"You ok there?" I asked but didn't get a response he just kept staring off. I let him have his moment and slipped my hand into his. This action caused him to look down at me and he gave me a small smile. I didn't move my hand and let him know silently that I was there for him.
We pulled into a quiet neighborhood and stopped at an empty house. Addy and Macky were outside playing around, 10k was sitting in a chair reading a metropolitan magazine, cass was sleeping on the couch, Doc and Murphy were playing cards, and Warren and Garnett were in the kitchen. I got up off the floor where I knelt cleaning my blades and told nobody in particular that I was going to go take a shower and then go to bed. I opened one door but there were dead zombies on the bed. I went to the next open room and laid down after my shower. I curled into the pillow and shut my eyes.
Flashback
Two men rushed me around the corner and I leaned against the wall pushing my body off and into the air, landing on the other side throwing punches and fighting one while the other was getting behind me, he grabbed my arms and I used his buddy to push myself up and over him, and took my blades out and went to stab him. The lights cut on and everything went white.
"Nikkole Alvarez, report to mission control. Assignment number 847. America." Why am I going to America? I left the training room and headed there. I was handed a debriefing folder and I sat down at the conference table.
"The NSA branch has requested our highly intelligent operatives to be in a covert mission called Operation Bite Mark. You'll be returning to America in New York to meet up with Lieutenant Hammond. There you will be extracting a package to California. The world will be in your hands after that." My mentor debriefed me.
"No pressure. Piece of cake." I said sarcastically. He wasn't amused.
"You work well under pressure and there is nothing more for us to teach you. You're going home to join your father. Be glad. Most of us here don't ever get that." He responded before leaving. I left the area and went to my small room packing up all my clothes and things before heading out to the bay. I got into a plane and was taken back to America. Time to go see Charlie Garnett.
End of Flashback
"Karma, wake up we gotta go," Someone said while slightly shaking me awake.
"No, five more minutes," I said rolling over. I heard shuffling then I was no longer under the warmth of the blankets and I was being moved around. I opened my eyes to see 10k carrying me and both our guns strapped to his back. He laid me down in the back of the truck and climbed in as well. We kept driving until the car broke down and we pulled off the side of the road. The storm started picking up more and Citizen Z kept warning us about a tornado. I believe it with this weather. Murphy yelled at Warren and she returned to the truck. We drove off after that, leaving the other car behind. We stopped at a split in the road and went to take the left way but there was a tornado about to touch down so we went the other way when Warren backed up and continued driving.
Welcome to Castle Point
Warren's hometown. We all waited at the truck while Warren and Garnett got out. She's having memories flood back to her after years of being gone. Honestly, I don't blame her. We started talking about the weather and how green the sky looked. Soon we pulled up to her house and we all got out. We all huddled around Warren and Mack, while still keeping a lookout for zombies. Warren reached above her head on the mantel and grabbed a key. She reached out her hand to stop Mack from banging his shoulder into the door to break it open. We all walked inside, looking around for zombies and admiring Warren's home. I smiled at the pictures on the walls of her and her husband. Addy and Mack cleared upstairs and Warren yelled at Murphy for sitting in her husband's favorite chair.
We heard growling like a z and found a couple sitting in the ground. The dude had blood pouring from his head out onto the floor, the wife begged us not to shoot her. Mack and Addy cleared the basement. I stood by the window and tried to calm my nerves. Tornados always scared me. I know standing next to the window probably wasn't the smartest idea but I liked looking outside. Murphy got yelled at once again but this time by Garnett. Everyone soon gathered around me and my window. We decided we were going to wait out the storm in the basement but we needed supplies. 10k, cassandra, and I were sent to go get food and batteries. Warren and Garnett were to get the medical stuff whilst the others stayed back to help the wounded couple.
We left the house and 10k and I shifted our snipers to be more comfortable on our backs. Thunder rumbled throughout the air and the wind picked up even more.
"We're not gonna make it back! Take shelter!" Cassandra yelled. "Run for the car"
We climbed into the car and I was in the back. The car shook a little but wasn't too bad yet.
