Jericho

Chapter Four

About four hours and a few pit stops later, we approached our destination and found ourselves in the mountain range of Cuyamaca, following a winding dirt path towards the base of a section of the mountain. Thin pine and oak trees are sparsely scattered on either side of them, accompanied by bushes and shrubs varying from dark green to a dull yellow. The range was mostly comprised of boulders ranging from medium to large, and dead barren earth under the cloudless open sky, the sun beating down from above.

As we grew closer to the mountain, the path began to lead to the right, but we continued straight, our almost smooth ride thus far becoming much bumpier as we ran over small rocks and uneven patches of earth, swerving to avoid the occasional tree or large boulder. Reaching the mountain, we came to a stop a few feet from it and waited a few moments.

Suddenly, a large blue beam of light fanned out from an unseen scanner above the SUV and moved its way down, then up again in a slow, methodical motion before it vanished. Shortly after the scanner finished, the section of solid rock we are facing also vanished, revealing a large steel door. As we began to drive forward, the door parted ways, revealing a long concrete tunnel, illuminated by evenly spaced white lights fixed to the ceiling and guarded by two heavily armed security personnel in grey uniforms and black tactical vests complete with full helmets.

As we pulled into the tunnel, my driver greeted the security guard on our left with a quick wave with the back of his hand before nodding. The security guard watched as we drove past. Giving a slight nod, he turned back towards a small station consisting of monitors and consoles. He hit an unknown combination of keys, causing the steel door to shut once more. We continued to drive down the straight tunnel for a minute or two before it opened up into a large open space that acted as a parking lot; a staircase at the far end led up to a platform forming a half-circle around the room, with three doors that led to different sections of the facility. Two at opposite ends of the half-circle, the third stood approximately ten feet straight ahead of the stairs.

It didn’t take us long to find a space, as there weren’t many cars currently in the parking lot. As we park and the engine cuts off, the man grabbed his cigarette pack before turning to face me. “Well, it looks like this is the end of the line bud. Guess I’ll catch you later, huh?” He said, tucking the fresh pack he had picked up less than an hour ago into his shirt pocket.

“Only time will tell.” I responded bleakly, opening the door, stepping outside, and shutting it before I stretched out my back and neck, attempting to loosen the stiffness I accumulated throughout the long drive, hearing the sound of the driver-side door opening and shutting behind me.

“You say that every time and look at you. You’re still here, and no worse for wear I’d say.” He said, taking a few steps forward as he spoke before leaning on the hood of the car and looking at me expectantly. I started walking towards the stairs brushing off the statement, hearing footsteps follow behind me soon after. “I’ll crack through that shell of yours one of these days, just you wait and see.” He said, slapping me playfully on the back before overtaking me as he headed up the stairs towards his section of the facility. I shook my head as I watched him make his way up the stairs and head towards the left door.

“Not likely.” I thought to myself, baffled at his continuous attempts to get more closely acquainted with me. If he was looking to make friends, he was in the wrong profession. Anubis is a covert sector of Jericho that doesn’t exist as far as the public knows. Most of the people in its employ don’t even technically exist and have been erased from the database completely, either voluntarily or otherwise for one reason or the other. Not exactly the ideal place to form meaningful relationships with coworkers or otherwise have a personal life altogether, in my opinion.

As I contacted the small flight of stairs, I looked up as I ascended, I saw the words “Anubis: Site 3” printed in large black letters next to the picture of a logo. The logo was a picture of the head of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the afterlife and lost souls; the dog-like head faced the left and its face was all black except for a golden ring surrounding its one visible, crimson-colored eye, the tips of its long-pointed ears were also coated in gold, with golden streaks leading down before branching off into an elaborate gold and teal headdress.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I immediately made my way to the door directly ahead of me. Approaching the solid steel door, I stopped in front of it, reaching out my left hand, I pressed a specific, indistinguishable area on the concrete wall. The wall began to separate and reveal a small panel in the shape of a left hand that extended out towards me.

