Deactivate

I lifted my head from James' chest and stared at the bullets at the ground, trying to pick up a pattern from the bullets cycle. Even the hologram assassins needed to reload their guns. After staring at the scene for a while, I found that they fired for exactly ten seconds and then stopped so they could reload. The reload took another ten seconds and the process continued. They did this from left to right, so the assassin furthest from the chimney went first, and there was a one second interval between each round.


"You should thank me." James suddenly spoke from underneath me. I could feel his stare burning through my eye lids, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of gaining my attention.


"And why would I do that?" I mumbled not even looking down at him, but at the object five meters away from me there was a circular top of the metal rubbish bin. I needed to get to that in less than four seconds. If I could retrieve that, it would help for a defence against the bullets.


"I just saved your life." He said sliding his hands down the dip of my back to pull down the bottom of my shirt that had rode up my back. I could feel his warm fingers slightly lingering on my back more than necessary. His fingers were very distracting, so warm and long. So I tried to focus how to get on the roof.


"Can't." I replied. There was a ice cream van parked right on the curve outside the restaurant. There was a two meter stretch from the van to the building. I could easily make that but I'd have to be fast.


"Still hate me?" His chest rumbling as he spoke those words.


The bullets were on their fourth round of shooting and were going to stop in exactly four seconds.


"Too busy." I looked down at James and gave him a small smile before I pushed myself off him and ran out into the open.


I could hear James' voice yelling after me, but I kept running. The bullets had stopped to reload but I had already reached the rubbish can. I teared the top off and sprinted as hard as I could, jumping over tables. I slowed down slightly and unplucked a wedgie, man I was going to have really bad chafe after this. Stupid suit.


Once I reached the van and climbed up on the hood I only had three seconds remaining of this particular time frame.


The roof of the restaurant was relatively flat apart from the crinkles in the timber. I walked back on the van as a small two meter run up. Without taking my eyes off the roof I ran and jumped off the van and somersaulted to the crinkled roof. There was at least ten assassins on the roof, but more were getting ready to climb down the ladder connected to the helicopter. They had all spotted me and were frantically trying to put the bullets in the gun.


I made eye contact with the first man and whilst running I brought the rubbish lid down on his head and he grew limp falling to the ground and then disappeared beneath my feet. Two others came rushing towards me but this time they were armed. I used my bin lid to shield my face. I stumbled slightly when one of the bullets hit the corner of the bin. There was three chimneys in total because the restaurant was so large. But only one mattered to me, the scroll hovered proudly located at the far end of the restaurant roof.


I need a new plan.


I didn't have enough time, they know where I am, it's only a matter of time until they come around and shoot. And at the minute I'm praying it's a potato gun.


I waited, but no footsteps rattled along the roof.


My face scrunched up in confusion. Shifting in my position and peaked around the corner only to see six bodies laying around a breathing heavily James.


"About time." I said walking around the chimney and out in the open. They dissappeared beneath his feet as i walked around the chimney. As I walked towards James, the rest of the assassins who were in the helicopter started to come down from the slim ladder flapping in the wind.


"Your stupidity surprises me every day." He smirked at his own joke.


"What do you mean?" I said seriously and trying to be indifferent. But In reality I was confused, what the heck was wrong with him. You have a job, you do it.


His smirk slipped from his face seeing my confused expression realising I really didn't get what he was implying.


See what I mean, double meaning, I thought.


"You had a suicidal plan! Did you even think?!" he proclaimed with his hands raised. The wind picked up from the helicopter making James' hair fly everywhere and his shirt riding up slightly showing off his hard stomach. It's times like these where this reminds me that he is definitely above average in the looks department. But that doesn't make up for his personality.


"It was not. I split up each sector and calibrated the exact time it would take to sprint from the table to the bin, then climb the van and made it here. My plan was perfectly executed and predicted." I said with my eye brows raised.


"And what happens if you miss the predicted time?" He asked with putting his hands on his hips, he knew he was right.


"I tend not to think about that." I said looking at the helicopter.


The rest of the assassins had filled out. Only 24 remained. But what intrigued me the most was the scroll on the furthest chimney was brighter. I had to get to that before James. But we both were thinking the same thing: just one person could not take all 24 trained assassin by themselves. It was a cringe worthy thought but we needed to work together and he knew that too.


James stepped closer to my side.


