Marie (Teumessian Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter 7

The incident had rocked the company. They had lost guards, had a damaged arsenal and had lost a prototype weapon. The “management” met to discuss what to do next, especially with the “children”.

“Well, let’s hear it, gentlemen,” Henry addressed the group.

“They are on course for their training. They held their own.” Bruce replied.

“Why thank you for such a descriptive fucking answer. Can you please enlighten us to each of their fucking progress? Considering how things went the other week, I am not pleased.” Henry added

Bruce took a breath and began, “Ok, here it is. We have seven subjects, six men and one woman. Michael their alpha, his weapon of choice is a bow and arrow and he is deadly with it. Michael commands the group. They all look up to him and will follow him. Justin a more relaxed guy, Michael’s closest friend and lethal with a Bo. Samuel is a very serious guy, doesn’t smile much but can get the job done; his weapon of choice is the sword. Ethan doesn’t speak. I don’t think I have heard him say more than ten words in the past ten years. His weapon of choice, well, he doesn’t have one he will just fuck you up with his bare hands. We hooked him up with some brass knuckles for looks. Austin is subservient to Samuel and he will follow Michael only because Samuel does. Austin is a beast with a rifle, perfect shots every time. David is our explosives expert, he loves to blow shit up.  Marie has passed our expectations for her. She is as fast as the boys, as strong, and far more agile. She lacks the fierceness of her male peers but can keep up and hold her own. Her weapon of choice is a set of combat knives. In total we call them ‘The Pack’ and ‘The Pack’ held their own with limited information and without their personal weapons” Bruce said looking around the room to each of them making sure to make eye contact with each and everyone in the room.

“Time out” Frederick interrupted. “You are calling them ‘The Pack’ like they are fucking wolves or something? I don’t think that was agreed on.”

Bruce looked annoyed “Yah, well, I trained them so I get to name them. So deal with it. You all wanted them to be marketable, so they are.”

Henry looked annoyed, “I don’t give a fuck what you call them. I am more concerned with if they are ready. Our fucking facility gets attacked and they fail to stop us from losing our most valuable new prototype.”

Bruce stood proudly, “They are ready and will do as they are instructed.”

“No they will do as Michael instructs them, so better make sure he follows ours.” Stanley interrupted.

Frederick smiled “Well I hear that he instructs your sweet Marie nightly, or are you not keeping a close eye on your precious nursery?”

Stanley’s face burned with anger. His importance has waved within the company over the years. His usefulness was considered to be of less of importance. The group had not shown any chemical advancements. So everyone had figured the chemical side of things had failed. His only job was to keep the subjects healthy and babysitting grown adults was not on his priority list as a scientist. So, yes he knew that Marie and Michael had gotten very close and he did suspect that they were more than just friends but he had no proof so he would never assume such a thing. “You have no proof of that so I suggest that you keep your rumors to yourself!” Stanley yelled back at Frederick.

“I am so sorry if I question the strength of a team lead by a man who can’t seem to help himself from fucking his subordinates.” Frederick yelled back, this time directed at the whole room. “You say they are ready but they act like children with toys. They cannot be trusted getting back what they should have stopped it from going missing in the first place and you all think they are ready for presentation and sale? Hell, they are a mess.”

Bruce was red in the face, Frederick was questioning his training and his over twenty years of work on these subjects. “You don’t know shit. You sit in your fucking office and judge. I train them day in and out and when I say they are ready, they are ready!”

Henry raised both his hands, “Ok that’s enough from both of you. I am a bit more concerned about the fact that they all have these fancy martial arts type shit but only one of these fuckers is equipment with a god dam gun to hit the field.”

Kenneth spoke up, “They each have a gun too and know how to use them. We aren’t stupid.”

“Plus, again, you wanted marketability, they are more visually impressive that way.” Bruce interjected

Stanley chucked.

“Ok, then, so Ivan what are your thoughts on what to do with our pack? Can we sell them yet?” Henry asked.

