Chapter Two: Taken
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"I'm right here" Joseph assured the elderly woman as he leant closer over her hospital bed to hold her hand.
"You're a good boy" she told him "and a good son.". Her eyes slowly closed and her grip relaxed slightly, giving Joseph a moment's panic before she suddenly sat up and sneezed.
"Bless you" he said, with a half laugh and a relieved smile. His mother looked up and smiled at him as if the mere presence of having her only son with her made her final days worthwhile. She lifted her weak arm from his grasp and placed it on his face.
"Aargh!" Joseph cried out as hundreds of volts surged through his body, slamming him to the hospital floor. His eyes swam out of focus as the pained moans of his mother echoed faintly above him.
"Hostile neutralised" came an unfamiliar voice "call a nurse, the old bird got zapped too.". Joseph blinked to see numerous sets of boots walking around him and heard the distant drone of a heart monitor flatlining...
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"Don't shoot!" Rebecca screamed, throwing her arms in front of her face, as her barmaid friend shrieked. It was too late, the soldier took at shot directly at Rebecca's face.
Her entire life, summed up in a few crude milliseconds of thought flashed before her eyes. Her third birthday: a policeman reluctantly explains to her why her father won't stop crying and why she'll never see her mother again... Six years old: she's accidentally knocked down the stairs by her father, leading to a month long stay in hospital, sixteenth birthday: kicked out of the house by her new stepmother for not contributing enough money to the family funds...
And here she was, at the end of it all. Almost twenty years made worthless by the small piece of metal now flying at her face.
But then a miracle happened. For the second time that night came the spectral crackling and Rebecca watched in awe and the bullet seemed to strike an invisible barrier inches from her face, sending blue sparks flying in every direction other than at Rebecca.
"I need backup!" the Shooter cried, lowering his gun and taking a step back.
The momentary feeling of intense relief that had swept over Rebecca suddenly crashed down to lie like poison eating away at the pit of her stomach.
Her hand flew to her mouth. Whether to stop her crying out or to stop her throwing up she didn't know. Her friend lay on the floor in a sitting position, her lifeless body rested against the bar. Her life slowly seeping from her chest, where the deflected bullet had hit.
"Oh my god" she mouthed soundlessly, before stealthily exiting through a side door that led into an alleyway outside the bar.
As she ran towards the street, an unmarked van with blackened windows screeched to a halt in front of her. "Get in!" yelled an unfamiliar voice from inside and a door slid open.
A deafening boom signalled that it was too late - Rebecca was suddenly aware of herself falling as a searing, unimaginable pain shot through her left leg. Another boom immediately followed, though this one seemed different somehow. She span around onto her back as various mismatched pieces of metal debris flew at her, only to be deflected by the mysterious barrier.
A brief glimpse of a goverment agent cradling bleeding hands and the sudden firm grip of someone dragging her from behind swam across Rebecca's mind until there was nothing but blackness.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
There was a brief knocking at the door, as Katya stood alone in the dining room, contemplating her situation. There really was no way out.
"Coming" she called, as she approached the door. Through the panel of frosted glass in the front door, Katya took note of a remarkably short figure, before remembering one of the four just outside was significantly smaller than the rest.
After taking a deep, steadying breath, Katya opened the door.
She found herself looking at a soldier she would guess was about 20 years old, only a few years younger than herself, despite his boyish stature and looks. He had an innately trustworthy manner about him that Katya couldn't quite justify.
"Good evening, please come with me." he addressed her, curtly offering an arm to escort her.
"Of course." she replied, accompanying him past agitated-looking soldiers who eyed her with suspicion as she approached.
"Stand down, the operation is complete" he instructed them casually, as he led her into a nearby vehicle. "I'll need you to drive, if you don't mind." he told Katya, who, after considering him for a moment, wordlessly obliged. He handed her a map, which had a designated route already marked. "And drive fast, we don't want to be followed."
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"He's waking up." an excited voice called to his peers as Joseph slowly blinked, bringing into focus the dark interior of a van, filled with soldiers who began scurrying around for weapons to aim at him. "Don't move" the voice ordered him, taking aim between Joseph's eyes.
"What's going on?" he murmured groggily as blurry memories began to form in his mind.
A different voice sounded from nearby: "You have been deemed a threat in the eyes of the United States goverment and therefore are to be removed from society until such a time that -"
"You killed her..." Joseph interrupted, suddenly remembering. "You killed my mother!" As he felt the anger swell up inside him like a boiling wave of injustice, a series of clicks told him the people around him were arming their weapons. "Who the HELL are you people!?" he bellowed, suddenly becoming aware he was heavily chained to a reinforced chair nailed to the van's floor.
"We represent -" the official-sounding soldier began.
"We're the ones that take dangerous freaks like you off the streets" interrupted the same excited voice Joseph had heard before.
"Dangerous?" Joseph repeated through gritted teeth, the frustration that had been dwelling within him since learning of his mother's condition churned inside him like some monstrous disease. "Freak?" His face grew hot and sweaty as his temper reached dizzying levels.
The excited soldier spat in Joseph's face, who suddenly convulsed. He cried out as the tense feeling within his chest immediately changed to become an unbearable pain, as though his insides were being violently compressed.
Without warning, Joseph suddenly roared, throwing his head backwards as the tension exploded from his chest and his world became engulfed in chaos.
Passing motorists looked on in horror as a cataclysmic pulse of energy erupted from the van, which was blown to pieces before their eyes, some cars being forced temporarily off the ground a few yards by the blast.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
To Be Continued...
