HELLO EVERONE. Thanks for the favorite(s), review(s), and follow(s), here is chapter 4. Remember the ages are, Abraham 35, Mitch 32, Jackson 30, Chloe 29, Jamie and Jupiter 27. Their heights are, Jackson is 6'3, Chloe is 5'7, Abraham is 6'7, Jamie is 5'7, Mitch is 6'2, Jupiter is 6'0.

CHAPTER FOUR

I sat beside Mitch on the flight to Boston we got along pretty -well as we both had a sarcastic and somewhat dark sense of humor that other people didn't get. We also liked some of the same music and movies, we had an extremely long discussion about Doctor Who I loved it whereas he focused on the scientific aspects of it and how possible or probable they were. Upon reaching Boston and stopping for some food we drove to the pier where the boat would take us to Pender Island. Mitch was going to stay behind and talk to a friend of his from Harvard about the Mother Cell while the rest of us were going to look for possible bloodthirsty rats. Jamie walked beside Jackson, Chloe and Abe walked behind them and Mitch and I walked together as we made our to the boat, "You sure your gonna be okay doing sciency things by yourself?" I asked Mitch with a grin as we stopped just before the boat. "If I get in trouble I'll be sure to call you." Mitch replied with a smile, but I felt something was off about it he almost seemed nervous or hesitant like his normal snark had become a mask to hide behind. "And how will you go that genius? You don't have my number remember? However I have yours and if I feel your weakening brain waves signal I'll give you a call, deal?" I asked with a smile he laughed, "Deal." He replied before I walked onto the boat leaving him behind.

After putting our luggage away we all met up, "So how did a few rat's become thousands on the course of a trip across the Atlantic?" Jamie asked. Jackson spoke up, "Well if Mitch is right and the Mother Cell is an accelerant, then maybe by being exposed to it in a contained environment it accelerated the reproductive nature of the rats." I mulled that over, "Or we could be seeing it in rat's first because of they have a short gestation period." I said, Abe nodded in agreement with my statement, "What if this is just the beginning? We could face a massive population explosion in the entire animal kingdom. A swarm of rat's is one thing but of lions, tigers or alligators?-" Jamie spoke up then, "How would we even begin to fight back against something like that?"

"Well first things first, we need to warn the people of Pender Island." Jackson said. "What do you mean warn them? Aren't they already aware? I mean thousands of rats don't just vanish without a trace." I said feeling slightly confused. "Well aside from the fisherman no-one had reported any rats at all." Chloe said. "None?" Jamie and I asked at the same time. "How is that possible?" Abe asked. "Let's focus on why we are here. We need to capture a male and a female so we can take it back for Mitch to study. It's the only way to see how the Mother Cell is affecting their reproduction behavior." Chloe said. "So were going on a rat hunt?" Jamie said. I gave a short laugh, "I've been on a few before but they were always to legged rats." Everyone smiled briefly at that before Abe spoke up, "What's the matter, Rafiki?" I looked at Jackson who bit his lip before replying, "The men that died on that cargo ship were eaten by rats and it's been proven that rats that taste human blood begin to crave it." Jackson replied. "Well…that's just awesome." Jamie replied looking grossed out. No one said anything after that as we all split up a bit, I walked away from them a bit to have a smoke only joining back up with them when we were getting closer to the island. I grabbed my backpack which I had brought in place of my duffel bag since we didn't plan on being on Pender Island for that long and pulled it over my shoulder.

I saw Jackson come up beside me his backpack sling over his shoulder, "You know I've been here once before." I said leaning against the boat's railing. "Yeah?" Jackson asked curious, "Yeah, I was ten when my dad brought me here for a weekend. We slept under the star's on a rented boat and had junk-food and be-.. well it was a fun weekend I caught a dozen fish and dad complained that he only caught one." I said just catching myself in time to keep from saying that I had been allowed alcohol at such a young age. "I came here a few times with my dad to." Jackson replied and then there was a peaceful silence until the others came and we walked onto the island. "Hey I'll walk around and see if there are any buildings that the rats could currently be holed up in ok?" I said as I began to walk away, the memories that being here again brought up were something I didn't want to let myself remember doing something was what I needed. "Okay call us if you get anything." Jackson said, I gave him a wave signaling that I had heard him as I kept moving forward. As soon as I was around the next corner out of their line of vision I fell back against the warm brick wall and just soaked in the sun for a minute. Then taking a deep breath I stood up straight and asked the nearest person if there was any large building, vacant and away from other places. I was told the Wilson Hotel by five out of seven people so I decided to start there sending Jamie a text so she could let the others know.

