The Power of Silence
Chapter 50 – A Matter at Hand
"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME."
X held his pistol steady, hovering over the wounded man's temple. He pleaded, trembling, blood still flowing at a frightening rate from his shattered shoulder. He lay flat on his back on the ground, somehow saved from being crushed by the penguins' police cruisers that had barreled into the Swiss cheese sedan. The large man had already taken the convict's weapons away, even though the he made no move to fight back.
"I didn't even want to do it, man. That guy's a freak. He made me do it."
X glanced to his left, where two bodies lay; one still leaned against the steering wheel of the sedan, face unrecognizable. The second rested face down in a pool of his own blood, just inside a nearby habitat. He had checked both for pulses, and they were deader than dirt. It was a shame, really. X figured they were merely being used as distractions.
A glance to his other side revealed a blood-spattered courtyard, where X had attempted to rescue Andrew. Four bodies lay there, but only three of those men were shot by him. X's head was still reeling over the thought that Sigmund had taken out one of his own. It was probably for the better, though. All of the men—including him—could have been taken down in the confusion. Even so, he hadn't seen death on this scale for a very long time.
That didn't mean a threat didn't still remain, though. Doing the math, X realized seven of the thirteen original convicts—including Sigmund—were now out of commission. He might have felt sadness at the loss of life if he didn't know it meant he and Andrew had a fighting chance now. With the right positioning and use of the new weapons they had gained, X figured they had a chance against six more men, if it came down to that.
Overall, X had managed to recover four automatic rifles, a sub machine gun, a pump-action shotgun, a collection of handguns, and a variety of ammunition. It didn't surprise him that the convicts had been loaded up to their ears on munitions; it only was a matter of time before they found some underground, black market gun shop to loot. He also found two riot shotguns; one in the trunk of each of the police cruisers. Plenty of firepower for them to fend off Sigmund's second coming.
X turned his attention back to the task at hand. The wounded convict was quivering and hyperventilating, and X could tell he was on the verge of passing out. He had already lost far too much blood too be saved. There was nothing X could do for him. He was going to die. Even with immediate medical attention, his chances were small. X wasn't going to let him know that, though. There was too much valuable information he needed from the man first
"Where's your leader hiding out?" X asked forcefully.
"I never wanted to do this, man, all I did was get into a few fights. I swear I didn't kill anyone, please, I didn't kill anyone, all I wanted was..." X grunted with frustration. The man was becoming delusional. He was loosing precious seconds.
He pushed the gun against the man's skull, growling, "Where is Sigmund?"
The man tried to speak again, but his words ran together and eventually turned into mush. It was then that X saw blood dot the corners of the man's mouth, and knew he wasn't going to get his question answered. Sighing, he lowered his gun as the man took his last few breaths. X stood and stared at the man until his spasms stopped and eventually he fell silent.
Death didn't bother X anymore; he had seen far too much of it, been far too numbed by the world he lived in for it to have any real affect on him or his psyche. He couldn't help but feel a sense of peace about the dead man, though. Even though the convict had once sought to kill X, that didn't matter. In death, the sins of life have no meaning between humans, X figured. He wouldn't spit on someone's grave.
"You alright?" A voice spoke from behind him, and X turned around to see the stout businessman. He had a loaded handgun in his right hand and what looked like a clipboard in his left. X glanced down and noticed a distinct stain on the man's ruined dress pants; one that hadn't been there before the night's encounter.
"I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'm..." He paused for a moment as he glanced toward the dead man. "Did you get any useful information from him?"
"None. He was already in shock before I got the chance to question him." X took a moment to holster his gun, then picked up the dead man's from the ground where it lay near him. He pumped the barrel and an empty shell popped out of the chamber. X didn't remember hearing or seeing the wounded man having a chance to fire a shot at him, so that meant only one thing. "Damn bastard shot himself."
Andrew blinked dumbly for a moment, as if he was rationalizing the idea. "You sure?"
"Yeah. Maybe an accident when he was running for cover. These men weren't trained to handle this weaponry."
Andrew nodded. It was then that four familiar figures waddled out from the darkness to stand around Andrew's feet. Their faces were illuminated by the red and blue glow from the nearby police cruisers, and X noticed how they seemed to look up at him expectantly.
"Good, the penguins are here. That makes it a helluva lot easier for us to pack them up and get out of here," X observed, assuming Green was thinking the same thing. He tossed the spent shotgun aside and began making his way for the van.
"Not immediately," the businessman returned, making X freeze and spin on the spot.
