Search and Rescue

It hurt, let there be no delusions about that. I don’t know how many floors up we were but it doesn’t take much speed to cause the littlest damage. There was smoke, darkness, and pain. All of us on the bottom of a half crushed metal box, a tangle of limbs. I don’t know if I blacked out of not. There was the confusion of voices and hammering. There was light eventually. Flashlights, really bright ones. Then in that grotesque half-light I was pulled out of the elevator and I saw the man from the American Eagle store.

He smiled at me, “Good to see you again, Peaceful.” He offered his hand and helped me to my feet. I was dizzy. It felt like I should know him but maybe that is because he acted as if this is the case. He could see I had no idea who he is. “’Likeness of God’, I’ve been looking for you for months.”

There’s a commotion as Usurper was retrieved from the wreckage, kicking and shouting. He was pulled up by his arms and looked up to see the two of us. “You! Again!” He lunged at the man, but was held back by those holding his arms. “How did you find us?”

“Same as the last time,” he handed me off to someone, I was too dizzy to stand on my own, and then stepped up to Usurper. “I’m surprised your owner didn’t have the tracking device removed,” he looked back at me. “We all deserve a second chance.” He pulled his hand back and struck Usurper hard across the jaw.

Usurper started bleeding but acted unfazed, the look of hate in his eyes tried to burn into Likeness of God. Usurper started struggling again, but I could tell he was not him self. His eyelids were weighted despite his rage. His movements sluggish, like trying to run in mud.

“I will not be deprived of my pay a second time, you pair are worth a lot on the black market.” He pulled out his gun and fired it into the elevator car. Sparks flew out as a fire began eating away at the contents left in the elevator. Only Usurper and myself had been pulled out.