“Yes, but I was hoping that you could be my assistant. Show them how it’s done?”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope. I’ve taught you everything I know. I’ll do the talking; I just need you to go through the moves. You’ll get to throw a couple of girls around. It should be fun,” he said, wiggling his brows.
“Fine,” I giggled.
“Oh, and Abi,” he paused, and had a wide smile on his face.
“Uh-oh. What now?” I asked.
“After the session, I have something to show you.”
“After? Why not now?”
“Because I need you to focus on the training.”
“How do you expect me to focus now, when my mind will be wondering?” I rolled my eyes.
He laughed. “Go on. Get changed and head to the mat. I’ll gather the girls together.”
Tina led me to the lockers, and they were numbered according to our rooms. She headed over to G-6 and opened it. Inside were two neatly placed packages. One had G-6 #1 and the other, G-6 #2.
“I’m #1,” Tina grinned. “Only because I was here first.”
“I understand,” I said, taking package #2 and opening it. Inside was a black t-shirt and black stretch pants. Spandex. They were knee length, which was cool. I was shocked it wasn’t white, and black was technically a color. Not a pretty one, but hey, it worked.
The exercise clothes were much more comfortable than white uniforms we wore. Too bad we couldn’t switch.
On the mat, I noticed a group of girls huddled together. They kept glancing at me and whispering. Then I noticed a smug face in the middle of the pile. Ava. Oh, how I hated that bitch.
“Hey, Uncle Frank,” I whispered. He turned and raised his eyebrows. “During take-downs, can you pair me up with that redhead across the room?”
Uncle Frank quickly glanced over, then turned back to me with narrowed eyes. “No problem,” he grinned.
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Just watch yourself. Some of them look like they want blood.”
“It’s not blood they want,” I answered, but said nothing more.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing,” I said sweetly. I was totally going to look forward to this.
I demonstrated a couple of the moves with Uncle Frank in slow motion, and then it was time for each one of the girls to come up and show him what they’d learned. He called a few girls up, whose hands were eagerly waving for a turn. They executed the moves perfectly, and the room clapped.
Then, Uncle Frank pointed to Ava. “You’re next,” he said.
I saw a wide, evil smile grow on her face. She was about a foot taller than me, and I could tell she was coming to do some damage.
She stepped onto the mat and faced me, and as soon as she did, her face turned hard, and her jealous eyes steeled on mine.
“Alright, I’d like the both of you to engage. I want to see if you can remember the moves while in full motion.”
I watched Ava glance to her friends and then nod. She thought she had this. I turned to Tina, but she was busy chewing her nails off. Her eyes were wide with concern. Uncle Frank held his hand up in the air, while Ava and I glared at each other. Before his hand came down, Ava charged for me, and threw a right hand. I ducked just in time, but her left came back and hit me in side, knocking the wind out of me.
She stood and backed up, bouncing like a boxer. Bitch. She was a dirty player, but two could play at that game. We totally disregarded the moves we were supposed to go through, and Uncle Frank just let us go.
We danced around for a few seconds, and as soon as I saw my chance, I took it. I lunged towards her and in a split second, grabbed her arm and dropped my whole body to the ground. My right leg swept the back of her ankles knocking her off balance, and my left leg kicked her in the gut, sending her crashing to the ground. She landed on her back with such force that the air knocked out of her lungs. She gasped, and I pounced on top of her and raised my fist in the air. With a loud war cry I slammed my arm down, like I was going to smash her face, but stopped an inch from her nose.
Ava screamed like I’d hit her, and covered her face.
I could have easily broken her nose, but I fought my inner demons and chose not to. It was so damn tempting though. Instead, I paused and then jumped off of her. I remained calm and cool on the outside, but my insides were jumping with excitement.
Ava never saw it coming, and even if she did, she never had a chance. Karma. It’s a bitch, and I was glad it let me serve it up. I doubted it would do anything about making her leave me or Finn alone.
Ava quickly stood from the floor. Her face was bright red with a mixture of pure anger and embarrassment as she stormed off toward the bathrooms.
The rest of the girls in Ava’s group looked dumbfounded. Their mouths hung wide open, and their eyes were wide. They whispered amongst themselves watching their leader leave the mat. Suddenly, Tina started clapping loudly. Then, others around her started to join in. Before I knew it everyone, aside from a few of Ava’s minions, was cheering.
I guess I was their hero. Someone who finally stood up to Ava.
She had a taste of what I could do, and hell if I let her try and seduce Finn any longer.
I looked at Uncle Frank and shrugged my shoulders. He grinned and shook his head.
As he called a few others up, I watched Tina gather a few girls together, and wondered if she was finalizing the last details of our secret mission.
After the mat session was over Uncle Frank asked, “Hey, Abi. Could you please meet me at the firing range? I need you to try out a new weapon.”
“Sure,” I replied. I was excited to be able to put a gun back in my hands. I needed it. Firing a weapon always helped me relax.
When I reached the target area, he zipped open a small black bag, reached in, and then pulled out a gun and handed it to me.
