The following week
Saturday
Safehouse A
"What is she doing?" Chloe asked, quietly.
"Packing!" I replied.
"What for? World War Three?"
"She is Hit Girl!"
"I know, but..."
"Look, if you two assholes are just gonna fucking annoy me, then you can fuck off!" Mindy interrupted, sounding rather annoyed.
..._...
It had been a difficult week.
Kim had been in a lot of pain, when she had woken up last Saturday morning and Mindy had felt really bad about what she had done and so did I! However Kim had accepted the reasons, for Mindy attacking her. Yes, Mindy went too far, but there were a few mitigating circumstances. Kim went home and is currently recovering from her injuries.
Mindy and I, though... Well the fight didn't help and although I didn't feel resentment towards Mindy, I was very concerned by her behaviour, no matter what triggered it and I felt that the fight had had an affect on our relationship. But I hoped that the love between us, would overcome this hurdle as it has many others.
Chloe was a bit shocked when she found out about what had happened and actually laughed when she heard that Marty had used the Taser on Mindy. Mindy was not amused and actually made Chloe blush with her profane retort!
Mindy was heading off to New York, for a few days, to see if she could track down Ralph D'Amico. She was taking Chloe, as backup. I would remain here in Chicago, in case anything blew up here and I had Marty and Sophia, as backup. If things blew up in New York, then I could head out to help. I was a bit concerned about us splitting up, but Mindy persuaded me that it would be a good idea, as we needed to investigate D'Amico in New York, but couldn't just leave Chicago undefended. I had insisted that she at least take Chloe with her. Dr Bennett had agreed to this, which was a bit of a surprise!
Talking of Marty.
Marty has made enormous progress, both with losing weight and getting fit. I won't say he is quite half the man he was, but not far off! It has been over two months, since he first started training with us and he is still serious about becoming an operator! Abby is also doing very well, too, as his potential replacement.
Later that afternoon
"Oh, I was wondering what you two were doing in the shower together!" I quipped.
Both girls glared at me and together they were kinda scary!
"Okay, it's not like I thought you two were... Getting up to anything... Er... Together!" I said, slowly, with a smile.
"You thought we were naked and might be fucking!" Mindy suggested, with a scowl.
"Possibly!" I replied, hopefully.
"Well we weren't naked!"
"So you were..."
"And we weren't fucking! How could you even...!"
"Okay! Like the new hair colour... Do the drapes match the carpet?" I asked facetiously. I think I was living dangerously, right now, but what the hell!
Chloe's mouth dropped open, in shock!
"No... And they ain't gonna, either! I can't believe you even asked that, Dave!" Mindy growled, blushing. "Get your damn mind out of the fucking gutter!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist fuckin' with ya!" I replied.
Chloe was blushing, too, but she still scowled at me!
Both girls had dyed their hair. Mindy was now a Soft Amber and Chloe was a Chestnut Brown.
My sordid imagination! Although watching two girls 'at it' was definitely a fantasy of mine, maybe when they're older...!
..._...
"You sure you have everything?" I asked, tentatively.
"Yeah, I think so," Mindy replied.
"The sink is still in the kitchen!" I teased.
I received a nasty glare in return! The glare quickly turned to sadness.
"I'm gonna miss you, Dave," Mindy said, quietly.
"I'll miss you, too, gorgeous," I replied, feeling sadness inside of me.
Sunday morning
New York City
We arrived in New York and Marcus was waiting for us.
He did not look pleased.
"Problem, Marcus?" I asked, with a worried feeling.
"I received a visitor three hours ago! Six in the damn morning!" Marcus replied, looking like he normally did, whenever strange things occurred in his life, especially things that involved Hit Girl!
"So it arrived then!" I responded, in a weak attempt at humour.
"Oh yes! One enormous wooden crate, delivered by a criminal, if ever I saw one!"
"Er, I assume the crate is safe?" I asked, tentatively.
"Yes, it is! You know what I think about you using my house as a 'base of operations'!" Marcus said, scowling.
"Well, I couldn't exactly have it delivered to the safehouse!" I retorted.
"Mindy... I... Sometimes, I really don't know what to do with you!" Marcus said, shaking his head.
"I know what you mean, Mr Williams!" Chloe laughed, from the back seat.
"Thanks, bitch!" I growled.
Four hours later
Marcus' House
"Time to go!" I said, inserting a magazine into a Glock 26, pistol and placing the pistol into a concealed holster, in the small of my back.
"I'm ready!" Chloe replied, doing the same, with her FN Five-seveN pistol.
"You girls, be careful!" Marcus warned, trying to keep the concern out of his voice, but failing. Marcus definitely seemed uncomfortable with two armed teenagers in the house, lucky for him he doesn't know what else I brought with me, or he might have a damn coronary!
"Hey, it's me!" I quipped.
"That's what I'm afraid of!" Marcus replied, sardonically.
We headed a few blocks north, before hailing a cab that would take us to a certain location, to the west.
..._...
"Stop here, please!" I called, to the driver.
I passed over the fare and a tip, before getting out with Chloe.
I felt strange inside; I had not been to this block for over three years.
"You okay, Mindy?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, sorry. It just feels a bit strange being back here," I explained.
I walked down the block, and looked up at a particular building. Some of the units had broken windows and some were boarded up. The unit on the top floor seemed to have better quality windows, than the others. I smiled, it was home, sort of or at least it had been.
"Come on, I'm just being stupid!" I said, unlocking and pulling open the main door.
..._...
I stopped outside the apartment on the top floor and took a deep breath, before I inserted the key... Or tried to...
What the fuck? The key wouldn't go in properly...
My mind went into instant overdrive... The lock had been changed... Somebody was here... In my safehouse!
"Stand to!" I growled.
Chloe pulled out her pistol and chambered a round.
"The lock has been changed!" I said, pulling out my lock picks.
A minute later the lock turned.
I replaced my picks, pulled out my Glock and racked back the slide.
"Go!" Chloe said and I pushed open the door.
..._...
There was nobody, in the living room, but I did notice a complete absence of dust; there should have been a ton of it!
It felt strange, as I entered the apartment and my heart started to beat faster. All sorts of emotions flashed through me, along with the dreaded flashbacks. The flashbacks varied, between my Daddy, Dave and Marcus. The last flashbacks were the most disturbing, as they were after my Daddy had died. I saw myself starting to breakdown, when I saw the two cups of hot chocolate, with marshmallows, that I had made, then I saw myself start packing equipment into my pink suitcase. I saw myself almost shooting Dave, letting go of the trigger just before it broke. I saw myself looking at the jet-pack and that brought a smile to my face. The smile grew, as I remembered shoving the instructions at Dave. I remembered waking up with concussion, the following day and Dave helping me pack, to go with Marcus.
Get with it Mindy! I shook it off.
I signalled Chloe to keep an eye on the main door and the door to the gun room, on the left.
I first cleared the bedrooms and bathroom. Nothing, apart from the fact that almost everything was clean, at least in my old room and the bathroom. My bed no longer had pink bedclothes; the bedclothes were now blue!
I returned to the living room and stared at the closed door, the door to the gun room.
I listened at the door and could hear somebody moving around, in the kitchen.
This story continues in 'Feral, Chapter 9 - Emotion - Part II'...