Sparks

Chapter 23

"So I shouldn't check all the houses this time?"

"That isn't what I said. I said you didn't have to be quite as thorough. Check every other street or something and walk faster. Remember, you're trying to get to the entire city today."

"Alright."

"Oh, and you'll be staying out for another few hours to make sure you have time." I sigh.

"Okay. Let's go." I finish strapping the belts onto my torso and look at myself in the mirror. I really am quite a bit more muscular than I was when I first came here, I just usually don't notice it because I generally prefer looser clothes. I'm still not bodybuilder or even just gym rat muscular and I don't think I'll ever be. I have a very lean body type.

"Once you're finished staring at yourself come on. We don't have all day." Carrie leans against the wall by the foot of the stairs, holding her car keys and absentmindedly swinging them around the carabiner. I sigh and slip my standard gray hoodie over my head, then clip the camera into my hair after turning it on.

"I'm ready. Let's get moving." Carrie is much faster than I am when walking up the stairs and she motions me forward hurriedly.

"What's the rush?" I ask. "It isn't like anyone's waiting for us."

"The sooner you're there the sooner you can find the monster." I shrug.

"It's not like there's even any point. All I can do if I see it is run."

"Yes, but then we know it's in the city and we know its general location. The more we find of its location, the more we can figure out its patterns. The more patterns we figure out, the easier it is to capture it." I open the passenger side door and slide in, putting my backpack on the ground. Out of habit I check that everything's still there. Camera, phone, money, water, a few other odds and ends I thought might be useful, I'm all good.

"What'll we do if we do manage to capture it?"

"You ask a lot of questions." I scoff.

"I'm part of this team. Considering I'm the one in the most danger, I think I have a right to know what's going on." She sighs.

"When we capture it, we first figure out if it can talk. If it can't, we kill it. If it can, we get any information we can out of it and then kill it." I bite my lip and start to respond but Carrie keeps going. "Actually, it'll probably be you killing it, Aryn." I start coughing, choking on my own breath.

"WHAT?!"

"Yes. Jacob and I talked and we decided you should be the one to kill it. You haven't got any real battle experience and you need to toughen up a bit."

I cough a few more times and eventually regain my breath. "You can't just... just tell me to kill another living being!"

She shrugs nonchalantly. "What's the big deal? It's a dangerous monster. You don't want it to hurt anyone else, do you?"

"What's the big deal? The big deal is that I'm a pacifist! I've never killed anything before. I don't even squash bugs if I can help it. I almost had a panic attack the one and only time I fired a gun!"

"Well, you're going to need to get over that." My mouth hangs open for a few seconds from shock at her sheer gall before it snaps shut. I glare at Carrie with the most stubborn expression I can muster.

"I am. NOT. killing it." Venom laces my voice as I state the fact. Carrie stares at me for a few seconds before her mouth twists into a smirk. It's almost like she finds this funny.

"Oh, believe me. If we tell you to? You will."

--

I slam the door of the car and get out, still seething from Carrie's callous words. She hasn't convinced me at all. I'm still not killing it.