“I don’t really know if this’ll work, but
I’m going to do it,” said Chris. “Your name and everyone else’s
here are in the report I made. It’s all going together. It’s the
best protection I can think of.” Alex kept his hands tight
together. “Plus you have a lock on your door. Stay here until it’s
safe or you think Erik’s gone after us.”
“Piss on Erik, Alex. And fuck the
government,” said Frank.
Alex smiled again and handed over the USB
drive. Chris jammed it into an open slot on the computer and
immediately dragged the file onto the removable disk. They all
stayed silent while a task bar displayed the remaining percentage
being copied. Once it was done, Chris grabbed the drive to pull it
out.
“Stop!” said Alex. “Safely remove it or
you’ll chance corrupting the file.”
Frank backhanded the top of Chris’s head,
“Duh, Tech Support.”
Chris safely removed the drive and jumped
for the door, “Thanks, Alex. Tell Art thanks too.”
Alex looked at the floor but raised his hand
in acknowledgment. Chris stopped at the door wanting to say
something more, but with Frank bumping into his back he knew it was
best to leave now. No one was in the main lab and they made their
way quickly down the length whilst consciously maintaining an
innocent air about them. Moving past the glass doors of the Fun
Room, Chris spotted Johnykin. He stopped and saw her talking to
someone. She had the Super suits over her shoulder. Chris assumed
she was talking to Walt, but when he hurried over and stepped
inside Johnykin turned to reveal a tear stained Carmen.
Chris walked up to them, “Hey, Carmen.
Johnykin we gotta go.” He grabbed Johnykin’s arm to emphasize the
urgency to leave. “We don’t need the suits now. We have something
better. Come on.”
Johnykin didn’t budge, “I left Erik with
Carmen and he interrogated her to get information about what the
hell you two are doing. He hit her.”
Chris looked at Carmen again. There were
more than just tear stains. She moved her hair to try to hide the
red marks that were beginning to swell across her eyes and
cheeks.
“I’m so sorry. Come with us. We have one
more stop and then we’re out of here,” said Chris.
“Where?” asked Johnykin. Chris saw her
doubting him.
“We have to use Erik’s computer. He blocked
any kind of access to the internet for me and I bet he’s extended
it to everyone else in here except his computer,” said Chris.
“Why are you uploading it now? This was
supposed to be insurance, a threat,” said Frank.
“Look at Carmen. The threat of it doesn’t
mean anything now. I would have done this at Alex’s computer but he
would’ve freaked. Plus his internet was cut off too.”
“How’d you know that?” asked Johnykin.
“That was my job before this.”
“Let’s go then,” said Frank. He walked away
after giving Carmen a long look.
Chris gave a similar look to Johnykin. The
two women consented and followed. Chris caught up to walk in stride
with Frank.
“Just kick in Erik’s door. We don’t need to
waste any more time and it won’t take him too long to track us
down,” said Chris.
“Gladly,” said Frank and walked faster.
They made it to Erik’s office without any
more run-ins. Frank didn’t hesitate and brought his foot square
against the wood above the handle with every ounce of power he
could muster. The sound of splintering wood echoed behind them as
the group moved inside immediately. Chris jumped into the canvas
chair and flipped open the laptop.
“Shit,” said Chris.
Frank pushed him out of the chair already
aware of the problem and began hacking through the password
protection. Johnykin and Carmen grew nervous, but Johnykin covered
it up by standing by the open, broken door as a lookout. Chris
stayed over Frank’s shoulder watching every step so as to jump in
as soon as possible.
Within a second of each other, Johnykin
yelled ‘he’s coming’ and Frank slammed the enter key to gain
access. Chris knocked Frank out of the chair and jammed the USB
drive in the side of the laptop. He double clicked the internet
icon as Frank ran to the door to see for himself how far Erik was
from barging in on their plan. The homepage loaded and Chris typed
into the web address bar reddit.com.
Then Chris saw out of the corner of his eye
Frank and Johnykin shut and back away from the door. They were
stuck. Chris hadn’t told them what to do if Erik actually found
them let alone confronted them in his office. He snapped the laptop
closed and yanked the USB out and back into his pocket as he stood
up to be with the group.
