The two of them walked through the sewers quietly, the dim beams of their flashlight seeming to catch on the dank and nasty air, causing there to be a shallow path of light.
“It wasn’t my choice,” Rebecca answered tensely.
“It wasn’t?” Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.
Rebecca looked at Sam for a few seconds, then looked away. “Okay, maybe you’re right. But it still wasn’t my idea.”
“Right. It was Rian’s,” Sam said knowingly.
Rebecca looked at her quizzically but when she saw Sam’s fixed expression, she knew Sam wouldn’t tell her how she knew about Rian. Instead, Rebecca said nothing.
“Curious, what made you do it?” Sam asked.
Rebecca still didn’t answer.
“Pride?” Sam suggested.
Rebecca stopped walking. Sam stopped as well and turned towards her in surprise. Rebecca was looking down at the ground. “I know everyone thinks badly of me,” she stated.
“People don’t—”
“Don’t lie to me. I know it’s true,” Rebecca interrupted. “Everyone thinks I’m mean. They think I’m demanding, apathetic, and prideful.” She looked up, but didn’t turn to look at Sam. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Well…”
“Be honest with yourself. You think it as well,” Rebecca said.
Sam was quiet. The silence proved her statement true.
Rebecca continued walking. Sam followed her in silence. They finally found their way out of the sewers and Rebecca paused in the alley. “Here is where we split,” she said simply.
“You sure you’ll be okay in the SSAWPS?” Sam asked.
Rebecca was quiet for a while. “I’m not a bad person,” she said unexpectedly.
Sam didn’t answer.
“‘Many lives are at stake and you can’t back out now.’” Rebecca quoted. “That’s what he said.”
“Rian?”
Rebecca nodded. “I already knew it was true.” She looked upward, her face toward the sky. “It hurts me just as much as it hurts everyone else.”
“What does?” Sam questioned.
“Life. The world. Even me. It hurts to do what I do every day. They don’t understand—” she cut off suddenly. There was a pause. “Take care of yourself, Sam.” Then Rebecca walked down the alley, made a turn, and disappeared.
******************
“Ignea,” Anitania said weakly. “We’ve been following this DANE group for forever. Can’t we get this over with?”
“Night. We strike at night, in the woods,” Ignea commanded.
“Where are we to get our food?” Anitania questioned. “We ran out hours ago.”
“They have everything we need,” Ignea answered, gesturing beyond the hill they were camped behind.
“If we go on like this for very long…”
Ignea motioned her into silence. “The weak shall be separated from the strong. We strike at night.”
******************
Griffin looked around at the survivors. They had elected him their leader, against all odds. Sean was dead. He knew that. Jameson was still alive, but he had been severely wounded and was still in the makeshift hospital tent the IISOW (Incorporation for Injured Soldiers of War) had created. He had heard the news. The IISOW building had gone down with the ASW. The SSAWPS must have been planning this for a while. But many IISOW agents had survived. At least two hundred, but no more than three hundred. There had been so many before. So many. Now there were only about two hundred.
Janaya was gone. Dead or alive, no one knew. But no one had been able to find her. Griffin wished she were here now, that she could take charge instead of him with his wooden cane and failed efforts. He had had a broken thigh. But they were able to set it back easily and it had been healing very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that many believed it was a miracle from God and that he was meant to be their leader.
Griffin didn’t believe it. He wasn’t strong like Janaya. He wasn’t determined like Sean or smart like Jameson. He was just Griffin, the rookie that had failed the exam the first time around and passed it, by dumb luck, with flying colors the second time. He wasn’t meant to be their leader.
But he felt obligated by their belief in him. He felt it was his duty to try to save them from what would inevitably be coming. He couldn’t back down now, while he was ahead.
Some would call it pride. He preferred the word “determination”.
But he knew it wasn’t just him leading this group of stranded ASW agents plus the two hundred IISOW agents. There was someone else out there helping them. He didn’t know who is was, or what it was that they were doing, but he could feel it. Whether it was by divine design or by some other means, the SSAWPS had stopped terrorizing them. It almost seemed like they were no longer chasing them. They must have found something more important, he thought. His pride would tell him to ask why they weren’t good enough for the SSAWPS to even try. But his care for the others and his want for freedom kept him quiet.
He just wondered why things were happening the way they were. Why this had happened to them, why he was in charge, why someone was helping them, and why the SSAWPS had forgotten them. He just wondered, that’s all.
***************
Lawler watched as a Humvee drove by. The ASW was getting the supplies they needed. He smiled.
Zamyr seemed like a smart kid, and Lawler was sure he would get the job done. The HIA probably wouldn’t even miss him. Of course, he didn’t go by Zamyr in the HIA. Lawler shrugged. He was entitled to his own opinion.
Agent Bowers had relayed the message to the Administrator, and it had been accepted, just like Lawler knew it would. Everything was going as planned.
He turned.
“Dang it! Why can’t I ever creep up on you?” came a voice. The kid stepped out from behind a tree and crept down with Lawler in the shadows.
Lawler continued smiling, but didn’t answer the question. “How’s our little SSAWPS agent doing?”
Rian shrugged. “Fine. But…”
Lawler was quiet, questioning Rian with his eyes.
“I really like her, Lawler. I don’t know what it is.” Rian shifted his body to sit down.
“Charming,” Lawler answered, his voice and his expression revealing nothing.