I met up with the others outside of the Wilson Hotel and tried the door, finding it locked without thinking about it I grabbed the paperclip I was wearing as an earring in my left ear and picked the lock. It didn't dawn on me that my actions were under view of others including my older sister until I heard her clear her throat emphatically behind me. "Oh..uhh…whoops?" I said as I re-bent the paperclip and slipped it in my pocket as it was no longer clean while standing up and opening the door. "I am impressed twelve seconds." Abe said as he came in behind me, I tossed him a grin, "Not my best time but not my worse either." I replied as I walked through the first few rooms looking for any sings of rats. I could hear the others talking as I walked farther into the hotel using my small travel size flashlight to scan the rooms. Seeing no rat poop I headed back towards the others and found them ready to split off into groups, Chloe, Jackson and I headed upstairs while Abe and Jamie would go downstairs. I saw the look on Jamie's face and told her to trade me spots which she did willingly giving me a look of thanks as they walked away.

Abe and I found our way down to the basement where he began to attempt to fix the gnawed through wiring. I held my flashlight up over his shoulder so he could see what he was doing, "So what type of food do you like best?" I asked Abe making conversation while he clipped some wiring. "You are asking me about the food I like when we are in a basement with no lighting and possibly a thousand man eating rats?" Abe asked with a chuckle. I grinned, "Well I could be asking you would you rather questions." I said. "What is that?" Abe asked curiously. I smirked this time, "It's a game where someone asks you would you rather? And then gives you two or three choices and you have to pick what you would rather do out of the three." I replied. "I enjoy all food, as long as it is eaten in the company of my friends and family." Abe replied. I watched him fix the wiring, "For me it's chocolate." I replied causing Abe to laugh as he finished fixing the wiring and turned on the lights. We walked back up to the first floor and Abe decided to check the trap he had set upon finding a rat he put on gloves to get it out and I got the bag that we were going to put in in ready.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as Abe talked to the rat like it was a pet and not a creature that would devour him at any given second. "Hey!" Jackson said from behind us, causing me to glance behind me with surprise, "You are not keeping yourself alert!" I mentally chastised myself as Chloe and Jamie came around behind me. "It's worse than we thought." Jamie said as they all moved towards Abe who was still crouched down and me. "You got one?" Chloe asked sounding surprised. "Yes. A male." Abe said as he turned towards me, I leaned down and held the bag open so he could put the rat in it. "Okay now we just need a female." Jackson said sounding optimistic. "Okay at the risk of this sounding overly girly this is all really, really, really disgusting." Jamie said moving away from me her face scrunched up. I laughed, "Oh come on Jamie it's not that bad." I said as I tightened the strings on the bag to close it. "At least you didn't find it in the toilet bowl." I added causing Abe to laugh and Jackson to try and stifle his laugh while Chloe and Jamie gave me looks of horror and disgust.

I explored four of the nearest rooms looking for any evidence of the exterminator who's vehicle was still parked outside of the hotel while Jackson called the Sheriff to report the situation. I entered the main room just as Jackson spoke up, "Come on the sooner we find a female rat the sooner we can get out of here." Jackson said. We stuck in a large group as we began to explore the rest of the hotel in search of a female rat, I handed Abe the bag with the male rat in it so my hands were free as we searched. When we got to the third floor the lights suddenly went off causing all of us to stiffen and quickly get out our flashlights or phones. "It's alright my patch job must not have held." Abe said calmly. We took only a few more steps and the power came back on causing Abe to exclaim, "Perhaps it worked better than I thought." We all continue walking, Chloe and I entered a room together while the other three were still in the hall. I heard what sounded like an elevator ding and peeked my head back out into the hallway, "How close was the Sheriff?" I asked Jackson just before the doors to the elevator opened and hundreds of rats spilled out.

