Zero.

Chapter Eighteen

“NO!!” I shouted as he fell. My scream pierced through the small space and ricocheted off the walls. Suddenly I couldn’t hear the sound of Agent One’s noisy entrance. My only focus was Benjamin’s body crumpled on the floor and the blood seeping through the bullet hole he had given himself. His eyes were still open, empty and staring straight at me. Falling to my knees, another cry escaped my lips when my hands landed in the pool of blood that now surrounded his body. With shaky, crimson stained hands, I shut his eyes.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I heard boots hitting the ground behind me and I grabbed my gun. The same gun Lee had just used on himself.

I would have to save my grief for another time.

Agent One had her gun aimed at me. Despite her stoic expression, shock rain across her features momentarily before she composed herself. Staring at her now made my stomach churn. We had always joked that we could be twins, never knowing how sick the actual truth was.

“Do you have the documents?” she asked.

I nodded stiffly.

Her eyes darted to Lee’s body next to me and then back at me. “Explain.” she demanded.

“It’s not what it looks like.” I tried

She took the safety off her gun.

“Your coverd in his blood Zero. Why did you kill him?”

“I didn’t! He killed himself” I yelled. His blood stained my hands, I was standing in a pool of it. She would never believe me.

“And the guards upstairs? They killed themselves too?” she asked sarcastically. I almost laughed at the situation. Everything pointed at me.

“Benjamin Lee killed them.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Stop lying to me!” she screamed. I flinched.

“I’m not, you have to believe me.” I tried again.

She chuckled dryly. “Why should I? You’ve been lying to me for weeks now. I know about the blueprints, and the writing on your closet wall.”

“Have you been watching me?” I growled. She was inching closer to me with every word she spoke, and I matched her movements. We were circling each other, avoiding the debris from the hole she made. 

“How else was I supposed to get the truth? Everything you’ve been saying is one well crafted lie after another. Is Chief in on this? You two looked really cozy on Friday.” She spat at me.

“What are you implying?” I asked just as steely.

One more step and I was able to grab her gun.

“You tell me.” she said.

In a move that mimicked mine, she reached out and grabbed my gun at the same time I grabbed hers. If not for the fact that I was sure she’d shoot me, it would have been comical.

We twisted the gun from each other’s grasp and ended up with the other’s gun. Now hers was covered in Lee’s blood as well.

“Smooth.” she ruefully complimented me.

“You too.” I spat back.

She stared at my face for a moment before dropping her gun. I eyed her warily.

“Please. Zee. Tell me what’s going on.” She looked like she was on the edge of crying and my heart broke. I had tried this route already.

She wouldn’t believe me. I barely believed it. I had to end this, if I brought her in, it would only mark us both as traitors of Headquarters. My heart sank at what I was going to do.

With a quick jab of my elbow I clipped her jaw and the gun dropped. I picked it up and pointed them both at her.

She held her hands up, nodding at me in understanding. The opening she’d made was tearing larger. If we didn’t leave soon the entire place would cave in on us.

“Drop this, Zee. Hand over the documents. We can figure out how to explain Lee’s death later.”

“You know I won’t do that.” I said sadly

“And you know I can’t let you leave with those documents.”

“I can’t let you take them to Chief.”

“So you’re going to make me fight you? What are tou going to do Zee? You have my gun. Are you going to shoot me?” she dropped her hands, pain and confusion twisting her features l.

I stayed silent. I knew my voice would break if I tried speaking again. So I looked for the best escape route. We only had a few more minutes before we were buried under the ceiling.

“I won’t ask you to go against Headquarters. I know what your orders will be once they find out about this.” I whispered.

“So you know how this ends then, huh?” a tear rolled down her face.

I nodded.

“Then why are you doing this!” At this point tears were openly spilling from her eyes. I couldn’t tell if I was crying too. I felt so numb, I wasn’t sure if I could cry anymore, I felt too much. Benjamin killed himself, she didn’t believe me and that was on top of everything I had already learned.  The biggest sting was Benjamin's death. I had to put an end to Chief if what he said was true. I didn’t know all of what the documents contained, but I knew Benjamin wanted me to use it to stop Headquarters, so I would try.

I took a step towards the exit.

“Don’t come after me.” I warned. I backed away from her with both guns pointed at her chest.

“You know I will.” She replied with equal malice.

“Goodbye Cynthia.”

I didn’t wait to see her reaction to the name before I climbed up the way she came and sprinted from Pembroke. It wasn’t until the cool air whipped at my face as I ran through the night that I felt the tears stinging my cheeks.