Intelligence Kills

Chapter 3

Three-

I stared at her from the corner of my eye. She didn't look like she was past my age. Her brown hair looked soft. Her blue eyes were concentrated on the trail thing. She caught me looking at her and frowned.

"What the fuck," she said suddenly. "Why the hell are you staring at me? Who the fuck are you? Like, some messed up in the head pedophile? Or are you a murderer slash rapist?"

"I can't tell you," I said quietly. She rolled her eyes. A minute later, the contraption we were riding in stopped. She directed it to the side of the trail before slamming her hands against the round thingie.

"Oh hell! Sure you can't tell me," she snapped. I glanced over my shoulder. No one was coming but I still felt extremely nervous. Akithro or someone could be watching us right now. It wasn't safe to be sitting here. Didn't she figure out that we were in danger? I took one look at her tightly clenched jaw. No, she sure didn't.

"Look, I'm running from some really crazy people, okay? I need to get as far away from here as possible, preferably a place full of people," I started. She opened her mouth but I cut her off. "Could you please get this contraption going down the trail again? I feel really... Nervous, like I'm going to puke."

Sighing, she got the thing going again. I gave her a forced smile. Her reply was, "The contraption is a car, moron. The trail is a road, fucker. Where are you from, the Stone Age?"

"The thing is called a car? It's not a very fancy name for something this well made, is it? I mean, shouldn't it have a nicer name?" I watched her carefully. She snorted loudly before shooting me a wary and amused look.

"Something as well made as this, huh? Well, dumbass, this is a Yugo GV Plus. Ugliest car on the block. And besides I don't know why they call it a car. The original name was automobile. But in my opinion, it's too posh and British." She shrugged and lapsed back into silence. I had several questions for her but I didn't want to bug her a whole lot.

"How old are you?" It was the safest one I could think of. She started to laugh. Her shoulders shook so much I thought she was having a seizure. She looked at my horrified expression and continued to choke and sputter until she caught her breath. It took several minutes to pry an answer out of her. It wasn't the one I wanted to hear.

"Haha, absolutely funny. No. If I don't get to know anything about you, you don't get to know anything about me. I mean it, Mystery Boy." She gave me a pointed look. Being a bit dense, I didn't get it until a minute later. Then it dawned on me.

She wanted to know about me, all about the dangers associated with me? I couldn't have her risking her like that. The Seven were sure to come after me. And if she knew everything and they found out, she was as good as dead. I snuck a glance at her. She was waiting for an answer. The odds of her living another year or even a month, were slim. If she'd had any association with me, which she did, she was dead.

Also, Akithro had probably found out I was with someone. He would send ruthless assassins after me, probably come after me himself in a week. Despite the fact that I didn't want extra baggage, I'd just given myself just that. I'd endangered a completely innocent girl. She didn't even know me. So, might as well just tell her what she wants to know. I took a deep breath before pull my seatbelt away from my neck. It had suddenly gotten a bit warmer in here.

"Okay. My name is Sniper McCoy. I'm sixteen years old. I live underneath the Earth in a city called Alithera. Population three point seven million. I was created by a scientist named Cathro Heath for a group called the Seven. They are sick twisted people who spell out D-A-N-G-E-R. I'm supposedly their greatest weapon ever and to you, I spell out imminent D-E-A-T-H. We are both basically dead. You signed a death warrant the moment you saw me. It's nice to meet you."