Forever Until Tomorrow (War Eternal Book 5) (8 page)

He was heavy but easily taken off-balance. He fell off the bed and onto the floor next to her. Loud pops followed. The bullets didn't have the force to make it through the metal doors.
 

Michael sat up, still wearing the AR glasses. His hands moved again, and the alarm klaxons began to sound.

"I can turn the sprinklers on, too," he said.

"I'm already naked. I don't need to be wet."

Michael leaned over and grabbed the sheets on top of the bed. "Here?"
 

She smiled, her body trembling from the adrenaline. She took the sheet. "Thanks. Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "No." His lip started quivering. "Someone's trying to kill you, Kathy. Why?"

"I don't know. Whatever is going on, it isn't safe here. They've infiltrated the military."

"Who?"

"The AIT? I don't know that either."

She paused at the sound of gunfire outside the room. It wasn't over yet.
 

"Are you sure the war is over?" Michael said.

Kathy walked over to the door, listening. The gunfire stopped a few seconds later. Doctor Villanueva said she had to die. That she was going to ruin everything. Did he mean her, specifically? Or the mission to launch the Dove?

The name Mitchell slipped back into her thoughts. Whoever he was, did he have something to do with all of this? It was all so strange.
 

"No," she said, looking back at Michael. Her friend was on his knees, breathing heavy, sweating, afraid. She felt even more responsible seeing him like that. "I don't think it is."

Reggie stood at the mouth of the alley, shrouded in shadow, his head lowered to keep his face hidden. It was almost seven o'clock, and the empty streets had slowly filled with people, the city waking up from another uneventful night.

He watched them go by, one after another after another, his expression flat, his eyes keen. He didn't want to steal from any of them, but the small box only had one thing in it, and it wasn't money.
 

How to get some money without hurting anyone? He wasn't sure. His head was a nearly blank slate, his understanding of society based more on instinct than memory. He knew he had been in cities before, and he knew how the exchange system worked, but he couldn't recall what the tokens looked like.
 

He tried to stay inconspicuous while a man in a silvery suit crossed the street ahead of him. Like many of the people who went by he was wearing a pair of thin glasses, with a wire that trailed to the back of his head and vanished beneath his collar. He could tell by the way he was walking that something was distracting him. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at all.

Reggie left the alley, staying far enough behind the man that no one would suspect he was following, and close enough that he wouldn't lose him. He had done this sort of thing before. He was certain of it.
 

He followed the man for two blocks, trying to figure out how he would grab him. He would ask him the things he needed to know. Things he should have asked in the hospital. If he had, they would never have let him out. As if they could have stopped him. Hopefully, the man would be compliant. He didn't like hurting innocent people.
 

The man paused at a street corner. Reggie watched as one of the driverless cars slowed to a stop beside him, and the door to the car swung open. As the man climbed in, Reggie made his move.

He sprinted toward the car, slipping past other pedestrians with reflexive ease. He was on top of it within seconds, even before the man had finished climbing in.
 

They collided. The force of it threw them both forward into the vehicle. Reggie recovered in an instant, holding the surprised, frightened man back with one hand and reaching back to close the door with the other.
 

"Destination," a voice in the car said.

Reggie looked down at the man, who had fallen still to avoid injury. The man looked back at Reggie, clearly afraid he was going to die.

"Destination," the voice repeated.

"Where are you going?" Reggie said.

"Uh. Fourth and Main."

"Fourth and Main," Reggie said.

"The fare will be fifteen dollars. Approximate travel time is four minutes. Do you accept?"

"Yes."

The car started to accelerate.

"Who are you?" the man said timidly. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry," Reggie said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I need money. I have to get to New York."

"What? Money?"

"Yes. To buy things. Like clothes." He pulled at his hand-me-down rags.
 

"I don't know where you're from, but you're wasting your time with me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I can't give you anything, even if I wanted to. Did you just crawl out from under a rock or escape from a mental hospital? We stopped using physical cash fifteen years ago. Everything is electronic. Digital. Secure. Even if you killed me, you can't get what you want."

Reggie stared at him. No wonder the man let himself be so distracted. He leaned off him, pushing himself into the corner of the car. "How can I get to New York?"

"Get a job. Earn it." The man sat up, straightening his suit.
 

"I don't have time."

"That isn't my problem, or anyone else's but yours."

The man's eyes flicked beneath the glasses. Reggie watched curiously. He was doing something with them. He seemed way too calm considering he had just been assaulted.

"What is that?" he asked.

"You don't know what AR glasses are?"

Reggie stared at them. In his mind, he caught a flash of a grid over his eyes. There were shapes in it, and they vanished one by one. Death. Destruction.
 

"Communications," he said, the tense memory turning into understanding. "Information. Augmented reality." He shook his head, trying to dislodge more of what he had forgotten.
 