"So what's the plan?" We didn't look at each other when we were talking but our eyes were focused fully on the assassin starting to run towards us. Both of us forming a plan.


"You take the east-side, I'll take west. Knock them as you go. We have six minutes before the next plane comes and I don't know about you but I don't want to repeat this process again."


"Got it, I got your back for four minutes, but then we split." He said this in a monotone voice but I could hear the exciting beats of his heart through his black skin tight shirt.


I stopped looking at the hologram assassins climbing down the ladder and took out my eye pod.


"What are you doing McGreggor" James sighed from above me.


"Looking through my bible." I said sarcastically looking up at him.


"What do you think I'm doing idiot, I'm changing the song." I said putting a big enphisis on idiot.


I ignored his glare and clicked 'Uptown Funk' by Bruno Mars.


I turned towards him and again his calculating face was on my own. He looked slightly frustrated with his lips pressed in a thin line and fists clenched at his side, like he wanted to say something. This caused me to smirk slightly, knowing I was the cause of this. Seeing my smirk he breathed out fast clearly frustrated sigh.


We exchanged nods as our silent plans being allies for four minutes sunk in.


"Go!" As soon as those words left his lips we both split into our allocated areas.


The first assassin sprinted up to me and I ducked as his fist swung at my face and stuck my foot out tripping him over. Whilst he was on the ground another came behind me and I swung my elbow around and grabbed him by the belt and shoved him off the roof. The hologram of the assassin disappeared before he hit the ground.


I bobbed my head up and down to the music in my head as I walked towards the others. Next my shoulders, then I was full out dancing. Reanacting the same moves from the music video when the chorus came on. I mean who wouldn't. If you were in an imaginary war zone created by a secret service agency with hostages screaming under your feet eating todays special with hologram assassins wearing ninjas suits firing at you. You would dance.


Another came at me with bandanna on his head. But I could hear the assassin that fell before stumbling up so before he could grab my ankle I swung back my leg hitting him in the head whist simultaneously punching bandanna guy square in the face. They both fell down, the assassin on the floor fading into nothing as well as bandanna dude. I stood up fully and continued to run.


I looked over at James to see him knocking them unconscious by throwing a few punches at them and then pushing them off the roof. Every action he did was so smooth. He did a somersaulted off the chimney and landed on one of them with his elbow pointed towards their face. As much as I wanted to deny, James was an extremely good at hand to hand combat. That was his specialty. Insulting him was mine.


I looked over to the chimney where the bright white scroll hovered above the top, it glowed brighter as one by one we knocked out the assassins. But something in the corner of my eye caught my attention, an assassin was running towards me, but he wore a bright fluorescent yellow bandanna around his mouth and dark sunglasses. He was not dressed like the others. I ran up to him as well and I extended my arm to punch him in the shoulder, he caught it and kneed me in the stomach. After he grabbed my hair and pushed me behind one of the chimneys. I tried to fight and push him off, but this guy was strong. He Leaned in close, his face was well hidden and it was very hard to pick up any distinct feature traits, but just under his glasses was a pink scar. I felt like I had seen this person before. I know it's impossible, but he looks so familiar.


"Alexandra McGreggor, I have a message." He said with no emotion, but it was more than that. It was almost like the voice didn't belong to him.


What the hell, the hologram assassins were never programmed to talk. I thought with wide eyes.


"I don't have much time, but they are coming. They will not stop until everyone is like them. Evil. Take it out and deactivate it before it's too late. I repeat take it out!" He was now screaming at me repeating the same words, 'take it out' and 'deactivating'. His hands were shaking on my shoulder and his body trembled.


Take out what? Was the agency trying to trick me? Was this a test? I need answers.


"Wait wait, take what out. Who are you?!" I yelled back.


But just as I finished the sentence, he was gone. He let go of me and jumped off the roof. He vanished before he could hit the floor. There was something wrong, that assassin was not supposed to talk.


I ran and looked over the ledge to see nothing, he had disappeared like the rest. I leaned back was breathing heavily, I wanted to dwell on the matter some more, but I was in a war zone. On top of a restaurant with a bunch of assassins that look like ninjas in onesies.


The wind was rushing and slamming into my face as I ran up the roof. Four assassins were coming my way, but yet again they were armed. I saw James had stolen a gun off of the opposition and was open firing at them as they ran towards him. He glanced over at me, then the assassins coming for me. He must have read my expression because he started firing at them. I could hear the panicked screams from inside the restaurant as they heard the bullets. I listened as each assassin hit the roof, counting them down.


