*******Sarah*******

I looked down at the body that had literally fallen at my feet, a knife in his throat and another buried so deeply in the left side of his chest, the tip of the hilt was barely visible. I looked back up to him and said the first thing that came to my head, “What are you doing to the guns?”

He looked taken aback at the question. Well good, it serves him right. This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone killed so it’s only fair if he’s also put out a bit by something. He looked at me and smiled wickedly, the look in his eyes feral, “I’m preparing a signal,” he said, then looked pointedly at the body in front of me, “You still offering yourself as my guide?”

*I don’t know!*, I nearly shouted at him. On the one hand, Major Shaw was a real pain in the ass to me, on the other this guy I thought I had known, had just killed him in the blink of an eye without hesitation.

“You should decide quickly.” he said walking to the body and yanking the knives out, wiping them off on Shaw's still relatively clean uniform. His heart must have stopped before it could pump too much blood out of the neck wound. “I can find it on my own, if I have to. My sources have been mostly correct so far.” He dragged Shaw’s body to the outer edge and dropped it over into the new sector. “But you may know better than they did so I would appreciate the help.” He said, walking to the interior edge and looking down. When he looked back up at me, he abruptly growled a question, “How long have they had you caged here?”

The fierce anger I heard in that question decided me, because it wasn’t aimed at me. “The next closest stairwell is about fifty yards that way.” I said pointing further along the wall in answer, and started off towards it. I wasn’t two steps past him when his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist pulling me to him. Before I could even get a word out in protest, he jumped off the wall pulling me with him.

I had a moment to think about the fifty foot drop ahead before we hit the ground and probably died, but at the last second something arrested our descent and we hit the ground lightly. He let go of me when we touched down feet first. I immediately took a few quick steps back and looked at him again.

“Forgive me, mon chéri, but my way is much faster,” he said slipping into a heavy European accent again. “The building is this way, no?” he said, heading off in the correct direction.

“Yeah,” I said, “but you already knew that didn’t you?” I asked “You don’t really need my help at all do you?” my voice sounding so small even to me.

He looked back at me as I caught up to him, smiled and shook his head, “No, I don’t. I was just giving you an excuse to keep talking. You do have such a lovely voice, it was helping me to think.” adding a wink at the end.

Oh that stupid, clever bastard! We were now practically running through the alleys between warehouses and empty offices in the middle of the Southern Quarter. When we started getting close to the warehouses at the front with activity, he pulled me to the side against a quiet warehouse.

“Listen carefully now, I am the dearly departed Major Shaw, and I’m taking you to that building where the others are. I need you to act terrified. Now don't worry,” he said, “I wouldn’t dare accuse you of feeling actual fear.” That damn, infuriating... grinning... man! I fumed, trying to be careful not to let him hear. “Now,” he said, losing the grin, “I need to know what the guards called this building. You know, when the superiors were out of sight but you weren’t.”

How? How could he know about that? I hadn’t told anybody. I knew they did it to try and scare me. It was always the bastards who saw only the wings, like Major Shaw. I swallowed the lump in my throat. He could really kill a mood fast, “They called it the ‘Chop Shop’.”

“The ‘Chop Shop’,” he said blandly, but the cold fury that ignited in his eyes at the words made me shiver unconsciously. He pulled something from one of his pockets and turned around.

Freed from that terrifying gaze, I took a breath to steady myself. That anger wasn’t aimed at me thankfully, I don’t know what I could do if it ever were. The things I've heard about the building we were going to frightened me, especially if what little he’s hinted at is true. He is obviously connected to those people I listened in on, and I am no longer sure that’s such a bad thing. That, plus the whispers my few friends here have brought me, lead me to think there are some experiments going on here that are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. Not that anyone pays attention to them anymore.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I’m not worried about going there though, not for myself. I figure the safest place to be right now was behind this very pissed off man. For as afraid of the place as I may be, he is ten times as furious. No, I’m just worried for anyone who gets in his way. I really hope my friends are smart enough to keep their heads down. He looked back at me, the anger still in his eyes, but subdued as if waiting patiently for fuel.

