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Chapter 26: Distractions
He watched out of sheer boredom as Thalia leisurely moved into position. With her leather jacket and bulbous tinted helmet stuffed under her shoulder, she didn't exactly fit in. She didn't entirely stand out either. This air of confidence followed her as she walked. She was indisputably part of the city. Or at least, that's what anyone else would say.
Thalia flowed down the shaded street lined with pathetic sun choked trees and paid no heed to all the people scurrying around. Old saggy ladies with groceries and kitty litter, boisterous teens giggling and texting while they jaywalked, young adults on bicycles that were moving faster than the arthritic antique street cars.
A white dusty bus came coughing up the hill and stopped at the scratched and clouded glass bus stop while a few people in a cafe stopped to watch it, Thalia did too. She just naturally incorporated herself into the scene like a slinking cat in an alleyway. Moving among the crowd like part of the wind and blending like a chameleon. With her expression and the way she walked, she was invisible.
Percy could see it all from the rooftop he was lying on. All he could hear was an obnoxious buzz from the churn and rhythm of the inaudible life below.
Occasionally a car would honk or a child would scream loud enough for him to hear clearly atop the 10 story queen Victorian styled building. Other than that it was just him and the breeze.
And the CoS Silencer Sniper Rifle with built in magnification for maximum accuration set up beside him.
This was it.
It was only a matter of time before a car unlike any other would drive down the street following traffic.
They needed to identify it, snipe it, than get in and discharge any explosives, all without entirely displacing the five kilometer radius of humans living and interacting around this area.
And it was solely dependent on Thalia and him.
Not exactly an easy task. But hey, Percy had dealt with worse situations.
"In position. Over" Thalia concealed her motorcycle in an alley behind the bus stop she was sitting at. With a curt glance down the road, the figure that looked like a tight fitted grim reaper pulled out a flat shiny metallic item and held it delicately in her palms. It looked like a phone but was actually an high tech x-ray scanner. A type of technology that had been grossly defined and polished by headquarter workers.
"Bout time. Over." Clarisse muttered.
Percy rolled his eyes and flicked the binoculars up so that he could see the stream of cars more carefully.
It was a waiting game now.
-{:oOo:}-
"Hey Perce." Thalia's voice was the first thing he had heard in hours. The sudden voice in his ear focused his wandering mind suddenly.
"What?" Percy straightened his posture as a new liveliness course through him. Shifting on his belly he tightened his grip on the rifle. Intensely, he looked down at the view he had been watching for hours and saw Thalia still sitting at the bus stop. Instead of slouching she was sitting upright and tense as her head was maneuvered in a particular direction.
"See that blue Hyundai behind the pickup?" Her voice was hushed.
"Ya?" He said with anticipation and eagerness in his voice. Splatters of mud and grime coated the fenders unattractively while a shock of white hair was jamming to mozart in the drivers seat.
"Well in the backseat, there's the fattest cat I've ever seen." She finished with mischief injected into her voice.
Percy deflated. "I thought you spotted the V! Don't do that again!"
"Hang on I'll take picture, you won't believe this." Thalia ignored the annoyed tone in his voice.
"Thalia! We're on a mission!" he growled.
"So?"
"So?! Don't you know what's at stake here?"
"...sooo you don't want a picture of this cat?"
"No! If I wanted a picture of a cat, I'd just look on the internet!"
"Not even if I see an even fatter cat?"
Percy groaned and pinched the arch of his nose. He hated when Thalia got bored. She'd always end up bugging him. She was like a panther. Quick, nimble and near invisible when she wanted to be. But she still had that inner kitten that needed to be entertained.
"Perce look."
"For the love of cheese, if this is about the cat, I swear I'll debadge you."
"No, the minivan on the left. The x-ray is showing outlines of stuff stored under the seats. There's no one else in the van except the driver. Looks like pounds of gunpowder but could be something else." Her voice was quick and quiet but dead serious. The kind of voice used in dire situations.
Son of Gun. The guy showed up.
His gut tightened against the gravelly roof. Steadily he set his eyes down on the street.
Flicking the binoculars into focus, Percy scanned the street below.
A dark blue 2006 minivan was stopped at the red light.
It looked like a zombie car with the amount of rust cracking the paint and the scratches lining the sides. From what he could see; one hubcap was missing on his side and the mysteriously lacking of a license plate. A wire that didn't belong protruded several meters skyward from the middle of the roof.
