Lucy
Lucy played with her hair, studying herself in the bathroom mirror, the brown waves refusing to come out. She sighed in frustration and reached for something in her purse. She sighed softly, giving up on the attempt. She'd always hated them, wishing her hair was thick and strait as Victoria's. She admired Victoria. Lucy exited the bathroom, very irritated. She glanced up, jumping as her heart practically leapt out of her chest.
Alex, her high school best friend, faced her nervously as she left the bathroom. She knew he liked her, but she didn't want to breach the line of friendship. He never really asked her to do anything, and managed to compliment her while still sounding like a friend.
"I think you look just fine." He said, smiling softly at her.
"You always say that." Lucy sighed.
Alex glanced away from her, trying not to laugh as she smirked.
"What do you want?" Lucy asked.
Alex took a step back and looked down at his feet. He got tense, quickly. He didn't know what to say or what to do. Eventually, he looked back up at Lucy.
"I wanted to ask you if you were going to the valentine's dance…" He started to say.
Lucy winced at the question. This was his first time ever asking, but they were adults. She could turn him down directly without trying to avoid a quarrel. At least, that's what she told herself.
"We're not in high school anymore, Alex. Even if it was high school, I wouldn't go." Lucy said to him, trying to not crush him.
"That's fine. You want to just stay friends right…? Veronica…" Alex chuckled nervously
"What happened?" She asked.
"Veronica said that you'd be the only girl that would ever go to the dance with me." Alex said, smiling softly at her.
"Veronica likes you. She just hasn't asked you yet. Go after her." Lucy said, smiling at him.
Lucy glanced over at the vent, and saw smoke. Alex did the same thing. Lucy tried to cover her mouth, but it came too quickly and too fast for her to duck down and put a rag over her face. It also didn't smell like a fire. So what was it?
"Lucy…!" Alex said, nervous.
"I know…I think…The gas is…" Lucy started to say, but she began to feel light headed.
Alex clutched the wall, trying to support himself. Lucy collapsed, blacking out as her body hit the ground.
Lucy had never been so heavily sedated in her life. She was trying to wake up, but falling back into a light slumber. Finally, Lucy was able to force herself into consciousness. SWAT officers were staring at a bomb. Her heartbeat quickened, considering they were mumbling about what the hell they should do. A man came onto the television in the room, causing Lucy to jump slightly as she glanced over. He was giving a cruel smile to the people. Lucy tried to move her hands and talk, but she noted how her wrists were bound together and tied to her body, and she tasted some kind of wire coating in her mouth. The man had three people in the room with him. Lucy could identify them all just by what they were wearing; they were Alex, Veronica, and Felipe. They were all kneeling in front of him, bags over their heads. A shiver was sent through Lucy's spine as she blinked a few times. She wondered if it was real. Lucy tried to move again, but again she couldn't. She looked down at what was binding her. There were wires tied around Lucy's ankles, and her wrists. The wire then circulated up and into her mouth, creating a gag. She breathed as calmly as she could, and patiently waited even though she felt like screaming. There was no use for her to panic now; everything was going to be okay. She just had to believe that it would be, and everything would be okay.
"Tell us the code!" One of the SWAT officers ordered.
The man on the screen smiled. He laughed for a little bit. Lucy shivered again as she stared at the screen.
"There is no code. That's where Zake fucked up. He left a code. See? I've also made it a smart bomb." The man said in a quiet, raspy voice.
"What do you mean by a 'smart bomb'?" One of the SWAT officers asked.
"Try to cut the wires off, and it goes off. If you try to take it out of the room, it also goes off. See? I've placed it in the room below all of the hostages. It has a switch to it too. One only I carry. If you try anything funky, boom. It goes off." He said.
The SWAT officers all exchanged a glance. Lucy lay, listening to what this man was saying in shock, closing her eyes and trying to breathe slowly. Her heart was pounding now, as she felt tears form in her eyes. She would die because of this. Lucy heard the officers leaving. Lucy opened her eyes, looking towards the door in a panic, trying to get the attention of the officers as they were leaving.
She stared in fear at a man who was left in the doorway. Sunglasses blocked his eyes, but she knew his eyes were most likely augmented. He had augmented arms as well. He carefully stared at her, studying her as she hyperventilated. He then looked at the television screen; the man's back turned to them now as he studied his victims. He watched the man on the screen for a little bit, and turned his attention to the bomb. The stranger studied it for a while, before following the wires with his eyes back to Lucy. He carefully grabbed the wires at Lucy's ankles. He lightly pulled them loose enough to let Lucy pull her legs out, but not hard enough to snap them.
Lucy carefully removed her legs from the wire, responding to the man's silent plea. He got her wrists free, and Lucy helped him with the tie around herself and her mouth. She stared at him, panting and trembling. She didn't know whether or not to throw her arms around him and thank him or just run away from him. He glanced at the television through the corner of his eye. He then sighed, and picked Lucy up. Lucy tried not to scream and fought against him slightly, but eventually clung to him. She buried her head into his chest and tried not to panic any farther.
