawed. He was ecstatic when they found Tomo alive. The ecstasy switched to fear when he saw Senka take the bullet to the arm and get knocked out. He watched, through Senka’s camera, Tomo die again. He was sitting there, useless, helpless. This time Tomo was really dead and there was no going back, no helping. He saw it with his own eyes.
The other handlers had started gathering around his desk, watching with him. News had travelled fast and everyone had woken and come to watch with him. Handlers stayed at the ZTF headquarters when their Zoya were on missions. Every Zoya was out right now so all the handlers were there with him, watching. Kevin, Simone’s handler, put his hand on Carter’s shoulder in reassurance as Tomo was force fed the pills.
“They have to be lying,” Leslie said.
Carter shook his head slowly, “If Tomo designed them, they aren’t lying.”
“This will change everything,” Kevin said.
They watched Tomo die.
“Any eyes on Amanda?” Kevin asked. Carter couldn’t pull it together. He saw the woman raise her gun to Senka’s head. This is it, he thought, I’m going to lose them both at the same time. There was no answer from anyone. They only had eight Zoya in the task force if you included Tomo. The loss of one was devastating, the loss of two in one mission was unprecedented.
Carter’s heart leapt when he saw Leo spring up from under the desk to attack Alejandra. There were gasps from the other handlers and Kevin squeezed his shoulder. Then they watched as Leo died. Carter could feel tears falling. Leslie, Matty’s handler, was sniffling beside him.
Senka stood. Carter watched her stoop and grab the gun.
“Oh, shit,” Kevin said breathlessly.
Carter knew that Senka didn’t have the earpiece in, but he needed to try.
“No!” he yelled into the microphone. Senka wouldn’t hear him. “Sen no! Put it down and walk a–” He was silenced when Senka pulled the trigger.
“Not good,” Leslie said through sniffles.
“What’s she doing?” Kevin asked.
Carter could only stare at the bullet hole in Alejandra’s head, almost mesmerized. Senka had given it all up for revenge. He hoped, selfishly hoped, that she would take the camera off and disappear. That way he wouldn’t have to arrest her for treason.
Senka walked through the door and was blown back by an explosion.
This time Leslie audibly screamed. The other handlers gasped.
Carter couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He could only see from the small camera. He had no idea how hurt Senka was. He saw the camera move and lurch and knew that Senka was writhing in pain.
“Not both,” he whispered. “Please, God, not both.”
Kevin dug his hand into Carter’s shoulder, but there was no comfort to be had.
He heard the words, “Die angry,” drift to him from his speakers, so low that later, when he replayed the day over and over, he convinced himself he made it up. He watched Senka struggle with the pills in her pocket. Her burnt arm entered the camera and his heart broke. She was so hurt. He knew she must be in excruciating pain. He saw her raise the pills to her mouth. The camera bounced a little as she seized. Then they were left with a still picture of the ceiling.
Tomo was dead.
Leo was dead.
Senka was dead.
Carter sat there stunned. He was left without his team. His family. They were all gone.
“What do you want to do now, boss?” Kevin asked quietly. Carter didn’t listen to him, he sat there, staring at Senka’s camera feed.
“Boss?” Leslie asked. She put a hand gently on Carter’s arm, snapping him out of it. Carter realized they were talking to him. Amanda had committed treason. He was the next in command. The Zoya Task Force was his.
He turned his chair. Kevin and Leslie were there, along with Pierre, Cathy, John and Ram. They were staring at him, faces as white as his was.
“Find me Amanda,” he said angrily, pushing his way out of his chair. “Number one priority.” He walked towards Amanda’s glass office. Your office now, he thought to himself. He stopped for a second with his hand on the door. He steeled himself then pushed the door open.
The room was immaculately kept, as always. Steel meeting table in the middle, big enough to fit all sixteen of the ZTF. The couch to the side was untouched. Amanda hadn’t slept here at all. She could have been gone for hours, sneaking out when Senka was watching the compound.
Before his life had changed forever.
He opened the blinds. The handlers were gone, combing the building for any signs of Amanda.
He doubted they would find any. She was gone for good.
The desk was clean. He looked around for her tablet but it was gone. The safe behind the desk was left open. There was a sticky note on the combination. Carter peeled it off and read:
8-1-6-4
That was it. Nothing else. Just the combination to the safe. No apology, no explanation. Just a cleaned out desk and a combination.
Carter kicked the chair angrily. He leaned on the desk, catching his breath.
Kevin burst into the office. “We found her,” he said breathlessly.
“Where?” Carter asked, surprised.
“On the roof,” Kevin said.
“Shit,” Carter said. He ran to his desk and grabbed the sidearm he kept there. He wasn’t out in the field often but he could still shoot relatively straight.
“Send backup,” he called to Kevin, heading towards the staircase. “Clear the street below.”