“Uncle Frank!” I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck. He handed me a Glock 27, but not just any Glock. It was Hellfire. I knew it was her because I had carved my initials AP into the backplate. “How’d you get her?” I said, wrapping my fingers around her grip.
“I have access to the weapons room. She was sitting in a plastic bag, amongst other recovered weapons. So, I rescued her. I’ll keep her with me, and if you should ever have to go out on a mission, she’s yours.”
“Oh my God. You’re the best. Like, totally the best!”
“I know,” he said. “Why don’t you go and shoot a few rounds off, and make sure she’s still in good working order.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said.
He handed me two 13 round magazines, and then advised the group of girls who’d followed us over to stand back and put in some ear plugs. It was strange to have the attention turned on me again.
I slid the magazine in and racked the slide, chambering my first round. I had my old friend back. I aimed at the target 15 yards away, released the safety, and fired. Every shot hit within the target. Three shots hit within the bull’s-eye, and the other ten hit within an inch.
We were back in action, Hellfire and I.
I turned and saw Tina standing behind with the others.
“Tina,” I said, waving her over.
“Me?” she said, pointing to herself.
“Duh,” I laughed.
Her face lit up and she ran up to me. “Are you going to show me how to shoot?”
“I am, but I think you should start with something a little easier. Something with less kickback.” I turned to address Uncle Frank. “Do you have something she can practice with? First timer.”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” he said, rummaging through his bag. He pulled out a 22 Caliber Pistol and a 10 round magazine. I showed Tina the fundamentals, while Uncle Frank went and put a new target up, setting it about ten yards away.
When Tina said she was ready, she took her stance, aimed the gun, and then…nothing.
“I think it’s broken
,” she said, turning her body and the gun toward me.
“Whoa! Whoa! First rule. Never point a loaded gun at someone while your finger is on the trigger.” I scolded, pushing it back toward the target.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” she said, her face turned bright red.
“Take your finger off and rest it on the side. You’ll need to take the safety off,” I said. I showed her how to do that. She then took her stance again and aimed.
Bam!
Tina immediately put the gun down, looked at the target, and started squealing.
“I hit the target! Oh my God! I hit it!” she cheered.
“Well, actually you hit the edge of the paper. The target is the big circular thing in the middle.” I said, drawing a circle in the air with my hands for emphasis. “The goal is to put a hole anywhere in that circle, and you win.”
“Oh, okay,” she said a little embarrassed.
“It was still a great shot for your first time,” I said, patting her on the shoulder.
“Can I try again?” she asked.
“Yes, you have nine more rounds. Go for it,” I urged.
She raised her gun, and started firing. Out of the nine shots, four hit within the target, two hit the outside, and the rest were MIA. Not too bad. Tina was thrilled and kept her target.
“I’m totally hanging this on my wall, right beside my bed,” she said proudly.
After our training was over, I said goodbye to Uncle Frank. Then, Tina and I headed back to the lockers. I felt happy. The day had so many positives, I actually felt a bit optimistic. We showered, changed, and headed back to the room.
“Hey, we’re on for tonight,” she whispered in the hall.
“Tonight?”
“Yes, but remember to tell no one. I have a few friends who will be helping, and they are trustworthy.”
“Okay,” I said. My insides started twisting, and my mind started running. Maybe we would be able to find some answers as to what was behind the scary biohazard door, and why they put two guards with guns at the front to guard it.
Chapter 19
Finn didn’t show at lunch, and then again at dinner. I started to get worried. I knew they were training, but I also knew they were constantly sending reinforcements in and out. At this point there was no way for me to know if he’d been deployed or not. That’s what sucked about not having communication within the government hive. Tina assured me she’d try and keep an ear open to know if Finn or Pike were ever sent out.
After dinner we went back to the room to go over the details of our mission. This wasn’t just a simple sneaking out and spying on someone for fun. This mission was to find out exactly what was happening behind that mysterious biohazard door.
Tina somehow managed to sneak two sets of the comfortable black training clothes for us to wear. After we were ready, we sat and watched the time tick by.
By the time midnight came around, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep.
“Abi,” Tina said, nudging my shoulder. “We need to get ready to go.”
“I’m ready,” I said, sitting up and stretching myself awake. I knew I needed all of me to be alert and awake. We couldn’t make any mistakes or we could wind up sitting in a cell, or worse.
Hopefully we’d find answers soon.
I watched the clock turn 12:05pm. “So when are we going?”
“I’m waiting for a signal,” she answered.
“What signal?”
Just as she turned toward me, there were three quick knocks at the door.
“That signal. We leave in three minutes.”
I was taking nothing, but Tina had a small backpack with a few things she thought we might need, just in case. I had no idea why she’d need some small rubber bouncing balls, or a folded up piece of cardboard, amongst other things. I was too tired to ask.
Two minutes and thirty seconds we were standing behind the door as she checked her watch.