I peeked my head out of the chimney to realise that the assassins had vanished, but there was five coming towards me again.


"Alex! Heads up." I heard James yell from in top of the chimney.


Snapping my head to him, he threw me a riffle gun. I caught it with ease and followed suit in climbing on top of the opposite red and black chimney and reloaded the gun. James had gone back to firing and I did the same. I aimed for each assassin not missing a target once. With James and I on a higher platform with riffles the poor assassins didn't have a chance.


Out of all fifteen assassins there was only two who really had a brain, they both hid behind the other chimney where the scroll was, that was were we would get out next clue. They were blocking the path. Looking down at my wrist, we only had about 1 minute left.


"Colton!" I yelled bobbing my head again when the beat dropped.


He continued to shoot with an annoyed expression that he couldn't get the remaining two.


"What Alexandra?!" He yelled back, but despite being fifteen meters apart I could still clearly see his smirk. How could he change his expression so quickly. Irritation crawled up my spine.


"Don't call me that!" His smirk only grew with my discomfort and rage.


"We have less then 1 minute before the next wave comes. So hurry your ass up!"


He stopped shooting and looked at me. "I guess that's my que, no need to thank me-"


"I wouldn't bet on it, I was never going to." I cut in.


He smiled cheekily acting like he had all the time in the world. He spread his arms out dramatically.


"It's been an honor working with you McGreggor." He saluted me and then leaped off the chimney.


He jumped off so majestically, I was almost jealous, but definitely disappointed when he landed in one piece. I followed suit and leaped off too. However, instead of soaring off the chimney and being so majestic I could have maybe being mistaken as a bird, I smacked into the ground with my legs position wrong. Searing pain pulsing up my leg and ankle, I didn't jump off properly.


Pathetic! I yelled at myself.


"No gonna lie, that hurt." I mumbled at myself getting up slowly as the pain increased. Well I tried getting up, but was shoved half way back down again. The last assassin decided to make his move.


"Of all times you could have came." I breathed out.


Flicking my good leg out I tripped him up and he fell laying on the floor the same way as me. I elbowed him in the face and then spun around and roundhouse kicked him in the chin whist still on the floor.


He clutched his face in pain, and I went to finish him off and then make a run for it but stopped. James had already knocked the other assassin out and was sprinting up roof to the scroll.


A new plan started piecing together in my head, one that will solve both of my problems:


a) Getting rid of this assassin


b) Getting to the scroll before James


The assassin next to me started to climb to his feet. Instead of attacking I screamed in terror.


"JAMES! JAMES HELP!" I made my eyes go wide and clutched my leg. The assassin looked behind him and turned his head towards the gun I had been firing on the floor.


James was now on top of the chimney when he heard my voice. His hand was outstretched towards the scroll about to grab it, when his eyes went wide seeing me on the floor with assassin above me.


I let out another blood curtailing scream and clutched my leg. The assassin reloaded the gun and slowly turned his head towards me and tilted it to the side.


"PLEASE JAMES!" I cried again with my hair blowing in front of my face distorting my view of him.


The assassin walked towards me slowly, as if approaching his prey. When about four meter away he raised his gun and aimed it at my head.


I closed my eyes.


I heard grunting and snapped my eyes open. Before he could pull the trigger, the gun flung out of his reach and the poor assassin was punched multiple times before shoved near the edge of the building and shot (multiple times in the chest) off.


James stood in front of me with his jaw clenched and his gun casually resting on his shoulder.


"Is this going to be a regular thing."


I gave him a puzzled look.


"Me saving your ass."


We were very close to the edge of the restaurant were the assassin had just fell.


I just stared into blank space waiting for him to help me up. Finally after staring at me for several seconds he extended a hand, I grasped his hard hand firmly. Before he could react I used my foot to kick him in the back of the leg, causing him to loose balance. But before he could fall to his death I put his hands on the edge of the roof. He should thank me, I just saved his life.


"What the!"


I smirked "Your so gullible Colton."


He gave me the most betrayed look at first, then sitched to rage.


"McGreggor when I get my hands on you-"


"You know, I think I like this position. You on the floor almost begging me to help you up." I mocked him repeating what he had said earlier that day. He irritation only grew when I put my hands on my hips and stared off into the 'sunset'.


