Authors: Veronica Melan
Yes, the nightmare was repeating itself.
I immediately reproached myself - nothing was repeating again itself. I'm not the same Shereen, who was going there to ask for money to save Alex, not the same confused girl with big green eyes, waiting for a miracle, or at least anything remotely similar to it. And nothing will be like it was three months ago.
Of course, my eyes were still the same green colour and I was still hoping for a miracle, hoping maybe even more than ever before, but now my mind was straight and logical, and I’ve prepared all the questions in advance.
When the car finally stopped, I found out that we were already in the underground car park - long, empty and echoing, with the square concrete pillars across it and the lifts at the far end.
Accompanied by two men, I walked towards them. There was an unreadable expression on their faces - Silence. The doors shut with a soft rustle, and the cabin began to crawl up. Then there was a quiet tinkling sound, and the doors let us out in the lobby, located many floors above.
There was a girl-secretary with not a particularly noticeable appearance, behind a low desk. Her fair hair was neatly combed back, her lips slightly touched up with a gloss. She was wearing thin rimmed glasses on her long nose, her eyes, however, seemed smart and insightful and the jacket fit her figure very well. It was obviously custom-made.
I had a quick look around - posh carpet, beige walls without any windows, and different pictures on the walls, a few chairs for visitors - empty at the moment, and a coffee table with some brochures on it.
During my last trip here I didn’t have time to spot any of that, and now it was like a whole tour around their lobby.
Before reaching the table, I thought whether I should try and find this high building without any windows on the map? Although, the room where I spent the night before going to Tally, had windows - they were covered with curtains. Then it will be very difficult to identify the location of the Corporation. And did I really need to do that?
*****
Everything was ready.
Pink sunset, red mountains shivering in the evening haze - Hulk was looking at it for the last time, trying not to think about what will happen next. It felt as though many years had passed since he was left alone at this ranch alone the time was right to leave.
Tabitha with her luggage and the new documents was put on a creaky bus, going towards Klendon-City. Of course, she resisted and cursed but agreed eventually.
Hulk didn’t try to look for any ingenious ways; he just paid a couple of people and the bus driver. It will certainly be discovered soon, and somebody will be very unhappy, but any trace of Hulk would be gone by that time. Therefore, it was forgivable to do something stupid for the last time.
The entire weapons arsenal was cleaned and prepared; everything that could be useful was put aside, waiting for the right moment, and Hulk, smoking his last cigar - one of the three remining in the wooden box was waiting for the same moment.
The tobacco was dry and tasted harsh, but Hulk didn’t order new cigars - why would he? Soon, when he’s free, he’ll buy his favourite ones.
Thirty minutes earlier the doctor knocked on the office door and said that the patient, who was in a coma for a long time regained consciousness? Hulk just nodded. Of course she did, because an hour ago he visited the infirmary himself, but the dopy doctor, who promptly went to have a drink in the dining room, didn’t notice him.
Five minutes of work, a few touches on the right areas of the brain, and it switched back on. Regarding all the changes that have been made, it was now working even better than before - no more wrecking, greed and no constant craving for anger and destruction. Instead of that bitch that tried to squeeze through the gap between the gates, one very good person will open her eyes soon.
Why did he do that? Just because he didn’t want to have something “unfinished” on his mind, and now he could just forget about it.
It’s been a long time since Hulk felt like he did right now - his brain completely freed of any emotions. The analysis function will turn on later, when the time is right; and now, he was sitting in the ambush like a patient predator, waiting his hour. He was just killing time by smoking a cigar, idly scrolling through all the details of the upcoming operation in his mind. There wasn’t any agitation or excitement, he felt calm and relaxed, as he always did when a job had to be done.
The guy that Hulk chose as the new Head of the ranch seemed promising - determined, intelligent and ambitious. If he does everything right, he’ll be allowed to mix in the right circles, with the right people on his side receive some benefits, and if favoured by the mayor of Tally, then he will achieve a new status - the status of a fully legit "owner". What a damn good goal! Hulk almost spat on the carpet from the sarcasm that filled his mind.
No, that’s it. This part of his life is not behind him. It’s time to turn over a new page and forget about the last three years - there wasn’t anything worth remembering, when sat at home with a glass of whisky.
Except for her.
And so that she doesn’t turn into a distant memory as well, today - for the first time in all these years, he’ll abandon this place. He will crash the rusty gates with his forehead if he has to, but he’ll make it to the other side of the fence, and maybe on the other side of the law.
The stare of his grey eyes fixed on the horizon. The smoke was drifting away with the dry wind; the transparent white curtain was swaying by the balcony door.
Four hours before sunset. Four hours of inactivity.
And four hours till his new life.
*****
They were driving silently in two cars - Dell with Chaser and Ren in Dane’s Jeep. The clock on the dashboard was showing close to midnight; there was no need for words anymore, as everything had been discussed and agreed before the ride. Now it was time for action.
Dane El’Conto, unrivalled sniper, had to take care of the guards up in the watching towers, Dell will detonate the lock on the gate, and Mac will disable the electric fence. But they could only proceed with their tasks after Ren connects remotely to the Tally security centre and replaces their camera images with a picture prepared in advance.
