Vandermein

XXVI

There was first a flash, followed by a high-pitched ringing in my ears and blurry vision. Smoke and dust had obscured the room, and someone was hacking on the debris. My very first thought was for Kenzie and the kids. Where were they? Were they safe?

I hoisted myself upward. When had I fallen? And I turned around toward the door. I pushed my way out into the hallway, crashing into the adjacent wall. 

"Kenzie?" I called out. There was a terror in searching for them. Eventually I would find them and there would be no more uncertainty. It would just be the truth. 

Ji-Min appeared, her eyes set in furious furrows. She pushed my utility belt into my arms and slapped me in the face. It roused me from my slurring perceptions enough to strap the belt around me. "Where's Kenzie and the kids?" 

"Safe. Go!" She barked. 

Safe. Okay. If they're safe then everything's okay. Now it was time to figure out where and from whom that explosion came from. Sunlight was shooting from above in stark lines. There was the thumping sound of helicopter blades, and the dust began to separate as if it were fleeing the scene itself. 

A ladder dropped to the ground. Someone was being extracted. 

I ran to it, but I collided with another body that emerged from the haze. Veronica pushed me to the ground as she wrapped her arm around one of the rungs. The helicopter began to lift, so I threw a vial of Blind in Veronica's direction. She was ready for it, and she swatted it with an open hand. 

The way my bottles are designed, the glass becomes extremely fragile when the vial is pulled from the belt. There was no knocking it away. As soon as the glass container met her hand, it exploded in a plume of irritating vapor. I heard her coughing, her free hand instinctively moving to her eyes, irritating them further. 

It wouldn't be enough to merely blind her, though. She wasn't the one flying the helicopter. I sprung to my feet and leapt for the ladder as it lifted from the floor. Above, the helicopter was in plain view. A gunman was looking down, his rifle's muzzle peering down like a periscope. 

Veronica was between me and the barrel. They went through this much trouble to get her, there was no way they would risk shooting her now. The double agent above me was now moaning and sniffing. The gas had gotten into her sinuses and loosened her mucus. It would be another few hours before she could open her eyes again without agony. 

From below, there was a blast and whistle. A rocket erupted from the ground and narrowly missed the helicopter's blades. Below, Ji-Min was holding the rocket launcher. 

"Are you crazy!?" I called down, but I doubt she could hear me. 

The helicopter quickly began moving away from the house, which I figured was Ji-Min's strategy all along. There was no way she would send the machine careening down toward her daughter and grandchildren. This was a warning shot; a scare tactic. 

I found myself suddenly far too high in the air, Veronica still above me, struggling to climb the rope ladder. I grabbed her ankle and reached for a rung above her bottom step, releasing the tension on the rest of the ladder below us. Then I lifted the slack and tied her in place before stepping back down. If she wanted to climb, she would need to lift both our weights. 

She grunted in her effort, pulling on her ankle with futile effort. 

"Nowhere to go, Veronica!" I called out. 

As long as I kept her between me and that gun, I would be alright. 

That was my working theory anyway. I didn't account for the chopper approaching from behind us. 

I didn't notice it until the thwipping sound of bullets began zipping around me. Any one of them could have taken me down. I started climbing; I needed to be much closer to their agent, use her as a shield. 

I looked up and was blinded by a flash of red. I thought for sure I'd been shot right in the face. But it wasn't my blood.

Veronica's body swung down hard and collided with me, the impact feeling like I'd been struck by a bag of bricks. She was bleeding from her side, still coughing, this time the hoarse heaving accompanied by spatters of blood. 

So, they didn't mind killing her? Why? What did she know? 

I looked down, I needed to make some kind of quick escape. I pulled a knife from my belt to saw the ladder's connecting cord, but just as soon as I'd brandished it, a bullet knocked it out of my hands, sending it spiraling down below. 

Taking Veronica with me was not an option anymore. I'd need to bail, but first, I needed to know what she knew. 

I dropped lower to get close to Veronica's red, blood-and-tear covered face. 

"They're going to kill you! Your loyalty makes no sense. Tell me what you know!" 

She tried squinting at me through her swollen eyes, but it was no use: the toxin was too strong. Even being this close to her, it was starting to burn my eyes as well. 

Another bullet hit her in the leg, flying through with a trail of blood spirting behind it. Veronica shrieked and reached for her leg, but she didn't have the strength to pull herself up. 

"Come on! Help me take them down! What do you know!?" 

This time her eyes did open, red pulsating orbs peering at me with malice and disdain. 

"Bolano," she growled. 

Then there was a sharp sensation in my shoulder, like a snake bite. I'd been hit.

My grip on the ladder weakened, and I found myself falling down, the helicopters shrinking as I dropped.