“What’s her endgame?” Kevin shouted as Carter raced for the stairs.
“She doesn’t have one!” Carter yelled back.
Carter’s heart was racing as he ran up the stairs, two at a time. It was eight floors to the roof of the building. He barely felt the passage of time. He pounded up the steps to the roof access. The padlock that locked the roof access had been recently cut.
Carter kicked it open and pointed his gun. He was greeted with the sight of Amanda, facing him, sitting on the ledge of the building. The cool night air blew her hair across her face. All she had to do was lean back and she was gone. She was looking down at her tablet. Carter could see she had been crying.
“Amanda!” Carter barked. He trained his gun on her.
She looked up at him slowly. “Didn’t think you’d make it here.”
“Amanda, step forward from the ledge.”
She smiled sadly at him and looked down at her tablet again. “I didn’t want any of this.”
“I know that,” Carter said. He lowered his gun. This required delicacy. He was so on edge from watching his team die that he didn’t know if he could do it.
“I just… I just saw her signature. I panicked,” she said. She sobbed so hard it wracked her whole body. “I thought she was dead. And they had her.” She looked at him again, tears falling fast. “I just wanted to get her back.”
“You should have told us,” Carter said angrily. He shouldn’t be angry right now but he couldn’t help it. It just bubbled over. “You should have told us!” he yelled. “We could have gotten her out together! All of us!” He was trying to yell and drift his way towards her. He needed to get closer.
Amanda shook her head, “No, no they would have killed all of us.”
“They did!” Carter yelled. “They killed them both! Your deal didn’t matter. You can�
��t deal with the devil!”
Amanda sobbed again and looked at her tablet. “I know. I watched it. I watched her die Carter.”
Carter shook his head angrily. He had no words.
“You would have done the same,” Amanda said softly, “if it was Melanie. If it was her there, you would have done anything you could to see her again.”
Carter shook his head. “No, Amanda. I would have trusted Senka. She never once let us down. You knew she’d go in for my son. Even if you told her only to recon you knew!” He was screaming again, he couldn’t help himself. “She wanted to help me! You used it against her!”
Amanda smiled sadly. She leaned back.
“No!” Carter yelled. He ran forward as fast as he could, dropping his gun with a clatter to the ground. Amanda dropped the tablet to the roof and fell backwards. Carter launched himself as far over as he could as she fell. He stretched out and caught her wrist with his right hand and managed to keep his feet planted on the other side of the ledge. He grunted as he took the force of the building into his stomach, but he held firm. A shocked Amanda was clawing at his wrist, trying to make him let go.
“We lost the rest of our family,” he grunted through the strain. Amanda stopped clawing and stared up at him. “I’m not losing you too,” he said and he pulled with all of his might. His brute strength came through and he lifted Amanda over the ledge.
They dropped to the roof gasping. The military backup that Kevin had sent burst on to the roof.
“Arrest her,” Carter said gasping from his back. The men, dressed in camouflage, ran up and flipped Amanda on to her stomach, handcuffing her. Another man came and helped Carter to his feet.
Amanda didn’t struggle. She let them haul her to her feet. She was crying silently, keeping her eyes down.
“Wait,” Carter said. He walked angrily towards Amanda. She flinched back, expecting a blow. Instead, Carter wrapped her in a hug. “I’ll visit you every day I can,” he whispered in her ear.
Amanda sobbed into his shoulder.
Carter broke away and nodded to the men guarding her. They nodded back and marched her away.
Carter bent to pick up the tablet. On it was the picture of Amanda’s and Tomo’s wedding day. It was the four of them, Carter and Senka in jeans flanking Amanda and Tomo in wedding dresses. All four of them were beaming at the camera. Carter remembered that Melanie had been the one taking the picture. He sighed and pressed the power button on the side of the tablet. The picture flickered off and the tablet went black.
Carter made his way back down to the ZTF headquarters. The handlers had all returned from their man hunt. They waited nervously in Amanda’s office. My office, Carter reminded himself. It would take some getting used to.
“Ok,” Carter said loudly to the silent room as he walked through the door. He was ashamed that his voice was hoarse from yelling. He walked over and put the tablet on the desk. “I want all Zoya pulled out of their missions, quietly. No blown covers, no more deaths, understood?” All the handlers nodded. “Good. We will all be working together to take these guys down.”
“Who are these guys?” Kevin asked.
“Good question. I have no idea. We had no confirmation anyone else knew about Zoya before thirty minutes ago. Leslie, is Matty still close to Munich?”
Leslie nodded. “Yah and he can pull out anytime. No worry on his cover.”
“Good, send him to the compound. We need boots on the ground there as soon as possible.”
Leslie nodded and started typing away on her tablet.
“We are going to assume that the pills actually sent the women back to The Other Place,” Carter said. Leslie stopped typing and stared. Everyone looked shocked.