I glanced down to see James hanging from the ledge still but all to soon he started to push himself up. I widened my eyes at his ease getting up.


Crap! I was note expecting that, I thought.


But before I could see his all to famous smile that said all to clearly "Ha! Nice try" I bolted up the restaurant to the chimney. I didn't even get half way before lean arms lifted me up in the air and shoved me into the same chimney.


I flinched when he grabbed me by my forearms and pinned them at my side.


"What the hell Alex-"


"James we don't have time for this. Do we have to this now?"


My statement didn't do anything, if anything I think It made him more angry.


"Fine, when we get out of here i'll book us an appointment for couples counselling."


I extended my leg and kicked his knee. Hard.


He hissed in pain and let go of me to bend over holding his knee.


I didn't look back, I sprinted up the chimney. I only had forty seconds until the next wave hit and I had to win. It felt like I had been here forever but overall it's only been nine minutes. This was a pretty standard time for the games, but I didn't want standard I wanted to win.


I could see it. The chimney I was almost there. Just five more meters and I'd be-.


Two hands encircled around my ankle and I watched the world turn side wards. I fell on my bullet wound shoulder and let out a small scream hearing a crack of the bone separating. It was dislocated.


"Tough luck Alex." He winked.


"No! Its mine!" I felt like a really pissed off cave man when I said that.


James ran past me but I grabbed his shin and he fell and landed on his chest. I stood up and made sure to walk on top of his head when running past. He cussed out loud.


I could hear him getting up so I ran faster, my shoulder separating further each step I took.


I put my hand on the cold bricks of the chimney and started to climb. I could hear James climbing on the opposite side of the chimney and we climbed frantically. This was the final stand, whoever made it to the top would be the winner. My fingers grasped the top of the chimney and I stood up. The scroll was glowing at its full potential now, casting a shadow on the roof.


Suddenly James' hands surfaced from the side of the chimney. So without wasting a second I stood on his fingers and went to grab the scroll. My fingers hovered around the scroll, I could almost imagine the crowd screaming my name. I plunged my hands to take what was mine. But my hand went straight through it. I scrunched my face up in confusion, this was not supposed to happen. I heard James' breathing had died down as he finished climbing. I turned to him and his face mirrored my confusion. I swiped my hands through it again. But I gained no luck.


"It's not working." I whispered to myself.


"Here, give me a go." He shoved past me (making sure to bump my hurt shoulder) to the scroll reenacting my movements from before.


"If I find out that this was a test and that I knocked out all 30 assassins, I-


"19." I said flatly.


"What?" He said with his head tilted side wards.


"You knocked out 19, I knocked out the rest." I said still looking at the scroll, there was something missing, I had played these games ever since I was permitted to and nothing like this had ever happened. First the assassin yelling at me and then this.


When he stopped talking I noticed how eerily quiet it had become. Apart from our breathing, everything stood still. The screaming stopped in the restaurant and when I looked up the helicopter was frozen, still in mid air. Nothing was holding it up, somebody in the control room pressed pause.


He stepped closer to me so we were now approximately just over a ruler length apart. What was with him and intruding my personal space.


"Well I'm glad you've been paying attention to me." He said with a smirk. I didn't like his smirk, it was his eyes. So blue they looked like they were seeing past the façade and into your soul. It's like everything he says has a double meaning, he was just waiting to hear which one you picked. His eyes looking everywhere on your face, like I was a puzzle and he was trying to figure out the last piece.


"It was a mere observation." I said with a straight face. I was bored of this conversation now, so without waiting for his reply I turned my back to him and looked at the now useless scroll.


"Well you would have to have been looking at me to gather your statistics on-"


While he was ranting on, I heard something. The tiniest beeping, not like a bomb beeping but something else.


"-you couldn't have that no. I know you wanted to kiss-" he rambled.


I spun around in a circle and looked down the chimney, but I couldn't find where the source was coming from. It was as if it was following me. I looked to my right and found that the beeping had faded to a soft beep. Then I craned my head to the right to hear that the sound was more prominent. I looked down to my wounded shoulder. The beeps had now quickened and my eyes widened. I unzipped my suit at the front exposing my black singlet.


James whistled slowly.


"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing?" He said through twinkling blue eyes and a smirk.


I ignored him and carefully pulled my shoulder out of the sleeve. The cold air hit my wound and I gasped at what I saw. I looked up to see that James' smirk had disappeared completely. He jaw was locked and his body was ridged.


