The Clean Ones

Chapter 23

"Are you-" Cale started, but I waved him off.

"Hold up a moment." I cocked the pistol and shot it in the direction of a tiny, circular camera that sat in the upper corner of the elevator. The camera exploded instantly, causing the elevator to rattle and shake.

"What was that for?" He yelled.

"So you don't get brutally murdered!" I yelled back. "Listen, these elevators are slow. We have about three minutes before we reach the top floor, and I'm going to need you to shut your trap and just do as I say, got it?"

His eyes were wide in bewilderment. "Christ, Perri. What happened to you?"

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Two minutes. "Just. Let. Me. Explain." I huffed.

"Fine. Start explaining."

"The Mayor is after you," I whispered. "He-"

Cale laughed. "What, you think I don't already know that? Of course he's after me! He's wanted me dead ever since he figured it out."

"No, Cale. No. I mean he really wants you dead this time."

"What do you-"

"Mr. Denn. The old man Johnson that just appeared with you guys?"

"Yeah, he told us the truth-"

"Lies. He told you lies. Most of what he said was false. He was trying to schmooze you all. You may not have seen it, but I know. I heard him talking to the Mayor about it. Johnson thought he had knocked me out, but what he didn't-"

"He did what to you?!"

"Calm down, I'm fine." I snapped. "Anyways. Mr. Denn? He's been planning something with Johnson. They figured if they could successfully capture me and keep me here, then-"

I was silence by the ding of the elevator bell signaling that we had arrived. "Here," I whispered quickly, digging into the pocket of my jacket and pulling out a second pistol. "Take this and just follow my lead." Cale nodded, and I positioned myself behind him with the pistol situated, once again, at the back of his neck. When the doors flew open, I pushed him forward and kicked him in the back of his knees, casing him to buckle and shake. He cursed lightly under his breath.

The elevator opened right up to another receptionist's desk. She, like the receptionist in the lobby, did not acknowledge my presence. She was a clever one, too. I pushed Cale to the right corridor, past the security guards who disregarded my presence as well. We continued down the corridor until we reached a large, ceiling-to-floor door made entirely of solid metal. I hit the buzzer beside the door and waited for it to slide open.

The Mayor's office was simple, much more so than the lavish mansion he owned in Cale's time. All the walls were panels of windows that took up the entire space of the wall. On any normal day, the sunlight would shine through them and reflect off of the glass desk that sat in the middle of the room, creating a sort of rainbow aura throughout the room. The Mayor sat in a leather recliner behind the desk, his eyes fixated on Cale's the entire time it took us to walk from the door to his desk. It felt like it was taking hours, when in reality, it was only about a ten step walk.

"It's so nice to see that you can take on such a.... Monumental task, and pull it off." Mayor Johnson drawled out. "Mr. Collins, do us all a favor and kneel. We don't need your grimy shoes ruining my carpet, now do we?"

Cale obliged. Slowly, he knelt down in front of the desk. I brought my gun down with him, turning it sideways and clicking the trigger, ready to shoot in any given moment.

"All right, Miss Bennett, that will be enough." The Mayor said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

I didn't move my gun, nor did I move my gaze. Every part of me remained frozen and locked on Cale. Locked on my target; locked on the kill.

"Miss Bennett!" The Mayor snapped. "There is no need for you to continue to interrogate the young lad. Please." This time I obliged. I backed away from Cale and pressed the gun to my side.

"Excellent. Now, Mr. Collins, you've been quite the busy one, haven't you?"

Cale said nothing. I walked over to stand next to the Mayor. Cale's lips remained pursed in a firm line. His shoulders were pressed back with the muscles in his arms and fists tightly engaged, as if he was preparing to strike a punch at any given moment.

The Mayor continued, "You practically destroyed an entire population because you fell in love with a girl you can't even have." he shook his head. "Mr. Collins, do you even understand the severity of what you've done?"

Cale looked to me. I, ever so slightly, nodded my head, being sure to make it discreet enough that the Mayor would not notice my actions. "Yes, sir." Cale said and spat at the carpet.

The Mayor closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if Cale himself was giving him a headache. "Mr. Collins, I have spent almost thirty years of my life devoted to building this Community up from the ground. I started with nothing and nobody, and you think you can just waltz in here and disrupt that?" He shook his head."I'm afraid that's just not acceptable." I watched as he reached into a wooden box that sat atop his desk. A sort or tribal border was carved into the mahogany wood that was lined in a plush red velvet. He opened the box, and inside, cushioned in the velvet, lay a pistol and a single, silver bullet.

He slipped the bullet into the chamber in one swift motion. "I don't like to do this, Mr. Collins," he mused. "I don't receive any pleasure from doing such, contrary to what you may or may not believe. But, I'm afraid what must be done, must be done. I'll admit, I was just beginning to take a particular fondness towards Mr. Liam Dawson. But his counterpart, Mr. Cale Collins, has done too much damage to this Community, has been the cause of too many casualties for me to let him slip away unscathed."

He walked over to Cale, who was still kneeling on the ground. He placed the gun to the hollow of his throat, and pressed down on the trigger.