No Rest For the Wicked ~ A Walking Dead Fan Fiction

Chapter 14: The Run

Chapter Fourteen 

The Run

Third Person

Michael rubbed his forehead tiredly, taking a minute to close his eyes and refocus before returning his gaze to the multitude of computer monitors in front of him. He moved his mouse from screen to screen, scanning through the piles of charts, documents and blue prints relevant to the issue but still no solution jumped out at him like it normally did. 

He'd always had the ability to look at something and just know what the next three steps were. He could see the present state and imagine the end state and from there the pieces in between would just fall into place for him. He had an IQ of 147; his mother had him tested when he was young because she'd found him so odd. As she suspected he was gifted, exceptionally so, and he flew through school and university in the top five percentile despite how poor his single mother had been thanks to the abundance of scholarships that had fallen into his lap. That's not to say he hadn't worked for them, potential was something so easily squandered, but Michael was naturally a hard worker. He liked a challenge; he believed nothing was impossible, which was why he was still working on this project when everyone else had abandoned it. 

A buzzing in his pocket snapped him out of the state he'd fallen into. An idea had begun toying at the edges of him mind, not quite ready to come into the light. He liked when he occasionally had to coax them, it made it that much more rewarding when he finally got it. With a sigh he fished his cell out, eyeing the caller ID. A picture of a stunning woman lit up the screen, a blonde with a long bob, the underside dyed blue. Her lips were pressed firmly to his cheek. It wasn't the kind of picture he'd normally take, but then she wasn't the kind of girl he'd normally date. She was wild and carefree, an artist. He was a scientist. She'd fascinated him, swept him of all people up in her whirlwind and he'd let her. She was different. He didn't imagine being with her forever, they simply weren't compatible in the long run, but for now she was fun and exciting and he planned to enjoy it while it lasted. 

"Hey." He said as he lifted the phone to his ear, glancing at his open office door. It was glass, as was one whole wall of his office. His boss never cared when he caught Michael not working since he was so productive when he was, which was most of the time, but he still felt a little guilty about it. 

"Hey, baby." Serena's voice came through the phone, sounding much quieter, much softer and less sure than normal. 

"What's up?" He asked lightly, not picking up that something might be wrong. He wasn't good at things like that. 

"I need to see you." 

"We're catching a movie tonight, remember?" He pointed out, eyes drifting to the data on the screens again. There had to be an answer... 

"No, I mean sooner. Can you leave work?" 

This caught Michael's attention. She used to ask him to do that all the time but he'd made it clear he didn't do that kind of thing and eventually she'd stopped asking. Something must be up for her to ask again now. "Why?" He asked, suddenly nervous. 

"I don't want to say on the phone. Please, Michael." This time he caught the desperation in her voice, the fear. 

"Where do you want to meet?" No longer hesitant to leave, he stood, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair and shutting down his extravagant computer. 

"The Louis-Ferdinand Bridge." 

"I'm on my way." He agreed before hanging up and breezing out the door.