Kimberly's Run
Chapter Six
Where there is a Will
By Captainkodak1

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The humid air stank of mold and mildew as Kim and Ron trotted through an old section of the city. Will's jabs and kick to the ribs were taking their toll on Ron, so Kim held back to stay with him.

"Got… to stop," Ron gasped. He slid to the floor, clutching his side. Kim knelt beside him and pulled up his shirt. She grimaced at the bruise that was already forming. She gently probed his side. A hissing noise through his teeth was all the sound he made. Kim pulled his shirt back down.

"Nothing broken but I'll bet it hurts."

Ron tried to laugh.

"You need to go to New Las Vegas, because you seem to bet on sure things."

Kim stared at Ron for a second and began to giggle. She hadn't giggled a lot until she had met him again. Kim pulled his face to her and gently gave him a kiss. When she pulled back, he was clearly lost in the feeling.

"W-o-w. Talk about great painkillers! Your kisses are the best!"

Kim smiled at him.

"Okay. We need to get moving. I have no idea how long Will will be down. As soon as he comes to and sounds the alarm our lives won't be worth a shorted chip. Now, where do we go from here?"

Ron looked up and read the sequence of letters and numbers painted on the wall.

"Looks like just about half a mile to where we are headed. Then we'll need to head up to "A New You". What do you want to have done? A new face, new body or what?"

Kim blanched.

"You mean they actually expect us to undergo an operation?"

Ron shook his head.

"Not really. Besides, I don't want you messing with that beautiful face and body anyway. It's already perfect."

Kim stared openmouthed back at Ron. Her mouth closed to a sly smile.

"If you keep complimenting me like that I'll have to hire someone to beat you up on a regular basis. Now come on."

Kim pulled Ron to his feet and they ran down the pipe corridor.

"H-m-m-m," Kim observed. "Maybe we can do something about those ears."

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Will opened his eyes to a bright light shining down from above. Trying to block the light with his hand, he found he could barely move. The light went away and he saw blurry shapes all around him. He blinked his eyes and found his vision gradually coming into focus. He could hear sounds; garbled at first but slowly clearing. He glanced up again to see one of the DS doctors looking at him. A hand touched him on the shoulder; he turned to see David 12, one of the head DS agents for his section. Will raised his head for a second, glanced about the room and found there were a number of other DS agents there all looking at him. He laid his head back when the movement caused his head to hurt.

"Will. Can you hear me? Will? What happened?"

Will shook his head and the pain slowly faded. He tried to speak but found his mouth so dry he was unable to do so. The doctor held a cup of water to his lips and he gulped downed the entire cup. Slowly with assistance he sat up on the gurney.

"How long?"

David 12 looked at him.

"How long what?"

Will tried to shake the rock band out of his head.

"How long have I been out?"

David 12 checked a tablet next to him.

"We received your beacon at 13:45. We think it had been transmitting for awhile before it was able to work its way through the interference down there. It wasn't until a repair crew turned off the steam to the line near you that we even were able to hear it. The steam line had been broken about 13:30. It's 15:45 now. You've been out for about two hours."

Will set his feet on the floor, tried to stand but immediately collapsed. David and the doctor caught him. Will grabbed David by the sleeve.

"We have a situation. Kimberly 7 has gone rogue!"

The room went instantly silent. David's eyes bore into Will's.

Will closed his eyes.

"Kimberly's gone rogue. Her LastDay is within the week. The man she's been seeing --- the one suspected of helping runners --- I've got proof that he's doing it. I also have proof that David 4 was not shot by the runner. Kimberly shot David 4."

"You'd better have a lot of proof before making a charge like that," spoke Michael sternly.

Will glared back.

"Are you listening to me? Kim shot David. I think she did it to protect that Ron. He's facing his LastDay, too. Don't you understand? It was Kim and that Ron that put me out. Kim nearly blew my head off. They're running and Kim's armed. We have to track them now before they get away."

David turned to the other DS agents.

