Savior (The Savior Series Book 1) (12 page)

25. OR DIE TRYING

ADAM:

THE REST OF THE DAY SEEMED TO CREEP BY. WITHOUT Monica occupying the seat in front of me, classes just seemed purposeless. I expected her not to show due to the death of her father, but walking into class and seeing her empty seat still stung. I didn’t plan to visit her while she was out of school. I told myself that I was giving her the space that she needed as she coped with the loss of her father, but deep down I knew that I was really afraid that she would take one look and me and know that I was responsible for his death.

I did my best to tune out the chatter about my alter ego, The Reaper. There were those that thought it was all a big hoax. Those who thought it was real didn’t know what to make of him. Some called him a hero while others considered him dangerous.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard that talk show hosts were on the air lobbying for The Reaper to stop by for interviews. For a moment, I was somewhat intrigued by the commercial potential of my new alter ego, but I buried the idea as quickly as I thought of it.

HOWIE AND JASON WERE ALREADY AT 3D WHEN I ARRIVED. As I entered, I noticed that they had installed a great deal of new equipment, most of which I knew nothing about.

I could tell by the look on Jason’s face that Howie had told him my secret. Howie didn’t look at me as my eyes burned daggers in him.

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone,” I growled.

Jason stepped forward. “It’s not a big deal, Adam.”

“It is a big deal! You couldn’t possibly imagine how big a deal this is!” I shouted.

“Buddy, I’m on your side! I’m not saying I know what it’s like to be you, but I know what it’s like to be different.”

I glared at Howie again.

“Who else knows? Who else did you tell?!”

Howie remained silent.

Jason firmly straightened his posture and stood directly in front of me.

“Adam, that guy right there would do anything for you. So will I! The only reason he told me a thing is because he knows that if you plan on succeeding in taking down The Strangers, you’ll need me. And he knows without the shadow of a doubt that I am the one person he could tell that wouldn’t run straight to the police. We’re all in this together, Adam. Regardless of what you look like or what you can do, you’re never going to be accepted by 100 percent of people in this world, but you can be damn sure that you will always be accepted by 100 percent of the people in this room.”

Jason always knew the right things to say. Howie breathed a sigh of relief as the tension in the room dissipated.

Jason and I exchanged a firm handshake. As we looked into each other’s eyes, I pulled him in for a hug. It was in that moment that I realized just how great my friends truly were. I never realized just how much I could count on them until I saw how they each dealt with my secret. I thought for sure that anyone who found out about what I could do would run for the hills. Not only were these two accepting of my abnormal nature, but they were also willing to join me in the trenches despite the fact that they weren’t nearly as durable as I was.

“The Reaper, huh?” Jason said with a smile as we walked over to the conference table. “I like it.”

“You don’t think it’s kind of cheesy?” I asked as I took a seat at the table.

“Are you kidding me? It’s totally badass. Not quite as badass as this though,” Jason said as he reached under the table and quickly tossed something over to me.

My hands instinctively shot out and caught the item. I stared down at a sleek full-face gas mask. The image of a white skull was painted over the metallic black surface of the mask. Jason was right. It was the most badass thing I had ever seen.

“I figured you could use an upgrade from the ski mask.” Jason grinned. “Look,” he continued as he pulled out a second mask, “I’ve got one too.”

His mask was similar to mine except his had an Ace of Spades design painted across the right side and it only had one filter at bottom center instead of two on each side like my mask.

“So what’s your name?” I asked as I marveled at his mask.

“That’s easy. I’m Ace,” Jason exclaimed before pointing to Howie, who was now seated at the end of the conference table. “And oh yeah, that’s Echo,”

“Reaper, Ace, and Echo, huh? So I suppose we’re a crime fighting team now?” I asked jokingly.

“I prefer Ace, Reaper, and Echo. And yes, we are a team,” Jason replied.

“Am I supposed to be okay with being last in each billing? And why am I the only one without a cool mask?!” Howie grinned.

“You want a mask? Cool, I’ll trade you my mask for all of this sweet equipment that you have at your disposal,” Jason replied.

“Never mind,” Howie said, grinning as he eyed his new toys.

We all burst into laughter. That moment felt good. I had been through so much turmoil over the past few days that I had almost forgotten the refreshing feeling of an innocent moment of laughter among friends.

“So, what’s our name?” I finally asked as the laughter died down.

“We’re the O.D.T.,” Howie said with a huge grin on his face. Something told me he that came up with the name.

“O.D.T.? What does that mean?” I asked.

“Officially, it stands for Operational Defense Team, but it also means ‘Or Die Trying,’ because that’s exactly how far Jason and I are willing to go in order to make sure The Suspect pays for what happened to your brother,” Howie said firmly.

The mention of PJ stung but I held myself together and silently nodded my head.

“Are you ready for the suits?” Jason asked excitedly.

“No way!” I exclaimed, excited to see what he had in store.

In less than twenty minutes we were in our full gear. I was so excited that I wanted to take pictures. My all black body armor and extra long hooded overcoat worked perfectly with the Reaper theme.

Jason’s sleek black body armor was similar to mine but his was noticeably lighter. The extra long head band that he wore with his combat gear plus the sword sheathed on his hip made him look like the SWAT team version of a ninja. The contrast of his sleek jet-black body armor worked well with the white Ace of Spades painted on his mask. I couldn’t help but wish I had my own katana when he unsheathed the one on his side. All three of us marveled at the beautifully crafted blade as he held it before him. It was so shiny that an almost otherworldly glow seemed to emanate from it.