Placing my left hand, still wearing the nano-glass glove, it began to light up green as the panel scanned my hand, syncing up with the chip embedded in my forearm. The chip had biometric security put in place to ensure there was no unauthorized entry and provided a plethora of information to the panel: the chip's serial number, heart rate, and blood type, among other things.

after I placed my hand down, the panel beeped and retracted, satisfied with the results of the scan, the heavy door whirred as it slid up. As I made my way through the door, the first thing I saw was another security guard with his helmet off, sitting at a large marble desk in front of a series of monitors. I made my way towards the desk as he looked up from his monitors to greet me. “Good morning, S-35.” He said before he stood up and grabbed a file from the desk. “Your handler, Miss Jeung,” He paused, clearing his throat before he continued, “Has already sent over your current assignment.” He extended the open folder to me for review.

I grabbed the folder from him, opening it up to the first page. I noticed the first page was blank, except for an expertly drawn sketch of Amy in a cartoon-like fashion, with a head vastly disproportionate to her body. It was drawn in bright colors, Amy herself was drawn in hot pink posing enthusiastically in a cheerleader’s uniform; in each hand, she held a pompom over her head, the tri-colored pompoms were made up of red’s, yellow’s, and blue’s. Underneath the drawing of her cheering were the words 'You Can Do It!' in bold print, all of which were drawn in an assortment of colors.

Closing the folder, I couldn’t help but sigh. “She’s professional as always.” I thought to myself, rubbing the index finger and thumb of my right hand over my eyes.

“Your plane is fueled up and your pilot is waiting for you down in the hanger sir. Give em hell.” He said before he returned to his desk. Giving him a quick nod, I started walking right towards the locker room to store my personal effects before gearing up. A few moments later, as I entered the pretty standard-looking locker room, I could tell it was occupied by a few of the other Specters. I could hear two male voices and a female in the middle of a boisterous conversation accented by the sound of rushing water from the shower. But I didn’t care enough to pay attention to what it was about. Instead, I elected to head straight towards my locker.

As I reached my locker, I set the folder down on a bench behind me before promptly opening the locker up. The locker was mostly empty except for a manila folder full of papers on the bottom shelf, a bottle of black aspen next to a silver flask, and a small funnel on the top along with a few loose items. I heard the conversation shift as the water turned off. I wasted little time doing the things I needed to do before departing for the hanger.

Pulling the handgun out of my hoody pocket, I sat it on the top shelf before pulling the hoody off and hanging it up by the hood on the locker door. As I reached for the flask and began to unscrew the top, I could hear the lockers opening on the opposite side of mine, followed by soft indiscernible chatter. I placed the funnel in the flask and started filling it up. “Hey S-35!” I heard a booming voice call out to the left of me. Out of my peripheral vision, I could make out a mountain of a man with short red hair still wet from his shower standing there in his long-length black underwear and standing at least a foot taller than me.

“S-37.” I responded as I finished filling up my flask and popped the cork back in the bottle, setting it back down next to my handgun.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around pipsqueak; don’t tell me you’re too busy to make the world a better place?” He said in an antagonistic tone as he made his way closer, his monstrous wet feet slapping down hard on the tile as he approached. Soon after he started setting off towards me, I saw another familiar figure walking over from the other side of the lockers; it was S-36, a lean but toned blonde woman with long wavy hair. As she stopped to stare at the spectacle that was unfolding, she dried her hair with a clean white towel, wearing a pair of red underwear and a matching bra.

“Busy? More like scared, not everyone is man enough to handle fighting monsters for a living.” She said softly, but her words were full of maliciousness, her face curled into a sneer, full of contempt at my very presence. This kind of hostility is to be expected from time to time. Specters are made up of grizzled vets, who have spent more than their fair share of time in the thick of battle on some of the most suicidal missions imaginable. As one would expect, the majority of them are a little unhinged. Hell, just look at me.

“Not all of us can be as manly as you S-36.” I replied, turning my head towards them, S-37 having almost reached me by this point.

