The Sunshine Dame of Doom (23 page)

“Too nice for a scoundrel and a looter” Becky wondered in her mind, but that was all she could think of.

A headache had been plaguing her for some time. The pain grew stronger to slowly become a migraine.

“What’s happening to me?” She cried while massaging her temples.

“Yes, yes, I know, we’re doing the best we can!” A neatly dressed front-desk receptionist spoke nervously on the phone.

By his side, another clerk drummed her keyboard like a crazy piano player.

“Yes, we got most of the invaders on cameras, but we still couldn’t pinpoint their exact location.” The receptionist continued. “Somebody keeps switching channels with me. That’s right. They must’ve tapped into the system. We’re locating the source right now.”

The other clerk raised her eyes and shouted “The security cabin by the main entrance.”

“Did you get that, sergeant? Great, talk to you later.” And he put the phone back on the cradle.

“Sorry folks, you’ll have to leave the office a little earlier today.” Lily said, walking behind the fancy desk.

“Hey, you can’t be here…!”

Before he could finish his reprimand, Lily hit both receptionists’ heads against each other, rendering them unconscious.

She grabbed the radio “Mario, you there, over?”

“Yes, sugar, over.”

“Get out of there now! The soldiers know you’re there, copy!”

“What about you, over?”

“Never mind. Just go!”

“Time to split, dear” Mario turned to Philippe and they jumped out of the cabin, back to the street.

Lily broke the glass protecting the fire alarm and pushed the red button. Another deafening siren blared all over the place. She also found a paper containing the building blueprints pinned to a bulletin board.

“This may come in handy.”

“Everybody please leave the building and go to the extraction zone in an orderly manner, everybody please…” A recorded female voice kept repeating on the PA system.

Workers in the building slowly complied. In a few minutes, a multitude of employees, janitors, TV anchors, reporters and maintenance personnel flooded the corridors, making real difficult for the soldiers to transit. A good number of them also congested all possible entrances and exits, rendering impossible for the riot police to get in.

“What’s going on?” A frowning policeman asked from behind his helmet.

“Fire alarm” an employee replied.

“It’s probably a hoax! The building has been invaded!”

“Yes, I heard it too, but perhaps it’s not a hoax. Invaders sometimes set places on fire, you know. In either case, we have to follow protocol.”

“Ah hell! Just make it quick, okay?”

Lily was heading back to the equipment room, but found more resistance on the way. Three men in black suits ran to her unloading machine guns like crazy, forcing her to retreat back to a corner. Over there, she bumped into four soldiers.

“It’s over, Miss!” One of them said. “Just come with us peacefully, please. Don’t make us shoot at you.”

“Listen to me,” Lily responded “three other guys are coming here, shooting everything. You have to get down!”

“What are you talking ab…”

The three men in suits showed up shooting and screaming. They looked more scared than determined. Lily was fast enough to duck, but the four soldiers weren’t so lucky.

“Damn it!” Lily cried. “What’s wrong with you people?”

The men in suits, surely too young for the job, paralyzed in horror, mouths wide open, eyes gazing at the bloody corpses stretching on the ground, with a red pool coming out of their dead bodies.

Lily left the scene aghast, once again trying to find the equipment room, following the blueprints in her hand.

“Oh man!” One youngster in suit spoke with a shaky voice and eyes full of tears.

“Hell with this!” Another man said. “I’m sick of this! I’m out of here!” He threw his machine gun on the floor and walked away.

The other two did the same.

In a showroom, Shane was contemplating a painting by a very famous artist, considered the ultimate masterpiece by many. Back in the days when the world was still standing, some art collectors were willing to pay top dollar for it.

“What a piece of crap.” Shane commented. “Looks like somebody vomited on the canvas.”

“Yes.” Colonel Talbot agreed. “My artistic sensibility seems to match yours.”

“Report, colonel.”

“Things at the TV Station are not good.”

“I’m not surprised, considering the incompetents guarding the place. I need to check on this.”

“I lost contact with many of my men, some others simply deserted. Four soldiers were killed by friendly fire.”

“And how do you propose we handle this situation, Mister Talbot?”

“We can beat them. A handful of rebels invading a station are hardly a threat. Anyway, it’s a good training exercise for the soldiers.”

