I'm thankful that my backbone is incorporeal at the moment. Fast Eddie's recruits are not so lucky. The RG33L has terrorized every ground hog, squirrel and raccoon in a five mile radius. Fast Eddie finally notices the discomfort in the back and says "Hey this thing ain't no Cadillac! Besides, we are there!" The terrain suddenly becomes more urban and we ramble over concrete rubble and half demolished homes.
Some of the recruits scream as it becomes obvious that Fast Eddie is driving this troop transport 70 miles per hour, straight at a brick wall. Before my wife could spin to cut off Fast Eddie's head, we are through the wall and taking a steep decline through a cave. Eddie hums the 60's Batman theme as we descend and begins to decelerate.
We come to a screeching halt in a pitch black cave. A couple of tanks, and some F150 Ford pickup trucks with University of Michigan decals come into view through the dust as a few flood lights focus on the RG33L. Four men in old army green camouflage fatigues sporting Mac 10 machine pistols come through a small door on the eastern wall leading a few German Shepherds.
Fast Eddie jumps out of the RG33L and says "I hope one of you dudes brought me some weed". Fast Eddie and the guards have a lengthy argument. Finally, Eddie motions for us to follow him. He looks at me and says, "I'm burned dude. My team was freaking out because I've been AWOL for so long. Not only did they forget my weed, but they failed to notice what a sweet bad ass ride I found! Burns my nads I tell ya."
"They didn't have a problem with your new recruits and the two of us?" I ask.
I point at me and my wife emphasizing us.
"The recruits are straight. They will go to sick bay for a checkup, wash up, lose the orange-crush suits, and then they can do their own thing."
"What about us, Eddie?" I ask again.
"You two do your ghost thing and stay below the radar. My team was so hostile I forgot to mention you. Stick with me for now but I can always find you. My mom was a psychic and I picked up a few things from her besides a fondness for smoking grass".
Fast Eddie escorts the recruits through the door, past the guards and dogs. An elderly woman in a white nurse's uniform ambles down the hall and gives Fast Eddie a hug before fussing over the recruits. Eddie asks the nurse to check out his brother Rodney.
"He ain't right.
Check him for an acid trip".
She nods and then she herds the orange suited people down a hall and we watch them go around a corner, deeper into the complex.
Eddie motions back to where the old nurse headed and says,
"Mrs. Van De Boer retired from the UM hospital system twenty years ago, but you take what you can get. Most of the Michigan Militia team is either too damn old or too damn young. We also are a little light on male recruits. I'll give you the grand tour, but first we need to check up on my babies. Follow me".
We travel down some winding passages. "We are directly under the Ypsilanti Water Tower right now...known locally as the Penis tower. I can't think of a better way to stick it to THE MAN than to have our headquarters under a giant prick. Many of the upper passages were part of the Eastern Michigan nuclear medicine program. Some are part of the old steam tunnel system. Some were top secret. Governor George Romney had the lower passages built in 1964 as an emergency State Capitol bunker if a nuclear strike ever happened. Romney even had a small breeder style nuclear reactor built to provide power indefinitely to this place. At some point the place was locked up and abandoned. Bad ass eh?”
"How did you find out about this place?" I ask him.
Eddie snorts,
"My mom is psychic dude. Give her some street cred!"
Eddie stops in front of a door, flips a panel and rests his chin on a plate while his eye is scanned for identification. The door unlocks and we step inside.
Eddie stammers,
"Bummer!
Franky must have spaced out.
My babies are dead!!
May they not have died in vain"!
Eddie walks over to some large pots against the wall, flicks on a powerful lighting system revealing clearly the dead pot plants. He pinches off a dried five-leafed stem and begins to grind it into a piece of roach paper he picked up from a desk. His expert hands quickly roll the weed into a joint. Eddie picks up a lighter from his desk and lights the joint, and after a few long puffs the tension visibly falls off his shoulders as he exhales. Including the dried marijuana plants, the room looks more like a college dorm room than a suite for a leader of men. A twin mattress with simple white sheets rests in a corner. Taped to one wall is a poster of a younger Eddie and two scantily dressed athletic women doing a promo for a Pro Wresting event in Detroit. Another poster has a slightly older Eddie labeled UFC's (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Ultimate Warrior 2014 ripping through a chain-link cage. Almost out of place is a Diploma for Edward Gerald Silverstein from the University of California--Berkley in computer science. The focal point to the room is an 80 inch monitor, above a computer desk covered in advanced computer paraphernalia.
