“You’re slaying263 the dragon, so keep it together264 until the job’s done,” Albert told me, using his strange metaphors every time I got carried away265 during the practice. Surprisingly, it worked for me when I imagined myself standing in front of a flamethrowing beast. It made me calmer and focused.
I nodded to Marco, who was surveying the place and keeping his eye on266 the door. The dragon was slain. It took a minute and a half, and it was time to leave. I bid a silent farewell to all those creatures in the cages, and we stepped out of the lab.
We returned to the maintenance room where Consuela, already changed into her civilian jeans and hoodie, was waiting for us.
“Change of plans, guys,” she said. “The next security shift came earlier than usual. I won’t be able to push that cart back without them noticing it. So, I’m going to distract them with some ‘Consuela chit- chat’ and you try to leave the place the same way we entered.”
“What about the security cameras?” Marco asked.
“They usually check the recording the next day, provided there were no incidents, but I won’t be returning to work tomorrow to find that out,” she said, smiling. “The job’s done, right?”
We both nodded that it was.
“So, let’s just get the heck out of here nice and easy, all right?”
We could not agree more. We moved out and proceeded to the elevator.
“You take the stairs,” Consuela said, showing us the fire escape door. “They haven’t installed the cameras in there yet. Once you are on Level One, after my signal, turn right and you’ll see the door with the exit sign in about ten meters. That’s your door. You know the code, right?”
We did.
“What’s the signal?” Marco asked.
“I’ll knock three times on the door. Let’s go,” she said and pressed the elevator button.
We took the stairs and waited for her signal to come out when we got to Level One. We heard muffled sounds of a brief conversation and then the three knocks. Marco slowly opened the door and saw Consuela’s back. She was blocking the view of the security guard so that he would not be able to see us behind her. As we stepped in the corridor and started to walk to the exit, the fire escape door shut with a loud squeak267 behind us.
“What was that?” we heard a male voice say. We started running.
“The wind got inside through the ventilation system,” Consuela said, still blocking the view. “Let me go and check.”
“I’ll do it,” the male said, and we heard some rattling noises of a keyring.
“Come on, Bruce.” Consuela was not giving up. “Just stay in your office and I’ll let you know if anything’s up.”
Marco punched the code, and the door opened. In a matter of a second, we were out.
Two centers to go.
The next place on the itinerary was in the center of the city, a three-hour drive from our research and training facility. The lab with viruses was on the top floor of a skyscraper that belonged to one of Dolion’s powerful allies, an extremely rich oil tycoon. It was much trickier to get in, but we also had a person inside, who was in fact one of the security officers. We had to wait for his shift to do the job, which was three days away.
Marco suggested a short vacation. Just the two of us, away from missions and the lab equipment. I thought it was a great idea. After confirming with the team that it was okay, we drove to the ocean shore to get some salt air in our lungs. It felt great to be out, not to think about “work” for a few days. The work part wasn’t hard, but not thinking about our past was much harder. Marco and I had agreed not to bring up268 the subject of our lost partners unless it was absolutely necessary.
When we were facing death in the other world, we’d made a pact to be together no matter what. We’d felt like we owed it to Beth and Mark. They’d sacrificed their lives so that we could live. Human nature, however, is a complicated thing to control. Your heart and your mind do not get along well all the time. I could not help but start comparing subconsciously269 when I looked at Marco. It was amazing how these parallel realities could create identical and yet different people. I wondered if he felt the same way but did my best not to ask him. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Marco asked me if I ever thought about the other Marco.
“I don’t mean to sound jealous or anything, but I sometimes think about Beth. I kind of feel guilty every time I do that, though.”
We were sitting on an old bench a few meters away from the ocean. A couple of seagulls were circling in the sky waiting for someone to throw a piece of bread at them. There were not too many people around on the pier because it was a weekday afternoon, and it was a bit windy. I snuggled up to Marco to keep warm but had to sit straight to look at him in the eyes.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” I said. “You too?”
“Yes, I also think about him… sometimes. It’s just we agreed not to…”
“Right. I didn’t want to talk about it, but this place reminded me of the time when we didn’t have to run or eliminate things, you know?”
“Totally,” I said and took his hand in mine. “We should talk about these things.” “You think so?” He looked straight in my eyes.
“I do. There should be nothing unsaid between us. We’re in constant danger as it is, and we might not have too much time, you know?”
“So, truth all the way? Cross your heart?” He stretched his pinky out for a pinky-swear. “I cross my heart.” I smiled and shook his pinky with mine.
“You know what? I just remembered what we used to say as kids when we piggy swore.” “You mean pinky swore?”
“Make friends, make friends. Never ever break friends. If you do, you’ll catch the flu, and that will be the end of you!”270
“Wow, that’s brutal.”
“Kind of scary if you think about it. I just realized it.”
“Do you, um, want to talk about Lizzy?” I asked him after a short pause.
Marco looked at his watch thoughtfully. “Maybe not now,” he said. “I just wanted to know how you’d feel about it if I did.”
“I’d be fine with that.” I snuggled up back to him.
I would love to write more about our holiday. It was wonderful, but short. We had a couple great meals (sea food, white wine, and some long-forgotten mind-blowing271 desserts) and nice walks along the shore. I loved every second of it.
We were back to “the