Fools of us All - Chapter 16

So this is the future, eh? I thought to myself as I ran. So far I am not impressed. I ducked through the doorway and skidded to a halt, turning just in time to see Caz obscured by a cloud of debris from the ceiling. Well, there was nothing I could do so I turned back and dove through the doors, praying at the last minute that they weren't locked shut.

They banged open and I went tumbling across the floor, ending up against a door. Shaking my head to clear it I looked up and down the hallway, noting with satisfaction that the doors had swung shut behind me, muting the sounds coming from the large room on the other side. The door that I was leaning against was the first door on the right, so I rose to my feet and hurried down the hall to the third door on the left. The doorknob was cold as I started to turn it slowly, trying to be somewhat covert on the off chance that there was someone within. Perhaps I could surprise them.

Thanks to the fact that I wasn't making much noise on my own I became aware of some loud voices coming from a room down the hall. I was going to ignore them until I heard someone say the name "Caz" quite loudly. Intrigued, I headed in that direction, crouching to avoid being seen through the frosted windows. There were two voices coming from the room, quite audibly to my surprise.

"What is going on?" came the first voice, a deeply soothing voice, though there was a discordant edge to it at the moment. A silhouette passed across the window, arms waving in the air.

It was a moment before there was a reply, long enough that I was starting to wonder if maybe he was talking me somehow. But then a second voice spoke up, this one sounding quite agitated and angry as he said what he knew.

"Interesting," came the first voice again after listening to the explanation of the past few minutes. "It would appear that when Caz returned she brought two friends with her."

"So there are three people running around here now?"

A slight chuckle. "You misunderstood me. She brought back one person, a young man..."

"The prophesied one!" I couldn't miss the sarcastic sneer in his voice at that.

"Ah, yes," came the slightly derisive reply. "Him. But along with them came a missile of some sort, possibly from the portable rocket launchers you sent back with the M.E.R.C. squad?"

A groan. "I knew sending those goon squads back would end be trouble."
"Yes, quite right. However, I must say that if it was engineered on purpose by the lass or the lad, then perhaps we should reassess matters somewhat." There was a pause. "Or perhaps not. It would appear that Caz is now under our control. The boy is not from this time and will be easy corral in the near future. The machine is still operational and the organisation is on the run. You have done well for us. Now all that is left is to get any information from the girl that we can and then dispose of her." There was a weighty pause. "That, I shall leave up to you."

Chills ran down my spine and settled in my gut at that. Just then a hand came down on my shoulder. Without thinking I grabbed it and flipped the person over my shoulder, using one of the throws taught to me by my martial arts instructor. The man landed heavily on the ground, sending his helmet flying, and I quickly lashed out with a pair of punches to the face, knocking him to unconsciousness. I dragged him around the corner, trying to figure out what to do. I had to save Caz somehow and I had no idea how to do it. Unless...

A few moments later I pulled the helmet over my head, flipping the face guard down to completely obscure my features. I had no idea if this would work, but I had no other options open to me. It seemed to work in the movies, even when it was most unlikely. Such as now. The door opened and out walked a large man, likely the owner of one of the voices from the room. I snapped to attention, holding my breath. My best bet was the fact that the M.E.R.C.s seemed to be mercenaries, hired for a job and not really a part of whatever group I was now facing. With any luck that would mean that this man didn't know any of the troops personally.

"Come with me," he said, confirming that he had been one of the people talking in the room, "I need an escort to the prisoner room." He started walking away briskly and I followed, breathing a silent sigh of relief.

As I passed the door I snuck a look from the corner of my eye. It was empty save for a screen against one wall and a gumball machine in the corner, which seemed odd. The other voice must have been from somewhere else in the building.

As we reached the doors to the main warehouse area the man paused and turned to me. "Make sure your weapon is fully armed and ready to go. We have a prisoner to dispose of." He turned and exited the hallway, not pausing long enough to see me shudder. This was not going well at all.