“Most impressive,” Howie exclaimed as he replaced his regular glasses with a pair of high-tech “smart” glasses and checked himself out in a nearby mirror. His outfit was comprised of basic body armor and a waist-length, black jacket. I shuttered at the thought of Howie having to fend for himself and hoped that if he ever actually needed his body armor I would be somewhere nearby.

“I’m guessing we’re getting all dressed up for a reason. What’s up your sleeve, Echo?”
I said as I looked at Howie. My mask made my voice sound much deeper and somewhat distorted.

Howie smiled and took a seat at the main computer near the conference table. It was a colossal mountain of a machine with a display the size of my bedroom.

As Jason and I watched, Howie logged in and opened several files in a matter of seconds. A seemingly abandoned warehouse in the middle of an old farm appeared on the display.

“That place looks familiar,”
Jason said, his voice electronically distorted by his mask.

“It should. It’s only thirty minutes away from here,” Howie replied as he continued to type and focus on one of the peripheral screens attached to the main display. He dropped a line graph from the smaller screen into the larger screen and spun around to face us.

“What you’re looking at, gentlemen, is what I believe is one of many outposts operated by The Strangers. I found out through an encrypted, online chat room that this may be one of theirs but I wasn’t sure if that was usable info because, as you can see, the structure clearly appears to be abandoned. So, I did some digging and came up with this.” Howie gestured toward the chart onscreen. “This is a graph of the amount of electricity used by this site over the past year. As you can see, for the first four months of the year there was almost no activity, but over the past seven months, their power usage has increased by over 800 percent. It may still look abandoned, but something is going on there. My guess is that most of their activities take place underground.”

“How can we use this?”
Jason asked.

“It’s not exactly the lead I was hoping for but for now it’s our only connection to The Strangers. We need to get in and get some surveillance equipment planted.”

“Surveillance? I thought we were supposed to be taking them down,”
I grumbled.

“We will take them down but we have to do it the right way. The Strangers have been around for years, but before now, their most serious crimes were identity theft and credit card fraud. In order to defeat them, we’ll need to take down The Suspect. He’s not only their leader but he’s the reason they went militant. The only way that we’re going to find him is by tracking their movements and communications. As of this moment, they have no idea that we are after them. That gives us a significant advantage, but if we barge in there with no real plan, we lose that advantage.”

“Fine,”
I mumbled. I still wanted to take a more direct approach but I knew Howie was probably right. If The Suspect was their leader, then he was the one that I blamed for the death of my brother. If we had to play it quietly for a bit in order to smoke him out, then I was prepared to do so. At the end of the day I was willing to do whatever it took as long as it ended with my hands around his neck.

“The Strangers have been busy. Earlier today they executed the entire Irvington High School Boys basketball team,” Howie said.

“Irvington High? Where’s that?”
I asked.

“It’s a private school located in central Florida, approximately four hours from here.”

“Anything new on the congressman’s daughter?”
Jason asked. Howie spun back toward the computer and began typing again at 1000 words per minute.

“What’s going on with the congressman’s daughter?”
I asked. I didn’t watch much TV and I didn’t own a cell phone or any other device that would have allowed me to follow the news online.

The picture of a young, blonde, teenage girl appeared on the main screen as Howie typed. Finally, he faced us again. I could tell that he was enjoying himself but it didn’t bother me as much now because I knew that the work he was doing was leading me closer to The Suspect.

“April Larson, the 17 year old daughter of prominent Florida senator Chuck Larson, went missing shortly after the attack at Irvington High. Survivors of the first Stranger attack at Fox Valley State University reported seeing The Strangers take a few of the dead body’s with them as they fled the scene. What’s interesting about April’s case is that the police are calling it a kidnapping. They’re saying that they have proof that she’s still alive.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m having trouble understanding why this is important,”
I said, not bothering to mask my frustration.

“Well, I certainly don’t think it’s a coincidence that she disappeared on the same day that her school was attacked by The Strangers-” Howie started.

“So, that’s our real mission, is it? You’re gonna have us wasting time, trying to save some girl?”
I grumbled.

“Taking down The Strangers and eliminating The Suspect is and will always be our primary mission, but if we find any information on the girl in the process, I don’t think we should ignore it. Chuck Larson is a very big deal, Reaper. If we can find his daughter, I’m willing to bet that The Suspect is somewhere nearby.”

I had to remind myself that Howie was a million times smarter than me and I should probably just trust his judgment instead of wasting time by making him explain the logic behind every tactical decision he made.

“Alright then. Let’s do this,”
I suggested. I was getting tired of standing around. I needed to feed the craving for danger and excitement that was still lingering within me.

“I’ll take my bike. You’ll be okay on foot, Reaper?”
Jason asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,”
I said with a wink. Of course he couldn’t see the wink or my smile beneath my mask. As Jason and I prepared to leave, I popped the collar of my black trench coat and checked myself out in the mirror one last time
. The Reaper,
I thought as I marveled at how intimidating my outfit looked. After years of being called the Grim Weeper at school, it felt like I had finally reclaimed my name.
How could I have ever doubted Howie?
I thought.

This truly was fate. As I tightened the black gloves on my hands, I wondered why I had ever thought otherwise. I was The Reaper and this was my destiny. As far as I was concerned, The Strangers were all dead men and I would be the Reaper that emerged in the end to collect their wretched souls.

Outside, Jason hopped onto a sweet jet-black sports motorcycle and revved the engine.

“Race ya!”
he said as he looked back at me.

“As long as you’re okay with second place!”
I quipped.