Rescued (The Runners Part Three) Read online

  Rescued

  Part Three of The Runners

  By Logan Rutherford

  Copyright 2010 Logan Rutherford

  Smashwords Edition

  Prologue

  Marcus sat behind his desk. He was looking down at some paperwork he had to fill out. Boring, dull, unattractive, paperwork.

  He looked at his clock. The hands read six-fifty-two. He picked up his phone, and punched the intercom button.

  “Yes, Mr. Marcus?” His secretary asked.

  “Lisa, remind Agent Eighty-Six to call the Los Angeles safe house, and have Felix show Seventeen, and Fifteen the pictures.” He said.

  “Yes, Mr. Marcus. Anything else, sir?”

  He thought for a moment. “Oh, yes. Tell team number seven to be at the Applebee’s tomorrow morning at eleven thirty. Make sure you tell them that they will need to bring to proper gear for an extraction. Then we you’re done doing all of that, go home.” He hung up the intercom, and leaned back into his office chair. He didn’t like giving orders. It made him feel low. Somebody this high up shouldn’t be issuing orders. Or doing paperwork. He thought. But then again, the Kappa project was too important for some low-level nobody to be giving orders.

  He looked up at his clock, and it just turned seven. He imagined what Seventeen and Fifteen – or “Adam, and Eve” as they called themselves now - were going through. Adam and Eve. He chuckled at the irony. If only they knew who we were. He thought as he exited his office. If only they knew, we were the good guys.

  THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE HOURS AFTER THE EVENTS AT THE END OF CAUGHT.

  Chapter One

  Adam stared at the ceiling. The fan was creaking slowly, mixing in with the sound of crickets chirping outside his window. It was peaceful. The exact opposite of what was going on inside his head.

  His eyes burned from all the crying that he has done. His throat felt like sandpaper rubbed against it every time he swallowed.

  He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe she was gone. The person who gave birth to him, who raised him, taught him right from wrong; the one who he would go to with his problems, the one who would bandage his wounds, and fight off the monsters in his closet. Now, she was lying in a room with a bullet in her head, or even worse, in a hole in the middle of nowhere. She would never have to burial she deserved.

  There was a knock at the door, and Eve poked her head in. “Mind if I come in?” She asked. “Couldn’t sleep. There’s too much on my mind.”

  He sat up, and patted the space on his bed next to him. Eve sat down cross-legged beside him. “I can’t believe it.” She said, staring into space. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

  Adam could tell that she had been crying, but if she hadn’t been, he probably would’ve called her a cold-hearted monster.

  “I can’t believe it either.” He rasped.

  They sat there in silence for a moment. Even the crickets were silenced, as if they too were mourning the loss of their parents.

  “Tell me about him.” Adam said. “I want to know what your father was like.”

  “Well,” Eve said shyly. “He was a truly great man. He was always there for me. He wasn’t one of those strict Dads. He was a total cut up, and really relaxed. He would always try to talk to me about boys, which always being very comical for me. He always knew how to make you laugh, and always had the right words to say.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “I’ll miss him.” She added at the end. Then, she really started crying. Adam wrapped his arms around her, and comforted her as she cried.

  “Why, Adam?” She asked when she stopped crying. “Why is this happening to us? Why are they doing this? What do they want?” She threw the words out there as fast as she could.

  “I don’t know.” Adam said, looking straight into her eyes. “But I’m gonna find out. Don’t worry; we’ll get our families back.” Well, what’s left of them. He thought.

  *****

  Seventeen walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Twi, Nick, Felix, and Eve were already sitting around the table talking. They stopped when they saw him walk in. He hadn’t said a word to them. After he saw the picture of his mom, he ran up to his room, and hadn’t come out since.

  “Sorry about the eye.” He mumbled to Felix, who had a black eye, and some bruises from where Adam had punched him, because he thought he was hurting Eve.

  “No problem. I would’ve done the same thing, if I was under the same circumstances.” He said, offering his hand for Adam to shake. Adam took it, and shook it firmly.

