Endless War (Complete)

Chapter 12 "Search"

My vision returns but I still don't have control over my body yet. I look over at tech guy and see Grim with a knife to his throat. I don't hear what he is saying but I can see his mouth is moving and his face is turning a bright shade of red. Tech guys hands are grasping at Grim's arm trying to get him to let him go. Tech guys eyes are wide and his breathing is erratic, pupils are dilated and his pulse is rapid. If Grim holds him much longer he is going to pass out from shock. How do I even know all of that?

Grim's pulse is also elevated his body temperature is elevated and breathing is accelerated as well. My hearing comes back before movement and I hear Grim shouting. "What the fuck did you do to her? You didn't know what that chip could do to her. What if she comes out of this and kills both of us?"

Before I catch up to my movements I am already in action rushing to tech guys side grasping Grim's arm and over extending it until he drops the blade from the pain. I suddenly have my legs wrapped around his neck and him pinned to the floor. "You can't kill tech guy! I need him." I shout.

Tech guy is now on the floor trying to slow his breathing with his hands wrapped around his neck in relief. "Th... Thank you." He stutters.

I look down at my hands and see Grim's blade in my hand and it is now placed pointy side at his heart. I look to tech guy. "I need two microchips, Medical and Morgue. The other one you put in was Classified correct?"

"Yeah." He hops up and rushes to the cabinet grabs the chips and is behind me in a flash putting them in. Thankfully this time my body doesn't freeze up.

I look down at Grim. "If I let you go are you going to behave?"

He nods his head in the affirmative and I release him.

"What just happened?' Grim stretches out his arm and rubs his shoulder.

"I got an upgrade." I answer. "Now, we need to get moving. They know that this position has been compromised. I should have waited for that Classified chip. They will be on us in ten minutes. Tech guy do you have a vehicle?"

"Yeah, I drove here in a jeep. It is around back." He starts moving toward the door and I follow.

"What so you just want to take him with us?" Grim looks at me with tensed muscles.

I ignore him and keep walking. He follows us out and to the jeep. I point at the drivers seat. "Grim, drive, we can talk when we are away from here."

The three of us pile into the jeep and Grim puts it in drive as I buckle into the passenger seat. I look in the back seat as Tech guy follows my lead. I take a moment to get comfortable within my own head, taking stock of everything we just finished installing.

"Tech guy, I turn and look at his face. Suddenly a name comes into my head. James C. Cross, lead scientist, Project HOST. Human Operational Stimulation Terminal. A reprogrammer, trying to gain further control of human assets. You son of a bitch!" I yell the last part. "You are harmless though. No training in combat. Very high IQ. I thought you said you knew nothing about the conditions of which I was raised."

"I didn't, I swear. I thought we were making the troops more loyal. I was told that many troops were going AWAL, we needed to gain further control of them before The Fallen started to gain power." His heart rate doubles and respirations increase. He is afraid of me.

I close my eyes and confirm his story. "Ok, that checks out. Grim," I turn to look at the driver. "Stop the car."

He looks at me like I have lost my mind. "What?"

"Stop the car." I yell and he obeys. I move to the rear wheel base and remove the tracker on the vehicle and crush it under my heal. I hop back into the passenger seat. "Go, but faster this time. 80 will be more appropriate."

Grim obeys. We make it about 100 miles when I detect a satellite moving over the area. "Stop the car."

This time Grim doesn't argue with me he stops the jeep, then looks at me.

"Under the jeep, now. Huddle near the front, where the engine is." I say as I am already working on getting under the jeep. James and Grim follow suite and we all assume the fetal position under the engine compartment. "It has inferred."

We wait under the vehicle for about ten minutes as the satellite zooms in on us and searches, near by for our location. Once it passes over, I sigh. "Ok lets get out of here. They assume we ran out of fuel and continued on foot, we just need to change our course slightly so we don't drive into the search radius."

Once we are back in the jeep and moving again, Grim looks at me. "How do you? I mean what are you?"

"I am nothing special. It is the chips in my head, somehow my brain interacts with them as if it were a computer. I am human just like you, just altered." I want to believe what I told him however, with everything I have learned in the last few hours I am sure he is more human than I am. "So, where are you taking us?" I ask.

"I told you. I am taking you to my family. I know you don't want to trust me right now but everything we have talked about is true. My family is trying to end this war. I grabbed as many microchips as I could carry from the bunker. I was going to contact them to come to us but you compromised our position with your little stunt. I would have killed you, too." He adds the last part as if it would not offend me.

I shake my head. "Yeah, I know, but now you can't. I would kill you first, and if you tried to dump me I would just follow you. You missed your window. You should have killed me when you met me, Reaper." I use the name he suggested at the bunker.