“No way,” Kevin said. “That’s impossible. They’re dead, Carter. I mean I don’t want to believe it either, but they’re dead.”
Carter nodded, “But Tomo was the one who made them. She’s never been wrong before. So we’re going to assume that they worked. So there is something big going on here between our world and The Other Place. We need to figure out why they want more Zoya. Hopefully the girls are safe there and are trying for the same thing. We will hit them from this side as hard as possible, making it easier for them to hit them there.”
All the handlers nodded, lost for words.
“So I need everyone on research. I want to know everything about Zoya ever written. Ever,” he said. “Every piece of research, every legend that might somewhat apply, from any culture ever. We also need access to the Ampulex folder on the server. That asshole Freudman was especially worried about it, making it high priority.”
The handlers could only stare. The amount of work was daunting.
“Speaking of Freudman,” Carter said, “I want everything on him from every country. I want to know where he shits, where he eats, how he blow-dries his hair, what brand of toothpaste he uses. Absolutely everything. And I want someone to go over the video from Senka’s camera feed with a fine-toothed comb. I want to have my own discussion with that asshole.”
“Sir!” Ram piped up. Carter looked at him, annoyed at the interruption. “The Joint Task Force 2 evac you sent are close to scene. They want you to have a look at this,” Ram said quickly.
“Put it up on the screen,” Carter barked.
Ram nodded and sent the helicopter feed to the main screen. The helicopter was hovering over a group of kids in the middle of a field.
“They are about a kilometer away from the compound,” Ram said.
Carter stared silently at the screen. His son was waving his arms overhead to the helicopter. There were six other much younger children cowering behind him. But Isaac was standing, unafraid. They were dirty and looked hungry and exhausted but they were alive. They had made it out alive. Senka and Tomo had provided enough of a distraction that Isaac had found a way out.
“Evac them to the nearest military base,” Carter said through a dry mouth.
“Let’s get those kids home.”
Epilogue
The smell came first.
It was a wet smell, musty. It smelled of a forest after the rain. There was no human smell to it. No exhaust or plastic smell that permeated everything in her world.
The sensation of breathing through her nose came next. She was lying in something damp and warm. It felt like grass.
Senka opened her eyes. There was no sun above her, just towering trees. She sat up slowly. Her head swam. She breathed the musty air and looked around.
She was in a rainforest.
Trees surrounded her thickly with moss growing over their trunks. She could hear the buzz of insects around her.
She was confused. There was no forest like this in Langundo.
Realization hit her.
She remembered everything. From both worlds. She remembered her time in Langundo. She remembered her time in Canada.
She knew she was in The Other Place but she didn’t know where she was.
She looked down. She was naked except for Jules’ ring laced around her neck on a chain.
A deep, vibrating sound echoed in the forest. She sprang up. Her hand went directly to her side, where her sidearm usually sat. She was naked. There was no gun.
“Shit,” she said out loud.
She was confused about why she could remember anything at all. The last time she’d woken in The Other Place she’d had no memories, just a blank slate. She didn’t know where she was. She hadn’t heard of a forest like this from any Zoya she’d ever met. And she was unarmed. Not a good combination.
The air was hot and sticky, she was sweating already.
The call sounded again, this time closer. It reverberated off the trees around her and sent fear into her stomach.
Something didn’t like that she was here.
The smell of rotting flesh suddenly started assaulting her nose. She gagged and tried not to vomit. It was overwhelming.
She heard some grass rustle and spun around.
A huge animal stepped into
the clearing. It was easily ten feet tall. It looked like an elk, except it was walking on its hind legs upright. It was muscular and its huge arms dragged against the ground, its arms ending in claws instead of hooves. Its head was a huge mess of matted fur and blood. Antlers protruded from its head at odd angles. It sniffed with his nose and blood dribbled out of its snout.
It fixed its eyes on Senka again. It roared, so loud it took everything for Senka not to cover her ears. Its body language changed and it lowered its shoulders. Senka knew it was going to charge. Her hand went automatically for her sidearm before she could stop it.
The thing roared and charged her angrily, dropping to all fours. It was faster than its hulking size and massive presence indicated.
As she dove out of the way of the massive animal, she had time to mutter one word.
“Shit.”
Want More?
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OTHER BOOKS BY KATE SANDER
THE ZOYA CHRONICLES
BOOK ONE: Pulse
BOOK TWO: Force
BOOK THREE: Devour
BOOK FOUR: Void
THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER SERIES
The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Acknowledgments
This book took plenty of rewrites, edits, tears and sleepless nights.
Big shout out again to Sharon for Beta reading and figuring out the prologue for me when I was so far off.
Alanna McIntyre for her detailed editing, even when she thought it would make me cry. Takes a true friend to call you out on hard truths.
Of course and always my mother, Mary, for the constant guidance and emotional support. Also her edits and the way she deletes commas. No one deletes commas with such vigour as my mother.
