War On MegaCorp (Pt 1)

Twisting in place, Klaire used her hand to move. Sliding beneath the MegaCorp soldier, she swung her left leg up and stabbed a blade from her boot into his face. As she slid down, the blade cut along down his body, spilling blood along the floor behind her as she spun to her feet past him. Skidding to a stop in a crouch, she raised her left hand that held a pistol and shot down another soldier. “Fuck, this place is full of these idiots!” She growled as she stood up.

“Can’t be helped,” James muttered as he set another MegaCorp scumbag on fire and kicked them over a railing. This sent the person down toward the central section.

This was the third facility they had engaged and infiltrated, only to end up realizing Tzeitel, Riley and the others weren’t there. “He moved them.” She muttered. “Where are Ami and Alex?”

“They’re on a lower floor.” James informed her. “They’re on their way.”

Footsteps could be heard as a panting Alex rounded the corner a shotgun being held in his hands “Any luck?” he asked in between pants. If someone had told him that a hot dog girl would recruit him into rescuing his thought to be dead cousin he wouldn’t have believed them. It was a shame she was already in a relationship but his mother didn’t raise a homewrecker.

“Is she here?” Ami asked excitedly as she caught up. A kid Ami’s age probably should not be anywhere near this carnage but it was not like Klaire could find a trustworthy babysitter besides Alex.

Following closely behind the girl was a wolf made out of scrap metal and brought to life by Alex’s powers to guard Ami.

“No, she’s not,” Klaire growled and kicked one of the corpses. “This is bullshit! How did he move everyone so fast?!”

“It’s Thrane, Klaire…” James muttered as he looked at Ami. He hated seeing the young girl in such situations, but she had proven she was far more mature than her age back when they’d rescued her from her parents. He wasn’t about to say no to the kid if she wanted to join them.

That was when of the televisions on the wall turned on, static welcoming the group. It would be another video of a session of torment for both Riley and Tzeitel, something that always upset the dog eared woman and her group.

Alex gripped the shotgun tightly as he watched the woman Coral once again break his cousin both physically and mentally as she convinced him Klaire had abandoned him. Running off to be with James.

“Swear jar-” Ami started to tell Klaire, then the TV lit up. “No!” Ami cried and hugged Klaire, hiding her face in the dog-eared woman's side. She hated seeing what was done to Tzeitel and Riley.

Raising his shotgun Alex pulled the trigger and obliterated the screens.

Klaire held Ami close, glaring at the now destroyed screens. “Those monsters…they’ll pay for this!” She snarled.

“Thanks,” James said to Alex. He was feeling sick just seeing what they’d been doing to Riley and Tzeitel.

Alex nodded “let's get out of here and figure out where to go next.”

Ami cried a little, she was almost used to seeing these things but of course it was still upsetting. “Will they be in the next place?” She asked hopefully, even though she knew none of the adults could answer that honestly. Like Ami they could only hope.

“We can only hope they will be,” Klaire answered as she stroked Ami’s hair and led the way out of the building. On the way, though, she made sure to kick the corpse of the man that had been in charge of this facility. If he’d only answered their questions she wouldn’t have cut his stomach wide open and let his guts spill out earlier.

James left last, setting the place ablaze as they made their way to the van. “Another bust, but at least we were able to get some documentation on that flashdrive you brought, Alex.”

“We still have to sift through it to see if there's anything that can give us another lead” he replied grabbing his keys out of his pocket. “what concerns me is Thrane is having us run around in circles chasing fake clues. I have an idea for changing up our tactics that might just work.”

“Can I look?” Ami's powers had not manifested yet but she was already clearly a very smart kid with a way of finding things out.

“We can split the work just let me make sure there are no surprise videos Thrane put in there like last time.” Reply tossing James the keys before tossing Klaire some cash “Let’s hit up a drive through while me and the tike work.”

“You’re the best at helping us search through stuff, Ami.” James said as he gently ruffled her hair. “You’re a strong girl.”