"What now? It ain't gonna be long before Sigmund realizes there ain't any cops actually here." Andrew held out the clipboard, and X took it. Using the floodlights on his van, he was able to read it.
The zoo's resident lemur, Julien, has been abducted by hostile animals and the penguins need Officer X's help to rescue him.
The note was followed by a crude picture of the aforementioned lemur and an address. The last thing on the note was a list: dolphin, walrus, boa constrictor, lemur, penguins armed with guns. The list was titled hostile animals.
X looked up from the clipboard at Andrew, whose face remained blank. X no longer had his sunglasses to hide the disbelief in his eyes. Did Andrew really think they were going to go on some wild goose chase to save some lemur?
"Before you say anything," the businessman started, "I know what you're thinking, and hear me out on this one. The penguins have only agreed to come with us if we make sure the lemur is safe on our way out of town. The building where he's being held up is only a few blocks away. We could be in, out, and on our way before Sigmund even knew that we'd left."
X raised a brow. "What do you mean, 'they agreed'?"
"It seems they're pretty good at negotiating. They knew what we had planned before the attack, and were planning on giving us this proposal for some time."
X looked down at the four penguins, who continued to look up at him with anticipation. They shifted slightly in their places as he stared at them, and then—ever so subtly—the flat-headed one gave a nod of its head. At this point, it didn't surprise him.
"So we send this lemur back to the zoo safe, and the birds come with us?" X asked.
"Precisely."
X sighed loudly and rubbed the back of his bald head. "I guess we're going to rescue that critter, then. The hardest part will be finding it, I'm sure."
The penguins seemed satisfied with this response, and they all smiled. Then they turned to each other, exchanged what X could only describe as high-fives, and waddled away. It took him a minute to rationalize that he'd just negotiated a deal with a quartet of birds, and much in the same way that he did with his employers back in his mercenary days. Some things never change, he guessed.
X looked back toward Andrew, who looked uneasy. X had expected him to smile at the ease of negotiating their ticket out of danger. Probably shaken by Sigmund, during the skirmish, he figured. X remembered a time in the past where he had been brought to his knees in the dust, a pistol digging into his skull, thinking his life was almost over. It hadn't turned out as pretty as it did for Andrew, but least he hadn't wet himself. That was something.
"Good," the stout man commented. "I've got to go take care of something before we leave. I'll be right back."
X grunted. "Hurry. Sigmund's bound'ta be back any minute. Whatever you do, don't let that gun out of your sight."
The other man glanced down at the death-bringer. "Yeah."
As Andrew moved away, another presence made itself known. It was the chestnut otter, the one that had directed X in an effort to tactically overtake the convicts. While it hadn't been enough on it's own, it likely had provided the delay necessary for the penguins to show up with the police cruisers in time. In the otter's paws was a strange item, something that looked a bit like a miniature crown. She came up to the man and held the bundle of plastic and green leaves up as if she wanted him to take it.
X bent over and grabbed the crown. It was nearly small enough that he could clasp his hand around it. Some squeaking drew his attention back down to the mammal, who seemed to be trying to tell him something. He knew her concern, though. Alice had introduced him to this otter and her lemur mate, and had mentioned how close they were. This crown must have belonged to the lemur, he figured. X could understand the otter's worry the mammal they were about to go save.
He keeled and looked into the otter's hazel eyes. "I'll send him home for ya, if I can. I ain't makin' no promises though."
The otter looked sad for a moment, and X noticed she started to realize she understood his words. If the penguins did, why not all the animals? The otter nodded slowly, as she too realized promises like that were irrational.
"Thanks for helping me out before," X added. "You really saved my ass."
The otter pricked her ears, and X swore he saw a smile. Then she scampered off back into the night, presumably toward her habitat. He looked down at the tiny crown in his hand. Between the penguins' apparent care for this lemur and the otter's concern, he felt a conviction rising inside him. He was going to try his damnedest to get that lemur back.
"Hot dog!" Exclaimed Skipper, throwing his flippers into the air as he walked. The smile on his face was wide, something that Private hadn't seen from the leader-penguin in a long time. "I didn't know you could hotwire vehicles so fast, Kowalski. And great driving, too, everyone."
Kowalski and Rico mumbled some thanks, while Private remained silent. The happiness that seemed to have broken out between the group felt foreign to him, and he wasn't entirely sure how to react. Why were they so happy? Sure, they now had some crucial help in rescuing Julien, but that didn't mean Julien was suddenly safe. There was still a long road ahead of them. They hadn't even found the lemur's exact location, for Pete's sake.