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"I'm right here" Joseph assured the elderly woman as he leant closer over her hospital bed to hold her hand.
"You're a good boy" she told him "and a good son.". Her eyes slowly closed and her grip relaxed slightly, giving Joseph a moment's panic before she suddenly sat up and sneezed.
"Bless you" he said, with a half laugh and a relieved smile. His mother looked up and smiled at him as if the mere presence of having her only son with her made her final days worthwhile. She lifted her weak arm from his grasp and placed it on his face.
"Aargh!" Joseph cried out as hundreds of volts surged through his body, slamming him to the hospital floor. His eyes swam out of focus as the pained moans of his mother echoed faintly above him.
"Hostile neutralised" came an unfamiliar voice "call a nurse, the old bird got zapped too.". Joseph blinked to see numerous sets of boots walking around him and heard the distant drone of a heart monitor flatlining...
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"Don't shoot!" Rebecca screamed, throwing her arms in front of her face, as her barmaid friend shrieked. It was too late, the soldier took at shot directly at Rebecca's face.
Her entire life, summed up in a few crude milliseconds of thought flashed before her eyes. Her third birthday: a policeman reluctantly explains to her why her father won't stop crying and why she'll never see her mother again... Six years old: she's accidentally knocked down the stairs by her father, leading to a month long stay in hospital, sixteenth birthday: kicked out of the house by her new stepmother for not contributing enough money to the family funds...
And here she was, at the end of it all. Almost twenty years made worthless by the small piece of metal now flying at her face.
But then a miracle happened. For the second time that night came the spectral crackling and Rebecca watched in awe and the bullet seemed to strike an invisible barrier inches from her face, sending blue sparks flying in every direction other than at Rebecca.
"I need backup!" the Shooter cried, lowering his gun and taking a step back.
The momentary feeling of intense relief that had swept over Rebecca suddenly crashed down to lie like poison eating away at the pit of her stomach.
Her hand flew to her mouth. Whether to stop her crying out or to stop her throwing up she didn't know. Her friend lay on the floor in a sitting position, her lifeless body rested against the bar. Her life slowly seeping from her chest, where the deflected bullet had hit.
"Oh my god" she mouthed soundlessly, before stealthily exiting through a side door that led into an alleyway outside the bar.
As she ran towards the street, an unmarked van with blackened windows screeched to a halt in front of her. "Get in!" yelled an unfamiliar voice from inside and a door slid open.
A deafening boom signalled that it was too late - Rebecca was suddenly aware of herself falling as a searing, unimaginable pain shot through her left leg. Another boom immediately followed, though this one seemed different somehow. She span around onto her back as various mismatched pieces of metal debris flew at her, only to be deflected by the mysterious barrier.
A brief glimpse of a goverment agent cradling bleeding hands and the sudden firm grip of someone dragging her from behind swam across Rebecca's mind until there was nothing but blackness.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
There was a brief knocking at the door, as Katya stood alone in the dining room, contemplating her situation. There really was no way out.
"Coming" she called, as she approached the door. Through the panel of frosted glass in the front door, Katya took note of a remarkably short figure, before remembering one of the four just outside was significantly smaller than the rest.
After taking a deep, steadying breath, Katya opened the door.
She found herself looking at a soldier she would guess was about 20 years old, only a few years younger than herself, despite his boyish stature and looks. He had an innately trustworthy manner about him that Katya couldn't quite justify.
"Good evening, please come with me." he addressed her, curtly offering an arm to escort her.
"Of course." she replied, accompanying him past agitated-looking soldiers who eyed her with suspicion as she approached.
"Stand down, the operation is complete" he instructed them casually, as he led her into a nearby vehicle. "I'll need you to drive, if you don't mind." he told Katya, who, after considering him for a moment, wordlessly obliged. He handed her a map, which had a designated route already marked. "And drive fast, we don't want to be followed."
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
"He's waking up." an excited voice called to his peers as Joseph slowly blinked, bringing into focus the dark interior of a van, filled with soldiers who began scurrying around for weapons to aim at him. "Don't move" the voice ordered him, taking aim between Joseph's eyes.
"What's going on?" he murmured groggily as blurry memories began to form in his mind.
A different voice sounded from nearby: "You have been deemed a threat in the eyes of the United States goverment and therefore are to be removed from society until such a time that -"
"You killed her..." Joseph interrupted, suddenly remembering. "You killed my mother!" As he felt the anger swell up inside him like a boiling wave of injustice, a series of clicks told him the people around him were arming their weapons. "Who the HELL are you people!?" he bellowed, suddenly becoming aware he was heavily chained to a reinforced chair nailed to the van's floor.
"We represent -" the official-sounding soldier began.
"We're the ones that take dangerous freaks like you off the streets" interrupted the same excited voice Joseph had heard before.
"Dangerous?" Joseph repeated through gritted teeth, the frustration that had been dwelling within him since learning of his mother's condition churned inside him like some monstrous disease. "Freak?" His face grew hot and sweaty as his temper reached dizzying levels.
The excited soldier spat in Joseph's face, who suddenly convulsed. He cried out as the tense feeling within his chest immediately changed to become an unbearable pain, as though his insides were being violently compressed.
Without warning, Joseph suddenly roared, throwing his head backwards as the tension exploded from his chest and his world became engulfed in chaos.
Passing motorists looked on in horror as a cataclysmic pulse of energy erupted from the van, which was blown to pieces before their eyes, some cars being forced temporarily off the ground a few yards by the blast.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
To Be Continued...