"Looks suspicious. Do you see the long antennae coming out of the top? I have a feeling that's not just a radio. Should I snipe or knockout?" Percy asked as he reached for ammunition.
"Knockout. We're not sure if it's the main guy."
"Roger that."
Reaching over, he grabbed the thin black tipped darts and loaded a few into the rifle canister.
Thankfully the targets window was open, which made Percy's job conveniently better.
Too convenient.
With a careful hand, he guided the gun nozzle and pointed it at the stopped vehicle. His breath was released and then held as his finger hovered over the trigger. He counted his heart beat rhythmically beat like a ticking clock. 1… 2… 3… The breeze stopped.
His finger twitched back as his lungs exhaled and a hollow 'petoow' sound met his ears.
Like a falcon, the capsule of sedatives cut the air as it spiraled down faster than a blink. No one could've seen it hit the target with satisfying impact.
Percy nodded curtly to himself at a job well done. Sitting up on his elbows he waited patiently for the drugs to do their job. And waited.
Usually the victims showed signs of a dart hitting their flesh. They'd wince or flinch and then proceed to pull it out in confusion before toppling over unconscious. This guy, however, didn't even acknowledge that sedatives had just been administered into his bloodstream. Which was weird. The darts were supposed to have an immediate effect. In fact he didn't even turn his head.
He just stared straight forward. Ever waiting for the light to turn green.
"What are you waiting for?" Thalia hissed in his ear while she looked up at him. She was hungry for action. She wanted to rip out her motorcycle and weave through traffic just like she had taught him. She wanted to jump into that minivan, knock the unconscious man aside and disarm the bombs.
Percy cracked his neck and reloaded while determination took hold of his mind. Sweat mingled on the nape of his neck while the sun beat down on his head.
"Somethings up. I shot it, and it's in his neck, but nothing's happened."
A few moments of silence followed as Thalia and him watched the light flick to green, and the van pull away slowly.
"I'm going to tail it." Thalia's voice breathed into his ear.
"I'm coming down, I'll go with you." Percy spoke while he pushed himself off the gritty surface he was lying on.
Thalia laughed over the connection "If you can get down here fast enough kelp head."
Percy just smirked.
"Watch me." He challenged.
With a running leap he threw himself off the building and sailed through the wind churning air. Twisting into a flip, he landed feet first and rolled onto the building next to his post. Dropping like a rock . Four seconds of complete adrenaline pumped through his heart and made his head feel high as he was effortlessly cutting through the air.
In the last moment he descended onto a black metal fire escape and landed with such a thud that the metal was left noisily clanging.
Swinging like a monkey, he curved under each level and grasped the bars. His arms never bailed on him as he moved.
A thunderous roar disrupted the flow of the sounds when Thalia rocketed out of the alleyway on her sleek motorcycle.
She barely stopped to let Percy on, consciously forcing him to run so he could jump on.
"Told you I could do it." He yelled over the noise while holding on to her waist to keep balanced.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever Tarzan." She muttered through the connection while using an arm to throw a similar helmet over her shoulder.
Tarzan.
Thalia hadn't called him Tarzan in years. Not since he first met her when he was a tragically depressed 10 year old. When he didn't understand a lot of things.
The sounds around him seemed to dissolve and blend into a melodious background music.
There was no place he would rather be, than right there. On a mission, and facing potential danger. Percy couldn't even fathom not living the life he was living right there. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he sat on the back of the motorcycle relishing the moment. Reality came wonderfully back just as Percy fit it the helmet, that stank of cigarette smoke, over his head.
Thalia revved the engine and doubled their speed. He tucked his legs tighter into the motorcycle as they zipped by traffic and zigzagged through the labyrinth of cars. The air buffeted and pulled at his clothes as they rippled and tugged, threatening to tear. Spaghetti-ing through the short tails of exhaust and skimming through the lines of cars.
Ahead, was the blue rusty caravan that was very distinctable by the thin insect like antennae pointing skyward from the tinny roof of the car. It seemed to be buried and barricaded by an area of thickening vehicles so tightly packed that they walled in their target.
Thalia burnt some rubber as she forced the bike to wheel sharply to the left, narrowly avoiding a traffic sign and shoving them onto the sidewalk.
People dove and shrieked as the motorcycle forced them to fan out of the way to save their lives. Like a farmer irritatingly pushing her way through a flock of sheep, Thalia beeped the horn and grumbled to herself.
