“His name is Zamyr. We’re looking for him,” the first kid said. Lexi had immediately noticed the Irish lilt in his voice, and one of her friends had warned her of their brutish ways.
“Zamyr? Zamyr who?” she asked innocently.
“I don’t remember. He was a friend of my brother’s and only became my friend recently,” he answered.
Lexi raised an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed. “What’s your name?”
“Aengus. Aengus O’Byrne. So have you seen him? Zamyr’s an easy name to recognize.”
“Would you like to check in or not?” she said impatiently.
“Not my bowl of rice,” came a voice. Surprised, Lexi glanced over at the second kid who hadn’t previously said a single word. His Australian ancestry was clear in his voice, and she looked back at Aengus, wondering how the two had found each other.
“Fítheal, we should get a room. If he’s here, we’ll find out sooner or later,” Aengus said to his companion, glancing at Lexi meaningfully. “If he’s not, we can wait for him.”
“Right. Two rooms?” Lexi asked, already making her way towards the cubbies in the back.
“Just one,” Aengus answered.
Lexi turned around to stare at them, startled.
“One room,” Aengus repeated. The Australian kid didn’t say anything, so Lexi took it as a tacit approval and handed them a card to one of the rooms on the lower floor.
“Thanks,” Aengus replied, and the two walked through the door towards their rooms.
******************
“You lookin’ to crack onto that Sheila Figjam back there?” Fítheal questioned with a sly smile.
“Nooo,” Aengus answered a little too vigorously. “She didn’t even catch my eye.” It was a stupid excuse, and he realized how idiotic he sounded much too late.
“Fair suck of the sav! Get the old fella ready!” Fítheal exclaimed with a resounding laugh.
Aengus punched him harshly, but his face reddened in embarrassment. “You are so inappropriate. My mother would disapprove of me being around you.”
“Everyone’s a knocker,” Fítheal answered with a bit of spite in his voice. “But your Figjam, she cunning as a dunny rat. It’s London to a brick you gonna have a naughty with her someday, or I will.”
This was too much for Aengus. He grabbed Fítheal by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall. “No ye ain’t an’ if ye don’t shut yo’ trap this moment I’m ‘a pummel ye.”
“Rack off!” Fítheal shouted, pushing Aengus off of him. “Show pony’s as cross as a frog in a sock,” he added, more to himself than to anybody.
Aengus collected himself, aware that he sounded like his brother when he was angry. “I’m not a root rat, either.”
“Just waiting to catch the shonky whacka Zamyr. He’s up himself an’ I’d like to have a blue with his face. Mongrel.” Fítheal’s last sentence included an adjective Aengus didn’t appreciate, but Aengus felt almost the same way about Zamyr that Fítheal did. Zamyr had broken his promises and left them on the ship as he went out into the quay to continue with his “mission”. Aengus didn’t know what plans Zamyr had for the two of them, but had already started to cultivate the idea in his mind that his newly made friend was a traitor.
******************
“Everyone out,” Jude said, sliding open the side door on the van. Surprisingly, the girls complied. Ashlynn followed after them, wondering at the way Jude exuded power and leadership that wasn’t overbearing. It was as if Ashlynn could sense a bit of her that actually cared for what happened to them.
“This is so stupid,” Mors was quick to say, as soon as all the SSAWPS agents had exited the van.
“I can’t wait to get started!” Cyan exclaimed cheerfully. She shouldered a 22 caliber rifle and cocked a hip.
“Since there’s ten of us, we’ll split into groups of five. Ashlynn, Mors, Cyan, Galath, and I will be in one group. Lyssa, Ryder, Gayle, Venatora, and Jorgia will be in the other. I will lead the first, and Jorgia will lead the second,” Jude said carefully. Ashlynn could see the strategic, confident look in Jude’s eyes that told her she had planned this all out before they had arrived. So why had she paired Ashlynn with Mors? Jude should have known about the tension between them. She seemed like a very receptive girl, and Ashlynn couldn’t understand it. She meant to ask Jude as soon as they could separate themselves from the group. It seemed almost impossible because as soon as they neared the outskirts of Oslo, Jude told them they had to stay in ear shot of each other. Ashlynn sighed and submitted herself to another long week of torture.
