Protector of Men Ch 41

She was in a street full of people. Zandra immediately felt crowded; felt claustrophobic. It wasn't her natural reaction, but a new one created by the threat of the new agents. Now that she was in a crowd, anyone could kill her in a matter of seconds.

She was in the middle of the street, an island in the sea of humanity. People jostled past her, going to work, to appointments, to school…

She felt the urgency grow and began to search for a way to get out. She reached for her cellphone, but it wasn't there. Dread instantly filled every inch of her – without a cellphone, she wouldn't be able to find an exit. She was blind. Panicking, she shoved her way through the mass of people, looking for a building, a car, something she could get into where there weren't as many people. It was when she got to the sidewalk that she realized her perilous state.

"It's the anomaly," one of the agents said. He was coming at her from her left, a good twenty feet away. But he was walking quickly, and behind him were two more agents. One of them pressed his earpiece against his head, then nodded. He pulled out his gun.

She already had hers out, and aimed it at the oncoming militia. She knew that she couldn't hit them, but perhaps she could stall them while she made a getaway. Before the agent could fire, or even aim, she unloaded a clip from her Beretta, sending the agents into a frenzy of movement. But it didn't last long. After a few seconds she had to change clips, and the agents took advantage of the extra time to chase. Guns wouldn't help her now. She needed time.

She dropped her gun to the floor and ran. She ran as hard as she could, but she could still hear the agents giving chase behind her. Though the crowd of people was thinning, there were still coppertops milling about the street, doing whatever was necessary in their pointless lives…

A person in front of her screamed and dropped her things. A second later she was another agent. Zandra skidded to a halt, narrowly missing the new agent in front of her. She was surrounded, and the agents were closing in. What do I do now?

She woke up covered in sweat, moving uncomfortably in her light sheets. Despite it being damn near freezing in Purgatory, Zandra felt hot. She found it a little ironic that Purgatory was always so cold – the waiting room between eternal life and death… she just thought it would be more lukewarm, not bone-chillingly cold. Not to say that she was religious, just curious.

She got out of bed and immediately regretted it. Without her body heat pervading into her thin bed, the air quickly chilled the sweat on her sleepy body and made her shiver. She grabbed her other sweater from a rack and pulled it over her. The feeling of her cold sweat almost made her sick.

Not that her dream hadn't made her sick in the first place. It had confirmed what she had been worrying about lately: the new agents. They would get to her if she wasn't careful. People were dying now because of them. They were better, they were faster, they were everything Brown and Jones weren't.

The hallways were relatively quiet as she wandered her way through Purgatory. Zandra guessed that it was fairly early in the morning, but wasn't sure. She didn't have a watch – not many people did – and Central Matrix Time wasn't a help to them.

Cover was sitting in Kesia's seat, watching the matrix. Zandra was a little surprised to see him there, but only a little. He had a cup of some drink with him, and was casually sipping from it. He smiled and nodded when he noticed Zandra approaching.

"Up early," he noted, still staring at the screens.

"Bad dreams," she answered, now also staring at the screens. She noticed that there wasn't much going on in the matrix – a few people walking the streets, many sleeping, she could even detect the movement of elusive agents every now and then…

"I see," he answered. They were both silent.

"I want to do more agent training," she suddenly blurted. Cover was surprised.

"Why?"

"New agents."

Cover sighed.

"We updated out program once the agents did, so it shouldn't be a problem. Are you sure though?"

Zandra took a second before answering.

"Yes."

He nodded.

"We can do it today, but we'll have to wait until Kesia is up. She should be out soon." Zandra thanked him and wandered over to the mess room, hoping that maybe the lights and presence of food would mean that the room would be warmer. Even just thinking of heat gave her the fleeting feeling of warm air, however brief it was. But it gave her the same satisfying feeling, so she didn't question it. For the moment, ignorance was bliss.

She ate a little while in the mess room. Might as well – she figured that she'd work up a nasty appetite once she was in the training program. She didn't finish, and played with her food for a while in hopes of wasting time. She twirled the spork around in her fingers, leaving messy slop trails along the bottom of her bowl. She tried to draw a heart with it, but scribbled it out after a few unsuccessful attempts. Thankfully, Kesia appeared in a few minutes.

"I'm training today," Zandra told her instantly. Kesia watched her intently, as if asking her to explain.

"More agent training," she continued. Kesia nodded in comprehension.

"Now?" she asked. Zandra nodded.

It looked like Chinatown, but Zandra couldn't be sure. All she could tell was that it was a crowded town with stony streets and oriental buildings lining the sidewalks. There were some clothes hanging from lines between buildings, some flowers nestled under windows. It was almost picturesque, and Zandra had to remind herself that she was there to train. To kill.

She had no weapons, and knew that she would have to find them fast. She quickly went into a building to her left in search of something. Kesia had warned her that she'd be unarmed, and Zandra was prepared. As long as she could find something quickly, she'd be allright.

The room was rather empty – an entryway, by the looks of it. There was a red wooden bench to her left, an open doorway in front of her, a coat closet to her right. She checked the closet.

"Bingo," she said aloud, taking the guns out of the closet. A Beretta, two nicely made Skorpions… Zandra smiled as she stuffed them in her belt. She was well equipped now. Zandra then decided to leave the building, knowing that the agents would find her soon. She'd rather be in an open area, full of escapes, rather than be stuck in a small room with three deadly agents. She knew that they couldn't kill her, but she still didn't want to get caught. After all, this was training.

She opened the door, holding her Beretta at eye level.