Running, all of the sudden I was running. I couldn't remember when I had started; all I know is that I was running. Straight for the Outsider’s meeting lounge. I didn’t stop until I reached the door, drawing in a breath and opening it. Everybody was already sitting, waiting on me,
“How urgent,” I asked.
Tom, our leader, looked at me with a neutral look before replying, “We’re sending somebody in.”
It seemed like the words echoed throughout the room. To the inside, beyond the walls, the thought was chilling but I knew better than to show fear. One of my fellow agents, Miranda spoke up,
“Nobody has ever survived a mission to the inside. What makes you think we can manage it this time?”
She was right; it was a hard task to do, but an honorable one, to be willing to lose your life to support and help those in the quarantine zone. If Tom thinks it’s the best option then it must be, I thought.
“We have a plan. Cass,” he turned to me, “we’d like to send you. You’re young, and people can trust you. It’d be one issue out of the way.”
The thought of honor left me for a second, “what?!” I asked, scared senseless.
The agents around me gave me a sad smile, maybe because they were sad that they weren’t chosen, or because they were sad that I, a child, was the one destined to die.
“Cassandra, people would trust you, they wouldn’t view you as a threat. You could get the better of them, and Lord knows you’re sneaky. The only thing you’d have to be worried about is the infected. Stay out of their way, and you’ll be fine. It’s a simple task, find their leader and assassinate them. I know you’re capable, even though you’re young.” He explained, and my senses came back to me.
I had to do this. For the people of the quarantine zone, and especially for the Outsiders, my fellow agents who had viewed me as more than a child and took me in, they deserve it. I took his words in for a moment, gain trust, observe, determine leader, assassinate, and get out without a trace. It would be the hardest mission I’ve had, but I knew I could pull it off. I had to.
“Okay. I’ll do it. When do we go,” Tom let out a breath, “tomorrow afternoon. We’ll need the time in the morning to prepare you weapons and rations, so you’ll need to be quick to find shelter, being out after dark probably won’t be a good idea.”
“Alright, I’ll be ready. Thanks for the advice.”
The meeting was brought to an end, and I headed straight for my room. Lots of planning and preparations to be done, I knew the city fairly well, since I grew up not too far from it. That would definitely be a big help, it’d be crucial that I find shelter before dark. I found my knife and pistol in the back of a drawer and held them in my hands for a second. The nightmares of what I had been through before arriving in the quarantine zone coming back. The horrors of the Inside when the infection first started, I shuddered at the thought of what it might be like now.
I set the two weapons down, and pulled most of the clothes from my closet. When this had all first begun, I didn't have time to pack many clothes, nobody did, and since the Quarantine zone was in the country it was hard to find new ones.
Eventually, I got bored of packing and began to think. There were many possible outcomes of my mission, most of them bad. Maybe I'd get lucky, no, I would be lucky.
*3rd person
As Tom watched the young girl rush around, preparing supplies, he noticed the outfit she wore. A white dress, he didn't find much sense in the outfit, but Cass complained that it was one of the few things she had, and that she would keep her real clothes for when she traveled farther into the city. He shook it off, it was really none of his concern, and he trusted her judgment. She was undoubtedly clever and quick on her feet, he knew, which is something that would come in handy in the world she was about to enter.
prev chapter
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Subscribe
Flag Writing