The door swung open violently from a kick by
Erik landing much shorter than the one Frank gave earlier, yet
energy crackled from Erik’s minuscule stature. His eyes surveyed
the room and his chest heaved up and down more dramatically than
was necessary. The strangest part was his face that slipped back
and forth from glee to fury in each one of his overtly deep
breaths.
“Woo!” said Erik. The noise spread out
through the small office just as ambiguous as the emotions flashing
on his face. Everyone froze, waiting for the next move. Chris took
a step towards Erik and the door. Erik pointed at Chris’s chest in
response. It stopped Chris and he saw Erik shift away from heavy
breathing to focus a stare deep into Chris’s eyes. Chris’s brain
leaped ahead of the ploy and kept his eyes lax but set. Erik
couldn’t last and moved on to an easier target; Carmen.
Her face still glowed red in spots and in
others the blue bruises formed. Erik stared her down for less than
two seconds before new tears sprang loose. He laughed.
Then Johnykin launched a fist into the side
of Erik’s head. The blow knocked him to his knees and the force of
her swing put her on top of him to land another hit directly on his
nose. Blood fell from his twisted nostrils and then leaked from the
ear that took the brunt of the first hit. Chris picked up Johnykin
before she could hit him again and pushed her through the door.
Frank did the same to Carmen in tow.
They heard a roar as all four sprinted for
the double glass doors leading into the main area, then an even
louder call for ‘Security’ rang out. Chris chanced a look back and
Erik was already in pursuit, mopping the blood from his mouth like
a predator ready to chase down the second bite.
The anonymous personnel filling in the desks
of the main work area swiveled to see the action but didn't dare
take part in it. As the group raced by, papers flew up behind them
and Chris thought about the security Erik had yelled for. When
would they pop out to block the way? Who was the security? But it
didn't matter now. They were only a few feet from the main door and
an exit. Chris took another backwards glance to see Erik's
position. He wasn't far. Those little legs of his were nimble.
Frank shouldered through the glass doors so
jarringly that the left side shattered when it hit its full
extension. The noise made Carmen and Johnykin jump in shock for a
split second, which forced Chris to run into their backs. The three
stumbled onto the pavement. Chris got to his feet first and grabbed
underneath each woman’s arm to assist. In that small moment, Frank
rushed ahead to retrieve his truck. Carmen took the longest to get
her feet under her and Johnykin wouldn't move forward without her.
For a moment Chris thought he could carry her, but then another
explosion of glass from behind destroyed that course of action. All
three turned to see Erik. From inside the main lobby, he walked
with a gun pointed directly at them.
They were frozen until the screeching of
tires braking turned them around again. Frank had the truck thought
Chris, but it was the black SUV instead. Out darted the driver with
a gun too.
“Woo!” said Erik. The same glee/fury
radiated from his face. “That was close and kind of fun. I can see
why you liked pretending to be —“
Another screech of tires emerged with Frank
twisting his truck around the SUV. Chris didn’t know how much was
intentional, but the truck went into a sideways skid and clipped
the driver’s leg. It sent the driver flailing on to his back with
his gun skipping across the sidewalk. He howled in pain and grabbed
an ugly twisted ankle, but Frank’s truck didn’t stop there. It
continued to slide towards Erik. Erik jumped back into the main
entrance and avoided being crushed as the truck slammed against the
door frames.
Frank jumped from the driver’s seat and ran
straight for the SUV. Chris, Carmen, and Johnykin followed him to
their new escape route. A gunshot rang out and shattered the window
of the passenger side of Frank’s truck. Chris opened the door to
the SUV, then turned to see Erik crawl across the front seat of the
truck to continue his pursuit.
“The keys!” said Frank, before Chris made it
inside.
Without thinking, Chris dashed over to the
driver on the ground still writhing in pain. The driver reached up
and grabbed Chris’s shirt as Chris rummaged through the man’s
pockets. Chris wasn’t getting anywhere and yet another shot rang
out from Erik’s gun that whizzed by Chris’s head. He punched the
driver, knocking him out and found the keys underneath his hip.