And even if they did manage to rescue Julien, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Maybe not for the three other penguins, but it definitely was for Private. He needed Julien rescued to help him take down Kowalski while deflecting Rico, and Hans was already hiding in the shadows to help him fend off Skipper. At least that had been his plan up until at little less than twenty four hours ago. Now, Kowalski was supposed to sacrifice himself willingly in defense of him, or something like that.
Really, that doesn't change a thing. Kowalski has going to die, and I'm going to see to it that he does.
His plan was coming together, he realized. After Julien was rescued, the three of them could regroup. Then they could determine their plan of attack. When Kowalski was in binds and they were free from Skipper and Rico, they could determine what needed to be done to bring the humans back. At least that would be the way he'd work it, if it hadn't been for one little blurb in the plan.
"Skippah," Private spoke up, causing the leader to stop and face him. "Were you serious about agreeing with Green and X to leave the zoo?"
The other two penguins turned to their leader curiously. They hadn't had time to discuss it as a group, since it had been proposed by the stout man shortly after reading the note on Kowalski's clipboard. Skipper analyzed the smaller bird for a moment, and Private found himself feeling surprisingly uncomfortable. Not unlike when he was part of the quartet.
"We'll do what we have to. If we have to leave the zoo for a while, so be it. You saw those men coming after Green. If we don't leave, he's going to stay with us, and then they'll get to him. We can't scare them off forever."
"Are you sure leaving the zoo is a good idea?" Kowalski responded. "You just informed the residents we'd be sticking around to provide them with some type of protection."
"Yeah," Rico added.
Skipper crossed his flippers. "These are turbulent times. The water is choppy. Are we going to sink or swim?"
Private lowered his brow. If they left the zoo, it would be far more difficult to carry out his plan. Hans couldn't follow them long and Julien would most likely go back to the zoo instead of coming with. He needed them back to the zoo, even if for only a short while.
"Are we really going to side with a man who, less than a day ago, we thought was plotting to kill us?" Private decided to avoid pointing the question at Kowalski. Making Rico feel included was a good idea, he figured. "Green is a good friend, but now he's grown close to Officer X. If we go with Green, we go with the dark man."
Skipper was quick to respond. "X is no longer a threat. You heard Kowalski."
"Yes, X is no longer an enemy," the intellectual responded, "but calling him an ally is hasty and dangerous. We have friends at the zoo who need our help more, Skipper."
"Stay with zoo, no waddah leave," Rico blabbered.
"You know we can't just up and leave," Private added.
Skipper's crystal blue eyes bounced between the three other penguins as he contemplated the responses. Private wasn't entirely sure he'd listen to them at all, but was glad to at least hear Kowalski and Rico were on his side. They needed to come back to the zoo.
"If we do that, this is how things are going to go. We'll sneak away from Green and Officer X after we rescue Julien, and come back to the zoo. They're not going to be too happy about that, though, so they'll probably follow us back. And if that's the case, we have to deal with those maniacs who are after them. I don't know if we can pull it off again."
"So you're saying, if we come back to the zoo, we're going to be basically handing them over to their enemies?" Kowalski concluded.
"That's how I see it. I don't know what those guys want with our human buddies, but they don't look like they want to play nice. If you think about it, the zoo animals will probably be able to live on without us. If we do return, however, Officer X and Andrew probably won't. I don't personally care much about X, but Green's saved our lives once already."
The three penguins didn't immediately respond. Private didn't think any of them had thought of it that way before. He certainly didn't. He needed the quartet to return to the zoo with Julien, but he wasn't immediately sure if that was worth sacrificing the life of the man who he was told had faith in him when everyone else thought he was dead. If Green hadn't of hauled his ass out of the Antechamber, he would be.
Thankfully, Rico spoke up and he didn't have to. "Zoo is family."
This sparked a response from Kowalski. "That is correct. The animals at this zoo have entrusted us to guide and protect them, Skipper, particularly through this time without humans. Green is a smart man. He will figure a way out of this."
Skipper huffed. "As long as we don't go on another wild goose chase through the city looking for a couple of police squads. I seriously doubt that would work again."
Private nodded. He knew what he needed, and someone was going to loose any way they tried to wing it. They couldn't save Julien, guide the zoo animals, and protect Green all at the same time. Private knew he needed to back what would give him the greatest opportunity to get at Kowalski while giving Hans an opportunity to get at Skipper. Now that the matter was settled, he decided it was a time to update his puffin friend.
"I'll meet you guys at the HQ," he said, and the other three looked at him. "I want to update Maurice on what our plan is."
