Gone Missing

The Barracks

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ch.3

The Lieutenant was furious. Sadly, that meant that someone’s life was about to get miserable. That someone, was me.

“Kyte!” He roared, “You were fooled by a child! You almost let her get away! There will be proper consequences for this,” Switching his radar over to the girl, he asked in a deadly quiet voice, “Now, Missy.... Who are you? And no funny business this time.”

“I’m Chrissy,” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Frowning, the Lieutenant stated, “What you did there, only Expendables could master, or even attempt. How did you learn to do this?”

Chrissy shrugged again, “I just know how. What is this? It’s not like I’ve done anything horribly wrong,” 

At this the Lieutenant snapped, and I flinched inwardly for her. 

“You were snooping around a crime scene. You RAN away from the law. You IMPERSONATED ROSS BROW’S DAUGHTER, and you’ve shown you have FORBIDDEN ABILITIES!” His face was beet red, and he looked like he was ready to lash out at her. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “You are a run-away Expendable, am I right?”

“Umm..... no.” Chrissy was looking at him like he was crazy, like he should be on a leash. The Lieutenant barely noticed, though.

“Don’t you lie to me, Missy,” Pointing at me, he barked, “Take her to the Barracks.  She probably knows the ropes, but show her them just in case. She’s your responsibility until we can get this sorted out.”

Chrissy looked at me, with an infuriating half-smirk, half-sympathetic look.

Cheers. Now I get to baby-sit an obnoxious little girl for who knows how long.

Grabbing Chrissy’s arm, I took off, ignoring her yelp as the ground receded behind us. If she really was an Expendable, than hanging by her arm for a few miles shouldn’t bug her that much. 

 “How did you avoid the Searchers for so long?” I asked her, not bothering to turn and face her.

I heard her sigh loudly and deliberately. “I didn’t. I don’t know how I got here, I don’t know what an Expendable is!”

“Come on. You don’t have to be humble. Its a huge accomplishment, and I have no idea why you let yourself get caught now,” I replied, not convinced.

“What-ever...” I heard her mumble. 

We traveled in silence from then on. I weaved through the maze of buildings, appreciating every gasp I got out of Chrissy as we narrowly avoided birds, walls, and flying mini-cars.

Eventually, I saw the telltale silver walls of the Barracks. Landing in front of the huge building, I let go of Chrissy’s arm. She stepped backwards, a little unsteady, while massaged her shoulder, glaring at me.

“Flight Kyte landing. Have a good day!” I said, joking. “Hope there wasn’t too much whiplash.”

She rolled her eyes. “Wow. You actually have a sense of humor. I’m impressed.”

“Here. I’ll show you around. Maybe you’ll be even more impressed.”

The Barracks are pretty impressive. It has the simple elegance of a huge silver cube, with a reinforced band of plexiglass around its middle. The huge triangle logo positioned over the door completed the look. Sadly, you notice how imposing and intimidating it is before the thought of it being at all elegant crosses your mind. It has a very personal air of malevolence around it. As you approach it, it’s as if it’s only you and it, and it had come from a recent, and disturbing nightmare. Even birds avoided it.