The Two Missing People

Chapter 5~ Poluto

We arrived in the next town around noon. My sleep was wrenched away by a strange eagerness.
Maybe it came from the realization that I would be finally be coming home, into my irresistibly comfortable apartment.
I missed looking out of the window and watching the cars creep their way out of the trafic jam that always collected on fifth avenue.
I missed waking up in the morning and immediately excited for work, clipping on my badge and walking down the avenue, showing it off to passerbyers.
Even though it had only been a day or two, I yearned to be back.
Yes, I would miss Fifi and Pablo, but I could happily live with that.
"Wolly?" Fifi said, as the bus shuddered to a stop. I had been staring out of the window intently, trying to snatch a glance at the city.
"Yes, Fifi?" I asked.
The bus hissed, and, watching the buildings that had come into view moments before, I stood.
Pablo, who had been clutching all three bags and was tracing the patterns over one, gave me a quick smile and handed me mine.
"Let us go into the town?"
Fifi's eyes shone with excitement, and she climbed over Pablo's lap to take my hand.
I swung my bag over my shoulder and hobbled out of the train, falling slightly over the small steps. The heat hit me like a barrel of fire.
"Ugh." I muttered, searching my bag and drawing out a bottle of water, which was now unfortunately warm. Still, I gulped down a mouthful of water.
"This way." Pablo said, walking carefully out of the bus and striding towards the tall buildings across from the bus station.
"Coming!" Sang Fifi. She skipped ahead, a spring in her step impossible to ignore.
Pablo lay a hand on my shoulder as we walked directly straight towards the buildings.
"You are a very skilled agent." He said.
"Thank you."
"And Wol?" He slowed slightly. "Please forgive me."
My mouth pressed into a line.
"Forgive me Wol! It was not me who did that horrible thing. It was the monster that comes alive when I'm drunk. Please!"
Shaking my head, I walked faster then him. "Listen, Pablo. You can't ask for my apology after that much. Tell Fifi you are sorry. She will forgive you."
Pablo ran a hand through his hair, an despite the heat, he tugged on a jumper.
"Are you mad?" My eye brows had climbed high on m forehead since the conversation had started. "It is about 50 degrees out here! An you decide to put on a jumper?"
Pablo, who grimaced at my loud and sharp words, shivered. "I feel ... cold. Maybe I am sick."
"Maybe."
He nodded his head towards Fifi. "I am going to apologies to her now, like you advised."
I watched him walk forward, and lean over to hug Fifi. Hearing Fifi's loud giggle from the distance, I knew the apology was going well.
Pablo bent down to crouch, and pulled Fifi into a hug.
Suddenly, I felt alone.
I had no one to hug to me like that. No one I especially adored like Pablo to Fifi. Diana was the closest person to me, apart from Mother and my siblings, who I rarely saw anyway.
Yet I could not wrap Diana into a hug. It was just not right.
"Come on Wol!" Called Pablo.
I glanced up, and was amazed to see that the shadow of an enormous building was accompanied by its owner just meters away.
How had we been walking for that long? It had seemed that the city was miles away, yet here we were, at the foot of the first one.
"Wow." Exclaimed Fifi, grabbing hold of my hand in her left palm, and Pablo on the right.
Pablo gave me a smile. "So, Fifi, Wol. Let us head into the city, and get a taxi to the airport."
"Yay!" Fifi squealed. "The airport! I've never been there before!"
I was surprised, but Pablo nodded thoughtfully. "She hasn't. I mean, I have, but not little Fiona."
We stood, staring up at the building for what felt like three minutes.
Finally, Pablo got stunned Fifi moving, and we plowed into the city.
It was much like New York, just shabbier and less modern. Cars speeded down the roads, people bustled up and down the pavement, and the general activity made me feel like I was home.
If only I could round a corner and my apartment was there, Diana waiting at the front door with a steaming meal on the table, and a smile.
I missed home. Each time I thought of it, a new wave of homesickness would dominate my mood.
Sighing, I collapsed onto a bench by a cafe, while Pablo and Fifi chose the food.
"A cinnamon roll." I had ordered. "And a maciato coffee."
I relaxed into the hard bench, whiping any negative thoughts and replacing it with excitement at finally heading home.
"Coffee." Said Pablo, grinning and handing me the hot mug. He was in a good mood.
"And the roll." Fifi said. She gave me the treat, and I winked at her. She giggled and sat beside me, watching, as I had done just moments before. Her gaze wondered.
