The Agency

Chapter 6

Fin’s POV:

Mark, on my left, fires his rifle just before Anne reaches the door and I watch it blast a small red ‘o’ in her leg. She falls but quickly tries to readjust her position to fight once again, but the blood pouring down her leg makes her pause long enough for Leon and Chris to pin her to the ground. At first she struggles frantically but Kyle steps forward with a syringe and soon she lies still. I step forward and look down upon her…and do a double take. Her eyes are still open, though drooping slightly, and she seems to be trying to say something but it escapes her mouth as a mutter.

“Kyle, I thought you put her to sleep!”

“I thought it would be best to give her just enough so that she is incapacitated but can still hear and understand us. That way you can get on with your job without her causing such a nuisance around here.”

“That’s some good thinking there, Kyle.”

“What do you think Anne?” She flicks her eyes beyond us and then looks up lazily at Kyle and utters her words very slowly as if each one took astronomical effort.

“Oh look...I..got...two”, the edges of her mouth twitch lethargically upward. I glance back to see what she was gloating over; Andy lay struggling for breath on the floor and nobody had noticed him in the struggle with Anne. I got up and hurried over to him, his breaths were becoming more strained by the second yet he seemed to be trying to speak. I leant down to hold my ear next to his quivering mouth.

“I hope...you’re right...about her”, Andy’s words trail off towards the end as he is consumed by an intense pain, plainly shown in his face.

“I hope so too, mate, I’m so sorry you’re suffering for all this” I look around desperately for another stretcher, but I had only anticipated one casualty and that one stretcher was occupied by Si.

“You’re not gonna... let me go.., Fin?” He looks up at me with pleading eyes, searching for confirmation that he would not die. I look back and smile, keeping my despair at his chances of living hidden under a thick mask of hope. He will not die for me; he will not die for me!

“You’re not going anywhere yet, kay?” I put my hand gently on his shoulder and he closes his eyes. “Andy! I know you can hear me, you have to stay awake!” I shake him as gently as I can and he groans, his eyes fluttering briefly. “Kyle, have you got anything on you that can help him?” I turn desperately towards my best friend.

“I’m sorry, Fin, I...”, Kyle drops to a whisper, “I can only sedate him...and given his current condition..” Kyle stops short and looks deeply saddened towards me, and I know what his next words will be. “I don’t think he has very long left, mate, he’s lost too much blood...but he doesn’t seem to feel the pain anymore so... perhaps we should say our fairwells...”

“There’s nothing we can do?” I already had my answer, but I couldn’t quite face the fact that I had done this; this was all my fault. . I had brought the girl into our midst, I had violated the rules I had helped set up, and I was so blinded by my curiosity with that girl from my past that I endangered the lives of those who trusted me for a hopeless murderer whom I had protected and endeavoured to help. “Take her back to the cell she was in, tie her hands and feet tightly and keep her moderately sedated until I arrive, do I make myself clear?” I hear a chorus of ‘ye’, ‘kay’ and ‘sir yes sir’ before I watch Anne being carried away by Mark, who is holding her as far from his body as possible. Before, I would have found this funny but with Andy dying before me, I can only hope he drops her. Kyle goes with Anne to keep her sedated and I’m left with Seb and Chris, the terrible twins from Essex. From the time they joined us they constantly fought with each other and generally caused disruption around this place, but since the arrival of Anne, they seemed very tame in comparison.