- Protector Ch 16
Zandra walked quickly down the stairs of the building. She was a little shocked, a little scared, and a little sad. She felt bad for Neo, he had lost so much and seemed so lonely… he wasn't even a human being anymore. Just a shell. A hollow man. Zandra noted that she should visit him again.
Her cellphone rang.
"Yeah,"
"Where the hell did you go?" Kesia was mad.
"A room?" Zandra guessed, "I met the informant there."
"Well, Cover is coming back in now to make sure you get out."
"Ok," Zandra said. She got to the first floor and walked over to the door. Maybe now wasn't the best time to walk out of the building yet – it was a dangerous part of town. There were probably prostitutes around, and Zandra didn't want to risk seeing their grotesqueries plastered all over the place.
"What did he tell you?" Kesia asked. Zandra waited a moment before answering, and decided to go with what Neo had advised.
"He said we have to unplug people."
"That's helpful."
"Really." She felt bad, but playing him down was probably the best thing to do for the moment.
"Cover should be over there in a second," Kesia continued, "He'll bring you some ammunition in case."
"Thanks," Zandra said, and closed her phone. If he was in, then she could probably get moving. She opened the door to the outside and began to walk towards the road.
She had been right – in the time that Zandra had been in the building, more whores had found their way into the district and were now milling about in small groups. Not surprisingly, Zandra didn't see any cars milling about. She began to walk back the way she had driven an hour before, wandering down the street and still thinking about Neo.
He seemed to be trustable enough. He would have to be the greatest impostor in the world to not only convince her and Emory of his righteousness, but also the council of Zion. He seemed to be in control of himself, even though thirty years with little to no human contact… suffice to say Zandra had read stories of suicides more humane than Neo's current status.
Her heeled boots scuffed on the concrete sidewalk as she continued to walk. She was now almost reluctant to go back home now that things were so different. But there were other things to do. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings. It was a shame that everything around her wasn't real, she thought that she would even grow to like the dingy alleys and old buildings. Hell, this world used to be home.
"Renée, Renée, where you goin'?" A lady shouted. Zandra glanced to her left; it looked like a group of prostitutes had finally had enough of each other. One woman, probably Renée, was now stomping away from the rest of the clique in her high orange stilettos. A flurry of words escaped from Renée, Zandra guessed it was some form of profanity. She had to keep herself from laughing.
"Renée? Renée!" the same lady shouted, now sounding hysterical. What was the big deal? Zandra took a closer look. The other women began to scream as Renée became someone else. The woman's body convulsed as it took the form of another; of an agent.
"Renée?" the lady asked, almost pleadingly. The agent was complete now, and pulled out his gun. The women began to shriek. He shot the one lady, and crossed the street towards Zandra.
She was weaponless, in a street with people. It didn't look good.
"Ms. Richards," the agent said, wiping off his gun with a handkerchief, "so nice to see you alive and well."
Zandra figured that she should try and make time, maybe Cover would get to her before the agent did. It was a stretch, but Kesia would know what was going on and would pass it on.
"I didn't catch your name," she said, standing firmly and facing him as he continued to approach.
"I didn't give it,"
Zandra was quiet.
"Agent Brown," he replied.
"You missed the fun."
Brown's eyes narrowed. Did he not know of the other agent's attack earlier? Zandra decided to go one step further.
"You should have seen it back there, that other agent was quite surprised when I got him."
"Well, Ms. Richards, I'm sure that any previous errors can be rectified."
Zandra was quiet again. Her plan hadn't turned out the way she wanted it to… please let Cover come soon! The agent was now standing in the street, remaining at least a car's length away from her. But he wasn't attacking yet, and that was good.
"Ms. Richards, I think you have information that would be of use to us."
"Really." Shit, Zandra thought, did he already know she had contacted Neo?
"Sarcasm, Ms. Richards, will get us nowhere."
"Information," Zandra replied, "On what?"
"I think you know the answer, Ms. Richards." He took off his sunglasses, revealing cold, unblinking eyes. Zandra tried to hold up under his gaze.
"We are very close," he continued, "And I think you can tell me where I can find what we have been looking for."
Brown began to wipe off his sunglasses with his handkerchief. Why was he taking so long? Come on, Cover…
"Ms. Richards, we know you'll be obliged to help," a voice said from her right. She spun around. Another agent. He must have registered her immediate fear, because he smiled a cold and heartless grin.
"Yes, Ms. Richards, Jones - at your service."
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, feigning an attitude. Hopefully, they couldn't see through it.
"Oh Ms. Richards, there's no need for fear."
"If you assist, we can make it painless." Jones pulled out his gun and eyed it admiringly. Please Cover, hurry up!
"You will help us find the anomaly."
"What anomaly?" she asked. Her retorts grew thinner as the moments passed, soon enough they would get tired of it… she hated to think of what would happen then.
"Ms. Richards, you are trying us," said Brown, his sunglasses back on. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Zandra's arm. "Perhaps you need some convincing?"
"N-no," Zandra replied, moving her arm. Her mind was beginning to shut down. Brown smiled. He was going to shoot her, she knew it. She saw his hand move for the trigger, saw it pressing down… she had to get out of the way, but how? Zandra put all of her weight on her left foot, hoping that just a small movement would pull her far enough away from the hit… she saw Brown's smile fade as the trigger clicked, his arm moved to the left, matching hers - he had registered her movement. The explosion started, the bullet already coming at her, Zandra knew that Brown had moved the gun. Aiming at her heart. She pulled as quickly as she could to the right, as far as her legs would take her in the split second she had before the bullet would hit. Further, further, she coerced herself as the bullet flew towards her. It aimed now at her lung, her shoulder… just a little further…
Zandra heard another gun click. It was Jones, he had decided to join in on the shoot-em-up, as well. She knew that she couldn't fight against two, she couldn't dodge bullets from two guns at once. One was hard enough.
She heard the gun cock, and another shot rang out.