“Except those rebels are not stupid, there’s a reason why they’re doing this; any ideas, colonel?” 

“They’re probably after Lily’s vehicle, or whatever that thing is. They figure they can break into the hangar and free the hostages.”

“Well, can they?”

“No, it’s impossible. We reinforced all the entrances. The hangar is a fortress now.”

“Very good, colonel. I’m glad to know I don’t have to do all the thinking after all.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“But this is not only about the vehicle. They are up to something else…”

“Madam?”

“I can feel it in my head.

“Now that you mentioned, I also received some disturbing reports from Doctor Blake at the hospital. It seems half this town came down with a case of migraines.”

“Yes, I have to figure it out. Anyway, I trust Lily’s vehicle is heavily guarded, right colonel? Can your men at least execute such a simple task?”

“Nobody goes anywhere near the truck. If anybody tries it, the order is to shoot to kill.”

“Good. I don’t wish to order a premature execution of the hostages. That would make me look bad. I gave my word they’d only die at nineteen-hundred hours.”

“That won’t be necessary, madam.” 

“I don’t understand these people. I give them everything they need. And yet, they break out of the power plant, leaving a whole district without power, and now this havoc at the TV Station. Their reputation around Heavensville is in shambles.”

“And I don’t think they’re planning to turn themselves in.”

“That’s right. They’ll make me kill men, women and children. People in the Industrial Zone will hate them too.”

“They act before they think.”

“Indeed. They could all be leaving good lives, far from the horrors outside. Go figure.”

“There’s something else intriguing me, though.”

“What is it?” Shane yawned.

“I spoke with Sergeant O’Herlith a couple of times, and he told me that he and his men only saw Lily in the complex.”

Shane turned to him serious.

“Only she?”

“Yes. Apparently, she took most of the soldiers down all by herself.”

“This is not possible. She can’t be that good. Did you get all possible information about her from the records, as I requested?”

“Yes. Actually, I didn’t get much on her, except that she played cricket sometimes.

“Well, she’s too young to have a long record. Please, continue.”

“However, I found a lot of stuff about her father. Peter Master was a golden medal Olympic athlete.”

“That’s interesting. What sport?”

“More than one modality actually; from Olympic gymnastic to martial arts, he won champions trophies from tournaments all around the world, including Japan. When he got too old to be a gymnast, he took some interest in mechanics, microelectronics, but he actually worked with telecom, also proving to be very competent. I tell you, if Lily inherited only half of his gifts, we’re in trouble.”

Shane laughed “Oh, I guess she inherited them all, not to mention the things he must’ve taught her.”

“Do I detect admiration in your voice?”

“I do admire her. That’s why she must die, or be controlled, not necessarily in this order, of course. I underestimated her and I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“Yes madam.”

“Colonel…”

“Yes?”

“Get rid of this painting. It makes me nauseous.”

“Hey Hector!” Lily shouted, banging on the door. “It’s me, open the door!”

The man inside let her in.

“What the heck happened out there?” Hector queried. “It sounded like world war three!”

“Sort of. How is it going?”

“I shut down all local interfaces, now I have to finish installing the little nosy to kill the remote ones. What about you and the rest of the team?”

“There’s a bunch of guys outside dying to stick tear gas down our throats. I managed to buy us some time, but they’ll be coming soon.”

“Yes, I heard the fire alarm and the voice on the speakers. I figured you did that. What about the security forces in here?”

“I neutralized them all.”

A volley of bullets ricocheted from the half open door, almost hitting Hector and Lily, who had to jump behind a rack.

“I’ll be right back.” The Australian girl said.

“What…?”

Lily took a small table made of hard wood and left the room. She ran to the aggressors holding the tabletop in a way to protect her head and body from the bullets.

Some shots, punches, roundhouse kicks and screams later, she came back inside, without the table and with minor wounds.

“Now I neutralized them all.”

“Hey Lily, do you copy?” Clark came through on the radio.

“Hey partner! Are you still in the building?”

“Yes, we couldn’t get out, but we’re safe for the moment, so are Aaron and Maria. They’ll be joining us soon.”

“Listen, I didn’t have a chance to tell you this before, but stay away from the cameras. Mario and Philippe were compromised and they had to go.”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter now. I have good news for you. We found your rig.”