“No really, I’m serious,” Rian continued. “You know, I don’t get a lot of good things out of life.”
“You can say that again.”
Rian glanced at Lawler, and Lawler gave him a hint of a smile. Rian sighed huffily. “Fine. If you’re not going to listen, go ahead. Not like it matters anyway.”
There was a pause.
“Ashlynn Rachelle Ryans,” Lawler stated.
“I’m not a stalker,” Rian said defensively.
“But you knew. You told me she always wanted to be called that. And how long have you known her?” Lawler questioned.
“Give me a break, would you?” Rian lay down on the grass. “It was in the notebook.”
“You read it?” Lawler asked, but it wasn’t really a question.
“Yah…how could I not have?”
“You shouldn’t have. You wouldn’t want her finding out about your secrets,” Lawler said simply.
“I know,” Rian responded. “But maybe one day…”
“Don’t,” Lawler commanded.
“Yah, I know. The Conner-Rebecca thing still exists. Speaking of which…”
“Not yet. But we can go over there as soon as the field goes up,” Lawler said.
“Fiji,” Rian said dreamily. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“Mission related trip,” Lawler reminded him.
“I know, I know.” There was a pause, then Rian asked, “What happened?”
“They were taken to be traitors. They should be out soon, though. I sent Armann in with them.”
“I wasn’t talking about the POAF,” Rian said.
Lawler was quiet.
“What happened to you?” Rian questioned.
It was quiet for a while. Rian could feel the tension, and he almost wished he hadn’t asked. But Lawler had changed since he first met him. He was…different…somehow.
“The world,” Lawler responded. Then he lay down and closed his eyes.
Rian knew it was a signal for him to be quiet.
*****************
Sam walked through the streets of Norway, admiring the maroon, firebrick, seashell, and sandy brown buildings that lined the narrow streets. The city was raked and it descended into the coast of the sea, which was packed with an array of white boats. She was clothed in modern Norwegian garb, sporting Jenny Ola Jeans, a red Hildegunn shirt, an Anja Merethe leather jacket, grey Solhull boots, and a windy beige bag; all of which she had bought online at Moods of Norway so that she would be caught up in the latest fashion of the beautiful city before arriving. The delivery service had taken longer than expected, but she had her ways of getting it quickly. As she walked through Norway, she could have very well passed for a Norwegian had she been born with a fuller face and body shape and had mastered the Norwegian language. Unfortunately, she was limited to a short available dialogue and preferred to keep quiet. Even though many of the Norwegians spoke English, her Norwegian accent was terrible and she would only make a fool of herself if she tried.
She decided to take this opportunity to go shopping. She had tons of souvenirs loaded in the backpack that she had bought and piles of clothes she had put into boxes and shoved into the back of her 2009 Mazda 6. Tomorrow she was to return to the HIA. Sam pulled out her communications device and smiled as she saw that Rebecca had turned hers off. That girl would forever be a mystery. Sam meant to ask her about the conversation they had on the way out of the sewers when Rebecca came back to the HIA. Her smile faded as she realized Rebecca may never return. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about it, but she pushed them back, knowing she would have to be strong. No matter how much flack Sam gave Rebecca, they would always be good friends.
Sam smirked as she remembered that out of everyone Rebecca could call to help her out, she had chosen Sam. Although they had been in many arguments and even a few fights, Sam was glad that Rebecca felt she could trust her. Rebecca had trusted Sam with her life, and although that may have seemed like an idiotic move, it had strengthened the bond between the two girls. Sam intended to show Rebecca the same.
Suddenly there was a boom and Sam was thrown into the street. She landed hard on the asphalt and could barely manage to comprehend the screeching of tires and a car swerving to avoid hitting her. There was the awful sound of metal crushing metal, but Sam could barely hear it. She realized there had been a loud blast before she was thrown into the street, and now her ears were ringing. There was a second blast, and a piece of debris hit her in the shoulder. She couldn’t hear her own shout over the screams of the people and the ringing in her ears. A good Samaritan began to lift her up off of the ground, but she could barely hear herself shouting for him to run, to leave her there. After all, she was an agent of the HIA. She should be protecting him, not the other way around.
“Go!” she screamed. “Leave me! I’m fine!” She tried to push away from him, but she felt weak. Was she injured? All pain had been numbed by the shock. “I’m fine!” she shouted again, unsure whether it was true or false. Then there were other sounds. Short, rapid, thudding sounds that couldn’t possibly be anything other than gunshots. “Run! Run!” she screamed with more of a panic than she had intended. “Get out of here!” Then there was a sharp pain in her shoulder that ripped her away from her savior. She screamed in agony, writhing at the pain. Then it was gone.
There was a period in which she was in a controlled sleep where her thoughts were almost her own. There was a lingering sense of dread that encompassed her entire soul, and she couldn’t discern whether or not she was in her body. Then there was a haunting thought that she was dying and suddenly realization came in a rush of agonizing pain. There was a blurry white light, blinding in the dreary darkness. She wished for it to go away, but it wouldn’t.
And there was another thought. A sudden, unexpected alarm for what the last thing was that she had said to everybody she knew. What had she said to her friends, to her family? And a lasting thought came back about what she had said to Rebecca. She couldn’t remember the exact words, but it felt like an argument. True sorrow burned to anguish in her mind, then there was nothing.
**************