Eddie verbalizes for the computer to activate. The monitor switches on. Eddie requests a view of the inner compound. In the voice of the Star Trek computer from the 1960's television series we hear,
"Access denied jobber.
User rights restricted to show stopper status or above".
Eddie motions with his left arm and a series of code flies across the screen at rapid pace and commands, "S39faj032--sakho alpha dog 02rh0fash blunt codex a1 show stopper 20s023-2380-51114-9 beta."
The screen flickers briefly, the computer voice has changed to the voice of James Earl Jones, "What is thy bidding, my master?" Eddie tells the computer to run a full internal diagnostic, scan all levels of the compound including the perimeter and check the server lines for 3rd level pings and ghost inversions. "As you request, time estimate to completion is six hours." Eddie says, "Execute!!" and the machine buzzes with activity.
My wife smiles at Eddie, "I didn't know you were a geek".
Eddie grins, "Geek, Mr. Charisma, rebel scum, and a crusader for legalized marijuana."
Eddie heads to the door. "I promised you the grand tour and I need to check up on Rodney. Let's get to steppin".
Fast Eddie leads us deeper into the labyrinth of passages, through pressure locked doors, into a white tiled hallway that gleams like a new hospital. We see a few nurses that confirm our suspicions that we are near a health facility. Eddie says, "Welcome to sickbay. We have four medical doctors, eight nurses, a dentist and a chiropractor. There is little privacy, but we do our best". Curtains separate the hospital bay into wards.
There is a ward for the critically injured, one for sexual trauma, one for psychological illness, one for drug dependence and a small area for those with pathogens or old age related complications. We can see that the majority of the patients are women between the ages of twelve and forty. Life asks, "Eddie why are so many of the women in the sexual trauma ward marked with an L shaped tattoo or gang brand"?
Eddie explains, "The L stands for liberal and it is widely used as a shame tactic by Homeland Defense".
There are more men in the critically injured ward; some have suffered terrible blast injuries. We are saddened to see so many children in the critically wounded ward. Eddie explains, "Kids as young as seven are taught to use rocket propelled grenade launchers, rocket launchers, and to set land mines and improvised explosives".
We enter the ward for drug dependence and find Rodney hooked up to an IV drip. Showing visible concern, Eddie implores, "Nurse, take my spleen, my blood, my frontal lobe, whatever it takes to fix Rod".
The nurse, almost too young to have completed her education, looks at Eddie and says, "They pumped him full of Zombie Juice and some neurotoxins I have never seen before".
Eddie notices our quizzical expressions and tells us, "Zombie Juice is a substance Homeland Defense developed. Once it enters the bloodstream the victim quickly loses higher cognitive functions. The victim can obey simple or repetitive commands. The docs here say there is some indication that if the person who is subjected to Zombie Juice has high levels of THC, the active compound in weed in their bodies, they can resist the effects. Rod never touched pot. He said it bothered his allergies too much and he hates brownies".
The nurse says, "We are giving him diuretics and a drug cocktail to try to purge the effects of the drug but we can't make promises he will return to normal".
Eddie kneels down next to Rodney and says, "Hey bro, whatever you need we will get for you. I'm going to get that priest that did this to you. Take it easy until I get back. You are our best hacker and I need you driving this team. Love ya bro"! Eddie hugs Rod and we take our leave of sickbay.
We follow Eddie out of sickbay. He is moving at a rapid pace and tugging on his long hair.
He says, "Man I am glad you joined our team; we needed some good news. My computer system was hacked, which means there is somebody on this team we can't trust. With Rod tripping out, I might need you two to do some covert ninja stuff to get to the bottom of things".
Before either of us can ask questions or point out that we never officially agreed to join the team, Eddie flips open two swinging doors in front of us and barks out, "INSPECTION!!!"
About one hundred men, women and children between six and seventy years of age snap out of cots, poker table chairs, or the mess hall and stand at attention.
Eddie shouts out,
"This aint a field day but I expect to see you jump out of your fart sacks faster than that! You all have rack burn! Now I aint here to send you goat roping but I expect you to look better than a bunch of FNG fobbit humpers".
Multiple "YES SIRS!!!" are shouted back. Satisfied Eddie shouts back, "As you were!!" and we leave the barracks.
