EVO Universe 1: The First (31 page)

“Fall back now…lead her to the rendezvous point…” the Director’s voice came over #1’s audio system.

“Sir…#2…” stuttered #1.

“Is dead as of right now…,” said the Director coldly as he gestured to the technicians within the helicopter.

Lights went off in #2’s cockpit along with the sound of a female mechanized voice, “Self-destruct sequence has been initiated...self-destruct in five seconds…”

“No! No! No!” screamed #2.

While outside Sophia with her bare hands tore open the chest plate of the machine and got a glimpse of the black clad human she had seen four years ago within her bedroom. One second before the B.A.M blew underneath her along with the torn off arm delivering a force that would leave no recognizable trace of the machine, or the pilot sending her flying while taking out half the block around her. The other three machines staggered backwards barely shielded from the intense blast that had now claimed #2.

“I have now bought you sometime,” the Director began to instruct #1, “Fall back to the rendezvous point before she comes to…I will take care of the rest…”

“Sir…” confirmed #1 to the Director, he then motioned to #4 and #3, “You heard the order…let’s move out…”

#4 and a livid #3 turned tail and ran following, as a now smoldering Sophia knocked a good six blocks away by the blast rose to her feet off a now smashed in BMW X5 courtesy of her. Aside from the hit to the leg she took earlier, her leather pants weathered the battle. Her now torched jacket however did not survive.

She looked around and noticed Nathanial Walters a.k.a Deuce in his business suit cowering and trembling in a store entrance looking at what was left of the parked X5 she stood on.

“My car…” he stammered.

A replacement for the vehicle she wrecked. Mr. Walters realizing her eyes were on him went faint collapsing to the concrete floor.

With a shake of her head, Sophia hopped off the wrecked luxury vehicle quickly noticing a mannequin wearing a red mid-riff leather jacket in a storefront where the glass was shattered.

She leaped into the display area pulling out whatever chard bills she had in her pockets tossing it at the foot of the mannequin. She then unzipped the now one arm jacket she had on, which fell apart due to the scorching heat from the explosion tossing it away, and torn off what was left of the still smoking blue skintight short sleeve Under Armour shirt quickly revealing her frilly red push-up bra chest.

She quickly took the jacket off the mannequin throwing it on. It was a snug fit, but it would have to do as she zipped it up.

Clothed once again, she hopped out of the storefront and exploded into the sky with a leap now hunting the remaining three D.E.A.D members.

Despite the head start they had on her Sophia could see them booking for their lives down Maine Avenue; she planned her next leap for the Reflecting Pool, and from there she would launch herself further in order to cut them off before they got to the Jefferson Memorial.

#1 had the lead as #3 and a badly damaged #4 trailed behind him. People scattered screaming to safety as the trio turned quickly on 14th street clearly heading for the Memorial.

“Keep moving! We are almost there! We’re almost there!” yelled #1 gunning his B.A.M.

Almost would not be good enough as the sound of what could only be described as a Tomahawk missile grew louder before a massive impact cratered a portion of 14th street sending chucks of street their way.

The trio backed their machine’s up in defense mode as Dennison causally hopped out of the crater she created dusting herself off.

“Hey…where yawl goin?” she casually asked, “Don’t you all wanna see how much my life has changed?”

She advanced cracking her knuckles while the trio of the most advanced machines unknown to man reversed clearly in fear of the walking female juggernaut now playing the grim reaper. As she prepared to charge for another round, a blast of dust and the whirling sound of a black Sikorsky helicopter appearing in the sky overhead interrupted her. Slowly it began to descend between a now irritated Sophia seeking vengeance and the remaining disheveled D.E.A.D looking for safety.

Knowing in her heart inside the descending craft was the head of this sick and twisted operation; she allowed the copter to land safely so she could come face to face with the person who orchestrated the ruination of her life.

The winds died down as the helicopter finally came to a rest, she stood unimpressed as the door slid open and storm trooper like soldiers in black full body armor hopped out by the dozen circling her at a wide radius.

Finally, the Director himself stepped out with a calm smile on his face and a manila folder in his hand; behind him, Special Agent Slater brought up the rear holding what appeared to be some form of restraints. Sophia’s left eye began to twitch at the sheer gall the Director was displaying.

“Sophia Dennison…you’re gonna have to come with me…” the Director said plainly.

“Is that so, and who the hell might you be?” she snorted.

“You know “who the hell” I am…” he returned, “I’m the man responsible for who you are…and you need to come with me.”

“To coin the phrase,” she fired back ready for anything at this point, “You and what friggin army?”

Director Rosen with no fear walked right up to her, “I don’t need a “friggin” army…all I need is this…”

Director Rosen handed her the manila folder, which she snatched away from him flipping it open. Her eyes widen and she staggered back trembling. Prepared for everything she was not.

Inside the folder, she looked at the picture of a little girl with hazel eyes and her complexion with thick curly black hair wearing a light green jumpsuit with a pink flower imprinted on the front, and a pink shirt underneath sitting in a small chair in what appeared to be a sterile room. There was a blank expressionless look on her face which was close to fretting…she had seen it in pictures her parents had of her when she was young…but it was those piercing hazel eyes which forced tears from Sophia’s own eyes making her heart heavy. They were Robert’s eyes.

“Now…before you do anything stupid…,” the Director warned.

It was too late; she had snatched him by the front of his suit at breakneck speed thrusting him into the air. The shock troopers immediately trained their laser sightings on her from their high tech rifles along with the D.E.A.D in their machines, but Rosen holding onto her forearm with his right hand threw his left into the air for them to stand down as he calmly looked down at her from her grip.