Obstacles made of concrete flower pots and bus stations were avoided by curving and turning every few seconds.
"You're going to be the death of me." Percy couldn't help but laugh into the earset. His heart was pounding, his ears were ringing, and he was lovin it. The hollow sound of fast moving air creating a vacuum effect under the slightly large helmet tickled his ears but fed his heart with the joys of speed.
"Hell ya I am." Thalia finally answered. He could practically hear the smirk dripping off her voice.
They marked the road with another tire mark as Thalia skidded them around the bend and finally getting them close to mysterious blue van.
The speed decreased dramatically, loosening the force against them and making their muscles relax.
Inch by inch the vehicles aligned. The tires were rolling in synch, while the exhaust trailed behind in wispy threads of gas. Thalia, expertly maneuvering her motorcycle up to the van with a tender touch and the sharpest eyes on the team scanning every little detail.
"Okay, I'll talk to the driver. You got my back." She said through the earphone without the slightest trace of fear. Never fear. Not Thalia.
Thalia was the type of person who could face absolutely everything with her chin up and a cocky smirk plastered on her face.
She'd spit in the face of death if she met him in person, and wipe her feet against the gates of hell.
As they pulled up beside the window, Thalia flipped up her helmet piece and leaned out toward the window. She yelled twice over the sounds to the sputtering van. Her booming voice carrying over the noise as if she were holding and megaphone.
Suddenly her muscles tensed. Her head momentarily snapping back to shoot him a look of alarm.
"He's dead." her voice gasped in his ear. "He's been tied to the seat. This is a remote controlled van!"
Half a breath of a second passed as the situation became clearer. The noise from the motorcycle just seemed cluttering now. Almost as if it was preventing Percy from thinking.
He let go a short breath before he swung a leg over the side.
"Get me in close! I'll disable it!"
"You sure you can?"
"Pffft! You underestimate my abilities."
"Or you just overestimate your own abilities." Thalia retorted.
Skillfully she drove to the right side of the speeding van, almost pushing a driver off the road.
Percy gripped the motorcycle with a death grip. His focus completely taken up by the van. The motorcycle swerved in so close that Percy could see his reflection in the metallic side rippling and distorting his image with every pot hole and crevice they careened on.
"How are you going to get in?" She asked, noticing the firmly shut window on the right side. Percy stupidly took the helmet off and secured it on the bike. With the whisper of a prayer on his lips he smirked.
"Like this!"
Using his legs to spring, he flew into the air like a jackrabbit. The wind was knocked out of him when he hit the firm side. Forcing him to gag and heave briefly while he gripped the roof rack desperately, trailing down the side with his face smushed into the window as if he were just a dead bug.
Thalia was right. The man in the driver seat was dead. His stone cold gaze was lazily directed at his hands while his yellowing skin looked almost greyish. He was internally scowling with those bushy eyebrows lowered and his saggy mouth partially open. Percy thought he saw a ring on his hands, but he wasn't able to get a good enough look. After all, he was almost flying off the van at that particular moment.
"WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING YOUR HELMET!" Percy cringed when Thalia shrieked right into his ear.
"You know I hate how it limits my senses!"
"STUPID ASS! GET BACK HERE AND PUT IT ON!"
The van, which hadn't changed it's course at all, suddenly seemed very aware of Percy and swerved precariously to the right, almost hitting Thalia, before it looped to the left. Percy's grip slipped a bit and he cursed loudly, using his feet against the side to keep his hold.
"YOU PUNY ROCK HEADED KELP BRAIN! IF YOU DIE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
The van swerved again. Percy's stomach flipped as he was almost crushed by a car. Nausea flooded his stomach and he groaned when the van sped up, leaving Thalia to chase frantically.
Percy had had enough. On the next swerve, he used the momentum to drive his fist through the window. The shattering glass sounded like a million windchimes and looked like spiralling diamonds. But they delivered hundreds of cuts to his arms like razors.
He toppled in, covered in scratches and feeling like he was going to vomit. Motion sickness was a bit of a weakness for him. As much training as he had, he couldn't seem to get over it.
But him entering the car only encouraged the swerving and the grazing of other cars.
"Sorry Buddy" he moaned as he pushed the stiff corpse out of the way while taking out his knife. Lowering himself under the steering wheel, Percy took away the plastic panel and examined the insides of intricate wires and mechanical pieces.
Carefully he fished through the entangled wires and selectively cut a first one.