We continue to walk through the complex as if Eddie had on the winged shoes of Hermes. Eddie says, "We are heading to CNC. After my last tour in Afghanistan I swore I'd never use another military term or get near a rifle for that matter, but shit happens. The youngest and rawest recruits need the military discipline, lingo and all for motivation. There aren't that many of us who served in the military as you are about to see. In fact most of us are pacifists and dreamers. We are writers, gamers, software designers, artists, actors, farmers, photographers and free-thinkers".
We stop in front of a black, reinforced sliding door. With pride in his voice Eddie says, "Latest in technology, a blood identification scanner. It takes just a single red blood cell from the tip of your finger and runs a DNA check against the database. The comparison can tell the difference between twins and even between a living and recently dead person. Anything that doesn't match exactly and the entire compound initiates lock down mode". Eddie extends his finger and the door slides open.
We step inside a dark room in the shape of an Odeon; semi-circular, terraced and loaded with monitors and technical equipment. About sixty men and women dressed in fatigues are busy working on tasks. Motivational posters are scattered around the room and most work stations have comic book or science fiction action figures mounted on them. One poster has President Jeb Bush's face superimposed over the image of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movie. An older women with red hair and an eye patch stands at attention as Fast Eddie enters the room and barks out, "Old Man on the Bridge"!! Everyone briefly stops what they are doing and snaps to attention until Eddie waves them at ease with a hand gesture. In one corner two men in white coats are practicing swordplay in a small lab near the CNC central chamber with what looks like light sabers. Our inner thoughts are interrupted as someone shouts out, "Sir, we have a situation here"!
"Situation!?! What is it Franky"? Eddie asks.
Franky points nervously to the right, "That Half-Orc dumped his Mountain Dew on my keyboard and now the Abe Lincoln avatar I was designing for Civilization VIII is corrupted".
The red haired woman with the eye patch marches toward Franky like a stern schoolmarm, "Franky, your little side project is NOT something to bother The Old Man with"!
Franky blurts, "I'm sorry Mrs. Ivanova, but I DISAGREE! It's not like I can contact Leonard Nimoy from beyond the grave and ask him to redub his voice track for me. Thanks to Forrest Gump over there Abe now sounds like Max Headroom"!!!
Eddie interrupts,
"Franky, I have a backup Nimoy file. I'll send it to you later dude. Request a new CPU and keyboard and get back to monitoring sector 7 communications, which at least is something you do better than monitoring my babies while I was out of the office".
Franky says sheepishly,
"Uh, sir, sorry about that sir. I got so wrapped up in that avatar I um…I forgot to check on them. I haven't taken a break in days. Which…um...reminds me...I DID notice something. Maybe it’s nothing, but it seems like since you got back there's been a strange glitch in my algorithm to check for unusual pings. Seemed random at first, but I am beginning to think we are being spied on internally".
"Are you sure"? Eddie asks.
Mrs, Ivanova cuts in, "Franky, you've been so caught up in that game component there's no way your analysis is accurate. The same thing that pooched your Abe Lincoln pooched your scan. Get that computer fixed, go to the mess hall and eat something and then take a six hour rest break. That's an order"!!
Looking like a cat that has just gone through a third bath for the day, Franky gets up from his desk, loads his computer on a cart and heads for the gaming supplies room. Mrs. Ivanova stops him cold, "FRANKY!!! No detours! I want you to get that CPU replaced first"!
Franky turns his cart away from the gaming room and even more slowly heads in the direction of the computing storage area as commanded.
Mrs. Ivanova walks back over to Eddie and the two of them have a quiet conversation. After a few minutes the conversation sounds terse. Clearly the team is listening with interest while attempting to look busy doing various work tasks. Finally, Eddie says in a louder tone, "Okay, Donna. I will go crash for a few hours, just stop freaking out".
Eddie gives us a look that tells us to follow him so my wife and I step outside when Eddie leaves and we follow him down the hall at his usual break-neck pace. Eddie looks to us and says," I knew there was a hustle going on. What Franky found jives with what happened in my room. Somebody is messing with the team. Not on my watch bro! Here's what I want you to do. Um, you never told me your names and the Casper twins don’t sound right at all".
I introduce myself as "Archer" and say, "This is my wife Mrs. Archer. You would do well to address her properly if you like keeping all of your hair". Mrs. Archer smiles at Eddie with a devilish grin and a rapid swish of her Katana.
Eddie says, "So Archer, you take the barracks and the hospital ward. Mrs. Archer you keep an eye on CNC. Somebody knows something. Since they can't see you, I can use you two to do a little of my own spying and there aint no algorithm that can spot you! Now, I really am going to hit the sack for a few..."