Ivan sat up in his chair placed his hands on his desk. His look was stern and confident. “Tag them, then unleash them. Get back what is ours. We keep them for now.”

Bruce smiled, “With pleasure”.

Chapter 8

Tagging was a simple process, everyone within the company was tagged. It was an innovative new tattooing process designed to replace the traditional “dog tag” it was a tattoo but had a microchip installed that could be tracked via GPS. To the naked eye it just looked like a tattoo but with the microchips it could be scanned to identify the person as well. The company kept it simple. All of their ‘property’ or staff were tagged with the company logo on their chest. This way the company could keep track of their employees to prevent any sabotage attempts. Each of the seven were inked on the left chest with the company’s S logo securely in place. They were then dressed in their combat gear since uniforms were paramount in the company’s image.

They reported to Bruce in the prep room where they were lined up. They looked good all decked out in black, weapons secured on their backs and a pistol strapped to each of their right thighs. They are ready Bruce kept telling himself, they are twenty two years old perfect specimens of physical fitness. They are fast, strong, and dedicated to their pack. They will do as he instructs them, well as he instructs Michael that is. “Ok listen up.” He bellowed to the group. “This is Mission One, and it won’t be your last. The mission is very simple: you will infiltrate and recover this.” Bruce held up a picture of a very small rocket launcher. “This is the RPG-9ZX. It is a prototype rocket launcher, half the size of a RPG-7 with an accuracy of 97% at 1000 meters. It uses a very little but powerful rocket capable of breaking through any armor the world’s militaries have come up with and yet can be carefully carried in a backpack, fireable with one hand.” Bruce said with pride. “It is our latest and greatest new toy and this rat bastard stole it from us and you let him.” Bruce help up a picture of man with dark brown eyes, black hair, and a large scar across his left cheek. “This man doesn’t deserve to be named, he deserves to be dead, and that is your mission. You retrieve our property and you destroy any evidence that this piece of shit ever lived.”

Michael spoke up, “No evidence at all, no survivors?”

Bruce smiled “Kill him and his buddies and burn his world to the ground. Here are the specifications of his base of operations. Our intelligence indicates that he has ten guards and is held up in the basement of his mansion and we believe that is where the weapon is being stored. Here are the blue prints. I will leave them in your capable hands, Michael” Bruce said handing the paperwork to Michael. “This is to be done tonight. You have a four hour window. This is your final warning, NO EVIDENCE.”

“Yes, sir” they all replied. Bruce nodded his head and walked out of the room. 

              Marie and Justin quickly scrambled to the table to look at the documents that Bruce had left behind. “I’m excited, are you excited?” Justin joked to Marie. She just laughed.

Michael stepped up to the table. “This is simple. We take out the guards, break our way into the mansion, find this garbage and torture him till he gives up what’s ours. We failed once, we don’t fail again. This is our chance to redeem ourselves.”

Samuel picked it the picture of the man, “You picked the wrong people to fuck with buddy.” He said with a smile.

The group let out a chuckle.

“Ok let’s move out.” Michael ordered.

It was a cold, dark night as the pack approached the mansion. They had darkness on their side. It was only a quarter moon. They moved swiftly through the darkness.

“Radio check, Austin check in.” Michael ordered.

“I’m lined up and got the two guards in my sights.” Austin replied from his perch in the old oak tree just outside the gates.

“Ok, take them out,” Michael ordered.

“Letting it fly.” Austin replied. Both guards dropped to the ground one right after the other.

“Nice shot, Marie and Ethan your move.” Michael ordered.

“With pleasure” Marie replied. Marie and Ethan quickly scaled the two story metal gate. Ethan went directly to the dead guards and began moving them to the bushes. Marie entered the guard booth and quickly opened the gate. “Doors open, move in” Marie radioed. Michael, Justin, Samuel, and David quickly moved through the open gate to join Marie and Ethan.