"What the hell happened to you?" He whispered.


The skin outside the wound was a dark purple, darker then a bruise and even darker then a black eye. The wound has opened up again and was bleeding, bits of skin flaked and covering the outside. A mixture of purple and green veins travelled up to the bottom of my neck and down the my elbow. Now I was no expert at first aid, but that was not a common thing to happen.


"It looks like-" James said with a hard voice.


"Poison, I've been poisoned."


I couldn't lie to myself. It was a pathetic injury, but it hurt. Just looking at it made me nauseated. But I saw past all of this and looked into the middle of the wound where a dimmed flashing light lit up the veins across my arm. I leaned in closer and deep in my arm was a silver ball.


It's not a bullet. I thought


"Wait a second."


Printed in bold black letters was a picture of a snake and three letters that by the end of this day I would know all about.


A.S.S


It wasn't a bomb, but something a lot worse. A tracking device. But to add to the non exsistant silver lining, the tracking device was coated in poison. Happy days.


Then it all clicked. It punched me square in the jaw. It shoved me off the cliff.


Everything on the roof started to flicker around us like someone in the control room was flicking the objects in this arena on and off. The chimney started to flicker and glitch. Everything, the trees, benches, grass. Everything no longer looked solid.


I felt a hand on my non-wounded shoulder.


"Alex I don't know what's happening. But we need to get out of here." He said urgently.


And as those last words left his lips, a horrible screeching sound echoed from above and the helicopter was let lose. It fell from the sky in a spiral shape. It landed right on top of the chimneys at the front of the restaurant smashing it to prices. The glass shattered everywhere and shrapnel flew in all directions. I covered my face as the smoke was carried by the wind and into my face, making my eyes water.


"Alex, snap out of it!" James said. I widened my weirdly coloured eyes as the truth set in.


I turned towards James.


"Colton we're in an ambush."


"Alex what are you talking about? Your jumping to conclusions, it could just be a mix up in the system."


"This whole thing had been framed. Voldemorts attack-"


"Wait wait wait, are you talking about that guy that attacked you this morning? And why did you name his Voldemort?" He said with his arms out, and eyebrows drawn in confusion.


"Yes I am. And he's skinny, weak and pale as. I'm pretty sure he was the offspring of Voldemort and a piece of paper. You should have seen him James, he ran 1km in like 6.24 minutes. It was sad." I said with a disapproving gaze.


He shook his head in disapproval "Are you serious, that's crazy. Poor guy needs to lift." He said with a laugh, I smiled a tiny bit too. We stared at each other for several seconds. It was shocking, but this was probably the only topic we had ever agreed on. He coughed awkwardly and we both looked at the ground.


"Okay, but the main point being this is a set up. The gun fire, my shoulder wound, me reporting him to the agency. Voldemort had been a pawn to a much bigger mission. His mission was to lure his people to S.S.A.


Instead of seeing belief In his eyes I saw rage. How can he go from being so care free to angry in a second?


"This isn't funny any more McGreggor. Stop making up lies. I don't believe-"


"I'm not making this up! What could i possibly gain from this. Just-Just Listen! When Voldemort shot me this morning, he was supposed to only graze me. I was so stupid to think that bullet hadn't pierced my skin. He needed to shoot me so the tracking device could settle in my shoulder. I don't know how I didn't see it. How do you suppose I got this wound James. I fell down the stairs? You have a brain, link up the dots."


His face was hard and calculating.


"Okay, lets say I do believe you. What should we do?" He said running his fingers through his hair looking at me straight in the eye.


"I need to pull this tracking device out and, I can't beleve Im saying this but 'we' need to find a way out of here and find out what's happening. Hopefully there are not here yet, but we have to hurry there could still be time before they reach us." I motioned towards my shoulder urgently.


So that assassin had really been giving me a warning, I don't know how he knew but he had somehow known there was a tracking device in my shoulder. Someone had obviously programmed him to say it. I knew there was something wrong.


Silence settled between us.


"Why should I believe you?"


"Because we may hate each other. But if it's one thing that we agree on it's that the S.S.A is apart of us and is our home." I said, my voice is complete seriousness.


He still looked hesitant, but there was a spark in his eyes that said he believed me. So I walked closer towards his tall frame.


"The agency is under attack James."


________________________________________


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©Alrak- Just your Average Teenager

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