It was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Yes. I sent an emergency alert to the police."

 
Reggie felt a heavy mix of anger and fear. He looked up and out the windows of the car. Another vehicle was already behind them. It had a bank of lights on top of it, and official markings over the hood. A second slid neatly in front of their car a moment later, and the automated vehicle started slowing and moving to the side of the road.

"That's why you aren't afraid of me?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know who you are, but believe me when I say I think this is for your safety as much as mine. You're clearly troubled, sir, and I suggest you get the help that you need."

Reggie stared at the man as the car came to a stop.
 

"St. Louis authorities have requested compliance during this intervention," the car's computer said. "Please depart slowly, with your hands exposed."

The doors swung open on both sides. The man slid out of his side, keeping his hands out and up. Reggie continued to sit in the car. If the police took him, they would probably bring him back to St. Mary's, only this time he wouldn't have the option to walk back out.
 

He couldn't afford the delay. He needed to get to New York to find Major Katherine Asher.
 

He needed a way out.

Reggie kept his head turned, trying to watch the police in front and behind the car. The doors opened slowly, and two officers exited each vehicle. He could see the guns on their hips. They hadn't come out with them drawn, which was good. They didn't think he was a threat and weren't expecting any resistance.

One of the officers stopped the man in the suit. They spoke for a moment, and he pointed back at the car. Reggie could read his lips, and saw that the man was telling her what he had done. She looked almost sympathetic as she and the other officers approached.

He needed to think of something, fast. He would go out the left side, where the woman was. No matter how trained she might be, she wouldn't be as strong. The police cruisers didn't look automated. If he could take one, he could at least get a few blocks away before ditching it and heading off on foot. The city seemed large enough to disappear in.

As for getting to New York? If he couldn't steal money, he would have to be a little more creative. Maybe people weren't being robbed out on the street, but if the money were digital, the crime would be too.
 

He slid over to the left side of the car, preparing to jump out and take them by surprise. He would only have a few seconds.
 

The officers neared.
 

"Sir?" the female officer said. "Can you please step out of the car?"

Reggie didn't come out. He sat with his eyes forward. Let them think he was confused.

"Sir?"

He could hear her moving a little closer. He could see her in the reflection of the glass. Just a few more steps.

"Sir. Are you feeling okay?"

He didn't respond.
 

"Sir?" this voice came from the right side. A head leaned down into the car. He hadn't been able to watch both sides at once. He had expected they would come at the same time, not staggered.

A hand landed on his wrist. The female officer attached something to it before he could react. He yanked his arm away, then regathered himself to fight his way out of the car.

The car started to move, accelerating quickly. The motion pushed Reggie back in the seat and caught the officers in-between. The one on the right was hit hard in the back as the motion slammed the door on him, and then he fell away. The female officer on the left scampered back before it could hit her.

"What the hell?" Reggie said out loud. The automated car swung hard around a corner, throwing him against the now closed door. It continued to speed away.

"Not very impressive, Reggie," the car's voice said. "You made it what, all of two blocks before getting into trouble you couldn't get out of?"

Reggie managed to sit up. He watched the car maneuver around the other traffic.
 

"Who are you?" he said.
 

"I think the more important question here is who are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm looking for someone. Someone who's been hiding for a long time. A very long time. Is it you?"

"I still don't know what you mean."

The voice sighed. "I've been watching since I realized what happened. It was smart. Very smart. Except I'm smarter. They should have known that. I've been monitoring everything, searching. Waiting for someone who fit the profile. Someone to do something out of the ordinary. Something unexpected and out of place. I will admit, I didn't expect you to assault someone in broad daylight. I thought you were smarter than that, Mitchell. It was so far outside the parameters; I almost missed it."

The name Mitchell resonated within him. It meant something, just like Katherine Asher did. What?
 

"I still don't know what you're talking about. I don't know who you are, or how you're controlling this car."

"Interesting. You aren't lying. What is your name?"

"Reggie."

"Your full name."

"I don't know."

"How old are you, Reggie?"

"I don't know. The doctors said I'm around fifty, give or take."

"Doctors? Based on where this vehicle picked you up, I'm guessing you were staying at St. Mary's? Ah. Here it is. Reggie. John Doe. Picked up twenty years ago, the night the XENO-1 crashed in Antarctica. Coincidence? Suffered heavy burns on the arms. Complete memory loss. An agreeable patient, very calm. Often claims to be waiting."

The voice started to laugh. Slowly at first, and then more steadily.
 

"Is something funny?" Reggie said.

"You really have no idea, do you?" the voice said.

"No. Should I?"

"Does the name Watson mean anything to you?"

Reggie felt his throat tighten, his muscles clench. Death. Destruction. Pain. He could feel it more acutely than he could see it.

"I wish this car had eyes so that I could see the look on your face. I'm certain that it's priceless."