“Austin, maintain your position and provide cover. Everyone else with me. Let’s find what’s ours.” Michael took the lead and they all followed. Michael slowly opened the door to the house. He saw a man standing in the front living room, Michael took aim with his bow and fired. The arrow landed straight through the center of his back, the man fell to the ground. “Samuel and Ethan clear the upstairs, David set the charges, Marie and Justin you’re with me.” Michael ordered. Samuel and Ethan quickly made their way up the stairs. David moved to the back of the house. Michael, Marie, and Justin moved to the basement. As they moved down the stairs, Michael saw four men. He took aim with his arrow, fired a clear shot to the neck. The man fell to the ground. The other three turned to the stairs, Marie, Michael, and Justin moved in. One for each of them. Justin took his out with few quick spins of his bo, Michael went hand to hand with his prey and was quickly able to overpower and snap his man’s neck. Marie pulled out her knives and disarmed and sliced up her prey finishing him with a stab to the neck.  They moved into the back room where they found an empty room, only a blank desk and chair were there. “Where the fuck is he!” Michael yelled shoving the desk into the wall. In walked Ethan and Samuel, with the ‘rat bastard’.

“Look what we found upstairs.” Samuel laughed. “Looks like our intelligence sucked. We found four more upstairs, no worries, though, they’re dead.” Justin pulled the chair from behind the desk. Samuel pushed the ‘rat bastard’ into the chair. Michael stood in front of him.

“Where is it?” Michael yelled.

The rat finally spoke, “I don’t know what you talking about.”

“Try again mother fucker. We know you stole the RPG. Now I suggest you give it up before we shred you.” Michael yelled.  Marie pulled out her knives. “She’s pretty fucking good with those, if you’d like to see her work I will let her.”

“I’d love to let her do anything to me.” The rat smiled.

Marie stepped up, holding one of her knives to his throat. “Oh I bet you would.” Marie said slyly. The rat looked to his left.

“What are you looking at fucker?” Justin said as he looked to the wall where the rat looked. “Oh would you look at this.” Justin said. Justin felt the wall. It was a safe. “Oh this would be fun, where is David?”

“David report in, we need you in the basement.” Michael ordered over the radio.  Within two minutes David was in the basement.

“What do you all need? I’ve got the charges set we have 20 minutes.” David asked.

“We have something for you to bust into.” Justin laughed.

“Oh this looks like fun.” David ran his hands over the safe. “This is a simple one.” David pulled out his kit. He pulled out a small knife and began to pry it into the key lock, when suddenly there was an explosion. It rocked the room and knocked everyone to the floor.

Michael was the first to speak. “Is everyone ok, where are all of you.” He frantically looked around the smoke. Each slowly began to stand up. Everyone but David, he lay lifeless on the floor, the safe door was wide open. Marie rushed to David.

“David, David, David!” she yelled but there was no response. David was dead, burns covered his entire body. Samuel walked to the safe. There it was, the RPG. He grabbed it.

“We have it secured.” Samuel said placing the weapon in his backpack. Marie was still sitting over David’s lifeless body, tears running down her face.

The rat began to laugh, “You may have gotten it back but I got one of yours.” Michael walked over to Marie placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I have had enough of this shit head.” Samuel pulled out his sword and separated the rat’s head from his body.

Justin turned to the group. “David said we have 20 minutes like 10 minutes ago. We need to move, like now, before more show up or we all blow up.”

“Justin’s right, let’s move.” Michael ordered. They all started to move towards the stairs, except Marie.

“We can’t leave him here” she said with tears still falling down her face.

“We don’t have a choice, Marie, we need to move and the body will just slow us down.” Justin yelled. Samuel and Ethan had already left the basement, Justin followed.

“Marie, we have to go now!” Michael yelled at her. She was trying to pick up David’s lifeless body.

“Michael, please. We can’t leave him here. He’s one of us and he doesn’t deserve to be left here to burn!” she wept. Michael hesitated, then he ran to her side and grabbed onto David.

Austin came over the radio “I see three of you, where are you Michael, Marie, David?” 