  Adam walked to the fridge, and pulled out some orange juice. He poured himself a glass, and sat down at the table.

  “Anybody got the time?” He asked.

  Nick looked at his clock, and said. “It’s ten-thirty.”

  Adam nodded, and said thanked him.

  “We’re going to go get something to eat, so go get dressed guys.” Felix said, standing from the table.

  “Sweet!” Nick said standing up fast. “Where are we going?”

  “Applebee’s.” Felix said, as he went up the stairs.

  Chapter Two

  They pulled into Applebee’s at eleven’ o’clock. They all loaded out of Felix’s van, and began walking to the door. It was almost fall, and the cold Washington wind was nipping at their faces. Eve was rubbing her arms, trying to keep them warm.

  “Here,” Adam said, taking his jacket it off.

  “Oh, no thanks.” She pushed it away. “I’ll be fine.”

  “No,” He said as he put it around her back. “I insist.” Eve smiled at him, and nodded.

  They walked inside the restaurant, instantly greeted by a blast of warm air, and were taken to their seats. Adam sat next to Eve.

  “So,” Nick said after the drinks were ordered. “Have you guys checked, yet?” He pointed at Adam and Eve’s bellies.

  “Excuse me?” Eve asked, giving him a puzzled look.

  “Have you checked to see if you guys have belly buttons?”

  They all busted out laughing, and Adam lifted up his shirt to reveal his belly button. “Yep,” he said. “Still there.”

  They all talked for a bit, and ordered their food. “I’ll just have some tortillas and cheese.” Twi said to the waiter. We all gave her a puzzled look.

  “Tortillas and Cheese?” Eve said, stifling a laugh. “Are you serious? That’s all that you’re going to eat?”

  “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

  “No, no. None at all!” Eve said, returning her attention to the conversation Adam and Nick were arguing about the best kinds of bacon.

  “Turkey bacon is the best kind!” Nick argued.

  “That’s not even real bacon! Regular bacon, with some pepper cooked into it, and cooked to the crisp? That’s what I’m talking about.” Adam said, as he got the waiters attention, and asked for a plate of bacon to be added to his order.

  “So, Twi.” Eve said, directing her attention to Twi, who was looking down at the table. “Does everybody have a family member who dies?”

  Twi gave Eve an evil look, and Eve suddenly regretted asked her that. “Yes, everybody does.”

  “Which of your family members got killed?” Eve said, before she could stop herself. Curiosity got the best of her.

  Everybody at the table stopped mid-speech, and looked at Eve. Twi was shooting knives, Adam looked baffled, Nick looked angry, and Felix’s expression hadn’t changed.

  “Go die!” Twi said as she threw her napkin down on the table, and stormed out of the restaurant.

  Nick shot up from his seat - knocking his chair over - and ran out after her.

  “I-I-I,” Eve stuttered, not knowing what to say.

  Felix
raised his hand, and said. “It’s quite alright. Twi doesn’t know how to control her emotions sometimes. And you need to learn when to keep your mouth shut, so your foot won’t get jammed in it.”

  Adam chuckled. “Yeah,” He said laughing. “That was pretty dumb.”

  “It was her younger sister. She was only seven.” Felix said.

  Adam felt sick. Kappa would kill a child? Even for an evil organization who does horrific things to teens, and their family for God knows what reason, this was low.

  “Maybe we should go check on her.” Eve said, feeling guilty.

  “You two go. I’ll stay here, just in case the food comes.” Felix said.

  Adam and Eve stood to go outside. They walked out, and they froze at what they saw. Masked men were dragging Twi, and Nick to a large white van.

  Chapter Three

  Adam stood there for a couple of milliseconds before rushing over to the men. He had no idea what he was doing. The last time he had a physical encounter with some Kappa soldiers, one of them ended up dead.