A few guards pass Eddie in the hall with a salute stopping Eddie in mid-speech. Eddie gives us leave to go with a wave of the hand and he walks back to his room at a brisk pace.
Life looks over to me and says, "Well this isn't exactly the plan I was thinking of, but we ARE working with the living now. For now let's go with Eddie's instructions, although I don't know that I trust him completely either. We do have the advantage of never needing to sleep. If there is a spy, that person will make a mistake due to fatigue or simply because we can hide in plain sight and they can't".
Before I can agree with my wife, Mrs. Donna Ivanova and one of the geeks from CNC walk in our direction. The geek is Franky. We can hear the conversation even from the far end of the hall due to our heightened senses. Ivanova says, "I think you owe The Old Man an apology for your poor behavior in CNC and for forgetting to water his precious marijuana plants. Head to the greenhouse and request six new plants for him. You have it on my authority to do so. I am worried about the commander. They DID things to him when he got captured. His brother is a vegetable. We need to make sure he really is The Old Man that we left out on the battlefield. …And Franky, be discreet. If the Old Man thinks you are spying on him, you will be designing Abe Lincoln on an Etch-a-Sketch instead of a military grade CPU".
Franky salutes and says, "Yes marm. I won't mess this up".
Mrs. Ivanova smiles at Franky,
"I know you won't Franky, you are one of our brightest stars."
"I'm tellin ya, Cyclops woman is doing it with The Old Man and Franky! She's workin The Old Man to gain power and she's workin Franky to be her boy toy for shits and giggles." says Connie.
Connie is short for Simon Conrad. He's a middle aged man with a swarthy complexion, heavy wrinkles and stocky build. Connie is full of information concerning almost everyone who lives in this complex.
"Really"? asks Tomas. Tomas is a teenager. He never uses his last name and seems more naive than a kid his age during these times should be. He clings to Connie like a puppy clings to his master when he knows he's got a big soup bone in his pack.
Plots, counter-plots, machinations, schemes, hopes, goals and ambitions are interwoven like a gossamer web, nay like a thick shadow upon this compound of lost souls. Four days I have wandered the halls of this place following innuendo, chasing conspiracy, capturing a bucketful of gossip and mistrust. I sink deeper into my surroundings. Fast Eddie calls them a team. After all they have been through, losing family, homes, and their way of life to a draconian government I had hoped they would have bonded more. Deep down are we just a bunch of frightened apes, throwing stones at our unseen enemies? Is there any hope we might become more, that we might aspire for an ideal that benefits us all without destroying that which is perceived to be different? What is humanity and are we just shades of what we could attain if we could somehow shake our instincts to distrust?
Connie continues, "What's more important than who Donna's bangin, is who's Donna workin for? I think she sold us out. I think she sold us and the Old Man out to Homeland Defense. Those techies hold all the secrets and grunts like us, well hell; we're just fodder for the probes. When the time comes and one of them probes hits ole Connie with its stun ray, I hope I can count on ya to finish me off so I don't be getting cozy in one of them detention centers at Gitmo!"
Tomas swallows hard, "Ya know ya can count on me Connie!" I'll make the bastards pay if it comes to it".
Connie puts his arm on Tomas' shoulder and says, "Ah boy, ya make me proud. If I had me a son, I could do no better than yerself."
Tomas blushes and then smiles broadly, "That mean I get yer stuff if ya get wasted by them probes"?
Connie backhands the boy lightly and says, "That means ya better hope I live forever so yer sorry ass has someone to look after it".
They pad off into the darkness like so many others over the last few days. I should have checked in with Fast Eddie several days ago, but what have I really learned? I have learned that Fast Eddie is a complicated man who sleeps less than three hours a night. I've learned that the hospital ward is low on supplies and is near the breaking point trying to keep the injured from passing on into the spirit realm. I've learned that if the Michigan Militia were pressed into battle they would be hard pressed not to wipe themselves out via friendly fire. What I have not learned about is how many traitors this group has amongst them and when and how will they plot to bring the Michigan Militia to its doom. I sense my wife, my dear Xena's approach and we settle into a dark corner to brief each other on the progress of our investigation as we have done every few hours since we started this assignment.
"Any luck"? I ask.
"Either there is no plot from within to destroy the Michigan Militia, or the masterminds are so clever that they will accomplish their goal without our knowledge." Life says.
I add, "I have added to my book of secrets that the regular militia does not trust the techies". Sighing deeply I look at my wife to indicate we have exhausted our investigation.
