Chapter 28
I was awake, the misery of my abused muscles keeping me from resting, I ached feverishly yet cold shivers occasionally troubled me. It was deep in the bowels of the night and my room was dark, only the dim light in the hallway illuminated anything, just enough to show me the guard posted outside my door, a uniformed policeman that wore Navy blue of the DC police. He didn’t bother to come in my room to check on me, just peered through the glass to see if I was still in bed. I wasn’t moving, too much hurt when I tried with sharp pains that went down my back and up my neck to explode in my head.
I heard the door open and a body slipped into the room to stand over me. I could see the form, but not clearly enough to identify the face. I did know the voice.
“Daniel, the Colonel is not happy with you. Not happy at all,” Parker threatened. “In fact, if you don’t come with me out of here, I have orders to terminate you.”
“I’d rather be dead, Parker, then go back with you,” I said painfully. “How did you get in here?”
“Waved my credentials to the cop. Homeland Security trumps Metro PD.”
“Homeland Security? You’re NSA.”
“Get up. Let’s go.” He spoke the trigger phrase, and all the pain disappeared though the weakness remained. He had to help me out of bed and hooked a wheelchair with his foot placing me in it. Covered me with the blanket from the bed. Sent the cop down the hallway on some errand. “Keep quiet, Daniel. Don’t speak unless I tell you to.”
“Yes,” I said flatly. Danny was protesting but he couldn’t access me. He was yelling in my head, distracting me from Parker’s commands.
Danny got through in the elevator, setting me gently aside, just as the doors closed and he yelled so loud he startled Ames and the people coming down the hallway. They started running and Ames pulled out his pistol, pushing it into my forehead, forcing my head back, even in the stiff collar.
“Shut up, Daniel, or I’ll make it permanent,” he threatened.
“You’re a dick,” Danny sobbed. “You won’t kill me. I’m too important, too valuable and unique. The Colonel will kill you if you hurt me.”
“The Colonel told me to bring you back, dead or alive, Daniel.” He pushed the button for the lowest floor, the parking garage.
“You can destroy Daniel,” I said, “but you can’t touch me.”
He stopped dead, his hands rolling me around to face him between two parked cars. Hybrids. I wondered what a hybrid was.
“Daniel, who are you?”
“I’m not Daniel,” I said bravely. “I’m Danny.”
“There is no Danny,” he laughed. “No, Daniel, either. You’re just a program downloaded onto a blank slate, programmed by Doctor Cohen and Doctor Andrews. You’re not real. The Colonel had you created so he could use your talent for the NSA and his Black Ops.”
I was silent, Daniel protested feebly; his fear making him nearly comatose. They had taken so much from me, I no longer knew what was real or lies.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked in a whisper.
“Fort Wyvern, Nebraska. What we call the zoo. Where the Colonel will reprogram you.”
“Please,” I begged. “Let me go! I’ve done nothing to you. Why do you want to do this to me?”
“Because you can read minds,” he said. “Even if you are crazy. I’ve seen proof. You can read minds of people you aren’t even near.”
“No, I can’t,” I sobbed. “The Colonel lied to you. I can’t read people’s minds. Only Daniel’s.”
“Daniel, Danny. Whoever you are, you belong to the Colonel,” he hit his key-chain and an agency SUV beeped in the parking structure. I struggled, and because Daniel had given over control to me, I was able to ignore his programmed response and make a break for it, while he was opening the car door.
He screamed at me to stop. I couldn’t believe how bad my body felt, I was surprised I was moving it all. This body was taller and heavier than I was used to.
I ran between parked cars heading for the stair well. I knew Parker was close behind, and I’d never have time to reach an elevator. Shouts followed us. A bevy of other male agents came out of the cage and stairwells above us. I skidded around a retaining wall and dropped down onto another level with Parker close enough to see his flaring nostrils. More of the Colonel’s men joined him, trying to cut me off.
“Daniel!” I gasped, “What do I do?” My eyes searched frantically for a way out and he told me to head for the wall of the orange level, O-6 and jump.
“Jump? Are you crazy?” I gasped even as I saw it. Hit the half wall and leaped, my legs tucked under me in a move reminiscent of a Parkour jump or skateboard airs. Sailed over the Annex and down onto a dumpster piled with garbage bags that cushioned my fall. Saw he had seen it through the eyes of a dozen long tailed cats clustered in and around the dumpster. Climbing out took an impressive bit of upper body strength. My ribs shrieked in protest and every ache tripled as I slipped to the floor. I turned around and saw Parker on the wall, his face a furious darkened mask of rage, his gun out and pointing straight at me.
Birds burst out of the rafters, rats ran from the maintenance tunnels, cats hissed and arched their backs. I turned and ran.
Tripped. Fell down in slow motion as a bee buzzed past my ear. Hit the concrete as a tidal wave of fur and feathers covered me.
A Maine Coon licked my face. It felt curiously warm, wet. I coughed. Saw sprays of red touch its coat.
“Daniel?” I asked and knew it was only in my head. So red, spreading on the cement under me, thick, viscous. Warm bodies covered me, nuzzled me so I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t breathe. My chest wouldn’t rise. I gagged. Fought for breath.
“Daniel,” I whispered. “Are we dying?” I heard the faintest whisper from him. I’m not real, Danny. So how can I die? Silence.