"Okay. Just in case, let's put out a search."

David turned back to Will.

"You say she's armed. Does she have anything else other than her DS gun?"

Will nodded.

"We'd just made a run in the Cathedral area. She's carrying her gun, plus at least one extra power pack and three or four times the extra rounds we normally carry. She knows the underground better than any of us and I bet that Ron knows them even better than her. I don't know how, but she got in the computer and changed Ron's data to show he wasn't affiliated with the runners. She also changed some records about the runner that got killed by the cubs. I think she has special information on where the runners are going and she's using that to protect the two of them."

The other agents winced when they heard how much Kim was armed. They knew she was tough enough with a standard load. Now she had at least four times that. They were not looking forward to confronting her.

David shook his head as he turned away from Will.

"Okay, full scale search. Get some men down underground. Pair up and work in teams. Do not --- I repeat --- do not go off on your own. The odds will be in your favor as long as you work together. Now move!"

The agents filed quickly from the room as Will's face creased into a little smile. Things were getting better and better.

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Ron led the way as he and Kim approached the door out into the hallway. There were a number of people walking by: shopping, heading to work, or just out walking. Everyone was in the light flowing clothes that were common. Kim looked down at their clothes.

"Ron, we're really going to stand out walking in these clothes. Might as well yell 'Look at us! We're different!'"

Ron looked around and noticed a cart loaded down with repair equipment. He grabbed a safety helmet from one of the racks and plopped it down on Kim's head. He picked up another off the rack and put it on.

"Now we're just two repair techs heading for our next job. All you have to do is look like you know what you're doing and they'll ignore you. Who cares what a repair tech wears on the job? They're just lowlife anyway."

Kim tucked her hair down into her collar and settled the helmet further back on her head. Ron pushed the door open and she rolled the cart out into the hallway. Ron stepped behind the cart and started to push it. Kim fell into place next to him and they headed up the hallway. Soon Kim saw the sign flashing on the side of the building.

"A NEW YOU."

Ron turned down a small alley and pushed the repair cart out of the way. Kim tossed him her helmet and he dropped it on the cart. Taking his off he placed it on top off the one she had been wearing. Ron reached into his pocket and took out both the ankhs that were in his pocket. Kim pushed on the door to the clinic and stepped in.

One wall of the reception room was lined with Plastiform chairs that had seen better days. The paint on the walls was discolored and stained; stained with what Kim was sure she didn't want to know. A young man sat at the reception desk reading a holomag. Kim and Ron walked up to the desk and waited as the receptionist ignored them, staring closely at one of the holographic pictures. Kim was about to reach over and strangle him when he put down the magazine.

"Welcome to 'A New You'. How may I help you?"

Ron placed the two ankhs on the table. The young man turned a pasty white for a moment then nodded.

"Hand?"

Kim and Ron both raised their palms, showing their palmflowers blinking rapidly.

"Well then, you'll be needing to see the Doc. Come on back. What would you like to have done: a new face, a new body or both?"

He turned and stared at Ron.

"I'm sure we can do something with those ears."

Before Ron could complain the young man led them into a circular enclosure that was in the center of a room full of equipment. Inside the enclosure was something like a bed. The receptionist turned to the two of them.

"Now, who will be first? Why not the lady? 'Ladies first', you know. First I need you take everything out of your pockets. You can give them to your friend here. He can hold them until we're finished."

Kim hesitated.

"But I really don'twant anything done."

The receptionist nodded.

"That's okay. We've gone through the motions. All for show, you know. Let's get you ready."

Kim and Ron stepped out of the enclosure and over to a table with some chairs. Crowding next to Ron, Kim pulled her DS gun out of her waistband, slipped it into his hands and down the front of his pants.

"If anything goes wrong, don't think, don't ask questions; just shoot it. Just aim and squeeze the trigger. Oh, by the way: please be careful if and when you pull it out of your pants. Don't put your finger on the trigger until you pull it out. We wouldn't want to lose something important."

