Chapter 13.3

Fear flashed in my head as I lay there motionless. The night my parents got dragged away flashed through my head. Is this what Becker meant? Did they know? Oh god, oh god. I could hear two sets of footsteps enter the apartment moving almost methodically as various doors opened and then closed.

I rolled over and opened the side table drawer, removing the pistol held inside. I could surprise them, maybe take out one. But, that would make things worse for Nick, Vicki and Kai when they came back. No, I couldn’t let myself be taken…but what if that note was left by a dead head who already grabbed those three.

They don’t always tell me when they’re going to be raiding as the resistance, it keeps me out of the loop and more innocent that way. This could be unrelated, they might not know. Oh god. I crawled out of bed, crossing silently to the closet where I tucked myself amongst the minimal amount of clothing I actually owned after everything was said and done. It almost looked pitiful.

The footsteps sounded closer, that was Nick’s room door. The first bedroom and furthest from mine. Why were there only two people? Wouldn’t there be more if they were raiding us to arrest us? Four people lived here and there were eight when they arrested my parents. Why only two for me?

My mind regressed back to they might already have Nick, Kai and Vicki. Another door opened, closer this time, Kai’s. They didn’t spend a lot of time in his room, not much there to search, though I definitely had less. Vicki’s was next. I could hear drawers opening and shutting, then something shattered. I flinched and bit down on my arm to keep from screaming.

They exited Vicki’s room and entered mine, the room illuminating with a pale red light the opening of the door from the exterior. My lighting settings that allowed for someone to enter without waking anyone asleep after a certain point in the night. My barren walls and drawers didn’t leave much to search through. If they hadn’t found anything yet, that meant all of the resistance gear was out in use or packed away somewhere else. I could see two men dressed in all black carrying pistols.

“How long until those drugs were supposed to kick in?” one of them whispered.

“Half an hour, maybe less,” the other responded.

I bit my lip and tapped a message into my wrist interface, sending it to Vicki only to hear her phone ding in the next room. My lip began to quiver.

“How long ago did she eat?”

“She spent easily half an hour in the shower alone, she should be subdued.”

The door to the closet opened and two men leveled pistols at me. “Hello, dearest,” one snarled.

A pair of hands grabbed my shirt and threw me into the center of the room. I stumbled and tripped, sprawling to the ground. My bionics felt stiff, like the lubrication on the joints had dried up.

“She look like resistance to you?” one of the men asked.

“No, but who knows these days. The captain’s daughter turned out to be a fag, so she could be any kind of feral or sympathizer.”

I tried to sit up, only to barely be able to get my shoulders off the ground. I sucked at the air, barely able to breathe. These were Becker’s men. One of them held a pistol to my forehead as the other tore into my closet, pulling the clothes out. My computer gear clattered across the floor with a careless throw.

“Computer? Should we take it?”

“Old and outdated, no way it could gain access to anything.”

“There’s nothing here.”

The man above me scowled. “I am so sure this one is a feral or sympathizer.”

“Sadly the government won’t allow us to just arrest her cause she’s military, they need her skills.”

“She’s a mechanic, what specialized skills could she have?”

“Former Dead Head Hacker, don’t want those skills handed over to the wrong people. Now would we?” The man continued to rip into my closet, emptying it completely before turning back to us. “There’s nothing here.”

“Becker’s not going to be happy,” the man above me said.

“Tell me about it,” the other man scoffed. “Leave her, she won’t be able to move for a few hours anyway.”

Both men left the room and tears began to streak down my cheeks. I didn’t move until I heard the front door open and shut once more. I began to pull myself across the floor, the exertion taking its toll on me. I wheezed for oxygen, feeling faint as I got to the hallway. I lay my head down on my arm, trying to draw lungful’s of oxygen. Each breath sent a spike of pain into my chest as I lay there. Black dots swarmed my vision, being pushed back occasionally by a quick breath.

Each time the black dots got pushed back less and less. I couldn’t move as I stared at the door. A soft click reached my ears and the door opened. “Tawny!”