Small chap to get things started again.
Chapter 29
I ran a towel through my hair one more time, rubbing my hair to wring the excess water out and trying desperately to wring the thoughts from my head.
The events from earlier on kept on repeating in my mind. What if I hadn't reacted in time? What would've happened to Sam?
Freddie sighs deeply and stares into the screen of his laptop. He sits down and ponders what he should do with his current predicament.
Slumped back and running his fingers through his hair he sighed again.
He studies the email sent by Theo and reads the contents.
Unable to put off his thoughts any longer he decides to visit this so called "Alastair".
Night dawned over Seattle quickly, the bustling streets immediately turned into a bazaar of silence. A figure emerges from the double doors of the Bushwell Plaza. Donning a black jacket and nothing more than his wallet and cellphone, Freddie searches his GPS for the location of this "Alastair".
The chilly winter night wind blows and Freddie desperately clutches on to his jacket to keep warm, Freddie then began walking down the street.
Finally confirming the location, Freddie stops in a corner and calls a cab to get to the destination.
The building complex was run down, it's old and it borders the bronx. Freddie steps up to the door and knocks.
A man, sporting a white tank top some green shorts and some slippers came out. Around mid thirties long wavy hair tied in a ponytail with a pair of glasses.
"I didn't order any pizza." The man said trying to shoo Freddie away with a beer bottle which he held in his left hand.
"I'm not the pizza guy... I'm looking for Alastair."
The man peered out the door and looked left and right. He popped his head back in and smirked at Freddie while swinging his bottle and pointing at Freddie.
"I'm Alastair. So you must be the man who wants some merchandise." Alastair said in an Italian accent which was different from earlier.
Alastair quickly pulled a .357 revolver magnum from his back and pointed at Freddie.
"Hands up and on the wall." Alastair quickly shouted as the door closed.
Freddie realizing what is happening quickly complied.
Alastair frisked him and ran a metal detector thoroughly through his limbs.
Alastair released a breath of relief.
"Sorry. Can't be too careful." Alastair said and hid his gun.
Freddie released his breath which he was holding for who knows how long.
"Come come." He motioned again.
Ducking into the man's garage Freddie found himself staring at the room he is in.
Rusted tools lined the shelves, cobwebs lined the corners and an old volkswagen beetle sits in the center of the room without anything but the body and chassis.
"Are you really the custom dealer?" Freddie asked in disbelief.
The man let out a little laugh.
"Always the same reaction." He said with a grin.
He placed his hand on the hood of the beetle and yanked it open.
A light source emanated from the inside of the hood.
"You coming?" Alastair asked. and stepped inside the hood.
Freddie peered inside and there he saw a hole leading down to what seems to be an underground room.
He warily stepped down the steep steel steps and the hood closed behind him.
"Welcome to my armory." Alastair said proudly.
The armory was huge. It could fit 4 bedrooms easy.
Freddie could not help but stare at all the hardware.
Various types of guns lined the walls. Rifles, SMGs, machine guns, sidearms were just a few.
Explosives of every kind were also displayed. Blunt explosives like dynamite, c4 and the less attention getting c3 clay types.
Various gadgets also adorned the armory.
Grappling hooks, night vision goggles, infrared goggles, smoke bombs and tranquilizer guns disguised as common objects.
It felt like a James Bond movie altogether except the Aston Martin waiting for the protagonist.
"So what would it be?" Alastair said cutting Freddie's little daydream.
"Full annihilation?" Alastair said while brandishing a grenade launcher fitted with a drum magazine.
"or subtle operation?" Alastair said while bringing up a silenced mp5 navy with a double clip.
"Neither." Freddie replied.
"You did mention that you create custom equipment right?"
"Yep.." Alastair replied right back.
Freddie grinned. Alastair noticed this and began to smirk as well.
"Ahhh. I like that smile of yours. I smell mischief. So what would it be?" Alastair quipped.
"I want a knife that can't kill." Freddie replied.
"What?" Alastair asked clearly confused.
"I want you to create a knife that can incapacitate but not kill. Like a cross between a knife and a taser."
"Hmmm. It's do-able. What else?"
"I want a black body suit that can deflect bullets also has tracked foot pads that supress up to 100 lbs of force, but it has to be light and a small helmet with a heads up display fitted with NVG, infrared and Xray vision, view range has to be a 20-20 like our eyes."
"Woah woah woah. Body suit that can deflect bullets? Space age helmet? foot pads that can supress that much force? We are already talking big bucks here."
"Money ain't no object." Freddie quickly replied.
"I'm starting to like you already. What is your name again?"
"No names." Freddie replied seriously.
"Wooohoo we have a James Bond here. But hey sure its a deal. Give me 3 days and you can get your equipment here." Freddie shrugged and shook hands with Alastair.
