Overreach - 8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Angela looked at Drake with a withering gaze. “Hello, Mr. Weiler,” she said, not hiding the fact that she found him detestable. He stood before the 5 Directors in their chamber. They were the only ones there, yet Drake felt like he was on trial.

“Hello, Mrs. Kinsey,” he said, using her real name to irritate her. “May it please this chamber to have my presence.”

Angela made a scoffing sound. “Hardly,” she spoke, unceremoniously. “Tell us what is going on.”

Drake gulped. “Uh, well, ma’am… it seems as though we’ve had a breach.”

She said nothing. Then, “Who?”

“Elliot Kestle, ma’am. He’s been pulled from the system. No idea where he’s gone and what he’s doing.”

Angela exploded at that. “How the fuck could you be so careless, you ignorant wimp?! Do you know how dangerous he is? Huh? How in the world do you not know where he is?!”

“Uh, well, ma’am, I think my son was the one, to, uh, extract him.” She looked at him dubiously. He continued, “I tried to get him to… divulge more information, ma’am, but there’s only so much I can do.” He gulped. “Also, he’s a minor. I can’t bring him here; the law won’t allow it.”

“Fuck the law!” She yelled, with a dramatic wave of her arm. She pointed at Drake with an accusatory finger. “You. I should have never trust you. With that sick wife of yours, Jesus Christ.”

Drake paled as Angela chuckled. “Oh, yes, don’t you think I don’t know about her little arrangement with your son. You sick, twisted man.” She sighed angrily. “How you could let that go on under your own roof is beyond me.”

She continued, speaking for all five. “We’ve been watching you closely, Drake. Don’t think we don’t know more than you think we do. We know you’re a private person… and we know what kind of… ahem… views you hold.” She let out a curt, cold laugh. “We thought that something like that wouldn’t get in the way of you heading this operation…” She paused. “But we thought wrong. What you are doing is wrong. Had you not been the most qualified person, we would have never hired you.”

“What I am doing is saving this goddamn planet!” He exclaimed, making Angela jump. “Because people like you don’t have the balls to do what needs to be done!” He slammed his fist in his hand for effect. “I knew my son was smarter than I was!” Angela recoiled in understanding as he continued. “You don’t think I understood that? His IQ is fucking off the charts! I just…” He sighed. “It was like laying down breadcrumbs.”

Angela didn’t say anything because she was so busy being surprised. The Directors looked at each other, not knowing what to do or say.

“You took him out early. Why?” Angela finally spoke, surprising the other four Directors, who evidently knew less than she did.

“Uh… Mrs. Kinsey, I - uh, don’t think it’s wise-”

“WHY?!”

“Because! Davidson needs a testing subject, alright? Happy? I wanted Lucas to get him out of that damn place so that I could eventually deliver him to Davidson. My skills were too rusty and Lucas had beginner’s luck on his side. But when I got home, things didn’t work out quite… the way I wanted them to. Lucas hid the boy somewhere, and with getting my summons from you, and my wife freaking out, I had no time to even search for the kid.”

“Angela, what do you know?” Another man asked, his jowls jiggling as he spoke. “Why do you ask him these questions?”

Angela now looked like a deer in headlights, and it suddenly dawned on her that Drake now had more power than she did, because he could out her. She would like nothing more than to say nothing, but, unfortunately, Drake wasn’t going to let that question slide.

He smiled. “Angela Kinsey, here, is the sister of Brian Davidson. Formerly Kinsey. He changed his name years ago.” He chuckled, approaching the bench. “He didn’t want to be associated with his sister. He wanted nothing to do with her. But when he became head of the Federal Research Bureau, she decided to keep him in check by becoming a Director.”

The old Director seemed taken aback. “Angela? You mean your brother orchestrated this?”

Angela seemed flustered - an emotion that didn’t come to her easily. “Well… I wanted to keep an eye on him. That is true. I knew what he was and what he wanted to do… I couldn’t just let him get off scot free. Plus I didn't have any evidence.” She muttered, “Gotta do everything myself.” She composed herself. “But that doesn’t answer the question to why you botched the plan and let him out early, Drake,” she said sharply, no longer hiding her connection. “What an ego on you, Jesus.”

Drake was enraged. “‘What an ego on you, Jesus,’” he mocked with a little accompanying hand motion. The Directors looked insulted, but he couldn’t give any less of a shit. “You know what, Angela? I don’t have to answer anymore of you shitty goddamn questions because I could make your life miserable. All of you. All you need to know is that the kid got out early. We’ll take it from here; the more bureaucracies involved, the worse it will be. So just fucking lay off!” With that, he rounded on his heal and strode out of the chamber, the Directors, insulted, looking on with a sense of very real dread.

Then the four looked at Angela as she remained silent. They had a few questions for her.

*             *            *

Despite Lucas’s enthusiasm for leaving straight away, the boys decided to wait until early morning to leave. That allowed both to get some much-needed rest, and it also allowed their injuries to heal further.

Luckily, most of the damage done by both was primarily superficial. Elliot took special care to change the dressing on Lucas’ scratch wound and make sure the boy was okay physically. Once that was done, they went about packing some stuff in backpacks for their long journey, and straightened the house as to make it seem no one had been there.

Elliot kept wincing as his injuries hadn’t quite healed yet but he kept it to himself. Only when he had been doing it successively did Lucas look at him with concern.

“You ok?” Lucas asked, concerned as they packed the last few items in their backpacks. It was about four in the morning and they were just about to head out. Elliot had basically hobbled down the stairs to put more stuff in the bag.

Elliot brushed it away. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. He zipped up his pack and shouldered it, wincing again.

