Agent (Book 1)

Chapter 25-Lynn

25

Lynn Kramer

Agent: 53

Mission: Rescue Agent Hood and return him to ACA Headquarters

Location: Bakery, Quarter 7

Date: September 4th, 2089

Time: 1100

It's too hard to breathe. I don't know what happens, as the man with the scar raises his gun. I can't seem to think about what to do. Thankfully, hours in the training room have proved themselves. My body reacts.

The moment his finger is on the trigger, I've dropped to the floor, slamming my hands down to catch my fall. I feel Tori dropping behind me, and as the gunshot sounds, I can't tell if her cry is from shock, or the bullet connecting with her body. The boom that follows the release is so deafening, my ears feel as if they've gone numb, before ringing like the toll of a bell in my skull.

My left ear comes first, and as the ringing fades, the man's voice registers and I realize that he's cursing. He's got his pistol back up again, and it twitches in his hands, like he's fighting the urge to keep pulling the trigger. It would basically be point blank, now that I'm on the floor. He could send a bullet through my skull right now and I would be defenseless. A clean shot.

Although a bit slow, I reach back and clutch Tori's sweaty hand in my own. I pull her forward, with me, and try to stand, shaking on my legs. My right ear is still ringing but I shake my head a bit to clear it. Slowly, the tolling begins to ebb out of it as well.

Tori refuses to stand with me, and though I can't see her, I can feel her shaking beneath my fingers. I manage to rise, with a hand on the wall to keep me upright, and stare up into the freakish face of scars. He is much, much taller than me.

In one motion, the man reaches forward and wraps his skeletal fingers around my throat. He yanks me towards him, squeezing, turning the skin a bright red. I can feel my already-overly-large eyes bugging out of their sockets, and the panic has begun to set in, because I've started thrashing and crying out. I can barely catch sight of my own gun, abandoned on the ground and think that I can possibly kick it up high enough to catch with my free hand—

"Go ahead," The man whispers, blowing warm air into my face. I hold my breath to block out the unbearable stench. "Call for your little buddies waiting upstairs," he says. He tightens his hold around my neck.

He knows, I think weakly. He knows we're here. We have fallen into their perfect trap. Just like Rap had warned me. The man squeezes harder.

For a moment, he shifts and almost looks back at the commotion behind us. I see it too. There is movement farther up the hall, like someone is approaching, but this man moves over to block my view. The pressure on my throat is going nowhere but up.

"Call in reinforcements," The man demands. He gets so close that I can feel the skin of our foreheads touching. If I had any saliva to salvage, I would've spit in his face, but the trek through the vent has left me parched. "Do it," he says.

I don't answer of course, but muster up enough courage to knee him hard in the crotch. Even with my massive blow (that surely would've buckled any other man) he doesn't react. He raises his eyebrows, clearly not impressed. His thumb brushes against the tip of my chin and raises it so I can see him better.

"I see," he says, smiling sadly. Then he's shoved me away and reached for Tori, who by this time is struggling frantically against the wall. The scarred man pulls her in front of him and drives the tip of his gun into her side with a tiny click. She, unlike me, doesn't have a bulletproof vest on. "Call for reinforcements or she dies," he demands, growing angry now. He delves the tip of the pistol a bit deeper into her hip.