Chloe and I stepped back into the room and shut the door, immediately I began to assess the room for exits. After waiting a few minutes I checked my phone intending to send Jamie a text to make sure she was okay and let her know that we were however I didn't have service so I gave up that idea. When we were ready to take a gamble I opened the door and found the hallway clear, "Were good. Lets move out." I said keeping my voice low not wanting to risk being on the opposite end of another rat hunt. "Okay we should look for the others." Chloe replied in a hushed tone as well. I nodded in agreement and we began to make our way quietly as we could through the halls checking each room. Upon going through the plastic coverings to one room I saw a uniform checking the body of a guy wearing an exterminators brand overalls. Chloe was right behind me and upon her slightly louder entrance the uniform looked up and saw breathing a sigh of relief. "Chloe." The woman said standing up to greet us, "So much for the coroner's theory that the rats don't eat people." She said as Chloe stepped forward to get a closer look at the dead body. "Yes and we need to find something better then rat traps." Chloe replied. Then the other woman's gaze fell on me, "Hi I'm Sheriff Bowman, you can call me Becky." She said holding out her hand, I shook it while replying, "My names Jupiter." Done with the pleasantries I knelt-down beside the body and took the flame thrower off of it, "This should do it." I said.

I put on the flame-thrower gear and we began to move I glanced out a nearby window and saw three figures moving towards the basement access. "Hey Chloe, Becky I see them come on." I said moving at a fast clip down the stairs, "Did they never watch horror movies as kids? You never go into creepy places without proper backup!" I muttered under my breath in Russian as the three of us hurried to catch up with Abe, Jamie and Jackson. We entered the basement area as quietly as we could listening for any sounds as we moved forwards, I was going first because I had the flame thrower. I rounded a corner and saw a door, behind it I heard hundreds of rats squeaking and bruxing. "Guys?" Chloe hollered out, "Chloe stay out of here!" Jackson's voice hollered back from behind a door. I kicked the door open and entered the room, immediately turning on the flame thrower to get rid of the rats on the left side first. "Queens. Get the Queens!" Jackson hollered pointing back behind him. I stepped forward alone as Chloe and Becky went over to the other three, "Get out of here!" I hollered as I got ready to roast the rat Queens. "Go go go go go!" I heard Jackson holler from behind me as I stepped closer to the rat Queen. Immediately the other rats began to run towards me trying to chase me off or kill me and I raised the flamethrower burning and killing as many of them as I could.

After I was sure that I had gotten all the rat Queens I backed out of the burning room and ran up the steps out into the fresh salt tinged air. After giving my statement and the flamethrower gear to one of the officers I waited away from them near the road while I had a smoke. "Hey ready to go?" Jamie asked coming up alongside of me. I laughed and let my cigarette dangle in my mouth as I through my right arm over her shoulder, "I was thinking maybe one day we can vacation here." I replied. Jamie elbowed me in the gut while the other three laughed as we walked away. We unanimously agreed to leave on the ship that night instead of sleeping in a hotel on the Island and made it back to Boston as the sun was rising. Chloe got a call from Mitch who said he had something important that he needed to tell us all face to face. I wanted to get a shower, change clothes and get a coffee and breakfast but decided that one out of four wasn't bad so we stopped at Starbucks before continuing to meet Mitch.

Upon getting to him after I handed him the coffee I had gotten for him he proceeded to tell us what he had been up to. Apparently, his niece, Clementine who is ten is dying of a disease that Raiden Global has the medicine for. He had made a deal with Raiden to exchange the Mother Cell for the medicine but saw the guy who had put their small team together working at Raiden Global and therefore had decided to come clean with us. I heard Jamie exclaim in outrage about him and I turned towards her, "You would have done the same thing if it would have been our mother." I said evenly. Jamie gave me a look but didn't refute my allegation. "So you did it?" Chloe said giving him a look of disbelief and scorn. "You traded the Mother Cell for the medicine."

Mitch looked affronted but also accepting of the scorn as he looked around while digging into the bag he had with him, "No. I didn't." He said as he held up the Mother Cell as proof before quickly shoving it back into his bag. "But you almost did." Jackson said. "Yeah." Mitch flippantly exclaimed, "I almost did. For my niece."

"We're here trying to do this trying to come up with a solution for everything and you would just give it away like that?!" Jackson exclaimed. "Look not to take away from his betrayal of your trust's but shouldn't we be focusing on the fact that the dude who brought ya'll together is working for the company that everything is coming from and coincidentally you all are trying to expose?" I asked sipping on my Maple Vanilla Pumpkin Spice extra-large Latte. "Maybe he had a good reason to be there." Abe said. "Oh get serious, I saw his face trust me." Mitch replied. Chloe spoke up indignantly, "You're asking us to trust you?!"

