Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 26

Outside the Ex Vivo building, the guards on duty at their posts at the forecourt scanned the area with their eyes, zooming in and out and tracking the movement of the least thing within range. One of them spotted something moving in the shadows among the trees on the other side of the street ahead and tracked it. The object on the move seemed to be quite small but fast. The guard was struggling to follow its pattern and identify it, and few attempts to take a snapshot and run a scan on it all proved futile. Just when he reached for his pistol in its holster in his belt, the thing stopped, and the guard waited till it slowly emerged from one of the trees. He sighed and shook his head. A squirrel, he thought and shared the footage with another guard who viewed it and snorted. The playback was interrupted by an alert from one of the guards, and all the others received it too. Hostile civilians approaching, the message read. The guards whipped out their guns and scanned the area.

The guard standing at the roof of the building who raised the alarm squinted at the subjects he had successfully tracked three hundred metres away from the grounds. He cocked his AK and took aim. "I am sounding the alarm," he told the guards over the comms. "Take them down."

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Three hundred metres from the Ex Vivo building, hundreds of people from all over the city marched through the shadows of the trees. Among them were market women welding machetes, rods and sticks, construction workers, a group of armed policemen, five soldiers, several older rugged men and many young people. They looked both angry and maniacal, and some of them were drooling with beastly killer instincts. They finally emerged from the trees and crossed the street into the drive leading into the forecourt. They saw uniformed guards waiting from them, but their orders were not to stop, but to swarm in and wipe anything except their "commander" who was at the verge of peril in the building – even if it cost them their lives. They had no memories or thoughts of family, friends or love, except for that strong suggestion that was driving them to their impending deaths.

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Felix raised his eyebrows and clicked his tongue. "This is incredible," he muttered to himself. "You are willing to let your Ex Agent and former best friend die so you can – what? Maintain your rights to Ex Gratia? It's not even registered. Ex Vivo is. The state recognizes the dating company and not your murderous syndicate. The whole world knows that Ex Gratia is a terrorist society that has kidnapped or killed many people – almost a thousand. Do you think you will be spared if you are found? This keeps getting worse, Ender!"

Ender rolled her eyes and said, "I am not afraid. You will not take me down easily. Ex Gratia is not yours. Stay out of my way."

"No! You stay out of my way!"

"Is loving you by force? Huh? You're short! I don't love you. Fine! I made sure Rich was killed because he betrayed me. That should tell you that I am capable of subjecting you to that same fate if you don't end this madness."

"Look who's talking about madness."

Ender wiped blood of her lips and spat onto the floor. "Kill the lady. I'd rather keep Ex Gratia than her. I can always replace her. It's just a mind control thing. What more do I need?"

"You witch!" Akoma cried out at Ender and winced as she tried to pull herself up upon realizing the heat from the liquid was growing intense under her feet. Her shorts got singed and she cried out. "You have to keep me out of this! I never wanted to be a part of it. I got caught in the crossfire without my consent. Take me out of this and let me go home. You caused my mother to be killed. That's enough for one day! Please, Aba!"

Ender shook her head at Akoma and turned her back to her. "I am sorry. I can't step down. Not for this dwarf."

"Be careful, Ender," Felix scowled and pointed a finger at Ender. "Watch your mouth. You are making things difficult for yourself here. Watch." Felix punched a few buttons on his watch and waited as one of his waiters walked in to hand in a tablet. Felix opened a video on YouTube and showed it to Ender who ogled at it and shook her head in disbelief.