Kim patted Ron on the cheek and gave him a kiss. Ron thought about what Kim had said and then turned beet red.

Kim followed the receptionist into the enclosure. Above the table hung a myriad of surgical implements. The Ferguson Auto-Surgical table was the best there was. The machine could do practically anything. How did a hole-in-the-wall operation get hold of one?, Kim wondered. It could lengthen bone, broaden shoulders, even change dental patterns. It would sever a bone in a second or cradle a single nerve with exquisite care. It was precise, unemotional.

Kim lay on the table as the receptionist strapped her down.

The man patted Kim on the shoulder.

"Now, just what do you want done?"

"Well, well. It's Kim. Nice to see you again, K."

Kim turned her head to see the Doc. If she had been standing her jaw would have hit the floor. Beside her stood Bonnie 15 dressed in surgical garb, her arms crossed. Bonnie smiled evilly at Kim.

"I'm surprised the city's leading Sandman has come here to get a change. I suppose Icould change your face, but even the computer can't help that. I could tell the table to change what you have up front but the trouble is it has to have something to work with."

Kim had to clench her teeth to keep from retorting. Right now she was at the mercy of the person at the controls. She glanced over to Ron to see that he had stood up with his hands in front of him.

"I don't have time for you now, Bonnie. We need the next step to Sanctuary."

Bonnie sneered.

"Like you ever had time for me. And why should I tell a Sandman where Sanctuary is? Give me some credit."

There was a beeping from the control table and Bonnie walked over to look down at the screen. An ominous smile crossed her face.

"Well, well, well. We've been a bad little Sandman, haven't we? I just got word that every Sandman in the TriCities is looking for you two. Seems like you killed another Sandman to protect your little boy toy over there. There seems to be a little reward for your hide. Well, they didn't say what condition your hide had to be in."

Bonnie's hands flew over the controls of the unit. A spin knife lowered toward Kim's face. Kim tried to bury the back of her head into the padding of the table as the knife came closer to her face.

Ron didn't know what was happening but it could not be good. Seeing the receptionist and the doctor were focused on Kim, he slowly and carefully removed her gun from his pants. He just about had it all the way out of his waistband when it went off, severing his belt and causing his pants to drop down to his ankles.

The sound of the DS gun in the small room was unmistakable. Bonnie spun around and stared wide-eyed as Ron leveled the DS gun and fired. The round struck the table in a shower of sparks. The equipment above flailed about crazily. Kim sucked in her breath as knives lasers and saws spun all around her. One knife hissed down and severed the strap holding her wrist. She pulled her hand free, released the rest of the straps and rolled off the table.

Bonnie screamed in frustration and fled down a short hall. The receptionist ran from the room in the direction they had come. Kim crawled out of the enclosure as the machine attacked itself, shredded pieces flying everywhere as sparks flew. Running over, Ron attempted to cover her with one hand while holding up his pants with the other.

Snatching the gun from Ron, Kim stuffed it in the waistband of her pants. She then spun a piece of her shredded shirt into a rope, threaded it through the belt loops of Ron's pants and quickly tied it in a knot to hold them up. As she was doing this, Ron's eyes grew wide at something he saw behind her. He shoved her to the side.

"Look out, Kim!"

Kim felt a chill in the air as something swished by her head. Ron yelled as the floor around his feet exploded in ice.

A Popsicle!

Kim spun to face her assailant. Bonnie stood there with the refrigerated riot club in her hand. One blow to the chest and every bit of moisture in her body would be instantly frozen. She drew her gun, but Bonnie swung at her, knocking it from her hands. The gun spun to the floor covered in frost. Kim backed up as Bonnie advanced, flipping the club from one hand to the other. Bonnie got closer as Kim continued to retreat. She was soon cornered. Tripping over a chair, she fell sprawling to the floor.

Bonnie grinned wickedly.

"They didn't say anything about you being frozen. Say goodbye to the loser, K!"