"Are you going to hurt me?" She had asked him through her quiet sobs.
"No. No I'm not. I'm here to help. Since those little fuckers came in before they were supposed to, it's been a full-on shootout. I'll get you out, though. Don't worry." He said, in his deep angelic voice.
He quietly carried her to the door, but then he stopped. A slight smile spread across his face. Lucy glanced up at him as if to ask why he was standing there, but kept quiet. She didn't know what he was going to say or do, which scared her. She wanted to know she would be safe.
"See you." He said. Then he stepped out of the room.
He ran to the nearest form of cover as the bomb exploded, using his back to block anything that could have hit Lucy. Lucy screamed as the bomb went off, closing her eyes tightly and curling her toes. She gripped the stranger tightly. After a few seconds, she realized all of the other hostages were in the room just above. She felt even worse than she did before.
"Were the hostages…Are they okay?" Lucy blurted out, studying the man's sunglasses.
"Yes. I got them out of that room before heading down." He said.
Lucy gave a nod, and stayed silent. He then headed towards the employee staircase, which confused Lucy greatly. It lead up to the offices, which was the opposite direction from the exit. When he got up, he looked around the corner to make sure no one was coming, and quietly turned down the hall.
"Which one is your office?" He asked.
"Are you going to leave me there?" Lucy asked quickly, "Why don't you just take me outside, or bring me to one of the officers?"
"It's the safest place. If you have a locked room with no shaft heading in, the only way people can get to you is through the door." The man replied, "The SWAT officers are going to be busy taking care of the threat. Once he is neutralized, they'll come back for survivors."
"That's a good plan, unless they're augmented and can punch through a wall to get to me." Lucy said, shaking a little at the thought.
The stranger glanced at her as she avoided his gaze. She knew he was watching her. She knew he was trying to figure something out, but she sighed softly.
"Two twenty four. That's my office number." Lucy said, her voice quivering.
She didn't want him to let go of her. She felt safe, for some reason. The man walked quietly to the office number, staring at the keypad. He opened it up, about ready to start hacking it before Lucy just sighed.
"Five-three-two-three." Lucy said, "That's how you get in."
"Thanks." The man mumbled in a half-assed tone.
He punched the code in and opened the door. He walked to her desk and lightly set her in the chair. He moved her face to look at him. Lucy studied the man's hard expression for a little while before glancing away from him, towards the door. She had the feeling that someone was coming, but knew it was probably not true. She glanced back at the man.
"Stay here." He told her.
"Okay. Thanks." Lucy said, trying to calm her nerves.
The man gave her a gun, and a small amount of ammunition. Lucy held the gun in her hands, shaking and looking at him in disbelief. She didn't even know how to fire one, but maybe if she just pointed it and looked intimidating they would leave her alone.
"If someone other than SWAT enters this office, shoot them. I don't want SWAT removing your corpse if it can be avoided." The man told Lucy.
Quietly, she nodded, her breathing quickening again. The man gave her a nod. He walked out of her office and turned to the puncher. The door was still open when he walked out, and she had her chance to ask the name of her savior.
"What's your name?" She asked quickly.
"We'll have time for pleasantries later." He said, giving her a look, "So long as you survive."
Lucy only nodded in reply. The man closed the door quickly. The man punched her code in, locking the door. He gave her one last look through the door, as if to make sure she knew he was leaving now, and then walked down the hall. Lucy leaned back in her chair. She noticed she lacked footwear, but didn't care much at this point. She sighed and rubbed her head with a shaking hand, placing the gun down on the table next to the box of ammo.
Is Alex okay? She thought.
Lucy couldn't shake the thought that something was wrong. Thankfully, her computer had access to some of the security cameras. Lucy booted up her computer. She saw that she couldn't access the camera for any of the rooms. Lucy sighed and rubbed her head again, covering her eyes. She wanted to cry. She shut her computer down and sighed, wiping some of the tears from her eyes. She leaned back in her chair again. Lucy softly closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. All would be okay. She'd be safe soon.
Lucy woke up to someone knocking on her office door, loudly. She sat up immediately. Lucy grabbed her gun, pointing it slyly at the door with shaking hands instinctually. She saw the SWAT officers and put the gun down, wanting to cry tears of joy. The officers, who had been pointing a gun at her, lowered them quickly. Lucy realized how stupid that must have been, since they could have easily shot her up.
"This is SWAT. We need you to open your door, now!" A man shouted.
Lucy nodded, trying to keep her hands as visible as possible now. She tried to stand, but her legs were still shaking too hard. Lucy just dropped out of her chair the moment she tried to stand and was kneeling down on the floor. She wanted to start sobbing in fear again, wondering if they were just here to kill her.
"The pass code is five-three-two-three." She said in reply, her voice shaking terribly.
The officer punched in the code, and then came into the room. A few of the others remained at the door, checking to make sure others weren't coming. He looked at Lucy first, and then around the office, making sure she was alone. Lucy kept on her knees for the whole ordeal, trying her best not to look at the man for too long. The officer gently tapped her shoulder, kneeling in front of her.