"I'm asking you to call my character into questioning at a later date. Delavane was not a Raiden because it was bring your shadowy Interpol Agent to the office day. He was there because he works there." Mitch said trying to convince us. "Did he see you?" Chloe asked Mitch who nodded. Chloe scoffed, "This is bad." Abe spoke up then, "So your saying the company that put us together is the same company that we are trying to take down?" I rolled my eyes, "Hello people that's what I just said not three minutes ago!" I thoughts as I took another sip of my Latte. "It appears that way." Mitch replied. "But why? Why would Delavane put us together if there was even a chance of us uncovering the truth?" Abe asked not willingly to trust Mitch completely so soon after the discovery of his almost betrayal.

Chloe's phone rang just then and she walked away to answer it leaving the rest of us. I plopped down beside Mitch who had been sitting as the rest of us crowded him in a circle. "You missed some freaky moments with rats." I told Mitch conversationally while the other three just glared at him trying to process things. There was a moment of silence when Mitch looked at me his eyes telling me his thanks for my acceptance when Jackson spoke up, "So what else Mitch?" Mitch sighed a little, "What else what?" He asked tiredly. "What else are you lying to us about?" Jackson replied. Mitch turned his gaze onto Jackson and I could feel the tension growing when Jamie spoke up, "Okay so the Mother Cell can it really be used to make a cure?"

Mitch nodded, "Yes. Theoretically it can be used to reverse the mutation." Jamie raised a disbelieving eyebrow and replied, "Theoretically?"

"I believe that if we introduce the Mother Cell into the DNA of a mutated animal we could possibly synthesize a cure. But here's the problem in order to do that we need an animal who has mutated and has not been exposed to the Mother Cell." Mitch said.

"Does such an animal even exist?" Abe asked, "Every animal that we've come into contact with has been mutated because of Raiden."

"Even if there is how would we possibly find it?" Jackson asked. "There are infected animals on every continent."

"I know. It's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. In every country on Earth." Mitch said, "But without that needle we don't have a cure."

There was silence as we all mulled that over trying to figure things out. Then Chloe came over, "We have to go." She said looking around us, I had been scanning the area constantly since Mitch had looked so spooked earlier and found her movements something that would definitely tip off anyone who was watching us. "What happened?" Abe asked for all of us. "That was my colleague at the DGSE. The FBI has issued a warrant for my arrest. Jamie's to." Chloe answered as she began to move, grabbing her bag off of the concrete beside me. "Ben Shaffer." Jamie said knowingly. "That's the guy who was trying to kill you right?" I asked Jamie who nodded in answer to my question while speaking to Chloe, "I'm so sorry Chloe."

Chloe shook her head as she continued to scan the area, "There's nothing to apologize for. It's only a matter of time before they connect the rest of you. We have to go guy's." She said.

"Whoa whoa wait hold on. Go where? Huh? If the FBI is after us, If Delavane works for Raiden where are we gonna go?" Jackson asked. "Right now let's hit a bar, I have a friend who will let us lay there until we find out how to find the animal we need for the cure." I said standing up and pulling my cell-phone out of my jacket pocket. The five followed me and I couldn't help but compare them to a herd of frightened zebra's following a lioness to a watering hole.

"Hey Iceman I'm bringing some friends for a party. Special invit only." I told my friend, the bar's owner knowing he would have the place cleared for us. "Okay guy's give me your phone's and any other electronical device you have." I said already having stripped the battery out of my phone and after taking the SIM card out I broke the circuit board and tossed them into a metal garbage can next to me. I did the same thing for all of their phones before setting a timed fire in the garbage can and going through the back alley ways to avoid any camera's. I had them wait inside an alleyway while I called an acquaintance that I knew lived in Boston and had him bring me six special burners. After paying him off I went back to the others, "Okay any calls you make keep under two minutes these are special but they aren't miracle workers." I said handing out the phones. "From now on we pay cash for everything and no more contact with family or friends." Chloe said as we walked to the bar. "Yeah that's not going to happen. At least not for me." Mitch said. "And why is that?" Chloe demanded. "Because I have to get these meds to Clem that's why. And FBI or not, I'm bringing 'em to her." Mitch shot back.

