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1
DEAN
OPS compound.
Exactly 1 year, 3 months, 27 days, 15 hours, 33 minutes, and 23 seconds from the day everything fell apart.
Also known as FNG-Day.
Blood pouredfrom my side as I pressed a rag to the wound. Honey stood beside me, her fingers interlocked with mine. I pressed my thumb to the sensor, surprised when it activated immediately and the doors opened. The entry was dead, but that wasn’t unusual for this hour.
“So…this is it,” she nodded, looking around. “It’s impressive.”
I smirked at her fake adoration for the reception area. She hadn’t seen anything yet. “Come with me.”
I led her over to the elevator and hit the button. Again, it scanned my print and allowed me access. I thought they would have removed me from the system after what happened. Maybe it was a trap. They were drawing me in because they knew I was a traitor. They just wanted me to think they were still on my side. I guess I’d find out soon enough if my actions made them lose all faith in me.
“Where are we going?” she asked as we stepped inside.
I tore my eyes from her green gaze and pressed the button labeled T3. The doors closed and we descended into the depths of the nuclear silo. “You’ll see.”
I could practically feel her rolling her eyes at me. “Always so mysterious.”
“But it works for us,” I answered, wincing slightly as my side pinched. If I made it down there alive, I hoped they’d treat me before interrogating me.
What we really needed was elevator music, something to lighten the mood as we plunged into a whole new reality. The anticipation built up in my gut. This would only end one way. I just had to make sure I directed it correctly so I didn’t end up with yet another hole in my body. Cash…he was the one I was most worried about. But it was time to pay the piper.
The doors opened and I stepped out, half expecting guns to be immediately pointed at my face. Instead, the whole scene was anticlimactic. I guided Honey to the IT room, knowing at least someone was there. I looked directly at the camera as I passed. Someone was always watching. What I wasn’t expecting was the conference room to be moved to this level. Or for everyone to be gathered around, yelling as if they were in the middle of a crisis.
But those shouts all died down the minute I opened the door and walked through. Dash shook his head at me. Cash looked like he was about to explode. But it was Fox that surprised me the most.
“Man! I fucking knew it!” He jumped up from his seat and ran around the table, wrapping me in a big hug. My hand slipped from my wound, smearing blood all over his body, but he didn’t care. He stepped back and slapped both of my arms. “I fucking knew you couldn’t die! Did you see the milk cartons?”
I nodded. “I saw the milk cartons. The umbrella was a nice touch.”
“I had them specially made. I just knew you were out there.”
“I told you?—”
“You can’t die,” Fox grinned. “I fucking knew it!”
“Excuse me, but what the actual fuck?” Cash snapped, throwing his pen down on the table. “Where the fuck have you been? And who is that?”
I looked over at Honey and shrugged. “This is my wife.” Again, they all just stared at me. “So, what job are we working on?”
2
CASH
“What job are we working on?”I asked, completely baffled by the words coming out of FNG’s mouth. “Did you seriously just ask what job we’re working on?”
I was ready to explode, to grab him by the collar and shake the stupid out of him. After all this time, the entire fucking year that passed where I tried to convince these guys that he was dead because all evidence pointed to the fact that he was fucking buried in the ground…and he walked through my door at the most critical moment.
“Well…I’m not sure what you want me to say,” he laughed. “There really is no good way to return from the dead.”
Kavanaugh stood up, backing up a few steps. “But you weren’t…” He glanced around the room at everyone, swallowing hard. “You weren’t actually…you know…dead,” he half whispered. “This is really you. I mean, you’re you and not some zombie version of you. Or a ghost. Or even…a mummy.”
“No,” FNG said slowly. “This is pretty much me.”