Bonnie swung the club out to hit Kim when it was snatched from her hands. She spun to see Ron backing up, holding it in his hands. He flipped it in his hands a couple of times as he continued to back up.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO ME, YOU LOSER!" Bonnie screamed.

"Sure!" Ron tossed it back to her. There was an explosion of frost. Kim glanced up to see Bonnie standing there holding the Popsicle; only she was holding the wrong end. She was covered in frost and frozen solid. Ron stepped back a little bit with a smile on his face.

"Uh–oh. My bad. I guess I should have given you the other end."

Kim got up and trotted over to Ron. Taking his face in her hands she gave him a kiss.

"That's for keeping that table from giving me a total body lift…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a second kiss that sucked the breath from his lungs.

"…and that's for keeping me from being turned into a Kimcicle. Now, let's get out of here. Do you know where to go?"

The receptionist appeared from around the corner.

"You need to head for Cathedral. Your next stop's there. If you can survive the cubs, you'll be able to get out of the city and onto the next stop."

The man handed Kim and Ron two mazekeys, keys to fit into a mazecar. The maze was a vast-beyond-imagination network of tunnels that connected cities, nations and continents. The mazecars navigated these tunnels; black steel beetles that burrowed through the subterranean depths at fantastic speeds.

"Just follow the instructions. You'd better get going. She had a deal with some of the Sandmen. She'd turn over certain runners, either letting the table tear them apart, or pop them with a Popsicle. I'll dose myself with something to put me under a bit. Now get going. Tell Ballard we'll need a new Doc."

Kim stopped as she picked up all their stuff.

"Ballard? He'sreal?"

The man nodded.

"Oh, yes. V-e-r-y real. I imagine you'll see him sooner or later. Now get going."

Kim turned, walked up to Bonnie and stared into her frozen face.

"I always suspected you were frigid, B. Nice to know I was right."

Kim and Ron dashed out of the building and to the nearest mazecar station. Climbing in, Kim inserted a mazekey into the slot on the console. The car hummed for a moment and then started off into the darkness of the tunnel.

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The mazecar came to a stop at a deserted station. The plaster walls were pockmarked with holes. Ceiling tiles lay strewn on the floor. A weathered poster peeled slowly away from the wall. Over it all hung a rust-stained sign:

"Cathedral"

Kim and Ron exited the car with their packs and looked around. The clamshell doors of the mazecar closed behind them and it immediately zipped off down the tunnel.

The only sound was the dripping of water. Then in the distance a new sound came to their ears.

"Sandman, Sandman

Leave my door,

Don't come back here

Anymore."

Kim pulled her gun from her waistbelt.

"Great. That's all we need. Cubs."

The scratching of feet caused her to whirl around. Kim found herself aiming at a small boy dragging a bag. Grimy with tangled hair, his legs were covered with scabs and he was barefoot.

"Don't be afraid. I'm Johnny."

Kim lowered her gun.

"What are you doing here?"

The little boy dropped his bag and put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out two more mazekeys.

"He told me to meet you here."

Kim knelt down in front of the boy.

"Who did?"

Johnny looked at Kim with a puzzled face.

"The old old man with black and grey hair. He had deep cracks in his face. He's the oldest man in the world."

Kim glanced back at Ron.

"Ballard!"

Johnny gave Kim the mazekeys.

"He told me to give you these."

Kim took the keys.

"Do we use them now?"

Johnny shook his head and held up ten fingers.

"This time."

Ron looked at his watch.

"Fifteen minutes."

Kim turned her attention back to the boy.

"Where do you live?"

Johnny smiled.

"Here."

Kim looked around.

"Don't you get hungry on your own?"

Johnny shook his head and pulled his bag to him.

"You can catch what you want to eat."

He pulled a rattrap out of the bag. Ron turned pale. Johnny put his rat trap back in his bag and disappeared down a dark hallway. Kim stood and looked around. She pulled a ripper from her bag and placed it on the end of her gun.

"I hope the cubs leave us alone long enough."

