Twenty-one years. Twenty-one years it took for me to be free. With the wind whisking past my face, I’d never felt such freedom as I did riding this bike. A surge of adrenaline zapped through me as I hammered down to the apartment blocks I looked into before I left.
Pulling up to the curb, my bike rumbling under me I took my helmet off and threw my hoodie over my head. It was becoming a standard trait for me to have it on now. With The Army out for blood, my face needed to be hidden constantly. Shoving the gloves into my pocket, I walked toward the door. The walls covered in holes, little windows scattered around with only one way in and one way out. It was a shit hole, but it’d do. Until I figured out my money situation, I needed to be smart with how I spent the money I had. Pulling open the door, the smell of cigarettes and dirty diapers hit me. Jesus Christ, this place was less than a shithole.
“Can I help you?” The woman asked who sat behind a glass shield with a cigarette hanging from her mouth and her ratty hair trailing down her back. She had to be around sixty and she was a scary looking bitch too.
“Yeah, any rooms available?” I asked, cocking my head, running my eyes over her form.
She paused for a brief second, eying me up and down before reaching under her desk and pushing her chair up to stand. “Follow me.”
When she finally left, I gathered my belongings—which wasn’t much, just a backpack with a few items in it—before walking into the small unit. The room was a rundown absolute shit hole, but from where I’d just come from, this was luxury.
Walking into the bathroom, there were stains stretched wide over the vinyl flooring like puddles of washed up dirt. I turned the faucet on, ripped my clothes off, and stepped into the hot cascading water. Well, at least it was fucking warm, I was half expecting it to be cold.
Wrapping a towel around my waist, I ran my hands over my head, wiping the water off me when a scream vibrated through the walls. My body stilled, every instinct I had sparked to life.
“No, no, no,” the desperate voice pleaded.
There was something in that pleading voice that pulled me in deep. The scream sank into my skin like fangs, lodging itself under my skin.
“Fuck,” I muttered, taking out a shirt from my bag before popping open a beer and sitting back on the couch. It was one in the morning, I should be sleeping. But with sleep, came the nightmares. I never knew where they came from. Memories I’d lost from the serum? Or just my imagination running wild while my eyes were closed…
With the rifle sitting propped on my shoulder, I rounded the building where my target lay. Looking up to the building opposite, I saw Hella lying on his stomach, peeping through the scope of his rifle. Pulling the ski mask over my face, I carried on through the dark alley, the street lights pitch black from being shot out. Reaching the power box that controlled the building, I popped it open and cut the main source of power, the windows above my head shutting to black instantly. I pulled the walkie-talkie out from the side of my vest, pushing on the button.
“Lights out. Heading in.”
“Roger,” Hella answered.
Kicking down the door, I raised my gun up to shoulder level and descended into the darkness, night vision goggles sitting over my eyes giving me florescent green vision. A gray figure came into view, my finger reacting instantly, the sound of the shot silent. I continued my shuffling down the long dark hallway, glancing down at the GPS map in my pocket, the target zoned into the room that sat in front of me. Raising up a gun, I kicked open the door where multiple figures appeared. Aiming at the first one, I shot him, taking each one down—failing in their attempts at escaping—until they dropped to the pavement. Once the room was clear, I pushed up the walkie-talkie. “She’s clear.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, what? You want me to double check?”
“Yeah, shake them just to make sure.”
“Hella, you’re a sick fucker.”
“You love it. Hurry up, no doubt they’ll have some crew coming out.”
Shaking my head, I brought my hand to my thigh where my holster was wrapped. Unclipping the buckle, I pulled out my Eickhorn Advance Combat Knife and made my way to the first body that I could see beaming through my night vision. One after one, I lodged my knife deep into their bodies. The spraying residue from the destruction splattered over my skin like a thunderstorm of showers raining down on hell. After finishing with the final body, a glimpse of movement lit up my vision and my head snapped to where it came from. Tilting my head, I zoned in on the little figure that was sitting under the table clutching her brown teddy-bear with a tight pink bow tied across the ears. The little girl looked around the room, fear smothered all over her face as she clutched her teddy tighter, pulling it into her while squeezing her eyes shut tightly. Tears strolled down her eyes and her sobbing came in forceful heaves as her whimpers racked her body viciously. Dropping my gun, I pushed on the walkie-talkie.