Life says, "Today, I even entered the mainframe of their central server. That strange anomaly that Franky mentioned is still pinging their systems". She paused for a moment deep in thought, "It is so complex, but I suspect that it is not coming from an internal source at all. I think we need to talk to Eddie about checking the cave complex where we first came into this compound".
I hug my wife for a moment, lost in tenderness. It is her keen intellect and her quiet unassuming approach to problems that always intrigued me about her. Life looks at me in wonderment, "Now is not the time for that you letch!" I grin broadly imagining a good time for that while we start off toward Eddie's room.
Along the way we pick up a conversation I have heard with increasing frequency over the last few days. I recognize the man as one of the orange suited prisoners from my village. He is talking to a young female techie with braided blond hair.
"I saw him when Fast Eddie picked us up in that troop transport. It was this guy from our village. He became our war cry, even though none of us knew his name. We called him our voice. This guy runs out in the street and takes on one of their tanks all by himself. The tank tore him to shreds. He was defiant to the end. I guess he just got tired of being pissed on. We all left his house alone out of respect. It became his tombstone. We went out, organized and fought back. He gave us purpose. I don't know how, but he's back. Some of the men think Eddie has gone crazy, talking to his ghosts, talking to himself. You might think I'm crazy too, but that ghost is real. When you see him you shudder down in your soul because you know that if he wants you, you are dead, but there's something more. I could see it in his eye...he remembers. He remembers us. If I see him again, I'm gonna swear myself to him".
The young techie seems awed but says, "Oh Bobby, you aren't crazy, you're just a big dreamer".
The couple walks past Fast Eddie's room and we stop to knock at his door.
Just then, we hear the alarms go off indicating that the complex is on full alert.
Awwwk!!! Awwwwk!!! Awwwwwk! The alarm is blaring loud. I used to joke that emergency alarms are so loud so the dead know to evacuate. That joke is not funny at the moment. As I stand pondering how I can feel pain from the noise of the alarm, Fast Eddie's door swings open. He stops in mid-run and stares at us.
"What the hell? You two are a little late reporting in don't you think? Are you the reason this alarm is going off"?
Life cuts him off before he can say anymore, "Eddie, you need to get someone to scan the cave entrance where we parked. I think someone is spying on you from there".
Suddenly we feel a rumble shake the complex. Before Eddie can say anything, Mrs. Ivanova walks out of Eddie's room straightening her blouse. She looks at Eddie and asks,
"Who the hell are you talking to Eddie?
What is the alert for?
Eddie turns to Mrs. Ivanova and tells her, "Donna I need you to go to the barracks and calm the men. When you get there, open a communications channel with CNC on the encrypted line. I'll let you know from CNC what our situation is".
Donna nods and runs off toward the barracks.
Eddie looks at us, "We may have to find out just how bad ass you two are today! Come with me to CNC. If it hits the fan, I need to know you got my back". We both nod affirmative and the three of us run to CNC as fast as Fast Eddie can run.
AWWWK!!! AWWWKK!!!!! AWWWWWKKKK!!!! The alarm is even louder as we reach CNC. Eddie zips through the identification scanner and like lightening arrives at his post at CNC with the two of us right behind him.
Someone yells "Old Man on the Bridge"!
Eddie begins barking out orders.
"Kill that Alarm"!
Give me a visual on the Water Tower and the Cave entrance parking lot.
Sarah and Roger get down there with our best scanners and hit the parking lot. I have reason to believe we've been bugged.
Franky, shut down external hack on Homeland Internet. I don't want to give them a way into our internal systems in case this is a government attack".
Eddie shouts, "Patch me into the barracks encryption line ASAP"! as the alarm goes into silent mode.
Numerous "Sir, yes sir" chants are heard as Eddie stops for breath. Everyone in CNC is a blur of motion as actions commanded and expected are implemented by the techies.
The Water Tower flicks visible on the large screen in CNC. There is smoke coming from the roof of the tower and fighter jets, bombers and drones can be seen on the horizon. Before Eddie can say anything, a tall willowy figure becomes visible on a smaller screen. He is dressed in the garments of a pastor but he is also wearing a military helmet on his head. The military pin on his shirt identifies him as O'Kelly. I recognize him as the priest from our village.