Siren's began to whirl close to us and I saw everyone stop moving and look guiltily towards the Police car that was now coming down next to us, "Keep moving!" I said wanting to smack them for being so obvious. "Alright guy's, stop just stop. This isn't going to work okay? We can't just be reactive to this thing, we gotta get out in front of it. Now we've been together for a couple of months as a team, most of us anyway, and were going pretty good." Jackson said I interrupted him, "Two more blocks to the bar keep moving…..Jackson do you have that list that I heard about. The one that the guy who gave us the Mother Cell had with Raiden's products and destination's on it?" I asked thinking furiously. "Yeah." Jackson said. "Good. We are going to need it." I said as I started to walk again. I heard Jackson talking and the others were agreeing but I was more concentrated on the surroundings then worrying about the plan that was being concocted behind my back. Upon reaching the bar, Mitch and Abe took his car to get the meds to Clem, Jackson and Chloe went to have a talk with Delavane at his home address which was easy to find and Jamie stayed with me to call a reporter friend of hers although she did it from outside the bar while I tossed back a few beers and exchanged stories with Bobby or the Iceman as he like to be called.

A few old friends came by the bar as Iceman had told them that I was in town and I talked with them and tossed back some shots while Jamie caught up with Chloe and Jackson who came back to the bar. Finally knowing I reached my alcohol limit if I wanted to be able to properly function I slipped away from my friends and towards Jamie, Chloe and Jackson. Stopping to un-pin a world map that Bobby had hanging on the wall, stepping down and over to them I laid the map down on the pool table. "Okay that notebook what's his face gave you, start reading out the places." I told Jackson while lifting a red pen from Chloe's pocket without her knowledge until I pulled the lid off with my teeth and held the now empty shot glass in one hand and the red pen in the other. "His name was Leo Butler and I have his ledger." Jamie said her tone disapproving. "What are you thinking?" Jackson asked me. "Mitch said that we need a mutated animal that hasn't been exposed to the Mother Cell. Butler has a list of places where Raiden Global's products were used. If we can find a place where Radien's products were not used but where there has been reports of strange animal activity then-" "Then we can find the animal we need to make the cure." Jackson said interrupting me. I nodded and we exchanged smiles before getting down to business.

We were about half-way through the map when it was time to meet with Jaime's reporter friend. "I'll keep a lookout." I told the other three before we parted. I watched and saw an older looking man sneak into the building after determining that he was alone I crept in after him. I came quietly around the corner and saw him pointing a gun at Jamie, Chloe, Jackson and some other guy who I assumed to be Jamie's friend. I heard the older guy say, "In over twenty years of law enforcement I've only discharged my weapon three times-" As he pointed his gun towards Jamie, I needed no other reason to press my gun to the back of his neck. "You keep pointing that thing at my sister and that will be your legacy." I stated calmly cocking my gun and nudging him with the cool barrel. "Who are you?" The guy asked his hands already out to his sides. "What your background check not turn me up?" I taunted him from behind before turning serious, "Place your weapon on the ground slowly and kick it away from you now." I said, I saw a tell-tell sign that he was going to try and get the drop on me and pulled out my second gun shooting it into the ceiling as a warning, "You try that stunt your thinking of and I'll put it in your four main joints before you can say, Rambo." I warned. He put his weapon down and kicked it away, "Chloe get your weapon, everyone out of here now. Except you Mr. I'm gonna guess FBI. You are going to stay with me." I said, Chloe took her weapon and I rolled my eyes mouthing 'I'm not gonna kill him' to Jamie who let out a relieved sigh as they all left the building.

"Your not going to get away with this you know." The FBI guy said. I laughed sarcastically at that, "So you think yourself the hero huh? Let's see what internal affairs thinks of that and your friend." I replied before clocking him with the butt of my gun and laying him gently down on the concrete floor. I saw some leaves and old rags in some boxes in the corner and dumped them over him, using a broom to mix them up so anything that could have been transferred from me would be well hidden. Then I left the building and we drove away, "So exactly how long were you planning on making us wait to rescue us?" Jamie asked me. "I had to make sure there was no backup and upon realizing that he was emotionally unstable I had to enter quietly and fast so you didn't give me away in time for him to turn around and shoot me." I replied laying back on the seat. "Yes, the answer to the silent question yall are giving me yes. He's still alive he's just a little preoccupied right now. Also I put a bug in a friends ear, she owes me a favor so that FBI is now under investigation for taking bribes from various large corporation's including Radien. The main FBI agent of their focus being Ben Shaffer." I said closing my eyes as we drove.

We ended up going to Mitch's niece's house and I learned that the woman who was now Mitch's niece's step-mother was an ex-girlfriend of his. Cue lot's of drama that I didn't want a part of so I went outside for a smoke and ended up chain-smoking the last ten cigarettes I had left. Putting out the last stub I found myself grabbed by Mitch who exclaimed, "Leopards." While the rest came out smiling to, "So where to?" I asked. "Zambia, Africa." Was the answer