“Really? This is great!”

“But we can’t get to it. That’s why I’m calling. There must be at least twenty guys armed to the teeth guarding it.”

“Wow, I’m flattered! Hang on, partner, I’m a-coming.”

“Roger.”

Lily turned to Hector “It seems I didn’t neutralize them all again.”

“We need to have a serious talk about your raid techniques.”

“What time is it?”

“Twelve to seven o’clock.”

“Oh boy! Time to go, Hec.”

“I can’t. I still got stuff to do in here.”

“Can’t you do it remotely?”

“No, it’s impossible.”

“Then, I stay with you. Our friends can save the hostages.”

“They can’t pull this off without you.”

Lily hesitated “I’ll get you a machine gun. There’re plenty idling by outside.”

“No. I don’t want more blood in my hands. But you don’t have to worry about me. Just close the door and I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah. Now go. Save those people.”

“I’ll come back for you. I promise.”

She left the room and closed the door.

Mate and Vincent were looking over the guardrail down at the parade of soldiers walking around Lily’s truck.

“Why are they taking so long?” Clark asked anxiously, the parts of the dismounted hockey stick making metallic noises in the sheath strapped to his back.

“Perhaps they stopped for a milkshake or something. Relax man, they’re coming.”

“I hope they understood when I said first parking lot, not second. Otherwise, they’ll bump into those men.”

“They know how to take care of themselves.”

“Maybe I should radio them again.”

“This is no longer possible, dude. My brother is shutting down communication as he goes.”

“Is it me or our rebellions techniques need some work?”

“Yeah, I think it gets easier in the second or third rebellion.”

“This waiting is killing me. I got do something, man.”

“Yes, you got to sit here and talk to me. Now tell me, how do we know the key will be in the ignition when we get to that contraption of yours?”

“We don’t, especially because it doesn’t need a key. You push a button to start the engine.”

“Man, I like it already.”

“But it only works with Lily or her dad. Well, only Lily now. The button reads her fingerprints.”

“That’s some high-tech shit!”

“If those jerks didn’t break it trying to start the truck.”

“Don’t worry. I can always hot-wire it.”

“Let me guess, sister also taught you how to do this.”

“No, that was Hector. But sister was the one who taught him.”

Clark shifted position impatiently and glanced at Vince’s wristwatch.

“Man, we’re definitely running out of time!” He said. “I can’t just sit here!”

“Calm down!”

“You stay here. I’ll go downstairs. See if I can find them in the ramp.”

“It’s dangerous, man! You may find somebody else.”

“I’ll be fine. I got to do something!”

Mate stood up and went to the stairs.

“Come back here!” Vince spoke. “Damn it!”

He turned to the guardrail to watch the guards on the lower level. That was when he heard the unmistakable sound of a hammer cocking and felt the cold barrel of a gun touching his ear.

“It seems I got myself a black swan.” The man with the pistol said.

“Cool, man.” Vincent said raising both hands. “Cool, man.”

“You tell me, friend. Should I kill you now?”

“Only if you want to die first!” Clark appeared behind the man, pressing one of Lily’s knives against his neck.

The man’s eyes goggled.

“A bullet goes way faster than a knife.” He said.

“He got a point there, dude.” Vince said shaking and sweating.

“I’m dangerously close to your jugular.” Clark replied. “You’ll bleed to death before you can even wink. Besides, you know I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you, right Drake?”

The man chilled in horror by finally realizing who the guy with the knife was. Very slowly, he uncocked the hammer and put the gun away from Vince.

Clark snatched the pistol from Drake’s hand and dragged him far from the guardrail. Then, he hit Drake with his own gun. The man fell on the floor bleeding.

“I gather you remember me and my freckles, right?” Clark said and kicked his face. “Are you a tutti-frutti?” He kicked the man in the belly. “What? Say that again? I can’t hear you!” And another kick followed. “I guess you need to man up a little!” Mate hit his head again with the gun. “Toughening up already, huh?”

“Hey, whoa, man!” Vince held Clark. “I understand this man gave you a real hard time, right?”

“You bet he did!”

“Yes, but you’re not like him.”

Mate stopped hitting Drake and gave the gun to Vince.

“I just don’t like the way he thinks.” Clark said.

