The End of Her World

Chapter Seven

Lights popped on around them. The final training session was over.

Dr. Hale nodded. "I am very impressed, soldiers." He picked up to loose sheets of paper. "You are to break into this secret forces headquarters and steal computer data." He eyed Katrina with special interest. "It will be high priority mission, but the security is minimum. I will feed you information through out the mission. Good luck soldiers."

Fade snapped a quick salute and Katrina copied him. "You are dismissed," Dr. Hale said, directing his attention to a stack of documents.

Fade swung the door open for Katrina. She stepped through and the door locked behind her. Butterflies raced through her stomach and sent razors of fear down her back. She was sure her face was pale with fear.

Fade surprised her as the door shut. He put his hands on her shoulders. "You're going to do fine." He told her in a low voice. "You just study the map," he pressed a piece of paper into her hand, "And you'll be fine." He paused for a second before continuing. "You're the best student I've had and I've had many, and they have all done great, even the ones not as good as you. Calm down." Without another word, he whisked away, as if embarrassed about his speech.

Katrina strode forward and unlocked her door. She turned and her hair sprayed out behind her like molten copper. Katrina shut the door and it locked with a sharp click.

Katrina awoke with a snap. Her neck prickled. She reached under her pillow and pulled out her knife. Everything seemed unnaturally quiet. No security cameras humming or any human sounds. Her hand went automatically to her light switch. With a quiet snap and a flicker, the lights came on with a flash of bluish luminosity. No one was in her room.

"Are you ready?" the voice asked from her left side. Instinctively, she jumped out of bed and brought her knife in a defensive pose, her blood pulsing in her veins.

"Calm down," Fade said. He was dressed in black, head to toe, and a balaclava covered his face. He pulled down the balaclava and his dark eyes sparkled with amusement. But the laughter soon faded away from his eyes, like morning mist burnt away by sun.

Katrina's skin burned. He was acting oddly for a partner of war. He was filling her with feelings never felt before. She dropped her gaze and pushed the door open. "Let's get to the armory," she ordered, turning toward the hallways that lead away to the left.

Fade grabbed her arm and a shiver went through her. She whipped around. "What?"

"You need to eat first."

Katrina narrowed her eyes, irascibility racing through her veins. "Fine," she acquiesced.

It was only a few moments until Katrina and Fade entered the mess hall. As always, the walls were uniform white and gray benches and tables lined the walls. The cooks slopped a gray mess of 'vegetable stew' onto her plate. Katrina grimaced at the smell.

She set her bowl down and spooned the stuff into her mouth. It didn't taste terrible, but nor was it good. It was slimy and mushy on her tongue. She swallowed her vitamins, and ate her dried bread. It was a light breakfast, only meant to pump enough calories to sustain her mission.

Katrina slid her knife out of its sheath and silently slipped forward, this time, leading Fade. Spotlights swept across the grounds. Katrina looked downward; eyes caught in light and reflected. One of the guards was approaching, his gun up with a flashlight attached to it. He turned around and his beam almost caught Katrina, while Fade was nowhere to be found. The guard lowered his gun and turned around muttering to himself.

Katrina darted forward and knocked him unconscious with a single blow, then stabbed him in the chest. Blood sprayed out in a fountain, and Fade leaped forward, his blade flashing in the darkness. The man’s decapitated head hit the ground seconds before his truncated torso did.

Fade nodded at her through the darkness. His knife was barely perceptible in the gloom. He sprinted forward silently for a bout twenty yards, then ducked behind a fake tree as a trio of guards approached, their guns off safety and ready to shoot at any movement.

"Holy fuck!" Someone said, and Katrina watched as they shone their lights on the man's headless corpse. Suddenly, she realized Fade was not next to her. The first guard dropped with a thud, blood sheeting from his throat, then the second. Katrina was stunned as they gasped in pain, their life welling out of their throats. Someone must have slashed them.

She pulled out her gun and trained it on the empty space behind the guards' bodies. A lean body stepped out, and Katrina flicked the safety off the gun and her finger was about to squeeze the trigger when Fade's voice came through the darkness. "Lower your weapon, Hawk."

His eyes met her, and a shiver went through her body. They hesitated for a second, and then he tore away his eyes and ran toward the building. "Down!" he ordered. They crouched in a clump of tall grass. Tall lights were mounted on the makeshift building. Two guards were on high alert, their eyes glinting darkly. Fade moved quickly forward, Katrina following him.

Fade maneuvered around the building. Katrina couldn't see anything, but apparently Fade could. His hands trailed across the wall, and he seemed to feel something. With a triumphant pump of his arm, he opened a door. A desk stood in the middle of a large, room cluttered with glowing azure screens, a computer mounted on it. Katrina rushed forward and turned it on. This is it. As she expected, there was a firewall and a password required for entry. Her fingers flew across the keyboard like crazed birds. In less than two minutes she had hacked into the computer, and was now chipping away at the proxy protecting the database.

Fade proffered the flash drive. Katrina reached out to take it and their fingers brushed. A spark flew between them, and Katrina felt her skin prickle. Fade held her gaze with a strong glare.

She shook her head and looked down. Katrina plugged the flash drive and swiftly downloaded the files.

Fade checked a glowing screen. Three crimson bots flared like demons in fog at the edge of the radar. “Fuck!” he snarled. “Run!”

Katrina looked up toward the cieling. Vaguely, outlined by the minimal light streaking through the heavy smog that lay over the complex, she could see a catwalk. “Up there!”

Her heart pounded like a velvet hammer in her chest, and sweat rolled down her forehead in an iridescent rainbow. Black liquid streamed off her face; her face paint was sliding off.

Fade hurled himself forward, clinging onto the metal beams, and scurried up them, his hand locked onto Katrina’s. Her breath came in ragged aches, and her lungs burned like she had inhaled hot sand. His strong hands hauled her up; she flipped over the edge of the catwalk and onto good, solid steel.

A squad of ten soldiers banged through the door, their laser playing through the darkened room, ghosts of crimson and death. They spread out, yelling commands to eachother.

“All clear!”

Katrina could hear Fade’s labored, heavy breathing as it tickled her ear. He bent over the railing, his head down, his palms rubbing together, polishing his hands. “You okay?” He cupped his thumb and pointer finger in the universal ‘okay’ signal.

Katrina nodded.

“Let’s go,” He darted forward, grabbing the bars on the roof. He blasted upward, the steel creaked and caved inward and he clasped her hand with a rough palm. He pulled easily, and she bunched her legs, and sprang up through the hole.

The stars cast a baleful eyes down on her, cold, unblinking, other worldly watchers. Fade tilted his head up, and his face caught the light, a slender drop of milk hanging suspended in a glass of water. A smile curved along his lips. “I never get to see the sky,” He murmured.

Fade jumped. Katrina took a deep breath, and let the ground fall away from her.