Project Obsidian Moon

Chapter 5: An older friend

Bright. Blinding lights hung over me, I could barely keep my eyes open. I seemed to be in a hospital room. I tried sitting up but I felt like my body weighed a thousand pounds. "I thought I told you specifically to stay out of trouble" Sarah sat in a chair right next to the bed. "Mmm, what happened?" I recalled very little about what happened after I was knocked out. "I don't really know but someone found you passed out in some alleyway with a shit ton of blood on your head, and they called paramedics, doctors said it isn't much, you've just suffered a mild concussion." I grunted, and tried getting up again. This time Sarah helped me, "What day is it?" "March 13th, it's been a day since they found you." I let out a long sigh, "You were right... You were right about this being something big.." I could barely speak, but not because of my injuries, but because I was trying my absolute damn hardest not to break into tears. "Hey, Hey it's alright, we'll talk about it later. For now, just rest, The Docs said you'll be out of here by noon, and I think it's best if you stay with me for now. I can't even trust you to not get yourself killed." I laughed, even though it hurt to. Just like she said I was out by noon, although I felt like shit. Sarah helped me walk home, where I packed up some essentials and then we headed to her place. In retrospect I should have been excited about going over to her place for the first time, but in reality.. I couldn't stop thinking about that man. The mask he had on stopped me from noticing any features on him. But his accent.. Who was he? Who did he work for? And what the hell did it have to do with me and Travis?

Soon enough we'd got there, A quiet and nice Neighborhood in Sector 2, We finally made it to a long corridor with doors every 25 meters or so. That leaves a lot of room for interior, not surprising as I've heard the Police Department pays pretty well. We finally stopped at a door near the end of the corridor, Apartment number 312. She told me to hold on as she dug through her bag, cursing herself out for always losing her key in the mess. Eventually she slid the plastic card across the scanner and we were inside. "Holy Fuck! This place is huge! I didn't know Sector 2 had homes this big.." It really was massive, not as big as Travis's fucking mansion, but a close competitor, It had a main living room with a built in kitchen and dining area, and a bedroom along with.. "AND A BATHROOM?? YOU DON'T HAVE TO WALK A 100 FEET TO TAKE A PISS?" She smiled almost like this was amusing to her, "Well unlike you I actually didn't throw my life away, had you spent a few more months at the Academy and you'd be living in one of these too you know?" "Don't bring that up, I left because I had no home there, moreover I just got a better job So I'll be in something even better than this." Unless I was dead by then of course, The mystery man did warn me, but I obviously was not gonna take it seriously. He'd sparked my interest in whatever was going on, and either way, it wasn't just about Travis anymore... It was about me. "Well either way make yourself at home.. You can relax a little or go take a shower or something" A shower... I would kill for one right now, "Wait what about you?" "I'm gonna do some research.." Well I figured I'd leave her to it, She got cranky when someone interrupted Ms. Sherlock Holmes. That left me with one thing to do... "Shower.." I didn't realize I said that out loud.. "Yeah you should, you reek" THAT BITCH.. she didn't even look up from her laptop... ugh. The reason I'm practically salivating over the idea of a shower is because the public restrooms back down in Sector 1 don't have them, they have CleanChambers, or CCs for short, that just blow you with soapy steam, before air drying you with what feels like a wind turbine. But people with money could enjoy real showers, with real water. I jumped in without hesitation and turned it on, before letting out a scream. "FUCKING HOT, WHY IS IT SO HOT" I heard snickering and a yell, "Turn down the temp you moron, it's by the sink" She really was enjoying this, I couldn't tell if she brought me over for my safety or her amusement. After I was done I got into a fresh change of clothes and walked into the living room, "You took your time huh?" I swear, I hear one more sarcastic comment from her and I'd take my chances with the Mystery Man, "Well, been a while since a real shower, obviously I'd take my time and enjoy it." She took a quick glance at me, before returning to her screen, "Well... y- You know you're welcome to come take a shower whenever right..?", Did she just..? Wha- "Anyway Perfect timing, I just found something, a potential lead.." I guess she was just gonna skip past what she said, But back to the main matter, "Right what's up?" She turned her laptop to let me see as I sat down next to her. "I looked into that Jeremy guy you wouldn't shut up about, and it seems like he's a prime suspect for some sort of Cartel in the slums, anyway point is, I got into contact with an informant who seems to have some dirt on Jeremy and the Cartel. We're meeting up with him tomorrow." She did all that in 40 minutes?? Man she was efficient. "Alright sounds good.." There was silence, neither of us said anything.. "Oh uhm, I don't know if you noticed but-" "There's only one bed? Yeah I figured, I'll take the couch, don't worry." As much as I wanted to take the opportunity, I didn't want to make things awkward. "It's alright we can share the bed.." she mumbled, but didn't protest further. Even though I slept on her couch, it was the best night of sleep I'd gotten ever since The Academy...