“No problem. He just needs to go out at night a little more to develop his social skills. And we both know just the place. But first, we got to go.”

“What?”

“You’re right, man. We can’t afford waiting for our friends. We need to get to the truck, hot-wire it and try to find that goddamn hangar. And dickhead here is our ticket.”

“HEY!” Vincent screamed.

All guards around the vehicle turned and pointed weapons at the three newcomers. Drake was walking between Vincent and Mate. Vince had a gun on his neck.

“You all lower the pieces and move away from the truck!” Vincent shouted. “Or the dude here will be the next headless horseman!”

“Do what he said! Do what he said!” Drake cried in despair.

But the soldiers didn’t seem willing to comply.

In a desperate act of fury, Drake elbowed Vince’s stomach and pushed Clark, dropping him on the floor. He ran behind a car screaming “Shoot them! Shoot them!”

Vince and Mate shrank in their clothes, just waiting for the bullets to cross their bodies.

However, before somebody could pull a trigger, a boomerang spiraled down, striking soldiers in the head, enough to make them bleed and fall stunned, but not actually killing them.

Lily descended from somewhere, taking back the boomerang in midair. Once on the ground, she neutralized the remaining guards with precise blows.

“Sorry I’m late.” She said. “I found some hostiles on the way.”

One soldier was still awake. He grabbed his machine gun and aimed at Lily. But Maria rendered him unconscious with her pipe.

“You also took your sweet time!” Clark complained. “Where the heck have you been?”

“We had some trouble going through crowded corridors.” Aaron answered for Maria. “It seems somebody activated the fire alarm for no reason.”

“We got to go now!” Lily said urgently.

“This guy is riding with us.” Clark pushed a sobbing Drake inside the vehicle.

“Just make sure he’s tied up and doesn’t occupy too much space.”

“He’s small enough.”

And the truck accelerated out of the garage, hitting bars and security cars on the way.

“Do you know how to get to the hangar?” Vince asked Lily. “We’re really out of time.”

“I’m not sure. I’ve just been there once.”

“The walls of that hangar must be made of stainless steel, virtually unbreakable.” Maria said. “It looked that way on TV.”

“This is bad, because I have no time to pick locks.” Vince spoke.

“There may not be enough room in this truck for all of them.” Aaron pointed out.

Lily remained quiet. Her face denounced how pointless she considered all that pessimistic whining.

They made it out the building and were greeted by machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The bullets died on the shielded hull, but a volley of rockets almost caused the vehicle to overturn.

The truck destroyed the complex main fences. Lots of armed men had to jump out of the way. The vehicle also crashed against armored cars, but they didn’t stop it.

“They’re getting away.” Colonel Talbot informed, looking at the whole scene through binoculars, from a window.

“This wasn’t in the plans.” Shane responded upset. “Call your men at the hangar and tell them to commence execution.”

“But it’s not time yet.”

“I’m changing the deal. As they were going to die anyway, technically I’m still keeping my word.”

“Hello, copy?” Talbot talked on the radio “Anybody, copy? Please respond, over?” He turned to Shane. “This is odd. I can’t get through for some reason.”

Shane closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened them again and said:

“I can’t reach them either. I knew those rebels were doing something more than just stealing back their truck. Never mind. Your men got orders to spill the cyanide at seven o’clock sharp anyway, right Mister Talbot?”

“Yes madam.” The colonel said nervously. “The truck will never get there on time. They don’t even know where the hangar is.”

“Yes, but just to be on the safe side, call your troops and get them ready for a full-scale attack on the Industrial Zone.”

“You mean… a full-scale attack to kill people?”

“No, to give them all foot massages. Yes, Mister Talbot, to kill them.”

“But…”

“What happened today was child’s play, but it can’t go unpunished. Order must prevail. The status quo shall remain in force. Examples have to be provided. And this is the only language they understand. I gave them everything, but they threw it all away. They don’t deserve my benevolence. If only one single hostage gets out of there alive, I want the entire Industrial Zone reduced to ashes. Then, I’ll just send my Center of Refugees outside again to get replacements.”

“Madam, perhaps… if we just try to…”

“Follow orders, colonel. I visited Hartford recently. He’s not doing so well. Doctors said he’s eating through straws.”