“What did you say, you piece of s**t? I’m ladylike as f**k!” she spat venomously, S-37 giving a slight chuckle as he stopped in front of me, close enough that I was forced to stare up at him to meet his gaze.

“Spunky as always, ‘eh pipsqueak?” He growled, staring down at me with a menacing smile before he looked down at the folder I set on the bench. “What are you hunting today, Pixies or something?” He said with a smug tone in his voice. Just then, a third Specter rushed over to see what the commotion was; a tall lanky dark-skinned man that I recognized as S-31 pulling a white t-shirt over his head as he scrambled over. He had a buzzed head and was adorned with two full sleeves of tribal tattoos.

“Unicorns, actually.” I responded to the asinine remark, and as if I were a stand-up comic that had just landed the best joke in history, S-37 and S-36 burst out laughing.

“Come on guys, this is bull s**t. The man is just here to do a job just like the rest of us. What’s the point in haras—.”

“Oh, shut up newbie, or do you want to be at his side?” S-36 cut him off as she shot the newcomer a death glare. S-31 stared at her stunned for a moment before deciding it was better to keep his mouth shut. He was the newest to the unit, so I didn’t blame him for not wanting to make enemies on my behalf. Silence filled the room momentarily before S-37 continued.

“You know, I’ve never actually seen a unicorn.” He said, rubbing his chin curiously. “Are there any pictures, mind if I have a look?” He finished and started to bend down to grab the folder.

“Don’t touch that.” I said coldly. My interjection caught him off guard and stopped him from reaching for the folder. He stared up at me before chuckling and standing back up tall, crossing his arms across his broad chest.

“Oh yeah, or what you little freak?” letting out an audible sigh of annoyance, I turned to face him, putting on my best ‘I really don’t have time for your s**t.’ face. He smirks at the gesture “You think your tough, don’t ya? Think just because you run alone that makes you better than everyone else here, don’t ya?” He uncrossed his arms and his body language started to scream that he was itching for a fight.

“Not everyone S-37, just you.” I retorted, the comment obviously striking a nerve as S-37’s smirk turned to a scowl, and he clenched his fist.

“Is that a matter of fact?” his tone and mannerisms obviously meant to come across as intimidating, but I refused to back down and continued to stare daggers into him to try and hammer home the fact that I wasn’t backing down.

“It is.” I said as the tension between us built. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see S-31 becoming nervous, unsure of what to do, clearly not wanting to be involved in this, but being on S-37 and S-36’s squad felt he was obligated to see this out with them. S-36 hooted in the background, clearly excited at the prospect of witnessing the potential blood bath.

There were a few moments of tense silence, suddenly the sound of the locker room door swinging open filled the room, followed by a commanding voice. “S-37, your handler is waiting for your squad's debriefing, and he is getting impatient. What’s the hold-up?” S-37 chuckled at the impeccable timing.

“Saved by the bell pipsqueak.” He uttered under his breath before calling out to the man. “We're on our way.” Shortly after that, the door could be heard shutting once more. As if that was his queue, S-37 turned to head back to his locker to finish getting dressed. “Let’s get going guys, this freak’s not worth getting scolded again.” S-36 could be heard scoffing in clear disappointment before she headed back to her locker as well; S-31 followed shortly after her letting out a sigh of relief. Just before S-37 rounded the corner to rejoin his squad, but just before he disappeared from my view. He stopped to look at me once more. “You might be skating by on low priority missions, picking up the scraps left by the real specters, but just you wait, your number will be up any day now. Just try not to die before I have the pleasure of stomping, you’re a*s in the dirt, huh?” He said, letting out a boisterous laugh before disappearing from sight.

“Hell of a way to start the day.” I muttered to myself before turning around to grab the manila folder off the bench. I opened it up to grab the picture that Amy drew and stared at it for a while, a slight smile creeping across my face. Turning around, I opened the folder I kept in my locker. Inside was a large stack of pictures she had drawn for me before every mission. I neatly stacked the new addition inside before closing it. I shoved my hoody into the locker before grabbing my flask, shutting the locker door, and made my way to the hanger to board the plane.