"Okay," Skipper agreed quickly, "but hurry. We're leaving as soon as the humans are ready to go."
Skipper turned to waddle away, but Kowalski and Rico still looked at him. He felt awkward for a moment, particularly when his gaze met the intellectual penguin's. Kowalski was studying him; probably coming up with some conclusions about his motives. When he made a motion to move away, the tall penguin turned to follow his leader. Rico, however, still looked at him.
"Pr'vate," he wheezed, drawing the small bird's attention. Rico waddled up to him and put a flipper on his back. "We get Julien, then you come back team. 'Kay?"
Private didn't immediately respond. What would he say? Through everything, he had never thought Rico would still hold onto the idea that the quartet could be reformed. Not after what had happened that day the heavyset bird threw that tuna at him. Private had told him that it was over. Did the explosives expert not believe him?
"Uh," he stuttered over his own words, and Rico's flipper felt hot against his back. "Rico, I don't know if Skippah wants me back."
The heavy bird pushed him jokingly, removing his flipper. "Skip'r want you back. Make the team whole. Right?"
Private lowered his brow suddenly, offended. Rico wasn't even considering his side of the story. He was assuming Private wanted to be part of the team again, and that the only thing that was preventing him from coming back was Skipper. The heavyset bird didn't seem to think his opinion made any sort of difference. "Maybe the skippah does want me back. That doesn't change what he did, Rico." Private put a flipper to his scar, which still stung, to back his point.
Rico's face darkened at what Private said, and he turned away harshly. Private wasn't surprised. Rico always thought things were better than they actually were, and when they went south, he avoided them. Often that led to him dismissing Private as too young, too naïve, too confused, too weak. Always some excuse that negated the blame from being placed on him, or on those that hurt him. Maybe Rico was trying to protect him, but Private knew that he needed to learn something.
Sometimes people need to be held responsible for their actions.
Rico had already disappeared into the night, so Private decided to head to the lemur enclosure. When there, he entered the alcove under Julien's throne rock. Inside was Mort and Maurice, eating what looked like a puree of various fruits. They looked up from their bowls and greeted him as he entered.
"Where's Hans?" Private asked.
"Around," Maurice commented, simply. "He doesn't really like to stay put."
A voice sounded from behind Private, making him spin around. In the entrance was the puffin, his broken wing still braced. "Why would I? I need to be sure zat everyzing is still going according to plan, no?"
"You were snooping around?" Private asked. The bird nodded. He racked his brain for any time he spotted the bird in bushes or under benches around the zoo, spying on them, but could think of none. The bird was certainly stealthy. He figured warning him to be careful was unnecessary. Hans new the risk he was taking.
"Stealing zose police cars was quite impressive, Mr. Private. You penguins are more resourceful zan I thought."
"I'm guessing you know why we did it?" The bird nodded again. "Good, then I don't have to bring you up to speed."
"Of course not. But I have one question, Mr. Private." Private signaled him to continue. "After Mr. Ringtail is rescued, how will we go about executing our plan?"
Private's face fell blank. He honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. The whole Julien-being-kidnapped and the new, more confusing prophesy from the Sun had prevented him from thinking it out. "I have no idea," he admitted, "but we can worry about that later, when Julien is safe."
Hans clicked his tongue. "Mr. Private, why won't you learn the error of your ways? Thinking only one step ahead is what nearly lead to me gouging Mr. Maurice's eyes out."
"You wouldn'ta gotten the chance," Maurice added defensively from the other side of the cave.
Hans smiled. "You need to plan your moves several steps in advance. Come. I'll tell you what I mean."
The bird walked out of the cave, and Private took a moment to glance at Maurice and Mort. "He's right you know," Maurice said, causing Private to scoff and wave a flipper.
Private followed his ally for some time, being careful to make sure they weren't at risk of being discovered by the other penguins or some of the zoo animals. They made their way through the zoo to the ruined wall that Officer X had patched up. There was a hole that had been left in the repair work; too small for a human to squeeze through but more than big enough for the two birds to use as a portal.
Hans led Private through central park for a short while, a gentle night-time breeze rustling the branches of the storm-battered trees. Finally they came to what looked like a tool shack, something that Private recognized the human gardeners to use. Hans pushed the flimsy wooden door open easily, and Private noted a broken padlock on the ground nearby.
The inside was illuminated poorly, only by moon and starlight drifting in through the open doorway. Thankfully Hans picked up a flashlight from the ground nearby that he must have left earlier. When he flicked it on, Private got a gander at what his plan was.