  Something clicked in his brain. It’s as if some walls that were built up around certain spots in his brain, keeping him from accessing some of his memories, came tumbling down. All of the sudden, he knew how to take down these guys. He knew exactly where to punch them, for an instant knockout.

  He hit the guy that was carrying Nick across the jaw. He felt the bones in the man’s jaw shatter. The man went to the ground with his hand to his jaw, letting out a muffled scream.

  He looked down at Nick, and saw that he had a big bruise across his face. He must have tried to fight back.

  The man dragging Twi was having a more difficult time. She was jerking, screaming, and kicking to get free.

  Another man appeared from behind the man who had Twi, and lunged at Adam. Adam blocked his punch, and delivered a blow to the man’s stomach. The man had the breath knocked out of him, but quickly recovered. He punched Adam across the face, and Adam started to see black spots materialize before his eyes.

  He shook the pain out of his head, and continued to fight. Adam kept sparring with the man. Blocking each other’s punches, while somebody would occasionally make a connection. This man was good, but Adam was better. He was able to get past his defenses, and punch him in the face. The man began to recover, but he was temporarily vulnerable. Adam delivered a heavy kick to the side of the man’s kneecap. He felt the kneecap break, and move to the side with a sickening sound. The man fell to his knees, which made the pain in the kneecap worse.

  Twi had done a good job of keeping the man away from the van. While Adam’s fight only lasted a few minutes, Twi and the man weren’t at the van yet, but they were getting close.

  He heard Felix shouting something behind him - Eve must’ve got him he quickly thought - but he ignored him.

  His fist was about to connect with the man’s face, with a hand grabbed his wrist. Adam swung around to punch whoever had a hold of him with his free hand. He stopped himself, though, because the man had a gun pointing at his head.

  “Hello, Adam. You probably don’t remember me.” He sneered. “But trust me, I remember you.”

  The voice sounded so familiar to Adam, but he couldn’t quite figure out who it was.

  “You see this bruise on my face?” He asked, placing his index finger on his temple. “Our little friend Eve over there gave this to me.”

  Adam looked over at Eve, and saw a look of realization come over his face. Then he remembered. This was the guy at the library, whom Eve knocked out. He was the one who dragged me from the burning Police Car, and gave us the laptop with the directions to Felix.

  “I can tell from that look on your face that you finally figured it out. Good! Maybe you’re not completely stupid after all.” A big smiled spread across his face. Apparently, he found himself funny. “Now, for your own good, walk to Felix, or else you’re all dead.”

  Adam had no choice. He walked over to Felix, never taking his eyes off the man. Nick was furious. Adam could fell the hate that he was sending towards him.

  “Do you want to die?” The bruised man asked Twi. “Because if you don’t shut it, you will die painfully. Just like your little sister.”

  Twi let out a slew of curse words, and spat in the man’s face. The man clocked Twi across the head with his gun, and she went limp.

  Nick tried to rush forward, and attack the man, but Adam and Felix held him back.

  “I’ll find you!” He yelled. “I’ll find you, and kill your family. Just like you did mine!”

  The man just laughed, as he threw Twi’s unconscious body in the back of the van, and climbed inside. The van started, and sped off.

  Adam and Felix finally let go of Nick, and he tried chasing after it, but it was too late. The van was gone, and with it, Twi.

  Chapter Four

  The drive back to the house was a quite one. Nick was sitting in the front seat, blankly staring out the window. Felix would offer reassuring words every so often. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get her back.” He would say. “London will know what to do. We’ll talk to her.”

  Adam leaned over, and whispered into Eve’s ear. “Who’s London?”

  “I heard Twi talking about her. She’s the third Runner who lives out the house.” Eve whispered back.

  A puzzled look came across Adam’s face. “Third Runner? But there’s already three Runners. Felix, Twi, and Nick.”

  “No, no. Felix is a Keeper. When we first met he said that there were three other Runners living at the safe house.” She explained. “I’m pretty sure London is the one who gathers information on Kappa. She never comes out of the basement.”