Erik was now out of the truck and took aim
again. Carmen appeared out of nowhere to Chris’s side with the gun
dropped by the driver. She didn’t look like she knew what she was
doing, but when she pulled the trigger Erik spun off balance and
grabbed his shoulder. Carmen froze over the result; Chris grabbed
her shoulder to pull her back to the SUV. He let her go to toss the
keys to Frank and hop inside when one more time they heard a
gunshot. Carmen fell to the ground before reaching the back seat.
Johnykin screamed as she leaned over to try to catch Carmen. Chris
looked down to see the blood pooling onto the concrete from the
back of Carmen’s head.
“Go!” said Chris, and Frank hit the gas.
Erik fired a few more rounds but did them
and the SUV no damage as Frank drove out of the parking lot. Chris
buckled his seatbelt slowly before turning back to check on
Johnykin. He knew she wasn’t hurt but checked anyways. He saw the
too familiar gaze out the window accompanied by lines of tears.
“She was dead, wasn’t she?” asked Frank. He
would never forgive Chris if he gave him a different answer.
“Yeah,” said Chris.
“Shit. Where… what are we doing next?” said
Frank. He put them on the 580 back towards home.
“X-Tech headquarters,” said Chris. Frank
gave him a confused look, but Chris ignored it and looked straight
ahead forming in his head the next phase of their plan.
The time to think didn’t last long. In the
rear view mirror Frank caught sight of another black SUV racing up
the hills of the Altamont to get to them.
“Fucker’s fast,” said Frank with his eyes
still on the mirror. Chris and Johnykin followed his line of sight
out the back window of the SUV. It wasn’t just one now. Another was
right behind zig-zagging around traffic to keep up. Frank
accelerated.
“Shit,” said Johnykin. “How are we going to
lose them? Erik has these things bugged.” She spread her arms out
to mean the vehicle.
Chris didn’t say a word and opened the glove
box first. He moved his hand quickly across every corner before
finding nothing and moving on. Johnykin unbuckled her seat belt and
hit the floor. She groped across the carpet and into the steel
undercarriage of the seats but with little success.
“Maybe I'm wrong,” said Johnykin. Chris got
out of his seat not ready to give up on the idea yet.
The world swung violently. Frank was over
the ninety mile per hour mark and every small adjustment at the
wheel was magnified. Chris hit the floor too. He felt something
crack next to his thigh just underneath the hip.
“Oh no,” said Chris. He didn't want to
believe what it was.
“Did you find it?” asked Johnykin. They were
sitting and Chris reached into his pocket. He pulled out the
fragments of plastic and metal that made up the USB drive.
“Oh no,” said Johnykin. “Can you fix
it?”
Chris puzzled over the mess in his hand and
studied the chip. There didn't appear to be any damage to the guts
of the device. “Won't know until we try it.”
“Come on guys,” said Frank. “Get off your
asses and do something.”
Johnykin opened her mouth to argue the
point, but Chris pocketed the USB drive and hurdled over the seat
to the cargo area. There were carpeted panels that could be lifted.
Johnykin stayed in her seat to give Chris room to work and leaned
over to watch.
“Those are for another row of seats,” said
Johnykin. She tried to remain helpful.
Chris pulled them up forcefully. Underneath
were attachments for the seats as Johnykin stated, but also what
they had been looking for. It was the size of a small phone. There
weren't any blinking red lights or noises coming from it but it was
obviously foreign. A strong magnet held it to the metal frame in
which the seats normally clung to.
“We got it!” said Johnykin to Frank in the
front.
“Get rid of it!” said Frank.
“Not yet,” said Chris. He scurried over the
seat and back to his front row view of the action. They just
started down the last hill on to the 205 and into Tracy. He looked
to the side mirror to spot their pursuit but couldn't find them.
“You ditched them?”
“Just put some distance between that they'll
make up soon enough,” said Frank. “They're driving safe.”
“No reason to rush,” said Chris holding up
the GPS tracker.
“So get rid of the damn thing.”
“Take the exit for the mall,” said Chris. He
pointed to emphasize.
“What!?” said Frank.
“Just do it!” said Chris. Frank slowed down
and swept the SUV across the lanes to make the exit. He blasted
through the stoplight and headed for the mall parking lot. Chris
opened his window to better see the collection of hundreds of
vehicles parked in one area.