To Be A Killer

Chapter 15: I Don't Want To Get Over You

"It doesn't hurt to double check," Sam insists. "You'll be following the Dunderwood-"

"The Dunderwood bypass?" Owen guesses, and Sam huffs. They've done this to him four times already-interrupting him. They're doing it to prove a point because he's said these words about a dozen times so far.

But I wish he'd tell me exactly where we're doing, since I was late. I had to help Penelope with a few last minute math problems on her homework. I missed the briefing because of it. Now I'm sort of just going with it since no one has told me anything.

"Yes, the Dunderwood bypass." I can practically see him rolling his eyes. "And my favorite color is...?"

"Green," Paula and I answer in unison. She scoffs. "Obviously."

"How the hell did you know that? I mean, I told Five, but-"

"I can't imagine any other reason you wore that T-shirt yesterday."

"It was a present."

Louise laughs. "From what? A leprechaun?"

I snicker at her joke, but the laughter fades as I take a look around the area. I remember it, vaguely. I've ran by these areas a few times but never went too close to it because I didn't want to get shot. I think of my half missing ear, and the scar on my forearm. I don't want to go through that again.

"Why... why are we in Deadlock territory?" I question. "We shouldn't even be on the edges of Deadlock territory. I'd like my body to not be full of bullets by the end of this mission, thanks."

It seems that now everybody remembers I have no clue as to what we're doing. After some shared smiles of equal embarrassment for forgetting, Paula starts to explain.

"We're hunting for one of Van Ark's bases. I know he had one somewhere in Deadlock territory. I think it might be where he kept his Comansys research. He never told me the precise location, but without any other leads to follow, it's gotta be worth a nose around."

I nod. Yes, that makes sense. I remember Paula telling us how Van Ark was obsessed with Comansys, and he believed they were the ones who really started the zombie apocalypse. He might've been right, seeing that Patient Zero worked for Comansys. Still though, just because he's right about that doesn't mean he knew everything. His notes might not be of any use to us, but it's worth a shot, especially since I've not been able to get enough time alone in the coms shack to look up anything on Roufflenet.

"Yeah, and the last known sighting of the Phantom of Abel was around here too," Sam adds.

My shoulders tense. "Can we please not talk about that? We have an actual mission to focus on. We didn't come all this way to-to look for some sort of-some sort of nonsense."

"Five, are you saying that to convince me the Phantom of Abel isn't real, or are you saying that to convince yourself? Either way, you're doing a terrible job."

"It's not real," Paula says firmly as she rolls her eyes. I try to keep a straight face, and Louise looks undeterred by the subject. Owen looks a little skeptical, but it's Sam who actually is starting to think this Phantom might actually exist.

"I don't know. Some weird stuff's been going missing lately. I've even lost things from the coms shack."

Owen snorts, his brown eyes shining. "They're probably buried under all the curly-wurly wrappers."

I laugh, but I use my hands to cover my mouth to muffle it. I can't draw too much attention to us. Deadlocks have deadly aim and we already know they shoot to kill. If I'm going to risk getting shot, I want it to be because I'm running away with files about Comansys in my hands.