“Where is she?!” she screamed.

There was a crackle and whimper in her voice, despite her power and strength, the Director now knew he was in control.

“In a facility in Oregon…on the other side of this country…” he informed her, “What you don’t see in that room is a man waiting to decapitate her if you don’t comply with my orders…”

It was as if his words had sapped her strength, as she reluctantly lowered him back down to his feet.

The Director smoothed out his ruffled six thousand dollar custom tailored jacket, as he continued to speak, “We figured out that was the only permanent way to dispatch someone like her…if we put a bullet in her skull she’d just become just like you. It’s still a theory, but she would be our first test subject. Anyway we’ve wasted enough time rough housing in our nation’s capital.”

Agent Slater walked up with the restraints.

“I doubt these will keep you fully restrained, but they should be strong enough to hold you and allow us to do whatever we have to do to your daughter should you step out of line…,” said the Director, he then leaned in whispering to her, “So I advise you to be a good little girl for now on…”

As the Director took the folder from her, Agent Slater proceeded to place the high tech restraints on Sophia without so much as a fight; they looked like large cannon shells covering her forearms and hands, while the shells connected together with a malleable thick metal bar. He then opened the panel on one of the cannon like shells flipping on a switch and turning up a digital dial to its highest level. Sophia’s face winced as she began to feel intense pressure on her arms.

“Feel that?” said the Director smiling with fascination, “That’s an electromagnetic field delivering a gravitational force of several hundred tons. A normal person’s arms would be crushed to dust, but apparently that’s nothing for a big girl like you…shall we?”

Sophia stared the Director down with eyes stained with tears and thoughts of murder. She straightened herself up as best she could as she walked with head held high to the helicopter. The Director smirked as he realized what she was playing at. She was the Alpha female, and no restraints, no threats could take away nor diminish that fact. As long as she continued to carry herself as a threat the playing field was still level. So she thought.

As the Director watched as she entered the helicopter, he turned to Special Agent Slater, “Tell those three idiots to get those mechs back to the hanger…then get the other one…”

“Dead or alive?” Agent Slater asked.

“Dead if they find the samples and any data he has…Alive if they don’t,” he ordered, “We must locate those missing samples at all cost…it was already a pain lifting the samples and data from the FBI Houston office…tell them if they have to…kill anyone that’s with him if need be…”

“Yes sir. What about all the commotion here?” Agent Slater asked looking around.

“Come now Agent Slater,” Director Rosen smiled, “We’re the United States Government, we convinced the entire nation to go to war looking for WMDs…in time people will think this was some promotion for a blockbuster movie.”

“And if they don’t?” Agent Slater innocently asked.

To which the Director smiled with a shrug, “We’ll still be fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About two miles off from the extraction point; Mark stood chopping at the bit ready to go. The second he saw the ominous black Sikorsky helicopter flying overhead he knew who it was; the pieces to the puzzle came into place revealing a very dark and terrifying tale that basically said the Constitution and Bill of Rights combined were no longer worth the ink and paper they were written on.

He could not allow that to happen, not on his watch, not after all he sacrificed. An unsettled Dustin watched as his partner looked like a linebacker with a roid case waiting for his coach to send him in. King however had him; Mercer and the rest of his agents stand down while he tried to speak on the phone with his own boss Director Stan Miller.

“What are we doing? What are we doing?! They are going taking her away! They’re going taking her away goddammit!” yelled a frantic Mark Armitage.

King ignored him listening solely to the man in command on the other end of his phone, “Yes sir…yes sir…I understand sir…it will be done…yes sir.”

King closed his phone with a grim look on his face that made Mark want to vomit on the spot, because he knew what he was going to say.

“Orders are to stand down, fugitive has been captured,” commanded Director King, “Sophia Dennison is no longer our problem…”

Orders that threw Mark into an unsuspecting rage, “No! No! No! This is bullshit! Who are they Doug?! Who the hell are they?!”

“I said this is over!” King yelled fiercely.

“She’s a United States citizen with rights!” Mark yelled back not believing this type of injustice was happening.

“I don’t know what she is! But she is no longer our problem…” it was King’s final warning to end this conversation.

Mark would not end it getting in his face, “Fuck you! It’s not over!”

“Someone get this son of a bitch out of my face!” yelled King on the verge of firing or slugging Mark on the spot.

“Move me Doug! You goddamn coward! You…” Before Mark could finish his third insult possibly laced with a slew of vulgarity, three agents grabbed him pulling him out of King’s face.

It forced Dustin to step in pulling and slugging the agents off his partner. He grabbed Mark who lunged at King.

“Mark stop! You gotta stop man!” a bigger and stronger Dustin yelled pulling him away.

“Get him out of here before I take his badge Dustin!” King issued his final warning.

“You fucking coward! Our badges are
worthless
if we let them take her! They’re fucking worthless!” Mark screamed at the top of his lungs fighting to get free of his friend’s grip.

Mark continued to struggle until he heard the whirl of the helicopter once again, making his heart sink. The fight was taken out of him as he looked up to see the Director’s helicopter take off into the air, taking Sophia god knows where never to be seen again, it was at that moment Mark reached his breaking point.

“Get off me Dustin…get off me…I said get off of me!!” Mark exploded breaking away from his friend.

His head was buried deep within his chest; his heart had not just sunk it was so heavy it felt like it was never going to come out from his gut ever again. He turned to walk away.

“Where you going man?” Dustin asked throwing his hands up.

“I’m going home…” Mark quietly replied.

Dustin ran up to him trying to understand his outburst, “Mark, talk to me man! Don’t just…”