"Fireworks?" He asked.
"Yes. A fitting demise for Skipper. Ze other penguin—Rico, was it?—could go up, too."
"Wait," Private said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You want to use these fireworks to blow up Skipper and Rico?"
Hans simply nodded.
"What... I mean, how?"
Hans shined the flashlight to a spot on the ground where a large pile of firework rockets lay. It looked to Private like their shells had been torn open and something was taken from inside. Then he saw a large container filled with what looked like black powder.
"I have been collecting ze explosives from zese rockets for most of the day," Hans explained. "I will soon have enough to create a bomb big enough to blow up an enclosed space, like a shack or an exhibit."
Private just stared at the bird, blinking. He wasn't immediately sure why his beak was frozen shut. Maybe it was because he thought this was a bit... drastic. But then he realized something. It's exactly what he wanted.
"You need me to lure Skipper and Rico into a small place, so you can detonate the charge and... kill them," he concluded.
Hans smiled. "I knew you were bright, Mr. Private. Misguided, but bright. If you and Mr. Ringtail can help me smuggle zis black powder into the zoo, I can handle ze rest. Then, I'll inform you when ze trap is set. You bring Skipper and Mr. Rico in, and—" the bird brought his good wing up as he made the sound of an explosion.
"And then I can use the confusion to get to Kowalski." Hans nodded.
Private tapped his beak thoughtfully. Actually, it was a damn good plan. He couldn't find any immediate flaws in it. If Hans did a good job of placing the bomb out of sight, Skipper and Rico wouldn't be able to react in time to save themselves. And all he needed to do was get them in there; it could be as easy as saying he'd meet them in Alice's office at a designated time when he really wasn't going to.
The plan was foolproof, he thought. Except he hadn't considered one consequence. And that was that he'd be blowing his ex-friends sky high. Even through his hatred of Skipper, the idea alarmed him. And even if Rico was a little overly optimistic, he certainly didn't deserve to die just because he'd try to protect Kowalski. And, if nothing else, they were once his friends, dammit.
What about that salute Skipper had given him after the quarrel with Buck? Wasn't that a sign of a potentially better future? And then there was his discussion with Kowalski, where the intellectual had begged him to come give Skipper a talk on morality. Didn't that mean Kowalski might be accepting his fate? And Rico certainly just wanted them all to be friends again. Private started to feel dizzy with all these sudden fears and contradictions to his plan assaulting him. He had dreamed about carrying out this plan and bring back the humans, yes, but now he was actually on the verge of doing it. Saying and doing were two entirely different things.
Private glanced up and realized that at some point he had taken a seat against the side of the wooden shack. Hans was now standing over him, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. His ears were ringing intensely and all he could hear was his own thoughts. Was he really about to agree to the deaths of the individuals he once called family?
Then, a flood of memories returned to him. The Sun's words. "Six billion lives are on the shoulders of you and your friend, Private." Six billion lives. All of the humans besides those that had been somehow spared. A vision came to him, and he saw the little girl he had been entertaining shortly before the mass absorption. Now she was floating in a void somewhere, about to be subject to whatever the purge meant, and he was going to let that happen because he won't kill a couple of penguins that he once was close to? Penguins that he was sure he now despised?
He knew it. He knew it had to be done. Hans' plan was a good one. And hey, maybe it all made sense now. The wall of flame, at least. Maybe that was what the Sun was trying to show him in the dream. The wall of flame that had engulfed all those human souls floating inside of it. Maybe it symbolized an explosion, meant to aid him in his goal to get the humans back. Maybe that didn't explain why in the dream Kowalski had stopped it with his voice, but hell, Hans' plan certainly made a lot more sense than that.
Finally, Private felt himself come back to the real world. Hans was looking at him with concern, shining the bright light into his eyes. He batted the flashlight away as his ears finally stopped ringing.
"Your plan is a good one," he agreed, standing back up. Hans looked at him intently as he dusted himself off. "We'll set up the charges in Alice's office. I'll call a meeting there with Skipper and Rico. Right before the charges go off, Julien and I will pull Kowalski out. Then you blow it when we're clear and that'll be it."
"How will you get Kowalski out without Skipper and Mr. Rico trying to stop you?" Hans asked.
"The human you saw us rescue today—Officer X—he's got some specialized explosives called flashbangs that explode not to kill, but to blind and deafen. We'll toss one in, and when it goes off we'll be able to get Kowalski out before the other two know what hit 'em."
Hans nodded, a wicked smile on his face.