“Stay close and quiet,” she whispered. I nodded. “Okay, let’s go.” She punched the exit button and we slid out into the hall. We ran down the corridor and just as we made it to the next door we heard voices, and paused, hiding behind the wall.
Tina peeked around the corner then turned back to me. “Ready?” she mouthed in silence.
I nodded. She grabbed my arm and pulled me around the corner. It was a young guard, probably the same age as Pike, and Tina’s friend had him completely occupied. The guards back was to us, but it was clear that they were making out. Tina’s friend shot us a thumb’s up, as we passed, and quickly ran down the next corridor.
Another one of Tina’s friends dashed out in front of us, making us jump. She was just as startled as we were.
“What’s wrong?” a deep voice asked. It sounded like a much older guard. We pressed our backs to the wall opposite where he could see us. The girl glanced at us, and then began stumbling toward him.
“Something’s wrong. I feel sick. I need to see a doctor.” All of a sudden there was a loud thump, and then the guard’s footsteps hurried toward her.
“Oh, shit,” he swore. “Hey, are you okay?”
We suddenly heard a grunting noise, followed by quick footsteps.
Tina peeked around the corner, grabbed my arm, and then pulled me with her.
The guard was carrying the girl out the door. Her head was dangling, but then her eyes popped open, and she winked.
Damn. Tina had some amazing friends. Friends who made it easy to sneak out. I doubted they did it frequently, because the guards would eventually catch on to their antics.
We rounded a corner and then down a similar corridor to the last, and kept going further and further until we came to another door. This one was painted red. There was a guard who looked to be in his early twenties, sitting in front of it, and looked like he wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon.
“Dammit. Where is she?” Tina whispered. We waited for about two minutes, and Tina turned to me. “If she doesn’t show, we’re in a deep pile of crap.”
We both peeked again, and watched the guard polish his gun. When we turned back around, we suppressed our screams from a face right behind us, and two hands flew up to cover our mouths.
“Sorry, I’m late,” the girl whispered.
“Melissa, what the hell? You scared the crap out of us. I thought you’d never come,” Tina whispered.
“Have I ever not come through for you? I just came from the kitchen. I had to call in a favor. You know how much Private Peyton likes his sweets,” she said wiggling her eyebrows. She put her hands in her pockets and pulled out two chocolate cookies. They smelled like they were freshly baked. “They’re still warm, so I better deliver.”
“She walked around the corner and greeted the guard.
“Melissa, you’re not supposed to be out of your room,” he said.
“I know, Peyton, but I wanted to give you a little something - you know - for keeping us safe,” she said in a sweet, yet sultry voice.
“Wow. How’d you get these?” he asked.
“My mom was on kitchen duty. These just came out of the oven.”
“Thank you,” he said, politely.
“Hey, Peyton. Could I ask you for a favor?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said.
“There’s a loud clanging sound that just started happening when I flush my toilet. Could you take a quick look? Pretty please. I just want to make sure that it won’t be flooded tomorrow morning when I get up.”
“I can’t leave my post, without a replacement,” he answered.
“It’s only seconds away. You’ll be back here in less than three minutes. Just take a quick look and put my mind at ease?”
“Alright. Just this once.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she sang.
We heard their footsteps heading in the opposite direction.
“Let’s go,” Tina urged.
She pulled out a key from her pocket and quickly opened the red door. We slipped in and locked it
from the inside.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“The electronics room.”
“How the hell did you get a key to the electronics room?”
“I told you I have my connections,” she grinned.
At the back of the room, there was a metal grate screwed into the wall.
“This is the ventilation shaft. You know how to use one of these?” she asked, handing me a Philips screwdriver.
“Ummm, yeah. I think I can manage.”
“Awesome. Then un-screw away.”
It only took me a few minutes to get the grate off, and then I crawled in first and she followed.
“How do we put it back on?” I asked.
“Very carefully,” she replied. She lifted the grate and placed it over the hole, then very cautiously - with her fingers sticking out of the holes - turned the screws until each one was in as far as it could go.
“Okay, let me squeeze past you. I have the map.”
She reached in her pack, pulled out a folded piece of paper, then slipped something over her head, and… Click. We had light.
“Headlight,” she said pointing at her forehead with a smile.
“You’ve thought of everything. I’m impressed.”
“Be impressed when I get our butts back into our room safely.”
“Deal.”
“Okay, let’s go. Try and slide through, rather than crawl. The least amount of noise, the better.”
“Gotcha,” I said. “I’ll just follow your lead.”
We slithered through the darkness, trying to be as quiet as we could. Every time we heard voices, we paused, until they disappeared. It seemed like we were traveling forever, but then we heard a faint crying.
Tina held up her hand for me to stop, and then pulled out her map. Then she pointed directly in front of us and gave a thumbs-up. About twenty-five yards away was a faint light.
We inched closer and closer, taking our time, when the crying turned to screams. My heart started to pound, and my pulse started to race. This was it.
When we finally made it, Tina carefully peeked through the vent. There was only room for one, unless we went sideways or piggy backed. There was no way I was going to stay behind her, so she was going to have to make room.