Dangerous Memory {ONC 2021}

Chapter 14

Of course he didn't!

Alba ignored the anxious voices and Agent 19's scared look and headed to the door.

"You can't leave this room, Agent 23! It's not safe."

She turned around, the door a couple of meters away, and faced Agent 16-E.

"I have to go."

"That's an order, Agent!"

Agent 16-E had never looked more intimidating and serious.

I must look like an idiot if I dare to defy her. Or crazy...

"I'm sorry, but no order will stop me."

She gave one last look at her team's chief and ran to the door, closing behind her with a bang.

The siren hadn't stopped wailing. She left the room and started running through the corridors. She didn't see any other agents and the more she neared her destination the more the lights were blinking due to the unstable system.

She passed the training room but halted and returned. The room was locked, but the guns inside it were looking useful. Falling on the door with her body force, she made a sound of pain and realized how stupid that was.

It's not a fucking movie, Alba.

She took a hairpin, and a few strands of hair fell on her forehead.

Let's see if you remember Kayla's lesson, she thought as she remembered that Kayla had taught her how to open a locked door if she ever wanted it.

Alba, a teenager at that time, has laughed and called Kayla crazy. But it turned out that the lesson could save her life.

I don't have something to protect myself, but they do. Yes! she cheered once the door opened. Grabbing a gun that she remembered using during her test, she noticed that her phone was no longer in her back pocket.

It fell while I was running, I guess. It's okay, Alba. You are on your own. No need to worry.

Holding the gun tightly, she started running again. She heard a few strange noises coming from the end of the corridor. Deep breaths and loud thumps filled the place, and Alba barely stopped before someone could spot her. She peeked and saw two agents fighting with three people she had never seen. The strange men had a tattoo on their necks and seemed to win the fight.

Resisting every instinct for self-preservation, she bent her hand that held the gun behind her back and stepped in front of those men.

"Hey, idiots!" she called and grabbed their attention.

The enemies stopped for a second, but that was all that she needed. Moving fast, she shot the closer one. One of the agents, a woman with dark red hair, kicked her opponent and using his surprise against him, pinned him on the ground. The other agent continued fighting with his own opponent.

"We got it from here," the red-haired agent confirmed.

Alba nodded.

Let's hope you are right.

She didn't need another word and continued. The base had never looked so big before.

Finally!

Nat's office was around the corner, and apart from the two agents, Alba hadn't seen anyone else. Despite being under lockdown, she expected to see the strongest agents roaming through the place to find Neva.

The door was open, and Alba stormed inside without noticing the few drops of blood near the doorframe.

Everything was messy and looked like a storm had happened in the once tidy office.

Alba scanned the room and noticed a dark stain under the desk. She moved around and found a lake of blood.

She put her hand on her mouth, and her stomach twitched.

At least, she's not here. That means she's alive, right?

But no one answered, not even her brain.

Alright. It's okay. Think. There is no way that someone is inside Rob's office. And the entire west wing is out of the plan. That only leaves the Great Room, but it's risky. I don't know how many Neva's men are on the base, and if they are in the Great Room, I'm dead.

She paced up and down, the clock on the wall ticking menacingly.

Axel or Rob could be dead by now. Nat is probably injured unless that's not her blood, and I'm not going back to my team. I can't stay here and let them find me. No!

She undid her braid that was now a mess of hair escaping from everywhere after the adventures of the last hours and pulled her hair in a ponytail. She made sure she had enough bullets and went to the only place she could think of.

The enemy can't find me first, and that's why I'll go to them, she thought.

The room she was looking for wasn't far. With a determination she didn't know she had, she decided that she had to kill or die. She didn't know what the others knew, and she didn't have a way to communicate in that ghost base.

She believed was that Neva and his partner had tricked them, and Neva was about to take full control of the base. If that happened, they were all doomed. But Alba thought that if she managed to kill his partner, maybe, Neva wouldn't be so strong.

The door was closed, and she remembered that she once had walked confidently inside, feeling secure for the first time after Bratislava. He had protected her then, but now, she knew the truth. His mask was gone, and her mind could see what her eyes had seen three months ago.

Putting all her power to the leg that was intact from the accident, she kicked the door, opening it.

She raised the gun and entered the room.

He was there, standing, almost surprised to see her.

"Hello, Agent 23. I understand that your memory is back." He smiled, but his eyes weren't warm.

"I do. I know everything, Agent O." She aimed, and her finger brushed the trigger.

Agent O raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you had it in you. Can you really kill someone?"

"Yes. You are my enemy."

"Am I?"

"You wanted to kill me! You are Neva's partner! You want to control the world!"

"You are right, but I'm not the only villain in your story."

Don't let him mess with your head, Alba. Shoot him!

She hugged the trigger and slightly pushed it.

Something cold touched the left side of her head, and a tall figure appeared next to her.

"Drop your gun, zvezda. Or I'll make a hole in your head. I bet you won't look pretty then."

She shallowed and cursed herself for not noticing him.

Why do I have to be so stupid? Why do I always focus on one thing?

"Now!"

The gun was touching her head, and Alba knew that the bullet would reach her head before she had the chance to shoot Agent O.

She dropped her hands slowly.

"Put the gun on the ground and throw it toward me," Agent O ordered her.

She did it and stood up. "Now what? You're on the base. Do you release your chip to the world?"

Neva smiled, showing her white teeth. "Not yet. First, we need someone to test it. And I have the perfect candidate."

Agent O moved fast and hit her head from behind.

Alba fell unconscious, fear filling her head as Neva's last words echoed in her ears.