The Vanguard Vixen

F.O.X.1 The Lazarus Effect (Two)

No bullet wound, just a slight smudge of crimson where it should have been. This time her eyes weren't glowing. He'd have to ask her about it later if he lived long enough to do so.

"Do you have the chip? "

"I'm fine, thank you," Lewis murmured as he straightened himself, pretending to dust his coat in an attempt to look anywhere but at those light grey eyes.

When he finished, they were still fixated on him. "Just so you know, Mr. Barrow, I can kill you right now and take that chip from you."

Lewis opened his mouth to utter a reply, then he realized he hadn't yet gotten his bargaining chip. Literally. His friends were to duplicate the contents of the one he had to create solely for blackmail. And lacking that luxury was not safe for him, so he kept his mouth shut.

He quickly opted for a change in subject. "Where are the other two? "

"They ran."

"And you let them? They are witnesses! "

Her attention was focused on the man who sat leaning against the wall, his moans of pain now lowered to whimpers. Who was the other guy? The one that shot me? "

He paused enough to snort at her and then said, "I'm not saying anything to you, freak."

Vivian looked up at Lewis and smiled.

He looked away, for that wasn't the good kind of smile.

Another sound of shattered bone followed by screaming told Lewis enough. Perhaps he could sneak away while she was distracted.

"Do you want to lose your leg, Lewis?"

"I'll just be over here then."

He sighed, and then murmured to himself, "Trying not to look." But maybe just a tiny peek. "

Lewis looked. "Oh."

That was all he could manage.

Vivian was standing over the man, eyes focused like a cat that had already caught a rat but gave it the space to run. Lewis wasn't yet sure if he wasn't the rat. She picked up one of the fallen blades and squatted next to the injured man. Except that his entire right arm now hung limp at his side. She had destroyed the joint in his shoulder too.

"I just need a name. If I don't kill you, Vanguard soldiers will capture you. And trust me when I say you'll wish I had killed you then. "

She said all that while holding a blade to his throat.

"We only know him as Haraka." He's a mercenary from Cafri. And one of the best too. " He then flicked his eyes to Lewis, "He never fails." He will kill you if she doesn't do it first.

Lewis barely saw her hand move, but a second later, the man was wheezing, desperately trying to inhale but not being able to do so. It was then that Lewis saw the thin red line across his throat start to thicken. She watched him for a while. Her face showed no emotion at all, which was a bit of a relief to Lewis as it meant she didn't enjoy the killing. Although it didn't necessarily mean she wasn't addicted to it. In her mind, the first solution to a problem was probably to stop its heart.

Lewis felt like a big problem then.

Footsteps behind them made Lewis turn. The Vanguard peacekeepers had just arrived.

"Hands in the air where we can see them! "

Lewis raised his hands immediately. He had been at the wrong end of a gun enough times in a day. Vivian still hadn't moved.

Lewis whispered to her, "Hey, you're going to get us killed."

"That's your problem, It certainly does help me though. "