...The Academy, I woke up to an alarm, it was 7 am.. "SHIT! fuck fuck fuck fuck." I was late for morning role call, and where the hell was Travis? I jumped into my uniform and barreled down the corridors into the mess hall. Role call was just about ending as I slipped in, thankfully unnoticed. Had I been even a few extra seconds late, I'd have missed it. "Travis Lenson!" "I'm here." I heard Travis yell from somewhere up front. The mess hall was almost like a giant Auditorium that doubles as a hangar bay. All aircraft operations were suspended in recent years due to heavy radiation, so they just decided to make this their mess hall. "Sarah Roberts!" "Present!" I could hear her voice, clear as day, through the chatter of the other Trainees. "Adam Richardson!" "I'm here!" A few heads turned to me, but quickly lost interest as the role call was dismissed. I looked around until I found Sarah, who was already walking towards me. "Are you insane?? You cannot keep getting away with showing up late every morning, you'll get caught eventually." She seemed put off by something, "Well I'm not late every morning am I? I'll be fine.." That seemed to calm her down a bit. "Hey guys! Come on, or we'll be late to breakfast, I hear they're serving eggs today!" We both turned to see Travis running over with a smile on his face, "Yeah we'll be right there.. Adam all I'm saying is if yo- Adam..?" I gave Travis the glare, and by his smirk he knew exactly what he'd done. "Travis.... What the hell is wrong with you?? Why didn't you wake me up before leaving?!" I yelled as I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. He couldn't stop laughing, and finally after his joy subsided he gave me the look that every puppy does when it wants something, saying "Well I thought you could use the beauty sleep" That was it. "You little-" "Could you two cut it out, I'm starving". Well I didn't wanna piss off Sarah so I obliged. We talked about the day's training schedule as we walked until Sarah pulled Travis to the side, whispering something in his ear before he said "I'll catch you guys at the cafeteria, I just remembered I forgot my ID" followed by him running off. "Uhm.. Okay.. What was that about?" I asked until I saw Sarah standing in my way. She looked embarrassed, ready to say something "Adam, I-"

"Adam! Adam! Wake the hell up!" I shot up knocking my skull into hers, "Ow!" "Oh fuck, I'm sorry.. What time is it?" She rubbed her forehead and yawned as she said, "5 am, I'm gonna go take a shower, Breakfast should be ready soon. We meet with the informant in 4 hours."

The stench was near unbearable, There were piles of garbage and trash cluttered everywhere. I followed Sarah as we navigated the tiny hallways and junctions of the slums. I'd never been down here, the slums were situated at the lowest levels of the complex, home to criminals and homeless alike. We were counting on nothing but luck that we didn't run into anyone unwelcome. "Where the hell is the meeting point?" I was getting impatient, and I couldn't shake the feeling like things were gonna go south really fast. "About 40 feet this way, we're close. Stay vigilant though, we may be early, but that doesn't mean he isn't either" We turned a corner to see two men standing next to each other on one wall of the corridor, with another standing opposite. The two men seemed native to the slums, with rugged clothes and messy hair. The other man however looked slightly more like an outsider, his clothes looked worn out, but didn't seem to have any damage, and his appearance seemed more reminiscent of the upper levels. They seemed to be locked in a conversation. I quickly pulled Sarah back around the corner so we could eavesdrop. "I'm tellin' you man! We ain't seen nobody come around here, and we ain't your guys either!" His voice was shrill and quaint, but the voice that replied was the complete opposite, "Then what the hell are you doing here?" His voice on the other hand was demanding and rough. "I don't know man, we were just passing by, We really have no pr-" A loud bang cut him off, followed by yelling and another bang. "Amateurs, wasting my time on amateurs.." he mumbled to himself. "You two can come out now! I don't have time for this, I've got a date in 35 minutes and this information ain't gonna sell itself" Wait was that.. I turned the corner to realize that.. "Instructor Jenson!?" Sarah had beat me to it.. "Adam? Sarah? What the hell are you punks doin out here? Are y'all the buyers?" "Damn right we are, but the real question is, what are YOU doing here?". That's when I saw the aftermath of the loud noises, the two men lay motionless on the ground, with the second further down the corridor, almost as if he was running away. Jenson was our old combat training instructor at the Academy. He was pretty old, but mind you that was the way he lured in his prey. His age seemed to contradict his ability to kick your ass, which I've personally experienced. "Well that's none of your business. Now y'all want this info or not?" We quickly ran up to him, as he said, "But first let's get out of these fuckin' stank ass sewers before I barf.", and that was the best fucking idea I'd heard by a whole mile and a half.