Pastor O'Kelly addresses our group, "And then shall the Most High say to the Nations of the Dead, See ye and understand whom ye have denied, or whom ye have not served or whose commandments ye have despised! Thus shall he speak unto them upon the Day of Judgment! Look at this side and that (the pastor gestures dramatically) on this side is delight and rest... and there is fire and torment". The pastor nods and a savoy of missiles hit the water tower, knocking out the image of the tower from the big screen in a fiery eruption. CNC shakes violently and power flickers briefly throughout the room.
In the brief moment after the rumbling stops, Franky yells, "Sir, I can't shut down our internet feed"! There's a tracker bug on that Troop transport you brought in! Why didn't I recognize that pattern before! IDIOT"! He slaps his forehead. "Sir, it's armed"!
Eddie shouts over the com, "SARAH! ROGER! GET OUT OF THERE! IT'S TRAPPED"!!!!
BOOOM!!!!!!!! The cave entrance is a cloud of smoke and dust. KA-BOOOOM! The second blast collapses the cave entrance and the violence of the explosion sends anyone standing flying across CNC. Numerous techies are injured and half of the workstations have gone dead. The pastor smiles a toothy grin as his screen goes black.
Suddenly Mrs. Ivanova's voice blasts out through CNC in a static filled electronic wave, "Sir, (sounds of heavy coughing), SIR, a green colored gas is filling all ventilation shafts. Men in...black suits...coming... It...it is difficult...to...think". There is the sound of gunfire and then suddenly there is nothing but static.
Eddie shouts, "Franky, purge the mainframe stat! Emergency Level 1. Evacuate all personnel to Station alpha". Just then CNC begins to fill with a thick green gas. Faster than thought the techies collapse where they are standing. Fast Eddie falls to his knees, wordlessly looks at us and then face-plants onto the bridge deck with a thump.
The thick green gas that filled CNC is dissipating rapidly. Small good it does since everyone else but my wife is unconscious. The chamber continues to be rocked by a series of tremulous bombardments. We are fairly deep underground but I am wondering how many more attacks like that this complex can take before serious structural damage sends the ceiling to the floor.
I look over to my wife and say, "We swore to protect Eddie. We can't save them all, but we can get him out of here". Life points to the CNC entrance and I notice that countless men in black suits are nearing the security door to the bridge. These men are so stereotypically movie show-like, that I unconsciously smirk. Dressed in black suits, with black hats, shiny black shoes and even the black Ray-Ban glasses...I swear Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are going to pop up as their leaders and ask us what planet we are from.
I look over to my wife who is already showing signs of battle lust and say, "We need a theme song. Obviously you would have the Xena Battle music.
Maybe I could have the original Star Trek battle music".
Life smiles as she draws her katanas and says, "I was thinking I might like to smite these guys to the sound of some Zumba music".
"I can walk over to one of the workstations and see if we can get some Zumba, but my guess is we are going to find a lot of Star Wars mp5's". I offer.
The men in black access the top notch security scanner as if they are meant to be here causing both of us to pause and look at each other with mouths agape. The group spreads out throughout the room, armed with M-4 Carbine Assault rifles. As the group parts we recognize one of the men in black as my friend Joe.
Joe notices us and says as he walks toward us, "This is not what it seems dude. We are the good guys come to save your sorry butts. That breeder reactor is going to blow in less than ten minutes and we've got to get the entire compliment of the Michigan militia out of here to safety, save as much of their equipment as possible, and wipe all trace of this place off the map so the government doesn't get it".
I see the look on my dear Xena's face and know that Joe is about to lose his "life" along with any men in black who are not wise enough to leave this instant.
Life shouts, "Joe you fucking traitor, you gassed these people and now they are all going to die. The price for your deceit will be the blood of hundreds, including your precious new friends".
Joe stops in his tracks and says, "Now hold on. When this base was compromised The Society had precious little time to argue or explain who we are. The only way to effectively save as many lives as possible and clear all evidence of what they were doing here was to gas them. They will wake in a few hours and we will all be fast friends".
I try to stay Life's hand but she is far faster than I anticipated. As the falcon descends from a cliff on an unsuspecting sparrow, Life lunges with equal speed at Joe. Four men in black witness their bodies hitting the floor as the revolution of each head comes around to face their bodies, before said heads also land with a hollow thump next to them. In that split second Joe fires a strange looking gun he had concealed in his vest at Life. A split second later a wave of energy disrupts my very core giving me a sensation of pain I have not felt since Cooper shot me with the 50 caliber machine gun when I was alive. Before my senses dull and everything goes black I hear Joe's voice say, "Its better this way dude. Someday you'll thank me".