Act 3

  June 21, 2201

  Chapter 14

  “We need to get you a new set of combat shades.” Maria says.

  The one lens is blown out of this pair we recovered from an Agent that was shot in the head 4 months ago; I can hear the radio and see the inside through the one good cracked lens. I hate the feeling of coming across a dead Agent these days; the almost excitement that I feel, knowing we'll get gear from them. The opportunity does not present itself much, so we take everything, our cloths are thread bare, I'm still looking for a size 13 boot.

  It's a hot muggy mess of a day out here. Maria and I don't really talk much, we're just surviving in life, working as a team, we know what the other is thinking at this point, get through the day, get decent sleep, repeat. Taking out a scavenged combat ration I break it in two, handing half of it to Maria, she passes me two of her four mealworms. I eat the worms first.

  “Why do the worms taste better in the colder months?” I ask.

  “Who knows. I'm more wondering why the ones from Central Park taste better, Edgar knew.” She says.

  “Well, that's it for food for now.” I say. We didn't eat yesterday. We haven't resorted to eating the Others food; repurposed human tissue, we know once we go down that road there is no turning back.

  “There is always rats.” She says as she glances at me, I shake my head, she nods in agreement.

  About a block away we see four Agents with an extract target.

  “Well, lets see if they have anything for us.” I say.

  We follow up the Agents, they nervously look at us then ignore us. The target notices us, it looks like a woman still in her exoskeleton.

  “Who are they?” The woman in the exoskeleton asks. asks the Agents.

  “Please Ma'am, just ignore anyone other then us. For your and our protection.” One of them says.

  We started following Agents last winter, some 'accidentally' drop combat rations. One of the Agents digs into her pack, pulling two out. Another Agent puts his hand on her hand, and shakes his head.

  “Please, we've only eaten twice this week, with the heat we burn a lot of energy. You know we've been helping you when we see you guys in trouble.” Maria says.

  “No! No! This is cruel!” One of the other Agents yells. “Goliath and Raven have been helping us for years, look at them! Their cloths are barely on them, they look gaunt, they're malnourished and starving. Fuck Command.” He takes his bag out, starts putting all he has other then his revolver in the bag, combat shades as well.

  “Fred, don't be rash, you know Command is watching.” One of them says.

  “No, Fred's right.” The woman says, she starts removing her gear and packs it up.

  “Guys, we'll be fine, don't risk this with Command, we just were hoping you would accidentally drop a couple of meal bars.” I say.

  “What's going on?” The extract target asks.

  The radio crackles:

  -Agents Fred and Lori, you have 5 seconds to pick up your gear and keep moving, this is your only warning. If they do not comply, Agent Barry and Ken, you're ordered to make them comply, you are authorized to use deadly force.- The dispatcher says.

  Agent Barry and Ken pull their revolvers, Fred and Lori do the same.

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  “Frick, guys, pick up the gear, it's not worth it.” I say.

  “Dammit, take your gear, really.” Maria says.

  -It's been time, force compliance.-

  “Dammit, you know they're wrong!” Lori say.

  “They will kill us back home if we side with you, I... Claire has a baby on the way. Fuck you for forcing this!” Barry says as he pulls the trigger. All four of them squeeze off multiple shots at each other.

  Maria and I move to disarm them all.

  “Fucking hell guys, why?” Maria says.

  “What's the point... if I can't sleep at night...” Lori says. Those were her last words.

  The only one still breathing is Barry.

  “Grab what you can Maria, I'm taking Barry to extract with the target, we need to move before those gunshots will be reported. Which extract Barry?” I ask. He looks away, defiantly. “Fricken hell man, you have a child on the way and I'm trying to make sure the baby has a father. Extract location?”

  “Delta Beta Alpha Alpha 2-1.” He says.

  “You, follow us, we'll get you out.

  I rush them to the extract location, there are 8 Agents waiting for me there with guns drawn. I put Barry on the ground and back away.