"So," Pablo said, sipping his coffee.
I did the same, and the liquid warmed my insides.
"So."
"Are you excited to go home?"
I nodded eagerly, munching at my cinnamon roll, which tasted amazingly sweet compared to sourness of the coffee.
Pablo stretched his arm across the bench and stirred his own, sipping at it as he did.
We were silent, and I drained my mug of coffee. Smacking my lips together, I scooped up the last of the roll, and quenched my hunger with it.
"So where will you go?" I asked, swallowing the mouthful of food.
Pablo glanced at Fifi. She was swinging her legs back and fourth, watching the cars speed by and twirling a piece of hair around her finger. She looked content, her frame relaxed.
"I don't know." Pablo continued. He looked stressed, and grey strands were poking out from the lock of dark hair. "To be honest, it is up to Fifi."
"What?" Fifi's head snapped to Pablo, drawn back into the world of reality. "Who, me?"
"Yes, Fiona." Pablo said, rolling his eyes.
A waitress walked by us, and Pablo asked for the check. She nodded and walked off. Pablo turned back to Fifi. "Where do you want to go?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Where do you want to live?"
Immediately, Fifi clasped her hands to her fathers, leaning over me.
"New York." There was silence, and she wined her plea. "Da-ad! You said I could choose. Please can we live in New York?! Wolly told me all about it and I LOVE it! And I will see Wolly again, and we can live in an apartment and you can work for the New York mayor!"
At her last words, I laughed. Pablo raised his eyebrows at me, but I ignored his scornful look. The thought of a mayor ruling a city like New York was ridiculous.
"Wol, you are staying in New York right?" Pablo asked.
I nodded. "Of course. I don't want to abandon my job. The UGMA is my life, really."
"Well then," Pablo cleared his throat awkwardly, "is it alright if we live there too? Not in the same apartment of course, but, you know, a couple of blocks-"
"-avenues."
"-avenues away, then."
I pondered on that, trying to imagine life with Fifi and Pablo so near by. The waitress returned with the check, and Pablo payed quickly. We left after gathering our things.
I decided that it was good, to be able to see Fifi often.
And to protect her at times.
Just in case.
"We need to find a taxi." Pablo said, forgetting about the question. I let I pass.
We walked down a lane and into a street, which bustled and oozed busy city noise.
Trekking down the pavement and squeezing through crowds of heavy dressed people, we stopped by a curb.
Pablo stuck his thumb out just as a taxi was spotted up the road.
The taxi was large, more like a van then a car, and rattled loudly as it made its way down to the curb where we stood.
The window was unrolled, and a face poked out.
The driver had small, green eyes, and thick hair giving the slightly round face more color. Her cheeks flushed red.
"Hello!" The driver said, smiling and showing more of her gum then her teeth. "My name is Miora."
I immediately liked Miora.
"Hi. I'm Fifi."
"Pablo."
"Wol, short for Wolluce."
"Hop right in." She smiled.
Pablo opened the door and ducked inside. Fifi scrambled into the back seats, and I sat in shot gun, next to Miora. She smelt like baby cream, which I liked.
"Where too?"
Pablo spoke up. "The airport."
"Disira Airport?"
The name was not familiar. "Is that the city airport?" I asked.
"Well," Miora said, starting up the engine and throwing me a look, "this city is called Disira, so I am guessing that it is." Her tone was sarcastic.
I laughed curtly. "Disira Airport it is, then."
The car lurched forward, and we started our trip.
The ride began in silence, but after a while, Miora turned on the radio, and cranked up the volume high.
Blasting the same song, called Avalanche, she had told us, my good mood was beginning to slip away. When Miora reached out a hand to push the repeat button, I slapped it away.
Silence rang out like an alarm bell, and I regretted my action.
Was the slap too forceful?
"Sorry." I muttered. "Just kind of sick of that song."
Miora leaned into her chair and put her hand back on the steering wheel. "Fine. I'll put on my other favorite. It's called: I'm An Albatross."
I shook my head.
"Fine, Yellow, by Coldplay."
"No!"
"Fire n' Gold?"
"How about no music? Do you know what that means?"
Pablo gave me a small, warning nudge, and I quietened down.
The silence was uncomfortable. Soon, though, Miora found a way to chase away that element almost too quickly. She began talking about her family, which I found as interesting as the song she had been playing over a thousand times.
"I have seven siblings, yes I said seven! My oldest one, David, is off on his own, while Laurin, the youngest, has just started high school!"
