Underneath It All

Part 7

2 years ago

Andi pulled the thin jacket around herself tighter, trying her best to stop her teeth from chattering. The cold was biting at her skin. She'd thought she would have at least another month before the temperature dropped, but unfortunately luck had not been on her side.

She'd gotten a few pounds from a nice girl earlier that morning, and picked up some more change on the street. It had been just enough for a bag of cookies and a bottle of water. She hadn't eaten anything since and probably wouldn't unless she went back to the shelter. That frickin shelter.

Andi started walking down the street, and she found herself staring at a calendar hanging in the window of a warm looking store. Well, she thought, Happy birthday to me. She continued walking, taking refuge under a fire escape in an alley. She was able to curl up on the brick wall and pulled a pushed over garbage can to block the wind the best she could. She closed her eyes, praying for sleep.

Before she could fall asleep however, she was awoken by a scuffle outside of her refuge. Two men were chasing each other through the alley, and fell on top of each other in a rush. The one on top had a knife, pushing it downward to pierce the other man. Before he could draw blood the man underneath flipped over. He shoved the knife man away and rolled and stood all in one motion. The knife flew past his head and without hesitation he lifted a gun and pulled the trigger.

The man stood there for a moment, panting from the exertion of the fight. He took a few steps forward, then stopped and turned slowly.

His eyes locked on to Andi's.

She didn't dare move or even blink. He did not raise the gun, rather walked over to her and crouched down outside the fire escape. He raised on eyebrow.

"How old are you?" He was calm, that scared Andi even more.

Andi lifted her chin, she would not be afraid. "14."

The man gave a smile, "I'm Cole, what's your name?"

"Andi." Her voice shook slightly despite her best efforts.

He extended her his hand, "Would you like to come with me Andi?"

Her gaze flicked once to the gun he was casually carrying, then to the dead man not six feet from him. Not knowing what path she was starting herself on, Andi took his hand and slowly rose to her feet.

Present day

The door to the cold room shut behind her, and barely spared the two guards outside of the door a glance. Andi cracked her neck once. She didn't know what Cole wanted with the agents. Information, possibly. She knew he wanted to target government officials first. Get them out of the way and let enough people die that he would be hailed a hero when he emerged with a cure.

Andi knew what had been sacrificed to get to where they were now. She just wasn't sure if she believed anymore.

She walked only a few seconds before she was slammed into the wall from someone behind her. Cole's eyes glinted at hers.

"What the hell was that." He commented calmly, his tone ever cruel and iced with insaneness.

She tested how he had her pinned. It was strong, she couldn't turn the tables if she tried. Instead of going for the usual of biting back, she put up the mask. "What the hell was what?"

He didn't fall for it, "Do not play dumb with me. Why did you save the woman?"

"He cares about her. Killing her would have gotten rid of our leverage and only made him more dangerous. I did you a favor." She couldn't tell if he believed her.

"He cares about all of them."

"Not like he does her," the gears were already turning in her head, "I've spent time with them. I know them. You don't."

Cole gave her a wicked grin, and her stomach turned over. "You're right," he said, relaxing from pinning her against the wall. Now he was just crowding her, "You know them."

He motioned to the guards at the door to come over near them, and they started walking the twenty feet down the hall. Andi's gut feeling only worsened.

"You know them," he repeated, "And you will be the one to break them."