“Ready?” he asked, a light beeping coming from his hands in front of him. I wasn’t sure I was, so I just nodded. Suddenly he smiled again, all trace of the anger gone from his face. “Remember, just pretend to be afraid so they will dismiss you as a threat,” he said, lightly emphasizing pretend, “Gives you the advantage of surprise.”

Just like that I wasn’t worried about anything anymore. I was just angry now. At myself. For being so hot and cold today, and letting him read me so easily. Damn it! I'm supposed to be good at reading other people, not the other way around! I'm pissed at him, too. For being so in control of his thoughts! *Why can't I hear him?* Just as the thought crossed my mind, the beeping stopped and four distinct explosions rocked the ground at my feet. A moment later the shock waves nearly toppled me.

******Jack******

For a few seconds, the silence was absolute. Then emergency sirens cut through the morning air, releasing a cacophony of shouts and whistles all across the compound. I grabbed her by the wrist, lightly pulling her towards the confusion in front of the warehouse sector.

After a few meters, she shook herself, shot me a quick smile, and adopted a look of fear. Good girl, maybe she isn’t hopeless after all. I flashed a smile in return and just as quickly allowed my anger to boil up. She’s smart, I’ll give her that. She must have suspected some of the atrocities occurring here. Why else go along with a complete stranger? What I don't understand is why she's been helping them. Granted, I don't think she knows half of the reasons she's really here, but they would have told her anything to keep her docile enough to want to cooperate.

Damn, the bastards were getting trickier now. I remember the witch hunts, those days were simpler. They only wanted you dead, not alive as test subjects and exotic pets. The memories that flashed before me were dull and hollow but clear, a young woman wearing tunic and breeches, burning at the stake. Green eyes locked on mine as the fire crept up her pants. I knew I couldn’t do anything to save her then, or now.

As I tried to push the memories away, a flash of pain up my arms, reminded me why I couldn’t have saved her back then as my flayed arms slowly healed. They would just be opened up again later in the memory before I was tied to a stone and they tried to drown me. No, maybe those days weren’t simpler, just different. I thought, as the point my subconscious needed to make was over and I was once again in the present, a few moments later. These thoughts brought me to the edge of the gathering crowd.

I reached up to my collar as if adjusting it and flicked a switch on a silver collar underneath. This wasn’t the same woman, though. No that woman was from my life after my powers manifested. This one would not die like that. She had hundreds of years before her, no need to worry about paradoxes she may have created.

“Make way!” I shouted, voice modulated to sound like the Major’s by the collar. “I need to get this one to the ‘Chop Shop’!” At the shout, men in the back of the crowd turned to look at us, first at me, then her and quickly back to me again.

“Yes Sir!” was shouted as a few soldiers in sight saluted, formed up, and started to clear a path for us through the milling workers.

Wow this was going much better than planned so far. Yes! There is a jeep here! I thought, as the vehicle came into sight on the other side of the crowd. A smattering of gunfire broke out to the south, short and sporadic. There are my men, right on time as usual.

“I’m commandeering this vehicle,” I said walking to the back passenger door and opening it. After shoving Sarah in, carefully, but making it look rough, I slammed the door and turned to the soldiers who had cleared my path. “You!” I said pointing to the only private among them, “You’re driving. The rest of you, that is automatic weapons fire,” I said pointing to the south, “get these people under cover. Don’t fire unless you are fired upon. Now MOVE!”

They jumped into action, the private running to start the jeep and the rest turning to herd the workers into warehouses. That should keep these people out of it, making it easier for my men to separate the noncombatants. I walked to the other side of the jeep and got in the back with Sarah. As the door shut, the private stomped on the gas and we were off.

I looked over at Sarah. She was just staring at me as if I were a two-headed dragon. Right, well I guess I am, I thought, reaching up to my collar and switching it off then back on again a moment later. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. I smiled as the comprehension dawned on her, then immediately frowned when the look turned calculating. Man am I off my game today.