“On route; get ready to load up.” Michael came though. The two of them pulled David’s body out of the house as it blew up behind them. The blast knocked both Marie and Michael to the ground.  Justin saw them and ran to them.

“Are you crazy stupid?” He helped Michael up, Marie was slower to move. Justin helped her up as well. “Well I guess I’ll help you two idiots.” Justin said as he helped Michael with transporting David to the truck.

“What the fuck?” Austin was confused. “Is he dead?” Austin saw the tears in Marie’s eyes, it left no doubt that David was in fact dead.

The drive back to the facility was silent; none of them said a word and none could. They were all trying to hold back their tears. Only Marie would allow her tears to be seen. She didn’t have the same control as the others. Once they arrived back at the facility, they loaded David’s body into the prep room, laid him out on a table. Nobody was speaking, they all just sat around, heads down. Marie was holding back her tears as best she could only a few were rolling down her cheeks. Finally she could take no more she burst into sobbing hysterics and ran from the room. Michael started to go after her but Justin stopped him.

“Let her go, she’ll be ok.” Justin reassured him.

Moments later Bruce, Kenneth, and Frederick entered the room. “Where is it?” Frederick ordered. Samuel reached into his backpack and pulled the RPG out.

Kenneth walked over and took it from him. “Nice work,” Kenneth said with a smile.

Bruce was less enthusiastic as he looked at David’s lifeless body. “How the fuck did this happen?” Bruce yelled looking directly at Michael.

“It was as booby trap on the safe. I don’t know how he didn’t see it.” Michael answered head down.

“How he didn’t notice it? How the fuck didn’t any of you!” Bruce yelled. Nobody could speak. They knew they had failed, they had lost a man.

“Can any of you explain why you brought his body here?” Frederick asked. They all looked at each other but none would speak. “So I am to believe that you as a group decided to slow yourselves down by bringing back a dead body so that what I would have to dispose of it. The explosive you had would have decimated everything there. He should have been burned with the rest of the evidence!” Frederick was yelling now. “Weakness; that shows fucking weakness. You are all pathetic!”

Samuel stood up.

“You got something to say?” Frederick asked.

“Ya it wasn’t us. It was her. She wouldn’t leave him.” Samuel said.

“Shut up.” Michael yelled.

“Oh ya let’s protect your stupid girlfriend and take the heat for her again” Samuel yelled back. Michael and Samuel were in each other’s faces at this point.

Justin stepped in, “Chill out both of you. It’s not helping”

“Where is she?” Frederick ordered. His order was met with silence. “I’m not going to ask again, where the fuck is she?!”

Austin lifted his arm and pointed

to the door, “She went that way probably to the nursery.”

Michael shot Austin an angry look.

“What? They were going to find

her anyway,” Austin said.

“Then she’s mine.” Frederick said

as he stormed out of the room towards the nursery. Everyone else quickly followed. 

Frederick stormed into the nursery; Marie was in the corner of the room knees to her chest crying. Frederick walked right over to her, she looked up, but he had no sympathy for her weakness. He took her by the neck and stood her up pinning her against the wall. Michael tried to step in but Bruce stopped him.

“I knew you were a fucking mistake. You’re weak, and you’re pathetic. If you think for one second that Michael can protect you forever you’re wrong!” Frederick tightened his grip on her neck.

She began to panic and grab at his hands.

“Stop it!” Michael yelled and tried to rush to her but Bruce and Kenneth held him back.

Marie’s eyes grew wild with fear and desperation. Suddenly she got grip on his hands and pulled his hands from her throat and landed a head butt straight to his nose. Frederick stepped back grabbing his nose as blood ran down his hands. Marie quickly pulled out her knives. She was shaking, her eyes filled with rage.

“If any of your worthless pieces of shit ever touch me again I swear I will cut it off and feed it to you!” She yelled. She clung to her knives prepared to attack the next person who came near her. Michael stepped up to her. She turned the knives towards him, holding one to his throat.