The List 56-60

Danger Ahead, Sacrifice, Kick in the Head, No Way Out, Rejection

#56 Danger Ahead

            Em shoved Red through the double doors, laughing, and made her way back to Kat's dressing room. Louie poked her head into the main room to see how full it was. the wedding was less than twenty minutes away from starting.

            "Why Louie, don't you look pretty."

            Louie quickly turned around to see none other than the General standing before her. Sighing in utter annoyance, she crossed her arms.

            "Don't remember seeing your name on the guest list." she growled.

            "It wasn't." he said, brushing her off completely and removing something from his jacket. "I just came to drop this off for Lieutenant Zonie."

            "What could you possi-" Louie stopped short, realizing something. "Lieutenant?"

            The General gave a fake smile and handed the piece of paper to Louie. She snatched it from him and opened it. She felt as if she had been punched in the stomach as she read the orders for Red to report to Fort Detrick in Maryland in two day's time to accept his position as Lieutenant and be given his post. She looked up at the General, who wore a smug look.

            "Red is getting married in fifteen minutes." she said with some difficulty.

            "Oh, I'm sorry the war can't wait until Zonie gets hitched." he mocked.

            "You can't do this."

            "There's a car waiting outside to escort Lieutenant Zonie home then to Fort Detrick. We leave in three minutes."

            Louie panicked, her mind going in three million different directions at once.

            "I'll go in his place." she blurted out. "We're both reserves, it won't make a difference. Take him when my orders come up."

            "By the way, that reminds me."

            The General handed her another piece of paper which said the same thing. But instead of saying Richard Zonie, it said Louise O'Connell. Louie's stomach dropped and she felt as if she would vomit.

            Shaking her head, she quickly turned around, threw open the doors, and rushed down the aisle. She only make it halfway before seeing the two soldiers speaking with Red. Voices screamed in her head and her skin felt like it was on fire. Red shot her a look of panic. Her head was swimming; she didn't know what to do.

            Turning back around, she saw the General standing at the door.

            "Lieutenant." he grinned, motioning her to go first.

            Through the voices in her head, she heard Kat scream.

            The end everything any of them knew had been set in motion.

 

 

#57 Sacrifice

            Piper hung up the phone and her hand began trembling like it never had before. She had driven her car into a canal; ran away from home; basically stole cars on a monthly basis; had evaded the police for two years; been in three car crashes; had been chased by bounty hunters; gave herself to men for money; but none of that scared her as much as what she was about to do.

            Early the next morning, while Kim and Charlie still slept, Piper took the car and drove out to the airport. Toby was already there, sitting on the hood of his car. Over the last two years, she had only come face to face with the detective once before. Swallowing a considerable amount of spit, she checked that the safety on her gun was on and slowly made her way out of the car. She aimed the gun at Toby as she walked over to him.

            "What's that for?" he asked, keeping still.

            "To make sure you listen to what I have to say." she said, stopping a few feet from him.

            "You know I can get you for possession of a deadly weapon now." he sighed, disappointed.

            "You've already got me." she whispered.

            Toby looked confused. A few minutes of silence passed between the two. What the hell was she playing at?
            "Kim's sick." she said at long last.

            "Then bring her to the hospital. I know you guys have forged your way into hospitals before."

            "Not that kind of sick."

            "What kind of sick the-?" he stopped and crossed his arms. "Is she bad?"

            Piper's hands began shaking and her eyes filled with fresh tears. She kept her composure as best she could.

            "Yes."

            "What do you want me to do about it?"

            "You're going to bring me a doctor and another year's worth of her meds."

            "And why would I do that Piper?"

            She took a few deep breaths, mustering all the courage she had left.

            "Because in exchange for that... you get me."

            It took a moment for Toby to fully process what she was proposing.

            "You'll go to jail." he said, sounding angry with her decision. "Everything you've done in the past two years will have been in vain."

            The tears started streaming down her already bright red checks.

            "My friend is dying."

            Piper tossed the gun at his feet and laced her fingers together on the back of her head.

            "All of it, everything they've done, it'll be for nothing if you do this."

            She got on her knees and lowered her head.

            "That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

 

 

#58 Kick in the Head

            Tikki blinked several times, cocking her head to the side a bit.

            "Damien?" she asked, still now fully comprehending what was going on.

            His evil grin disappearing, Damien glanced over at his cousin, grenade still in hand.

            "What are you doing?" she said, her confusion turning into annoyance.

            Damien pointed at the grenade and tried starting several sentences in his defense. Tikki waved her hand to hush him. The men at the end of the road stopped shooting at the cart Tikki and Damian were hiding behind.

            "But it would get rid of them." he complained.

            "Yeah, it would also get rid of us." she snapped back. "Idiot."

            "Hey!"

            "Damien, grenades?"

            "Well I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas."

            The shooting started again, forcing the two into crouching positions.