  “Oh, alright. Well, I hope she knows how to get Twi back.”

  Eve nodded in agreement, and they sat in silence for the rest of the car ride.

  They pulled into the driveway ten minutes later. Felix unlocked the door, and they all piled on the couch.

  “I think it’s time you met London.” He said standing. Adam let out a groan as he stood.

  “Oh, yeah. Complain all you want! If you wouldn’t have given up, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Nick screamed at Adam.

  If there’s one thing Adam hates, its people yelling at him for no reason. “Excuse me! I apologize, but I’m just a little sore!” Adam stood and got in Nick’s face. “Do you want to know why? Because you were too busy getting your butt kicked, and dragged across the asphalt! I was the one who had to come keep you from getting taken away! I was the one who beat up those guys! I was the one who got punched repeatedly! And do you know why? Because you couldn’t save your own girlfriend!”

  Nick jumped at Adam, and brought him to the ground. Nick punched Adam in the face, but it was the only punch that he got.

  Adam, who recovered from the shock of Nick attacking him, flung his legs up around Nick’s neck, and brought him to the ground. He was about to start punching him, when Felix pulled him off. He put his arm under Adams neck, and pushed him against the wall.

  “Stop this right now!” He yelled at the both of them, but boring his eyes into Adam. “We can’t fight right now! We have to get Twi back!”

  “Twi? Twi?!” Adam yelled. “What about our family?! Why don’t we try to get them back?!”

  “It’s not that simple, Adam!” Felix yelled.

  “It’s obviously simple enough if we’re going trying to get Twi back!” Adam retorted.

  “We have to follow the instructions! We have to do what they say!”

  “Screw the instructions!” Adam said, shaking Felix off him. “I’m going to find my family, and nobody, not even Kappa, can stop me!”

  Adam ran up the stairs, went into his room, and slammed his door. It was time for him to find answers on his own.

  Chapter Five

  Adam was throwing his things into the duffel bag he found in his closet. He threw some clothes and his toothbrush in there. He started looking for his knife, wallet, and gun, but remembered that the police had taken them when he had been arres
ted.

  He hated Kappa, so much. They killed the first officers, and the officers that arrested them a few days ago; they killed somebody from all of the Runners family; but worst of all, they killed his mother.

  He sat down on the bed. It squeaked and protested. Tears began to fall from his eyes, but he didn’t make a sound. He had to avenge her death. He had to find his dad, and sister. Deep down inside, he knew that he also had to find Twi. It was his fault that she had been taken. He could have stopped the man. He had analyzed the situation, and he knew that there had to been away to take him down without hurting anybody. But maybe he was just over-analyzing, and he had no other choice. Either way, he felt guilty, but also betrayed. How could Nick turn on him? He thought of Nick as a friend. Now, Nick hates him for not trying to do the impossible – or was it impossible?

  “Hey, mind if I come in?” Eve asked, as she poked her head in the door.

  “Sure.” Adam said shortly.

  “Look, I know you want to find your family, but we can’t find them without the others.” Eve said, once she had sat down next to him.

  “Stop,” he said before she could start talking again. “You’re not going to stop me. I’m going to find my family, and I will find them through any means necessary. You, or anybody else for that matter, are going to stop me.”

  They sat there for a moment before Eve said, “Then I’m going with you.”

  “It’ll be dangerous.”

  “Nowhere is safe from Kappa. We’ll be in danger for the rest of our lives unless we take them down.”

  “Take them down? We can’t do that! I’m just getting my family, and leaving the country.” Adam said curtly.

  “Oh my god, are you that ignorant? You think you can walk into Kappa’s headquarter, take your family, and walk right back out, with no consequences? They’re doing all of this for a reason. You heard Felix they’re the government. They aren’t just going to let you go! We have to bring them down if we ever want to be free.” Eve’s voice was rising. She was mad now. “Obviously, you’re way too stupid to go out on your own. I’m coming with you, and you have no choice.”