“Babe…” Lucas said, secretly relishing using the new term. “We beat the shit out of each other. I can tell you’re hurt.”

“Nothing I can’t deal with,” Elliot responded a bit gruffly, then softened when he saw his boyfriend’s face. “I’m serious. Ok? I’m fine.”

“Alright,” the other boy said dubiously, shouldering his own backpack. The two went to the back of the house and slipped out the back door into the darkness of the early morning. They walked in silence, again slipping into the woods behind Lucas’ house. They had brought food, a tent, a heating stove, and other necessities because they knew they would be on their own for a while.

As they walked along, the leaves and stick crunching under their feet, both felt a sense of calm. Elliot felt a bit better - more alive - than he ever felt in the Overreach. He could definitely tell that this was indeed the real world. He took a deep breath and noticed that even the air was fresher.

Lucas looked over at him, his hair falling partially in front of his eyes. “What’s up?” He asked, looking at Elliot tentatively.

Elliot looked back and cracked a half-smile. “Nothing, I’m just thinking about how nice it is out.” He became quiet and looked up, noticing that the sun was just now starting to peak over the horizon. “Look at that,” he said, breathlessly.

It was silent for a minute, and then he spoke up again. “Y’know… I know all that shit I said to you back at the house, but I’m an idiot. You did me such a favor by saving me - I - I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” He sniffed. “I can’t believe the things I did - to you. I hurt you. I never ever want to hurt you. It’s was - it was just instinct, you know? I couldn’t help it.”

Lucas didn’t say anything for a few moments, looking at the ground silently. “I know. But you need to get your emotions under control, Elliot. Hell, you like me, and look what you did.” He watched as extreme regret and shame washed over Elliot’s features. “I’m not gonna lie, it hurt like shit. I don’t think I’ve ever really, like, fought anyone before until you showed up.”

“I’m sorry,” Elliot said, his mind engulfed in shame. He thought back to the warring words that the two had thrown to one another these last two days, noting that he had pursued violence even before trying to understand the other boy. He lashed out on instinct, which had been conditioned from birth. “I hurt you. God, you caught me off guard in the hallway yesterday so bad that I just let loose. I promise the moment I understood what was happening I stopped.”

Lucas set his mouth in a line, not totally appreciating the response. “You were on top of me for a minute, I’d say.” He touched his face. “I’m already turning blue where you hit me. You have a hard punch.”

“I’m so fucked up,” Elliot groaned, stopping and holding his hands to his face in defeat. Lucas stopped a bit ahead of him, watching patiently. Elliot looked up. “You have to know that my mind is a mess; I’m a mess. I swear to God I will never, ever hit you again. I like you. I want to be around you. And I would do anything to protect you. You have my word.”

Lucas looked on, his features softening. “I love you, Elliot. From the minute I heard your voice, I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t even originally going to pull you out. But I couldn’t help myself. And then when I saw you… naked and confused. It wasn’t pity… I was just supremely protective. I wanted you to be mine.” He smiled. “And now you are.”

The boys walked most of the day, staying away from major thoroughfares and buildings with cameras. Around 8 o’clock they found somewhat of a clearing and decided they were going to camp there for the night. They pitched their tent and made a fire, which Elliot knew how to do, and soon they were warming up as the sun went down and the temperature started to drop.

Lucas sat upright near the fire and Elliot laid on the ground with his head in Lucas’ lap. Lucas ran his hands through Elliot’s hair lovingly as they talked.

“You know, I don’t think anyone has ever seen this side of me,” Elliot said suddenly as the conversation had started to lull.

“What do you mean?”

“I had to fight to survive in the Overreach. Every day. I had to work too: six or seven days a week. I had no time for anything, and the scant energy I did have went to taking care of my mother.”

Lucas sighed, bending his head down and pressing a deep kiss onto Elliot. Elliot responded by kissing deeper, all the energy pent up releasing with that kiss. Lucas straightened, a smile dancing on his face. “You’re a good kisser, though. I -”

Suddenly Lucas became very quiet, and Elliot noticed two things at once. Lucas’ eyes became very wide and frightened, and there was a glint under his neck.

“Don’t move or I’ll cut,” a gruff voice called out behind Lucas. Elliot moved slightly to get a better look at whoever it was, but stopped when the blade was pressed in enough to draw a bit of blood. Lucas whimpered, eyeing Elliot.

“Ok, ok,” Elliot said as diplomatically as possible. Anger - real, unbridled anger - started to rise within him as he tried to make a game plan in his head. Obviously whoever this man was had the ability to stealthily sneak up on the two of them, and he most likely had another weapon. “What do you want? Who are you?”

Elliot could hear the humor in the other man’s voice. “Oh, I’d probably be something akin to a dog catcher. Only for humans.”

Dread came over Elliot. He knew what this was immediately, but played along. “What do you mean?”

The man yanked Lucas to his feet, the poor boy struggling to not get cut by the knife. Elliot got a good look at the man then: brown stubble, a dangerous glare, and dressed in all professional gear. He definitely had another weapon.

“You know exactly,” the man chuckled. The fire glinted off his eyes and the knife, making the situation seem even more intense. “I was sent by an interested party. My instructions are to bring you back and kill anyone who gets in my way.”

“Back where?” Elliot had to grit his teeth.

Genuine mirth came over the man’s face. “You’ll see,” he said, and with a swift motion guided the knife away from Lucas’ throat and directly into his side. Lucas’ cry of sheer terror and pain nearly drowned out what the man said next. “You won’t need this once we get to where we’re going.”

Thanks for reading!