            "Okay miss 'I've got everything under control', what's your plan for getting us out of here in one piece?" he mocked.

            "Damien, you are really pushing it."

            "And what are you going to do about it?"

            "Listen you moron, can we not do this right now?"

            "Hey," he pointed at Tikki, "stop calling me names!"

            After a second or two, they both glanced down at the hand Damien was pointing with the see pin. When they looked at his other hand, there was the grenade. Both cursed simultaneously before Damien threw the grenade down the road.

            "Grenade!" Tikki yelled in warning to the men.

            Tikki and Damien ran from the cart toward the bridge and dove for the lower land below it. Seconds later, the grenade exploded. Neither of them moved until debris stopping falling on them. Staying low to the ground, Tikki called out.

            "You guys still alive?"

            Silence.

            "That wasn't cool." one of the men at the other end of the road yelled.

            Damien laughed to himself, only stopping when he felt his cousin's foot collide with the top of his head. He groaned loudly, grabbing his head. Tikki giggled slightly.    

            "Idiot."

 

 

#59 No Way Out

            It was as if one minute he wasn't there and then he was. It was such a strange feeling; he couldn't describe it. The closest explanation he could come up with was birth. One minute you're not there, you're born, and the you exist. He noticed he was wearing a pair of blue pajama pants, a plain white tee shirt, and no shoes. Then he remembered the accident.

            The white walls and cold floor made sense now. He was in a hospital. That did not explain the weird floating feeling he was experiencing though. Hearing someone sniffle, he turned around to his friend standing by a hospital bed with his back to him.

            "Oh Mike, you have no idea how good it is to see you man." he sighed, walking around the bed to face Mike.

            Mike did not respond. Actually, it was as if he didn't even hear him. Mike was looking down at the person in the bed. His eyes traveled down to the bed and he saw himself lying there. A large tube came out of his mouth and several other tubes came out of his arms. Backing up, he shook his head in disbelief. Rushing to the foot of the bed, he looked at the chart.

            Steven Palmer.

            Steve suddenly could explain the weird floating feeling. A doctor walked into the room and over to the machine he was hooked up to.

            "Are you ready?" he asked.

            Mike continued to stare at the body.

            "Ready for what?" Steve asked, despite the fact that they couldn't hear him.

            The doctor put his hand on the switch on the machine.

            "Hey, no! I'm not dead!"

            Mike looked up at the doctor and nodded.

            "I'm not dead!" Steve screamed.

            Mike turned around and started to leave the room.

            "Mike!"

            He stopped and looked over his shoulder. He only glanced back for a moment before leaving the room.

            "Mike! I'm not dead!"

            Mike didn't came back in the room. The floating feeling became more intense. The doctor pulled the last tube out of Steve's body, and reached for the switch. Steve stared at the door.

            "I'm not dead!"

 

 

#60 Rejection

            Laughing at Guillermo's joke, Damien looked over his shoulder again at ViVi. It was a bit hard not to notice how she had caught his attention. Handing his cup to Tikki, he looked back at her and Guillermo.

            "Gentlemen," he said as a farewell, bowing his head slightly. "Tikki."

            Damien turned and left the small group Tikki watched him for a moment, praying silently that her cousin would not do anything stupid and endanger their new alliance with the Spanish. She cursed under her breath as it hit her that this was Damien she was talking about.

            ViVi was young, slender, and very beautiful. And to top it all off, she was the Queen of the Spanish Gandros. Tikki saw that as a huge flashing warning sign screaming 'Danger! Danger!'. Damien on the other hand saw it as a challenge.

            "Señor Damien."

            He bowed before the queen. "Your majesty."

            ViVi outstretched her hand and he lightly placed a kiss on it. She got up from her chair and motioned him to walk with her.

            "How do you enjoy Spain, señor?"

            "Very much your majesty. You have been extremely generous to me and my friends."

            Damien grinned as he watched the way her body swayed as she glided along.

            "Your majesty, forgive me for my boldness, but may I ask you a question?"

            "Of course."

            He stepped in front of her, causing her to stop. She assumed he was about to ask for more help from her people. there was something odd about the way he was looking at her though. He stepped closer to her.

            "May I kiss you?"       

            He have her a moment to respond, but she just stood there. Assuming that meant yes, he leaned in. He did not get very far though before he felt her hand fly across his check. He sighed heavily, looking away from her.

            "You will leave now, señor." she demanded.

            Damien nodded. "I will leave now."

            He quickly left her and returned to where his cousin stood with a few others. Tikki smirked as she noticed his check was quickly turning bright red.

            "Not interested, cuz?" she said with fake concern.

            "Shut up." he scowled.

            The three Spanish Gandros looked at each other and suppressed the urge to laugh.

            "Señor," one of them said, "you do know that the queen is only fifteen."

            Damien blinked a few times.

            "What?"

            Before any of them could answer him, Tikki was on the ground hysterically laughing.