"If you want, you can collect your things now." The man said gently.
Lucy nodded, handing the gun the stranger had given her to the officer, as well as the ammunition. She was within reach of her bag and grabbed it, studying it to make sure everything was still in there. Everything was, by some magic. She closed the bag up and placed a hand over her eyes, trying not to start sobbing again. She was a mess.
"Can you walk?" He asked her, causing Lucy to jump and glance up at the officer.
Lucy shook her head. Lucy clutched her bag close and sighed bitterly, bracing her hand on the table to try and pull herself up. The officer took the opportunity Lucy gave to pick Lucy up the same way the man did earlier. She carefully breathed a sigh to calm her nerves, and relaxed into the officer. She knew that it would be safe now, at least she hoped.
She was taken in for questioning, but they didn't go too rough on her with the questions. She told the people everything that happened to her, including the man giving her a gun (which she mentioned she'd already given to an officer). They didn't really approve of him giving her a weapon. They wanted to take it from her, and she would have let them. When they saw what type of gun it was, they gave it back, telling Lucy she had to give it back to its rightful owner if they ever crossed paths again. Lucy figured that wasn't part of department policy, but she didn't comment on it. She nervously played with her bag after she put the gun in it.
"Is Alex okay?" She asked.
She'd hoped for good news. The officer shook his head.
"He and the two others in captivity were killed." The officer said, "I'm sorry to say."
Lucy lowered her gaze. Her chest felt tight when she heard the news. She couldn't believe it…some of her co-workers were actually dead. Was it her fault? Why them? Why couldn't she have died instead? Maybe if she'd been killed, they would still be here. Maybe…
Numbly, she finished the questioning and wandered around Detroit. She wasn't really paying any attention to where she was going, but somehow she made it to her apartment building. The officers at the station were kind enough to give Lucy someone's shoes. They told her the person who had them wouldn't need them anymore. Lucy stared at her apartment door numbly for a while, trying to figure out what had just happened. She wanted to know what had just gone on. Lucy finally glanced at the door. It had a little note taped to it.
Call 312-244-5782.
Hesitantly, Lucy pulled the note off of the door. She tried the door first, noticing it was locked still. Breathing a sigh of relief, Lucy unlocked her door and stepped inside. Everything was just as she'd left it, which made Lucy relax only slightly. Lucy shut the door behind her and locked it, tossing her bag on the table. She studied the note for a while as she tried to figure out whose handwriting it was. Nervously, she picked up her cell phone.
It could be a trap, she thought, or worse.
She slowly dialed the number. She put the phone to her ear and waited for only a few seconds. There was an immediate answer. For a while it was quiet, neither of them talking. Lucy felt like someone was going to shoot her now, as if it was a confirmation for who the attackers from earlier were supposed to kill.
"Hello?" Lucy asked, nervously.
"Hi there. I need you to do something for me." The man from before said.
"Why?" She asked, tense.
How could she know what he was planning? What if he was working for them? What if…
"I understand why you are hesitant, but I'm not the enemy. I want to help you. Now, I need you to walk to your window for just a second." He spoke, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"How can you—Oh right..."
"Look down onto the road. I'm going to wave. Place your hand on the window if you see me wave." The man said calmly.
"Why?" Lucy asked sternly.
"I need to actually confirm that you got in your apartment. I left my number on the door for you, but I've had a lot of experience with other Augs. I need to know you got home safely." The man replied quickly, "If I can't get the confirmation I have to assume you're an Aug and I'll have to go up there to deal with you."
She walked over to the window and looked down. She saw the man wave up. She placed her hand on the window. The man sighed on the other end, and Lucy removed her hand. She turned away from the window, leaning against it as she folded her arms.
"Good. Now, I'm going to come up to your apartment later, since I'm getting another call. Expect me from any time between 7:30 pm to 5:40 am." The man said.
"Why?" Lucy asked, trying to hide her fear, "Why do you want to come up? Isn't the visual conformation enough or do you need to see me up close to make sure I'm not an Aug?"
The man fell silent for a while.
"No, I don't need to confirm anything." The man replied, "I want to make sure you're okay. You also still have one of my guns."
"Well I'm fine, thank you. Please leave me alone. You can come and get your gun but that's it." Lucy's voice came off as sharp.
"Right, I'll believe that you're okay when Hell freezes over." The man spoke calmly, "I'll be up soon, I promise, I'm just getting another call. I'm sorry for freaking you out, I really am, but I take my job seriously. Goodbye."
She hung up and tossed her phone onto her couch. She slid down the window and sighed, covering her eyes. She was ashamed of how she'd treated the man, but she was on edge. She didn't know what to think or do. She got up after a few seconds of shedding tears and removed the gun from her bag. She placed it on the table, not willing to see the man for the rest of the night.
Lucy tried to go to bed, but found that she couldn't sleep. Her nightmares kept forcing her awake. She eventually re-located onto the couch, where she turned on the television and watched one of the cartoon channels to try and clear her mind.
Edit: I realized that I wanted to make the story more realistic than it was, so I did.