A Visit

The silence gave Hack a chance to think. He found it very strange that he couldn't remember anything, not even the girl curled up on the floor of the helicopter who, according to Wretch, was the whole reason he had agreed to help them. Who was this girl? And, who was he? He, who they called 'Hack?' He had so many questions but he didn't dare break the silence yet. Maybe Wretch would speak up but he had been pretty quiet, too besides shifting occasionally in his seat and glancing impatiently at his watch. Then, he stood up and pounded on the cockpit to tell the pilot that they were going to take a little detour. Hack perked up, what did he mean a 'detour?' Wretch saw this and grinned as he shook his head.

"It's possible we'll kill two birds with one stone at this place," he said.

"What do you mean?" Hack's smile disappeared.

"This place might jog your memory and give us back Dagger."

"What?"

"You'll see, trust me. If this guy hasn't got the slightest idea, though, we're doomed.:

"Well that's a happy thought," Hack frowned as he watched Wretch strap a shotgun to his back.

"Just as a precaution," he assured Hack while throwing an automatic rifle to him.

Slowly, the helicopter began to descend on top of an old apartment building causing the entire place to shake and rumble as if in an earthquake. First out of the helicopter was Wretch, taking the lead with his shotgun while Hack followed closely behind. Their guns stiffly pressed against their shoulders; the gun's sight looking for a victim. Wretch's gun steadily aimed inside the hatch he had kicked open with the toe of his shoe. Quietly, the two of them dropped through the hatch and into the building. As they began to walk through the hall, Hack tripped over a hole in the carpet, dust plumed out of the ground and into his lungs. Then, the two of them realized how old the place really was.

The wallpaper on the walls held a yellow tinge and were beginning to peel away, the carpet was scuffed with giant holes that exposed the old wood beneath, moth eaten curtains covered dirt stained windows, and the wood seemed to be partly eaten away by termites.

"Man, this place is disgusting! Let's just hope it's not completely vacant." Wretch poked his head into several rooms.

"Why?" Hack asked.

"There's someone we need to see... Anyway, Hack, do you recognize this place?"

"No... Why should I?"

"You used to live here."

"Here? This place?"

"Yeah, when it looked a little decent, though."

They came to another room but the door was closed. Wretch jerked his head to motion for Hack to get on the other side of the door. Hack opened the door and they quietly stepped through the doorway. This room was clean with its bed made, silk curtains, refurbished wood, and light blue carpet. After a quick scan of the room, a computer caught Wretch's eye.

"He's here," he slowly walked into another part of the room.

"Who?" Hack studied the codes on the screen.

"Zero?" Wretch said although, he wasn't talking to Hack.

Author's Note

Oh no... Zero? :o You'll see. Hope you enjoyed this!

Reviews

[Jacques]

A great chapter, what i love about you as a writer is you're capability to write for these characters and not let the lines blur and confuse each character as the same, and i do think that's a hard thing to do but you grasp it. But once again, the big story is being revealed but sometimes i think what you do confuse is not the characters, but the toning and the timeline. I do think you need to elaborate more if something is past or present even if it seems simply obvious to you, because it might not to readers and that is one thing we have to do as writers. The ending is one of the best things of the chapter and it was well executed. Well done.