Just Another Job (24 page)

If there wasn't going to be any human
sympathy at least Chris's body gave him a respite. Once the puking
ended the headache ended with it.

Johnykin snuck up from behind or Chris was
too busy spitting out the stomach acid flavored saliva to have
noticed, “I would say ‘I told you so,’ but I never warned you in
the first place. So, I will say ‘it sucks, but you should’ve known
better.’”

“Thanks for the timely advice,” said
Chris.

“If you’re done, we’re heading into a small
town to pick up some supplies.”

“We out of beer?”

“Yeah and we’re going to run some
intel.”

“Intel?”

“Come on. It’s time to go.” Johnykin didn’t
wait for a response or even for Chris to follow. She walked
straight to the SUV and jumped in.

Chris took in the rest of the campsite
again. He was standing alone and the other SUVs were ready to go.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and wished for a breath mint
as he made his way to the last open door held by Frank. Nothing was
said, but Frank smirked at the state of Chris and then climbed in
himself to squish his fellow sidekick in the middle.

The drive was bumpy but short. They stopped
without an announcement and everyone immediately stepped out to
take in the morning scene. Chris pinched his eyes against the glare
of the sun. He wasn't sure what he expected. In front of him
stretched old stone architecture mixed with modern concrete and
brick buildings. The majority shared a light sanded color, but
reds, yellows, and aqua greens popped out to give the impression of
life. A few people walked the streets; no cars drove on the
roads.

Things felt empty even for the early hour.
They were outside what Chris believed to be a general store. The
drivers took the lead and went inside, while the Supers milled
around outside. Small talk about hangovers crawled through the
group’s conversations. Chris was about to relate his miserable
experience when Frank grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to the
side.

“Check it out. They already put it online,”
said Frank. He pressed the play button on the screen. Before it
played, Chris already knew what to expect. It was yesterday’s
mission. The video started zoomed out to show the entire warehouse.
Then Chris saw Alan and Grant as near blurs descending on the two
guards.

“What? They were not moving that fast
yesterday,” said Chris.

“Look, it’s us.” The video was now shaking
slightly as it tracked Frank and Chris inside the warehouse.

“Did Johnykin wear a camera?”

“No, it’s Klaus. See.” Johnykin was centered
in the screen. She looked at one of the crates and then with
ridiculous ease brought it over her head. The camera panned down to
a crate and Klaus’s shoes. He did the same.

“Why were they picking them up? We just
pushed them outside.” A loud burst of gunfire came from the video
and Klaus moved along with the camera to see Frank finishing up his
fight with the computer.

“Damn, I wish they hadn’t left that in. I
look like an idiot.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Thanks, dick.” Frank slugged Chris in the
arm. The video ended with the helicopter flying the crates off into
the horizon.

Chris half-expected them to jump together
for a team high-five. “Why did that look so different? What the
hell is this?”

Frank peered at Chris for a moment’s
hesitation then said, “You’re probably still hung over from last
night.”

The streets gained more people as Chris
pondered over the state of his mind and whether he could trust
memories from only one day earlier. This deep thinking didn’t last
long as the people filling the streets weren’t naturally moving
about, but were congregating specifically in the area. ‘Hello’ was
directed at and returned by the waiting Supers, then waves and
smiles.

Hundreds of people made their way to within
as close a distance as they could. The attention pulled the Supers
away from any small talk with each other. Chris thought about the
video and how it might have already spread here, or maybe they were
enough of a spectacle as is. At the very least what was thrown at
them was positive.

Eventually the drivers carried bags and
cardboard boxes out of the store. Klaus jumped to grab those out of
their driver’s hands. She grew bashful and tried to hide the smile
spread plainly across her face, then hurried to open the trunk so
as not to have her job completely taken away. Chris watched Klaus
ignore the adoring crowd around him in order to focus on the woman
he had met less than a week ago.

Chris couldn’t help to think of Sadie. His
vanity could not help but enjoy the praise. But what exactly did he
do to deserve it? A couple of cameras shot to pieces. He didn’t
want the crowd’s attention or admiration for that.

Johnykin bumped into Chris, “Did you get
enough?”

“Huh,” said Chris.