Klaire nodded and counted through the cash. “Yeah, what is everyone in the mood for? I’ll obviously get steak, but I like to make sure I get everyone what they want.” She replied and silently wondered if Tzeitel still wanted to try new foods with her one day. There was a lot she missed about her friends.

“Steak is fine with me just get me some fries as well” he replied grabbing a jar of moonshine he took a swig before plugging the usb in and skimming the files that he would give Ami to look through on her tablet.

“A chicken nugget happy meal?” Ami requested. She would like candy but Klaire would not let her live on that.

“Sure, Ami,” Klaire said with a loving smile. “Want an ice cream with it?”

James was driving the van for the moment and took them into town for food. He always made sure the girls hid in the back while he drove. With long sleeves and a turtle neck on, his tattoos were well hidden and he could easily blend in with society. “Hide the booze, Alex.” He warned calmly. “Don’t want them calling the cops on us.”

Alex took a swig before stashing the jar “sorry the type of shit Thrane puts on these sometimes…. You kinda need it”

“I know,” James said in an understanding tone. “I just don’t want some asshole to see you drinking it through the window and assume we’re doing something illegal. We can drink when we get back to home base.”

Alex nodded and handed Ami the tablet with files he vetted to make sure they were safe for her to read. “We need more resources and people to help.”

“A strawberry sundae.” Ami smiled, cheering up a little after the disappointment and glimpse of what her sister and Riley had gone through. She began going through the files on her tablet.

“Okay,” Klaire said and she wrote down what everyone wanted before handing it to James. He would drive and make the orders, picking them up while she and Ami worked. The dog eared woman would stay and help the younger girl get through whatever she saw, always happy to comfort her.

Ami quietly read the files, focusing deeply on them. “There’s quite a bit about the electricity conduit… she’s really powerful.” Ami thought she could be a valuable ally, but she wanted more about her sister.

“Anything about Tzeitel or Riley?” Klaire asked softly as she stroked Ami’s hair in a soothing manner. James was already getting the meal and sundae for Ami, having chosen to get her what she needed first. They all knew that using her powers could be exhausting for poor Ami.

Ami shook her head, trying to not let disappointment get the better of her but her eyes were growing warm. She hoped if she kept reading she would find something about Tzeitel.

“Might be worth looking into this mystery girl then” Alex replied, fixing his glasses “could be the facility we're looking for.”

Sadly, there would be no information about Tzeitel, but there would be more information about this facility that the “battery” powered. Sadly, the location was not available. All it indicated was a cold place. There were a lot of cold places during this time of year.

“I see,” Klaire said as James handed her Ami’s food. “Here, take a break and eat. You don’t want to stress yourself out too much.”

James got food for the rest of them and headed back to home base, which was really just a small house hidden in the forest for now. They never stayed in one place for more than a month.

“Maybe we're thinking about this wrong” Alex said as he dug into his food “Klaire and James would you say Thrane knows you two pretty well?”

Ami reluctantly set down the tablet and started eating. A few tears escaped her.

Klaire stroked Ami’s hair gently as she ate her own food.

James sighed heavily as he helped everyone into their little cabin. “Yes and no is the best answer I can give. He’s always watching so he could know us like the back of his demented hand.” He explained.

“This complicates things” Alex sighed “We’re running in circles the only thing I think of is we have three options. Target the most obvious site, the least obvious site, or a site he would never expect us to.” Digging into his food he thought more into the matter.

“Any kind of clues, Ami?” Klaire asked softly before drinking some water.

James was silent and got lost in thought, trying to imagine any places Thrane would take Tzeitel and Riley. It had to be somewhere difficult to reach…

Alex continued to eat before speaking again“Back when you guys were still trapped in there You ever hear the guards whisper about some secret facility or something where they send the troublemakers?”

“The guards were wearing winter boots, not work boots.” Ami pointed out.

“Winter boots?” James narrowed his eyes and glanced at Alex. “Look at the records we have of cold places with a lot of electrical power being used, would you?”

Klaire froze, thinking of the only place she’d heard of a facility being cold. “Please, don’t let it be there…” She whispered.