"Karma, you okay?" Cassandra asked. I nodded my head and closed my eyes, focused on my breathing. I grabbed the seatbelt and wrapped it around my body. My shaky hands rested on my knees for the time being. With my eyes closed flashes of my past came flooding through my mind.
"Karma hide now." My mentor told me as she pushed me into the vehicle hidden from the enemy's view. Gunshots went off close by. The boat we were on rocked side to side. The car shifted a little bit as the boat was turning. Part of the top deck's lookout fell down next to me due to an explosion. The car was pushed off the side of the boat.
"Karma"
I looked around for my Mentor but didn't see her. Only heard her screams of pain as the enemy got her. More rubble shifted from the boat knocking the car to hang off the side.
"Karma, breathe"
Looking around in a panic to find some way out, I climbed into the back seat. The motion of my body and the weight shifting sent the car tipping forwards. My breath hitched in my throat, and my body froze.
"Karma!"
The car groaned and tipped farther down and my body fell towards the front. The weight threw the vehicle into the icy cold water. Darkness surrounded me and the water began to fill up the car. The coldness startled me and set a panic into my head. My breathing began to get shallow and uneven. The water kept rising the deeper the car went into the ocean. Soon it was up to my head.
"Karma, stop"
I started choking on the water before taking a big breath and diving under. Knocking my body against the door trying to open it, air kept seeping out my lungs.
10K's POV
"Karma, you okay?" Cassandra asked. She nodded her head and closed her eyes, focused on her breathing. She grabbed the seatbelt and wrapped it around her body, clicking it into place. I looked forward again and tried to calm myself down. Cassandra was in the driver's seat looking out in front with big scared eyes. This storm is really bad. The car rocked and lifted up my side and I heard Karma start breathing heavier.
"Karma" Cassandra spoke trying to get her attention. "Karma, breathe" She said again when she got no response. "Karma!" She yelled turned around facing her now. Karma's breathing never slowed back down, only got worse. "10k go back there and hold onto her, she's not present and having a mental thing" Cassandra spoke.
I did as she said. And climbed over the console and unbuckled her and wrapped my arms around her. The car shook and rocked side to side. I grabbed the seatbelt and hooked it around the both of us making sure she was safe. She let out light soft whimpers. Her breathing was shallow and quick. I hushed her and pulled her closer to my body. The vehicle kept rocking until it flipped over. I grabbed Karma's head and pushed it into my neck while bracing my body against the door. The car rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop. We waited a few minutes to make sure we were safe.
I opened the car door and climbed out kneeling in front of her. I kept repeating her name but she didn't notice me. I yelled her name concerned for her. She's the closest thing I have to a friend. Her eyes snapped to mine and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I reached up and wiped her tears that fell from her eyes. She took a deep breath before pushing me away from her. Confused I grabbed my gun and we all walked back to Warren's house. Did I do something wrong?
Karma POV
"What did I do?" His voice was soft as he asked Cassandra.
"Just give her time, she'll open up when she's ready. I'm sure you know all about that. You've barely spoken to the group too." Cassandra said to him. From then on we walked in silence. We saw all the destruction from the houses in the area and when we were close to her house, or what remains, we started jogging. Going around debris and turned over cars. We climbed back into the truck and now obtained firetruck. Charlie honked the firetruck's horn and we were off. We had to ditch the bigger truck in exchange for a motorcycle when it ran out of gas. We kept driving and I kept thinking about what happened back at the car. 10k was just trying to help, he didn't know what I was going through.
"Hey, 10?" I asked, gaining the attention of the boy in question. "Back there, in the car." I paused, he continued to look at me even though my eyes were on my hands playing with my purple bandana. "Thank you. I'm sorry I pushed you, I was in my head and I don't really like being coddled by people I don't know and having a flashback and then seeing someone just-"
"It's ok." He said cutting me off. I nodded my head but kept playing with the bandana. He nudged my foot with his gun and gave me a slight smile. I smiled back and settled into the truck's window again.
"I need to pee," Murphy said out of nowhere and so we pulled over.
"This isn't for you, the cars broke down," Warren said to him as she got out of the truck, walking over to the car Doc picked up.