Zero.

Chapter Twenty- Nine

AGENT ONE
 
AS SOON as Chief left, I turned towards the agents he ordered to “escort” me. I knew what he really meant was for them to make sure I wasn’t going to do anything he didn’t approve of. Like breaking into the weapons vault of hacking into the system to leak all of his dirty secrets. Although he had no idea what I was planning, I knew Chief was smart enough not to have me running around Headquarters by myself. He knows how close Zee and I are, so it’s only right that he would want to make sure she hadn’t pulled me over to her side.
Oh Chief, if you only knew.
One of his brainless agents tried grabbing my arm. I took his instead and flipped him onto his back, throat checking the other one when he made a move towards me.
“I’m perfectly capable of escorting myself.” I warned.
I didn’t wait for them to get up before walking away. Chief taking Zee to medical wasn’t planned. We’d assumed that he would have locked her up right away. The fact that he didn’t meant that he had something else planned for her. The possibilities of what that could be was endless, and I didn’t have the time to waste going over what he could be up too.
Medical was across Headquarters and the weapons vault was the opposite direction.
I had one small EMP that would disable the cameras for long enough for me to get in and get out without being seen. I wouldn’t have much time, but it would be enough to grab a few weapons and get out. The tricky part was getting them to my room in time to stash them and make it to the debriefing room before Chief did.
The hole in my leg Zee gave me wasn’t helping me move any faster, but I ignored the pain and walked faster, ignoring the glances and the high-fives of agents I passed. Apparently, word had made it across Headquarters that I had brought in the rogue agent.  Usually, I'd like the attention, but the applause was only irritating me as I pushed passed the curious faces towards my destination.
The weapons room was usually guarded, but not heavily. The two guys posted at the door looked me over briefly.
“Move. I need to return my guns.” I said, holding up the duffle bag.
They looked at each other before stepping out of my way. My reputation most definitely preceded me, and everyone around here knew that I only asked once.
“Congratulations on the take-down.” the one on the left said.
I nodded, before slipping into the room. The space lit up at my entrance, besides my training room this was hands down my favorite place to be. The walls were lined with every kind of weapon imaginable. From hand grenades, to high tech toys I had yet to play with. Some people were in awestruck by art, but for me, Picasso had nothing on this.
Snapping out of my reverie, I placed the duffle on the table. Reaching into the bag, I clicked on the EMP. This one was modified by me so it was untraceable and timed. So, I had only 3 minutes to replace the empty magazines with fresh ones. After putting a few guns and knives into the duffle I grabbed a couple of smoke bombs and hand grenades before sealing the bag. Taking my jacket off, I threw it over the duffle to contain some of its bulkiness and walked out of the room.
The guards glanced at my duffle briefly before looking away.
I held my breath until I rounded the corner, before breaking into a light sprint to my room. The movement shot pain through my injured leg, but I kept going. Chief would probably be making his way to debriefing and the last thing I needed was him being even more suspicious of me.
Once I got to my room, I flung the duffle under the bad, stuffing a few blankets in front of it. It wasn’t the best as hiding places went but it would do. If Chief was ballsy enough to have anyone check my room, a bag full of weapons under my bed wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary for me. Once that was stashed, I shut the door behind me and walked to the debriefing room. It was a few turns down from my room so I took my time to get my heart rate down and my story straight. Zee and I were going with as close to the truth as possible to tie up any loose ends Chief might have noticed.
I walked into the room and sighed with relief.
It was still empty.
 Switching on the lights I sat down and focused on anything other than the blood I felt dripping down my leg.
Barely two minutes had passed when I heard the door open behind me.
“You’re late.” I commented as Chief sat in front of me. He ignored my jibe and roughly pulled the chair out so he was now sitting in front of me.
“How did you capture her?” he demanded.
“What? No hello?” I retorted. His tone was dicier than normal and I could only assume it was because Zee was so banged up.
“Answer my question.” He responded instead.
With a frustrated sigh, I went into the story Zee and I had fabricated. I told him that I had found her at her apartment gathering supplies after she was hurt by one of the squads. She risked exposure because she needed to tend to the wound on her leg, which I conveniently let out that I gave her.
“I found her, we fought. She lost. And now we’re here.” I finished plainly. He stared behind me while I told my story, never once checking my facial expression. I was happy that he wasn’t looking at me. I would have a hard time explaining the disgust on my face. Being in the same room with him, knowing all that I knew made my blood boil. I was itching to reach across the table and slam his head-
“I’m assuming her previous wounds prevented her from putting up much of a fight.”
“Sure.” I said, through gritted teeth.
He nodded slowly, finally looking at me briefly before abruptly standing.
“Very well. I commend you for capturing Agent Zero. I will take this from here.”
“What do you mean?” I had a horrible feeling that I knew exactly where he was heading.
“Benjamin Lee is dead. Although not as I had planned him to be, nonetheless he is no longer a threat. You have returned Agent Zero. There is nothing more you can do.”
“What do you mean? The documents are still out there. Who knows where Zero hid them!”
The lie came out smoothly. I knew exactly where the file was; tucked cozily into a pouch sewed into the duffle, under my bed.
His eyes narrowed at me before a small smile stretched across his face.
“I’m sure I’ll find them promptly.” Before my insult could leave my mouth, he tapped a button under the desk, and the small room was flooded with agents.
“There was a tiny flaw in your story Agent One.”
I glanced around the room, trying to find the best exit strategy. My heart thudded against my chest, but I forced myself to remain calm.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said robotically. The agents were poised on all sides of me, ready for Chief’s orders. In total, I counted 15.
“I personally debriefed every squad that went after Agent Zero. Not one of them mentioned giving her a wound through the leg as you mentioned was a previous injury curtesy of the squads I sent. So, unless the wound was self-inflicted or Agent Zero happened to trip and injure herself, which are both unlikely scenarios. I believe you gave her that wound. So why lie about it?”
“I’m not lying.” I tried. I could probably get out of this room, but there was no way I was going to make it out of Headquarters.