“You can really feed off this. Doing
something right and people being grateful for it. It’s
amazing.”

“Yeah. I just… you deserve this. The Supers
do. Frank too. I didn’t do anything.”

“You did enough. You’ll do more. Let’s go,
though. Can’t stay here forever. Positive energy doesn’t last.”

They waved goodbye to the locals and not so
locals who had stopped walking by and now stood watching or
recording with their phones.

In the SUV, Chris gazed up front at Klaus
and their driver talking comfortably. Again his mind connected to
Sadie. The driver was nothing like her. Klaus was more similar to
Sadie than her. What was her name? She took them around everywhere,
Klaus was dating her, and he had no idea what her name was.

“Hey,” said Chris to the front. Klaus
stopped talking to look back at him. “Sorry, Klaus. I don’t want to
be rude, and I’m so sorry I didn’t ask this before.” Chris looked
at the driver, “What’s your name?”

Klaus was about to speak for her in less
than kind words before she said, “It’s okay. I should have told you
before. My name is Jane. Boring, I know.”

“Hi, Jane,” said Frank.

“Hi.”

“Okay. We've made the proper introductions,
but let's get back to our own conversations,” said Klaus with a
wave of his hand towards Chris.

Johnykin laughed and said, “Let's do that
Klaus. It was nice talking to you for five seconds. But don't
worry, Jane. Even if he's a little rude you got a decent enough
catch up there.”

“Thank you for the wonderful compliment,”
said Klaus. He turned away from the back seat to end any more
discussion about his love life.

“Where we going now?” asked Frank. “I didn't
see any of the Supers running to get intel like was planned.”

“We did it,” said Jane. “The owner of the
store we stopped at is a major contributor to the rebel movement.
He didn't have an exact location, but gave us enough to get
started. Alan should be calling in for aerial views of the spot. We
should have a destination in a couple hours.”

“Setting up base or camp or whatever is
next, right?” asked Chris.

“Yep. Starting to get the hang of it aren't
you?” said Jane. “We have an hour drive to the next camping
spot.”

Klaus turned back around and formed a smile
that warned not to interrupt them again. Johnykin laughed off the
threat and gazed outside. Frank was all over his phone and didn’t
catch it or didn’t care. Chris thought again of Sadie.

Chris hadn’t charged his phone in days. The
battery showed red, but he typed as fast as he could a message
that’s main idea was ‘I miss you/Sorry/My phone is dying.’ The
phone promptly turned off after the message was sent.

They drove on in near silence. Klaus tried
to keep his voice as quiet as possible while discussing nothing in
particular with Jane. Chris still heard every word, but didn't
care. He was happy for Klaus and Chris was more concerned with
yesterday and the video Frank showed him. He didn't drink that much
last night and that was after. The memories from the warehouse
still popped up clear in his head. What the hell was he not piecing
together?

The inevitable present burst whatever work
had been done in his mind. They made it to the next camp site.

Chapter
Nineteen

“Are you serious?” asked Chris.

“Why not? Look at this place. It's
practically identical. We're moving too fast for them to implement
any kind of change yet,” said Frank.

“How do you know? You're just guessing.”

“Fuck. Get past your bullshit, Chris. Are
you going to do this every time? You're making this harder than it
really is.”

Frank and Chris waited behind a tree each
for Alan and Grant to give the signal. There were only two guards
again. None of them were sleeping this time, but in the darkness
the Supers' black suits made them near invisible especially with
the cloud coverage. Grant ran into view with his thumb raised high.
Frank jumped out from behind cover first. Chris knew he couldn't
hesitate and put himself a step behind.

The cameras were in the same position as the
first warehouse. Chris improved his aim and took out two with a
couple shots between them before meeting up with Frank at the front
door. Continuing to parallel the mission from yesterday, Klaus and
Johnykin were on Chris and Frank's backs as they pushed inside.

More familiar territory spread in front of
Chris, from the crates to the layout and his role. Klaus and
Johnykin pushed a few of the boxes to get a feel for the weight and
then moved them towards the large sectional door in the back. Chris
looked them over for the hidden camera, but couldn't find it. Frank
called out to Chris.

Chris jogged over to his voice, “What's
up?”

