Chapter 4: You're not that good

She had sent Biggs to look around the area, and to keep in contact via cell phones. She found herself at ground zero, where a temporary command was established by the police. At least there was more than 16 armed police personal armed with heavy firepower enough to subdue the so-called freak.

What appeared to be the person in charge, was saying something to the troops surrounding him and pointing toward an open laptop. What harm can a little eavesdropping do? She thought and unbeknown to her another girl she once knew was doing the exact same thing.

Cop: The thing dragged the girl underground here. Now, it can't have gotten too far. Carson, get on the horn to the DWP and have 'em close the sluice gates here, here, and here. I want men posted at every entrance to the sewer, every manhole within four square miles. Nobody gets in or out. We're gonna trap this thing down there, and deploy from the perimeter. We search every tunnel, every nook and cranny, until we flush it back to this position for the takedown.

ANOTHER COP: What about the girl?

FIRST COP: We assume she's alive until we know otherwise. Her safety is our top priority. All right, gentlemen, we got jobs to do. Let's get to 'em.

Both girls walked away from the crowd with a purpose to her every step, making sure this doesn't end badly for anyone involved.

An Hour latter:

Vada grunted as she lifted herself from the sewer entrance. She was tired, grumpy and she felt she was going to puke her guts out. The sewers were disgusting with a capital D and on top of that she hadn't found any trace of the transhuman or the blind girl.

She looked up and found Biggs leaning against an old car, the policeman assigned to this position, unconscious at his feet.

"Any luck?" he asked even though he knew the answer.

"Nada." She answered exhaustion evident in her tune.

Awkwardly, Biggs patted her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"I'm going to head back to where they sit-up their mobile command and see what did they find. You look like you could use the sleep, why don't you head out to a motel and book us a room huh?" she told him after a minute of silence.

"Is that an order?" he teased.

"Do you want it to be?" she said in the same tune he used with a hint of 'don't even bother to argue'.

"Fine, fine I'll go. Keep me updated, ok?" he gave in.

"Sure, now go" she waved as he disappeared from sight.

Vada looked around in shock, when it was only no more than fifty people or so; now the place was packed with what appeared to be hundreds of people. Some were watching, others selling t-shirt with police's sketch of the transhuman. Even one was selling Fudgy Buddy ice-cream cones.

She made her way through the people to where she stood not long ago and looked at the police force, they were surrounding their leader; heads down looking at the same laptop screen, a dark –haired policeman grabbed his radio and listened and so did she.

Tunnels J-6 and J-12 are secure.

Second Cop: That's the last of them.

First Cop: There's no way it could've gotten out. Just no way. (Into a radio) All units return to your initial deployment points. We're searching the area again.

Where the hell could it have gone? She thought puzzled. Her call phone rang; the number displayed indicated it was Biggs. She flipped it open, put it to her ear and started to walk. Her leather jacket clutched in her hand, walking with a long-sleeved white blouse.

"Anything new?" his voice tired.

"Nothing changed in the last 15 minutes since you left." Her tune was sarcastic as ever.

"I worry" he explained.

"I know. And no, nothing new" she sighed and continued to walk through the throngs of people. Her shoulder snapped to the right and she hissed as her week-old bullet wounded shifted. She looked up at the guy who bumped into her "Watch it" she growled.

"What is it?" Biggs asked.

"Sorry." The guy lowered his hood and his face looked sincere in his apology. His green eyes shifted toward her shoulder and he could see a red stain forming at her white blouse, from where his shoulder met hers in a non-gentle way.

"You're bleeding" his hand automatically reaching to inspect the wound. Instinctively, her hand caught his mid-air, stilling it with her strong grip; perhaps too strong for what appeared to be an ordinary human girl. But she was far from human and she didn't like to be touched by ordinaries.

"Don't fucking touch me" she gritted through her clenched teeth.

"Bleeding? What happened? Get your hands of her you sonofabitch" Biggs voice rang loudly through the phone.

She shrugged her jacket on and left the man standing; mouth agape in shock.

"Biggs, nothing wrong. Just some idiot bumped into my shoulder not too gently I might add and he might have opened my bullet wound" she tried to reassure him she was fine.

"Look the cops searched every tunnel known to man and haven't found anything so I am thinking that we leave this to the cops and concentrate on finding the promise land for us freaks"

"Already ahead of you. It's Terminal City. There's a biochemical accident in sector seven. It's a fenced-in area.

"But people usually go there when they've got nowhere to go and nothing to lose."

"Like Transhumans."

"Worth looking into. Tomorrow we'll start looking for a job and then head out to Terminal City"