A group of cubs came howling from another hallway and surrounded Kim and Ron. Kim motioned for Ron to get behind her as she leveled her gun at the group.. Leading the group was a lanky boy. He wore the blood-stained tunic of a Sandman. Kim checked her watch. Ten minutes till the car came. She leveled the gun at the boy. He sneered.

"Go ahead. Shoot. You might get some of us, but the rest of us will get you."

Kim continued to retreat toward the callbox. She handed Ron the mazekey. Taking it, he made ready to put it in the call slot.

The cub leader took out a muscle drug pad. The rest of the others did the same. Kim tightened her finger on the trigger. They were too close. The ripper round would take out a few but nowhere near enough. She and Ron were in deep trouble.

The cubs popped the muscle pads and began to sniff them. Kim watched as they started to shimmer and move. She ducked as a knife sliced through the air, barely missing her neck. Kim rolled forward, hoping to get against a wall so they could not surround her. Ron turned to help her when a fist struck him in the stomach and dropped him to the floor. Kim caught a brick in the arm and was knocked off her feet. The shimmering figures converged on her. Ron rolled in front of her, wielding a long steel pole.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Ron stood in front of Kim swinging the pole side to side. He held it across his chest with each end extending out. Kim stood up behind him.

"RON!"

"WHAT???"

Ron spun around to face her, still holding the steel pole. Kim had to duck to keep from getting hit with the pole. The inertia of the pole caused Ron to keep spinning.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The pole vibrated as the attacking cubs ran into the pole. They fell to the ground and rolled slowly around.

"RON!"

"WHAT???"

Kim had to duck again as Ron spun the pole back around.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The pole vibrated again as more cubs were decked by the spinning top of doom that was Ron and his steel pole.

The mazecar came into the station and stopped. Kim jumped up, grabbed the pole from Ron and threw it to the floor. Taking his hand, they ran for the car. Kim glanced over her shoulder to see the cubs recovering and gathering for another attack. Ron dove into the car and shoved one of the cards into the slot. Kim turned to see the cubs charging. Raising her DS gun, she fired. The ripper cracked out as she turned to dive into the car.

"GO!"

Ron slammed the "Close Door" handle and simultaneously punched the "Proceed" button. The car sped off into the darkness. Kim's last vision of the station was the headless corpse of the leader toppling over onto the ground. The two of them just held each other as the car continued to speed down the tunnel. After a few minutes of rest, Kim sat up in her seat and brushed back her hair. Ron saw the sleeve of her shirt was torn.

"Kim! You're hurt!"

He pulled a first aid kit from the pocket of the car and started to treat her arm. Kim winced as he applied some antiseptic to the cut on her arm.

"Nice moves with that pole."

Ron grinned and pulled a bandage from the kit.

"I couldn't think of anything else to do."

When Ron was finished bandaging her arm they settled back in the car seats. Kim leaned over onto to Ron.

"Any idea where this thing's going?"

He shook his head.

"Nope, but it's got to be better than back there."

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Will stared at the computer screen in amazement. The computer was set to track Kim's gun if it fired. The bright blip on his screen confirmed Kim's location and that they had made it to the mazecar station under Cathedral. Those two had made it out of the city with every Sandman in the area after them. Will stood as the other Sandmen watched him. He strode over to the ammo box and loaded up several extra rounds in his pouch. Turning to another locker, he pulled out a backpack and filled it with field rations. Without another word he shouldered the backpack and headed for the nearest mazecar station. The other Sandmen just shrugged their shoulders and went back to work. They didn't give Kim and her friend any chance at all.

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Kim and Ron have made it out of the city where they had lived their entire lives. What will they face in the unknown? Who will they find out there? Will they be friendly? Can Kim and Ron find their way to Sanctuary and a new life? What about Will? What is he going to do? Will knows where they are and will soon be on their trail. He has a score to settle to both of them. Stay tuned.

That's it for now. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter of Kimberly's Run. Please leave a review. I would appreciate it.

Kim, Ron and the gang are property of Disney.