“What do you mean? Get to work. We have the
tools,” said Frank, crouched next to a computer terminal with an
open bag.

“Tools? Oh, shit. You want to try that?”

“You said you could, now come on!”

“Okay, okay.”

The muscle memory never forgot and Chris's
hands went to work. He hardly put any thought into disassembling
the computer case and soldering an access point on the motherboard
for Frank's USB to attach. In less than five minutes it was ready
and Chris stood up in disbelief at his own resourcefulness. He also
stood in deep thought at whether or not this was what he believed
to be right. He just did it because Frank ordered him.

Frank took no notice and went to work. His
fingers were just as fast on the keyboard as Chris's were on the
hardware. In a short few moments Frank hit the last keystroke and
yanked the USB stick free. Klaus and Johnykin had as many crates as
they could moved in front of the sectional door and waited. Chris
still stood in his moralizing state when Frank slapped his
shoulder.

“Let's go buddy,” said Frank.

Chris didn't want to respond. He wanted to
stay where he was until he found an answer, but a small 'yeah'
slipped out and his concentration was broken.

Frank was at the door panel, Klaus and
Johnykin behind a crate each, and Chris raised his gun for support.
The sections of the large metal door clambered up and out of the
way. The night outside was pitch black besides the escaping light
from the warehouse. Chris and Frank walked out first, scanning the
area with the tips of their guns.

Everything was clear and Klaus and Johnykin
followed behind with the first cache of chemical weapons. Alan and
Grant ran in to the warehouse next to help before all the Supers
pitched in. The combined effort took ten minutes and then Alan was
on the radio calling in for the pickup.

Chris continued to circle the group with his
eyes on the open dirt and then the trees and back to the warehouse.
The pattern allowed his brain to branch off back to its earlier
dilemma. This wasn’t a job for him. It wasn’t even a job. It was
the military, but completely out of his league. His mind wanted to
continue the tired argument, but the droning sound of helicopter
blades cut off any more gestation of this self-doubt or
self-awareness.

The reassuring sound put everyone at ease
and jokes crisscrossed among them. Frank leaned his gun against his
shoulder and caught Chris’s attention with a smirk. Chris could see
a joke or sarcastic remark ready to fly from Frank’s lips, instead
he along with the rest of the group looked up startled when the
helicopter threw a spotlight on all of them.

A few laughed at their skittish behavior;
Hal and Bernard flipped the pilot off. In the near blinding light
bathing them, the Supers waited in dumbfounded awe for the pallet
to descend.

It was an eternity from that point on.
Because a loud hiss of wind cut overhead marking the barely visible
passing of a long thin metal tube embedding itself into the side of
the helicopter. Chris saw it all, though. He saw the missile in
slow motion stick itself into the metal door of the copter before
finishing with the expected explosion.

The ball of flame that was the helicopter
sprayed its debris in less than equal parts into the dirt, trees,
the roof of the warehouse, and a couple of crates. Chris was on the
ground like the rest of the group. He assumed their ears were
ringing like his, but that didn’t interfere with the sound of
gunfire reaching him.

Chris kept his head down and peeked around
the corner to find the origin of the threat. There was no one in
plain sight, but it had to be coming from the trees. Frank came to
the same conclusion and from two crates over leveled his gun in
that direction. His eyes narrowed to pierce through the darkness
and to find a target. Nothing appeared so Frank took the aggressive
approach and fired randomly. Bullets returned from the trees as
Frank pushed his back into the semi-protective crate. The wood
couldn’t keep all of the bullets away and one splintered through to
graze his arm. He yelled and grabbed at the newly bloodied
wound.

Chris’s brain jumped into motion. He went
for his gun to lay down some covering fire or at least get the
attention of the unseen force away from Frank. But his gun wasn’t
there. It was twenty feet away next to a crumpled mess of metal and
electrical wires left over from the helicopter. There was a lull in
the gunfire and Chris leaped across the dirt and open spaces
between cover before sliding behind a chunk of helicopter debris.
Just as he went to grab the gun, someone else slid into his same
cover position. The slide knocked Chris off his butt and put his
face six inches from the ground. When he pulled himself back up, he
saw Klaus next to him gripping the gun with trained hands.