Zee was right, this plan was not going to work as we hoped.
“Then you won’t mind if I searched you.” He stated bluntly. Five agents were suddenly on me, holding down my arms and legs as Chief took slow steps towards me.
“What are you looking for!” I demanded, thrashing against the agents. He didn’t answer, instead started patting me down. When his hands reached my waist, it took all my willpower not to headbutt him. Attacking him would just make me look guiltier and get me thrown into the dungeon, and I couldn’t help Zee if I was locked up.
When his search was over he nodded at the guards to let me go. As soon as I was free I punched whoever was closest to me. I may not have been able to hit Chief, but I made due.
His face twisted into a rueful scowl as we stared each other down.
“Disappointed you don’t have a reason to kill me?” I asked.
The malice in his eyes answered my question. He glanced down at the blood stain that was seeping through my pants and the scars covering my face.
“Nonetheless, your mission is complete.  You need to heal. You will be put back to Sleep at 7pm tomorrow.”
I felt the color drain from my face at his words. “What about Zero? We’re always put to Sleep together.” I hated how my voice broke at the end.
“Not this time.”
I held my tongue before I said anything further. This was the job: complete the mission then Sleep until we were needed again. I couldn’t deny that I was hurt, and needed to Sleep to heal, but I couldn’t think of a reasonable reason way to explain to Chief that he couldn’t put me under that wouldn’t raise suspicion.
“Why so soon?” I said instead. From my understanding, after the mission we usually got a few months before we were put back to Sleep.
“You’re hurt. If you die, I can’t bring you back. You already look like you’re about the bleed out.” To prove his point, he pushed his thumb into my leg. I winced and pulled back.
“I’m fine.” I insisted trying to keep the disgust from my voice. We both know he was sick enough to play with death.
“I’m sorry. You seem to believe this is a debate. I am not asking you if you’re ready to Sleep. I am ordering you. Your mission is complete.”
He shut down my protest with a wave of his hand.
“Escort Agent One to her room. You have 24 hours before you will be put back to sleep. End of discussion.” The finality in his tone prevented me from saying anything else.
The agent I punched earlier tried to grab my arm, but one look from me had him backing up. I turned and stalked from the room.
The slam of my door shook my nightstand, but I couldn’t hold back anymore.
I couldn’t stomach what was happening.
Sleep, complete mission and repeat.  That was the job.
It was different when I thought I had signed up for this, but knowing that I was forced into this life, that I was a product of a madman’s obsession was too much to take in right now.

I didn’t choose this life, and I should have died years ago.  I kicked the corner of my bed and the action only shot pain up my leg. Grunting, I sat on the floor. Rocking back and forth, trying to put everything into perspective.
I had 24 hours.
24 Hours to find Zee, break her out, take down Chief and release the documents.
Every part of me wanted to sit here and process what was happening, but I didn’t have time for that. The only way I could fix this was if Zero and I finished this.
Swallowing the emotions that were threatening to keep me down, I pushed myself from the floor.
Time was running out.