Everyone knew exactly what to do. They’d been working together for long enough and now learnt how to act flawlessly.
Two cars, like a couple of wingless shadows, were riding up along the narrow serpentine-like road. The mountains were ahead. Given that Klendon City was located on a plain, spread out in all directions for several hundred kilometres, the mountains in this area looked odd, out of place, but not for those who knew that this landscape was created much later after the Level itself. When the Commission needed to build a new object, they didn’t particularly care about the harmony of the nearby nature. If they had to have some mountains, they would just create them.
The beams from the headlights were snatching out the rough and uneven road surface, covered with fog. Bunches of grass were growing on the sides - sage and wild heather - all the plants seemed dark and brown and only when a light would fall onto some flowers, their bright colours would appear for a second.
“I’ve never been here before.” Mac broke the silence, not taking his eyes off the road, “I didn’t even know this place existed.”
“Me neither.” agreed Dell, who was having the same kind of thoughts.
“You know, I’ve tried to find Hulk with my inner vision a few times, but I always felt nothing. I thought he was dead.”
“This city seems to block any signals from those who are inside.” shared his thoughts Dell, “I never heard about such areas, but apparently anything is possible. If this girl says that Hulk is alive, let's hope she is right.”
Mac nodded.
“I hope that apart from blocking the signals, there will be no more surprises there.”
“We’ve checked everything we could’ve checked.”
And they went quiet again.
Judging by the GPS, there was only eighteen kilometres left until their final destination. Chaser slowed down.
“Get ready for the stand-by.” he said to those who were following him in another car.
The radio set made a rustling noise and Dane’s short “Gotcha”.
“Do you think there are any beautiful girls in this city?” Dane asked a friend, looking at the car riding in front of them, who was reading something on the phone.
The assassin shrugged.
El’Conto loved women. Especially those who weren’t scared of him, and there weren’t many of them.
“Amongst the prisoners? Maybe there are, but I doubt it.”
“Could you stop reading for a second? Of course, you don’t care; you’ve already found a beautiful girl and stopped looking at all the others.” grumbled Dane jokingly since he had nothing better to say.
“I don’t think I paid that much attention to girls before I found my girl.” Ren replied automatically without any irritation in his voice.
“And us, mere mortals,” continued the driver as if not hearing the words of his friend, “have to drag a miserable existence in a vain attempt to snatch a moment of happiness and solace in a gentle embrace.”
Ren chuckled.
First of all, this "mortal" was quite an attractive guy and he knew that. And second - he was the head of one of the most complex and serious places within all the Levels - The War Level, and he was paid for this work so generously that his existence would never drag miserably. Such a position, of course, didn’t facilitate any communication with the opposite sex, and even if it did, Dane would hardly rush to the first one available, no matter how much he’d go on about the tedious loneliness; he never lost his particularity. So he mumbled on just because he felt a “white” envy towards those who were lucky enough to find their better halves, although Dane didn’t really believe that the creator took care of the One for him.
Nobody found his grumbling annoying anymore, like a chewing gum that stuck to a sole of a shoe and was impossible to scrape off. Therefore, Ren listened quietly to the usual monotonous mumbling about women.
“You'll meet your girl, don’t worry.” he said for the hundredth time.
“Yeah....” Dane said profoundly, “Not with my personality.”
They would probably continue on this subject, if it wasn’t for the Chaser’s voice coming from the radio set.
“We’re arriving”.
Ren immediately began to prepare the equipment: he took out a laptop, inserted a flash drive with the data which was downloaded in advance and checked that the area scanners were on.
Dane didn’t distract him and for the final part of the way they were silent.
Once both cars were disguised, everything went according to the plan: tidy, clear and quiet. After Ren took care of the cameras around the central perimeter, Dane quickly and accurately shot down the guards on both watching towers.
No screaming and no alarm went off.
While Chaser was dealing with the electricity, Dell prepared the explosives for the gate. From this point on, it was necessary to act quickly, because the loss of voltage on the electric grid would be noticed soon. They knew it from the beginning, and therefore no one was worried and acted without any fuss.
Only one man, lurking in the bushes on the other side of the fence, got himself into a tizzy. In order to avoid unwanted attention, he left his car far away from the gate; two heavy machine guns were pressing on his shoulders and he was holding a gun with a silencer in his hand, which he intended to use for a quiet removal of the guards.
But as soon as he was ready to do it, something happened and not at all according to his plan. As he was aiming, the guards dropped on the floor one by one - one with a moan, and another as silent as a sack of potatoes.
Hulk immediately hid in the shadows and kept on listening. He didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that someone else had just taken them down; from a long distance, using a sniper’s rifle, and did it very professionally. Hulk felt the excitement and the adrenaline boiling in his blood.
What the hell is going on here? He has been watching this place for a few days, connected to the system of the city surveillance, and he never saw anything like it. Of course, in order to have more accurate data, the observation should have ideally been carried out for several months, but he did not have that much time. And now someone or something outside had intervened, threatening to disrupt the whole plan of escape. Like a big and flexible cat, Hulk stood warily, watching what happens next. Was this good or bad?