*****************
A knock at the door awakened Zamyr. He had been exhausted from his lack of sleep on the boat. Groggily, he stood up from the couch and slowly approached the door. Realizing what he was about to do, he gingerly retraced his steps and took his Taser from a drawer. He walked back to the door and flipped the switches on. The yellow light came in full force, waking him up for a moment before he unlocked the door and opened it a crack. “Yup?” he asked casually, peering out into the hallway. He was surprised to see Lexi standing at the door.
“Two guys were looking for you. They’re staying at the hotel,” Lexi said quickly. “One was Irish and the other was Australian. I didn’t get one of their names, but they signed in with the name Aengus O’Byrne.”
“Slow down,” Zamyr responded, sliding the Taser into the pockets of his slacks he had fallen asleep in. “What time is it?”
“Almost 8:45. Why were those guys looking for you?” Lexi’s eyes were wide, and he figured this kind of phenomenon had never happened before while she was on duty.
“What room are they staying in?” Zamyr questioned.
Lexi pursed her lips, quiet.
“Please. What room?”
“We don’t usually give that information out to guests,” Lexi answered cautiously.
Zamyr paused contemplatively. “They think I owe them money and they might be dangerous.”
Lexi took a step back. “Then why should I trust you?”
“You have no reason to because I am a stranger,” Zamyr answered. “So now it’s up to you to decide who to trust.”
Lexi was quiet, her lips pursed.
“Just let me know when you’ve decided,” Zamyr said, starting to close the door.
“Wait,” Lexi interrupted, putting her hand on the door. “Room 124. That’s where they’re staying. Both of them. But you didn’t get that from me.” She started walking back down the hallway.
“Thank you, Lexi,” Zamyr stated, hiding a grin.
“Uh huh,” Lexi responded tensely, continuing down the hall.
Zamyr silently closed the door and locked it. He put the Taser back in the drawer and flicked the lights off. Slumping back on the couch, his mind started to wander to his mission the next morning and how he would be able to complete it while keeping the other kids off his back.
***************
“Wesley, keep back!” Laura screamed as she slammed herself up against a tree to avoid the bullets whizzing by.
“Are you kidding me?” Wesley shouted back, crouching down behind a tree and ripping his bag open. “If anyone should be here, it’s me!”
“Laura, catch!” Imraan yelled, tossing a semi-automatic 22-caliber rifle in her direction. It was loaded with rubber bullets. “What is Wesley doing here?”
“Shut up, Imraan,” Wesley said through clenched teeth. He pulled out a device and remotely activated everyone’s communication systems. He downloaded a frequency and tapped it in. His comrades all fell to the ground, holding their ears. Wesley shot flash-bomb fireworks into the air and listened for the loud pop before turning off the frequency and heading in.
“What was that?” Imraan asked, annoyed. He noticed the SSAWPS agents stumbling around blindly and began to attack confusedly.
“Attack!” Laura shouted angrily. She shot a glare in Wesley’s direction. She didn’t appreciate him playing God and controlling her friends. If he wanted them to get down, he should just say it instead of doing something that would force them to.
“There’s more coming!” someone shouted. Wesley recognized the voice and automatically turned.
“Kalyia, get out of here!” he shouted.
“What are you talking about?” Kalyia questioned, annoyed. She downed a couple agents and brushed away the hair that was falling out of her ponytail to give him a quizzical look.
“You’ll get hurt!” Wesley said, activating some of the bombs farther away from camp just in case there were SSAWPS agents in those areas.
“Why should you care?” Kalyia asked, surprised. She grabbed a confused agent by the wrist and back-hand slapped her in the face. Then Kalyia rammed her against a tree and stepped forward to confront another agent.
Wesley palmed an agent in the face and wondered what to say. He bit his lip, trying to think. The other agent caught on to his lack of focus and clumsily kneed him in the stomach. It wasn’t enough to knock him down, but it was enough to bring him back into the fight. As the agent came in for an uppercut punch, Wesley grabbed the agent’s wrist, pulled her towards him, and elbowed her in the jaw, sending her sideways onto the ground. He looked up to see more and more agents coming at them. He had to do something, or all of them would be killed. He glanced over at Laura.
Their eyes locked. Laura’s held a question, but Wesley’s slowly grew from anxiety into determination. With sudden realization, Laura’s eyes grew in fear. “Wesley, no!” she shouted, but he had already turned away and started racing through the swarm of agents, taking out any that got in his way. He knew where he was going, but he wasn’t sure if he would ever come back.
*****************