  “Repeat Command, did I hear you right?” one of the men says. They look confused. “Are you sure?” He says. They all look shocked. There is nothing else I can do, just my presence has caused good soldiers to die today. I turn and walk away, two shots ring out behind me, I don't even turn back.

  The last 2 years have been just existing, helping Agents in trouble, but mostly surviving. The death today was so pointless. Why does our very presence have to cause such strife? I hear a rumble of thunder in the distance, hopefully I'll make it back to camp before the rain.

  The first winter since our exile was difficult; we were almost tempted to eat the Others food. There were temptations when it came to keeping warm, but we managed to keep the fire going instead. Being exiled does give a sense of freedom, we can't leave the island but there is no expectation day-to-day. You also don't have a bunch of crap rattle around in your head when you're focusing more on survival, where your next meal will come from. The longest we went was this past winter, 41 days, snowed in, 4 meal bars between us. If not for our genome fusion I'm sure we wouldn't have made it. Climbing up the fire escape I bring it up behind me, Maria is under the lean-to part of our shelter with the bags from the soldiers.

  “Hey, you left the fire escape down, not to nag but we need to keep it up.” I say.

  “I'm pretty sure I brought it up, sorry. Good news: size 13 boots.” She says with a smile. I head over and start to switch them out with my current boots. There is another crack of lightning as a warm summer rain starts to fall.

  “They fit perfect, pretty new as well.” I say.

  Rooting through the bag she stops; her eyes wide, her ajar mouth turns into the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face as she takes it out of the bag.

  “Holy fuck, it's been 17 months.” She says, joy washes over me as I look at what she's holding, a simple red apple.

  “Well 8 month if you count the apple core we split.” I say.

  “Not counting that.” She says.

  She takes a bite and lets out a deep, primal groan, the juices running down her chin.

  “Give me a bite.” I say. She holds it out and I take a bite, the juices explode in my mouth, the sweet tangy flavors slam into my tastebuds. “That's one fricken good apple.”

  She take another bite “Nope, 'fricken' isn't enough. You need to say it.” She says with a grin. “Not giving you another bite until you do.” She's slowly chewing her bite, I lick my lips just thinking of another bite.

  “That's one good fucking apple!” I scream as I snatch it from her hands and take another bite, she laughs, that's only the second time in my whole life I've said that word out loud. We sit there finishing all but the seeds, we even ate the hard core part. She looks in the bag.

  “There's more.” She pulls out a foot long sandwich, with a pile of smoked meats and cheese. There is also a beer.

  “Someone knows how to fix a lunch” I say.

  “Yup.” She replies

  We sit there and enjoy the most food we've had in one sitting in over two years, we share the beer, it isn't going to our head like it did before with the suit, but we get a comfortable buzz off it. Leaning against the wall she moves over and puts her head on my shoulder.

  “Why did we have to have something so awful happen to lead to us having the best meal of our lives?” She says.

  “I don't know, but I do know this is the best I've felt since we were exiled. I actually feel like we're more then just surviving, fully belly, a comfortable buzz. I do miss indoor plumbing.” I say.

  “Oh, there is a bar of soap in the bag as well.” She says.

  

  Standing she looks at me, the life drains from her, sheer terror is on her face, she points. I turn around, the rain behind me is warped, as my brain processes it I feel paralyzed in my core. I look down, there is a machete blade in my stomach. In front of me the falling rain is no longer warped, Stinger comes out of cloaking, his suit a chaotic swirl.

  “Finally, things have fallen in line brother.” He shoves the machete blade in the last few inches to the handle, I feel it hit my spin as it's pushed through me. I drop to my knees. I'm pretty sure Maria is screaming. He leans over and kisses to top of my head. “We're all free now, we can move forward from the past.” He pulls the machete out, so much blood is mixed with the rain water on the roof.

  Looking down at the blood is the last thing I remember before all goes black.