The Beginning of The End

Chapter 10 - The Headquarters

 THE HEADQUARTERS

Carlie looked terrified. Luke wasn't exactly perfectly calm either, but he wasn't practically hyperventilating.

All he could hope for was that she wouldn't have another panic attack and give away their presence. Sure, Agent L knew that they were there, obviously, but the people loading the stuff into the back didn't. Luke was praying it would stay that way.

The tailgate creaked open and deep voices filled the air.

"Ugh...this thing is so...damn...heavy." A rough, scratchy voice came closer to the two teens. It sounded like the man had climbed into the truck bed and was kicking the tarp away. Correction - it felt like that was what he was doing.

Carlie winced as the man kicked her. Probably in the leg, judging by her reaction. Luke's own wound wasn't feeling the best either. His ribs were crushed on their own - they definitely did not need a human on top of them to weigh them down.

"Well maybe ye shouldn't 'ave signed up for 'tis job," a second voice with a thick accent said. He then grunted and swung something up into the bed of the truck.

The bed vibrated and sank a little with the weight of the thing. Carlie almost bounced off of Luke, but he had wrapped his good arm around her back to keep her still.

A bunch of swears spilled out of the man that was on the truck. "Chill out dude! I think you broke my flippin' toe!" the guy on the truck yelped, clearly getting agitated.

"It's not my fault y'er foot was there! I'm jus' doing' my job!" the other guy called back.

"Yeah, well do y'er job better!" the broken toe guy mocked his fellow employee with what sounded like a challenging tone to his voice.

Oh god, please no fights, Luke prayed.

"Are you mockin' my accent?"

"No I'm not mockin' y'er accent," the broken toe guy sneered, obviously mocking the accent guy.

"That's it!" The accent guy clambered up onto the truck bed.

Suddenly, Luke felt Carlie's core clench. Her eyes lit up with a mix of terror and determination. She looked like she had to sneeze. Oh god, she did have to sneeze.

Luke thought fast and covered her mouth with his good arm. She pressed her lips as hard as she could together, but the sneeze still managed to come out. Silence filled the air around them.

"What the...?" one of the guys started to say.

Before Luke or Carlie could react, a whizzing sound shot through the air and connected with something soft. Something like flesh. Twice.

"Luke and Carlie, you can spread out a little. Those men won't be delivering anymore hay this morning!" Agent L called through the cab window. The sound of bodies dragging across the floor of the bed made Carlie close her eyes tightly.

"Oh god. Did I just get those guys killed?" she whispered, sounding absolutely remorseful.

"No. Agent L just shot them with tranquil darts. They'll come to in about five or so hours in the middle of a field, not knowing how or why they got there," he responded. He gently tried to push her off, and she got the hint that he needed to breathe.

"Oh, sorry about my weight. Your ribs are probably dying." She laid down next to him with her body slightly facing him. The hay bale in back of her was causing her to be closer to him than he'd prefer. Oh well. This job came with uncomfortable situations that you just had to deal with.

"It's fine."

The rest of the ride was quiet, with the occasional sneeze from Carlie.

When the truck finally came to a stop, the sunrise was already peeking through the tarp, illuminating Carlie's face. Her tan skin turned an odd shade of blue, making her look like she was a smurf from that movie Johnny had shown Luke. He almost laughed at his friends' interests. He would watch the silliest and stupidest things, and love them.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Carlie puzzled, seeing Luke staring at her.

"No, nothing, just...thinking."

"About my face?" she teased, giving him a soft push after they had jumped out of the truck. Both of them had to have someone help each of them down because of their injuries.

Agent L was waiting impatiently with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face. Her foot was tapping the ground like a jackhammer.

"Luke Benson, why did that take so long?"

Luke gulped. Last names were never good when used in that kind of tone. "Uh, I'm sorry about that, ma'am. We only had one escape and that was through a window on the second story of the Yorktown Ball building, so we jumped and-"

"Luke, all I care about is that you're safe. Both of you. I'm not angry with you, don't worry." She stepped up to his with her arms extended and brought him into a hug. She motioned with her hand for Carlie to come over.

Carlie, being her shy and reserved self, shook her head. Luke didn't have to know her personally for long to know that she didn't hang around a lot of people. It may sound somewhat stalker-ist, but he has been watching her for about half a year now.

Long story short, when Jennie was taken by those men, Luke was forced to find another solution after he had been searching for months to no luck. Instead of finding Jennie, he found a clue pointing to a new girl. Carlie.

He had to find her, watch her to make sure it really was the person she was looking for, check where she was going 24/7, and follow her mostly everywhere. By doing that, he learned that she had practically had no social life except for seeing her cousin every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and occasionally Sunday. Not stalker-ish at all.

Agent L brought him out of his memory by laughing sincerely. "Nonsense, my child. A hug is necessary."

"No disrespect, ma'am, but you don't know me. You could be inviting a serial killer into a hug for all you know," Carlie said, slowly limping her way over. She realized what she just said and quickly added, "but I'm not anything like that!"

"Of course you're not, darling! If Luke here trusts you, then I will as well." The three of them hugged for moment - an awkward moment at that, judging by Carlie's face - before pulling away. Agent L swept a loose lock of her light auburn hair from her jade colored eyes, and put her hands on her hips again, this time not in an irritated way.

"Agent L, uh, we are in some sort of medical condition at the moment, and I'm sure the medical bay is...erm...hopefully empty." Luke glanced down at his stomach and started to look at his shoulder, but winced.

Carlie glanced at her own wounds and made a face. "'Hopefully' is the right word for this...predicament."

"Yes, yes! Oh, I'm so sorry about that! Mr. Hayes, please bring these adventurers to the medical bay immediately."

Johnny jogged over from out of nowhere with a smirk plastered on his face. "Hola amigos! I will be your tour guide for the day, so please come this way."

Luke shook his head and started walking with him, but Johnny waggled his finger in his face.

"Now, now, Lukie. Ladies first." He held his hand out for Carlie to take, but she just stared at him.

"Just lead us to the medical bay without bothering us. We don't want to scare her away the first day of being here." Luke continued walking but let Johnny and Carlie catch up with him.

"Uh, fine. But I still have to lead you both to the med bay, so just look like you're following me." Johnny grinned and led them to the infirmary/med bay.

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