She explained how she had come from Germany, but had been born in Madagascar.
"I went to many places, like Indonisia, Brazil." She told us that she had lived in Brazil for three years, meeting an amazing girl who became like a sister to her, and has been friends ever since.
"She is going to Germany on a soccer scholarship!"
After Miora was sick of talking, she stopped for about twenty minutes. The peace was deafening in its own way.
Finally though, she spoke once again. "You aren't around here, aren't you?"
Pablo answered for me. "We aren't. We come from Town Feria."
Miora frowned. "Town Feria, like the place the jets go too?"
I gasped loudly. "How do you know?"
Pablo looked equally flabbergasted.
"Well," Miora chuckled. "I should not actually know. Just that my friends cousin ... never mind."
"No!" I almost yelled, still slightly shocked. "No, tell us what you know."
When Miora did not answer, I went on. "Miora, please. I need this information because something ... feels off. Something isn't right."
Miora shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Then spilled her words out like she had desperately wanted to say them a long time ago. "My friends cousin works for the CIA. He isn't a missionair or anything, but he works for the File Department or something. He said that the CIA have been sending out the jets."
I was surprised.
Not shocked, because the jets had looked like something the CIA would provide.
The UGMA worked very closely with the CIA, often sharing members and sending out people to work on the same case. Often, it was a competition between the two organizations to see who could complete a mission fastest.
"What else do you know?" I pressed. "Do you know why the CIA are sending out jets?"
Miora looked stricken. She was struggling to keep her secrets to herself. "I do, but I can't say. I promised I would not say anything!"
Pablo, who's hands had found its way to the headrest of my seat, poked the back of my head.
"Show her the badge."
For a second, I had no idea what the man was talking about. Miora was equally confused.
"What?!" She almost shrieked. "Badge? What badge?"
Finally understanding what Pablo meant, I dug my hand into the bag at my feet, looking for my UGMA badge. My hands gripped at the cold surface, and I drew it out, flashing it at Miora's wide eyes.
"Ma'am, I work for the UGMA, and I DEMAND you tell me all you know, from beginning to end." When she hesitated, I continued with my forceful tone, which was difficult. "Now."
Miora's face had gotten redder, and her hands shook slightly on the wheel. Without peeling her eyes away from the traffic ahead, she recited what I had commanded her to tell.
"My friends cousin managed to find out why and when and how and all the information when he was searching through the Mission Files Sector. He says that the CIA are looking, searching, for two people, a man and a women, who went missing about two, three weeks ago."
This time, I was shocked.
"Really?" Was all I could managed.
Pablo gasped aloud. "Wol, that's your mission you were assigned!"
Nodding my head vigorously, I faced Miora again.
"Do you know why the CIA are looking for the missing people?"
This time, she told me without being forced. "He said that the two missing people, who, by the way, are married and part of the family, and my friends cousin knows this after he CIA tracked their files and everything, carry a ..."
My insides lurched.
Carried a what?"
"A ... disease, which, if spread, can kill off the human race. Literally."
My mouth fell open.
Not from surprise, or shock, or realization.
Because of horror.
The world did not need another life threatening disease.
"Terrible." Muttered Pablo.
My stomach had sunk into a pit of worry and fear.
Miora kept on talking, though. "The CIA said that a witness saw the missing people heading to Town Feria on a bus or something, and the CIA saw them reaching the town. So they sent jets, and after no one gave the people up, they kept on trying, and monitoring the town, bombing it to threaten them, so they could get the people. They are going to real extreme measures because this disease, called Poluto, is deadly. After about a month with it, you drop dead. No cure, no drug, no nothing. The CIA are trying to find and kill the couple, so the disease does not spread."
With every word, I felt more and more scared, worried, and fidgety.
What Miora was telling was brutal and terrifying. I could not believe she was able to bare the burden of knowing.
"Aren't you worried?" Asked Pablo.
Miora chuckled. "Oh no. The CIA had it under control. So do the UGMA and Mi6. I think the people will be found in no time."
With that, Miora flipped her hair to the side and flicked the radio back on, slowly, and then quickly,turning up the volume.
Meanwhile, my mind had sunken into dark thoughts.
My mission had been paused after the helicopter failure, and I had had time to rest. Though now, life had pushed play once again.
My profile had just changed from: Wolluce, to Missionair.
It was time to get back onto my feet.
Time to hunt down two missing people.
Time to start all over again.