Then he cursed. Then he fumbled around and cut another one.
The van shuddered and the acceleration stopped as the van went into cruise. Percy sighed and sat back.
"I'm going to rip your head off." Percy looked to his right to see Thalia on her motorcycle through the broken window.
"Do it later, I need to get this van out of traffic before I stop." Percy smirked purposefully knowing it was getting on Thalia's nerves.
"Just use the brakes Kelp head."
Percy chuckled embarrassed "Yeaaahh…. I accidently cut the brake wire."
Thalia just sighed "How you became a top agent is beyond me."
Altering his focus to the road, he took the leathery steering wheel while ignoring the stinging in his arms.
Dark red blood dribbled down his arms and onto his lap from the cuts etching his forearms. He scanned the area hopefully looking somewhere to be able to cruise to a stop. He didn't want to be stuck in the middle of the road. Finding an opportunity, Percy curved the van into an alley.
Dead end.
Instinctively he hit the brakes, but they didn't work.
"Shit."
The grill and hood crumpled like tin foil as it collided with a wall. Without a seat belt, Percy went flying forward. Curling in the air, he braced himself. His back connected with the windshield and shattered the fragile glass like a thin layer of ice.
He found himself a moment later on the destroyed hood of the van, looking up at the deep blue sky.
"Percy?!" Thalia's voice echoed off the sides of the alley as she yelled. She sounded concerned and a bit scared. For the moment that was the best part of his day. Knowing that she did still care. Even though she would never admit to it.
"That sucked. That bloody sucked." he groaned.
His back stung and ached at the same time. In fact, his entire body ached and stung. Almost as if he had fallen down a cliff and then into a hornets nest.
The creaky sound of the side door opening and the stow and go flipping open told Percy what she was doing. She was disabling the supposed bombs. Why they didn't go off when he hit the wall was a mystery.
Percy pretended to play dead when Thalia came crawling over the top of the roof and glared down at him. She was mad. Super mad.
"Why are you being so reckless!" she wasn't buying the whole dead act.
"I've always been reckless."
"Not as much as today!"
"Well I'm alive!"
"Not for long if you keep doing missions like that!"
The conversation died when Percy couldn't come up with a comeback. With a heavy sigh, she sat cross legged on the roof and glared down at him. Her jet black hair was ruffled and uneven, but still spiky. If Percy didn't know better, he would've thought that she was badass version of death. But she wasn't, she was Thalia.
And she was right. Again.
He was being reckless. Overly reckless.
"You're right." he grumbled.
"What?"
"I said you're right!"
Thalia's lightning blue eyes pierced him. Scrutinizing if he was sincere or was just buttering her up.
"I guess I just missed the action." he confessed. "Guarding Rachel and going to school is fun and all. But I rarely get to do anything adrenaline worthy." he paused to sit up. "Sorry if I scared you, I won't do it again."
Thalia crossed her arms defiantly "I wasn't scared. I was concerned that the company I worked for would lose one of its top chess pieces."
Percy shook his head but was smiling all the same. "Sure you were."
The deadweight silence settled again. Percy blew air out of his cheeks before looking back to Thalia.
"Soooo… did you disable the bombs?"
Thalia puffed a strand off her face. "There wasn't any explosives." she leaned back on her palms and looked toward the sky. "There was just sacks of flour."
"What?" Percy couldn't tell if he was hearing her correctly.
She fiddled with the wire protruding from the top of the car. The wire that had been used to control it. "That's right. No explosives. Nada. Just flour."
"That's weird….. We have the right V… right?"
Thalia nodded. "Dead driver, remote controlled, swerving and veering while you were on it. Someone was controlling this van. Somewhere where they could watch the whole thing. But why all the trouble if they were only carrying flour?"
"Could be-"
A startling whistle shrilled into the air as Percy's pocket started violently shuddering. With veins colder than ice he pulled out his disruptive ipod. A small crack sat in the corner of the screen like a spider web, but the screen itself flashed red over and over. Percy sat in shock as he watched the little device scream and flash and shake. Almost as if it were a small child begging obnoxiously for attention.
"It was a distraction." he breathed. The blood drained from his face and goose bumps dotted his sweaty skin. His eyes suddenly darting up to Thalia's confused ones. Everything clicked now. Every detail had a place in a master plan he failed to see.
"It was a distraction to get me away from Rachel!"
Trivia has been compromised due to a research essay, presentation, and two tests.
Feel free to leave a random answer anyways.