Clutching his black jacket again, Freddie made his way down the dark alley to get back to the main street.
"I need to get to the bottom of this." he said to himself.
His mind, the ever working factory almost never stopped whirring since the incident.
His mind was somewhere else, his senses dulled due to his overloaded brain.
He kept walking toward the main street but was stopped by something or rather by someone.
"Where are you going whiteboy?" a man around twenties asked him.
Still unfazed from his thoughts he tries to make way through.
"Uh, I'm sorry sir. If you'll excuse me-"
The man laughed and from the shadows came another two men who looked like "gangstaz".
"This is a stickup." The man pulled out a knife and stuck it close to Freddie's side.
Freddie snapped back to reality at the feeling of the cold steel near his throat. He immediately raises his hands up.
"Not again..." He says in his thoughts.
He looked around and noticed two men. One is holding a pipe and the other a bat. Again simulating the possible outcomes of the encounter, Freddie readies himself for fight... or flee.
"Hey Foo, give me your money!" The man said as he subtly moves the knife closer to Freddie's throat. He then began rummaging through his pockets and in few seconds later the man finds his wallet and pulls it out.
"Damn, this dude got a platinum card." says the man but never lets go of the knife to his throat.
The other two comes nearer to take a glimpse of the card and Freddie seizes the chance and takes the knife from the man's hands twists his arm to the back, he kicks the man's leg and puts his other arm around the man's neck into a chokehold and points the knife to his face.
"Drop it..." Freddie said to the other two. He needs the card for his equipment and can't afford to lose it.
The other two hesitates but after a while they set down their weapons and back away.
Freddie pushes the man he holds into the ground with a kick in the back.
The two immediately reach for their weapons but Freddie was quick on his feet and has already covered ground.
He reached for the first man's right arm with his left and swings his right arm across the man's chest downward to the floor downing him immediately.
Seeing that the other man already picked up the bat, he anticipates his swing and grabs a hold of his right sleeve and collar and throws him over his shoulder.
He straddles one of the men and slaps him awake.
"WHO SENT YOU?" Freddie shouted with a propped fist.
The man cowers and raises his hands to his face in defense.
"chill dawg. Nobody sent us."
"YOU LIAR!" Freddie holds one of his fingers and bends it the opposite way.
The man groans in pain.
"I'm gonna ask again. Who sent you?" Freddie asked again and steadily applies pressure on the finger.
"Dude we saw you go into Al's! We know he is a dealer and people who visit him have big bucks! That's it I swear!" The man replied begging.
Freddie lets go and the man craddles his throbbing hand.
Grabbing his wallet he immediately leaves the alley and walks amongst the people in the streets.
He props up his jacket collar in attempt to cover half of his face and walks with his hands in his pockets.
"All of this is already getting into my head. I have to get to the bottom of this quickly." Freddie said to himself.
He looked up unto the sky and rain started to fall...
"On top of it all, everything shifted unexpectedly. All I wanted is to get back at the people who did me wrong, yet here I am helping them out again, how ironic."
Sam's POV
"Since when did you start liking the nub?" I asked while munching on my special Sammich
Carly started twirling her hair, clearly lost in her wonderland she answers. "Uh, ever since he came back I guess."
"Hmmmmm." I replied nonchalantly, I was more focused on my 'sammich' rather than the conversation.
"What do you mean hmmmmm?" Carly asked right back with a raised eyebrow.
"Well it is the nub that we're talking about so I guess it's kinda normal for me to answer that way." I said sarcastically and took another giant bite out of my sandwich.
Carly rolled her eyes.
I was almost done with my sandwich when Carly pops another question.
"Do you find Freddie hot?"
Bits and pieces of the sandwich flew from my mouth in a spit take.
"Where did that come from?" I asked while groaning from the wasted sandwich.
"I just wanted to ask your opinion." Carly asked while blushing.
My mind went back to the times Freddie was still a wimp. He's a snotty kid with a brain that pines for Galaxy Wars. He's a stick, scrawny and limp. He bruises easily and dresses funny. Who the heck wears khaki pants on a daily basis? But now? He's taller, he's bigger and the nub actually grew muscles! His hair is long now and his facial features are now more profound and more of his age than before. He doesn't look like a sissy sixteen year-old anymore.
"Ehhhh, I guess so." I replied just to give out an answer.
"What do you mean you guess so?" Carly insisted.
"He changed I can give you that." I explained as I laid my eyes on Carly's untouched smoothie.
Carly let out a defeated sigh and just shook her head.
As she was gonna speak. "Hey you got a smoothie too?"
"No." I answered.
"Then who's...?" Carly looked beside her and noticed her smoothie is missing. I smiled at this and she crossed her arms and glared at me.
"What!? All this talk about the nub got me thirsty!" I answered as I sucked the smoothie from the straw.
Carly just smiled.
