Page 14 of Collapse

And he wasn’t looking at the body.

He was carefully looking in all directions.

As it was, I never got to turn the engine–that was masking any other sounds–off.

As I scrambled to get out of the car, I saw something dark whiz past me and hit Hansen. I heard him grunt in pain and barely saw him stagger as the car door slammed into me so hard I was pushed back into the car, my head hitting the steering wheel. I fought against confusion. Registered that someone ran past the door, that was now in front of me, and seemingly high up. I heard fighting. Shoes scuffing the asphalt, something or someone slammed into the car. Metal hitting the ground. The gun?

I forced myself up, grabbing onto the wheel and seat…and saw nothing.

What the hell?

I pushed the door open and got out. No one there. I shut the door to make sure the thing wouldn’t be used against me again. Behind me, the Beetle stood untouched. Whoever the attacker was, and I had an idea, he’d come up from behind when Hansen had been looking in the other direction. Carefully, I made my way to the front of the Ford, looking around to be sure.

The sight that met me was not what I expected. Hansen on the ground. He lay on his stomach, feet near me, head nearest the side of the road. One arm pointing forward, the other straight to the side like he was making some weird attempt at semaphore signing. There was a small trickle of blood from behind his right ear. And next to him–the victim of a supposed car accident. Lifeless, sprawled on the ground. Nice looking jeans and shirt, purple sneakers, pale slick “skin”. I understood why Hansen had become suspicious. Dead wasn’t exactly the word for an unliving thing. But it had done the trick. A mannequin placed in front of the Ford to fool us. Not for long–just enough.

Damn.

“Where are you, you nasty piece of suit?” I mumbled as I looked around. No way was I going to let him sneak up on me now. Slow, and without lowering my eyes, I bent down to check Hansen’s pulse. At least he had one. Steady and strong. That was good. Then I noticed something sticking out from under his right shoulder. Cylindric, dark. I grabbed it and pulled it free from under him. Fairly heavy considering it was half an inch thick and about eight inches long. It was clad in soft rubber, but I was sure there was metal inside. A nifty club for throwing and knocking someone out, or at least inhibit them. Hansen had been hit, but not knocked out from the thing.

I forced myself to draw breath. Where was the damn agent? I was halfway crouching but had a clear view all around. He had no advantage now. No element of surprise. I’d fought him before. He was good. Strong and quick. I didn’t want to deal with him now. We were sure we knew where Andrea was. We needed to get to her. The problem was getting Hansen into the Beetle. That would take some effort on my part now, and as soon as I took my attention away from my surroundings, the suit would attack.

I realized then that the damn engine was still running. I couldn’t hear any approaching car. Couldn’t see any headlights, either. Could only rely on seeing the bastard approach.

Rabbits will stop and listen when they sense a predator is near. Their sense of hearing such a handy tool. The lucky little things even have eyes on the side of their heads. Something I could have used at that point. I knew very well who was the rabbit and who was the fox in this game.

I was so screwed.

I clenched my hand around the club. This wouldn’t do. Andrea needed me. I could wait there in the dark for the suit. Likely, he expected that. Or I could do what he didn’t expect.

Run.

Leave the road and see if he could be lured out that way. I glanced down at Hansen. Larkin didn’t seem like the murderous type. And anyway, I wasn’t running away. Only off the road. No time to hesitate.

One step–I saw Hansen twitch and bend his elbow.

Second step–that was as far as I got.

My foot wouldn’t move, caught on to something, and the rest of me kept moving forward. The asphalt kiss knocked the air out of me as I hit the ground, not managing to break the fall in any way. I turned over on my back more by instinct than strength. Panic threatened to set in when I realized I didn’t have any control. My breathing came back when I focused on not losing my senses, though my head didn’t cooperate. It hurt. A movement to my left, the pressure on my foot disappeared. And there, under the car–two big eyes locked on me. Yellow as they appeared only when the emergency blinker made them visible.

“No,” I mumbled, the words leaving me in a slow haze. “No…don’t do this. She needs me. Andrea needs help…”

The eyes came closer and closer, the sight bizarre and dooming. I turned my head and saw Hansen’s eyelids flutter before they opened. Lifeless confusion met me as I headed into the darkness he was leaving.

What followed was blurry and heartbreaking. I remember opening my eyes and staring into the face of the mannequin. Her basic features were there, but the lack of eyes and mouth had me baffled as to what creature this could be. I knew I was supposed to be looking at another face. I couldn’t remember which one at that point. I heard noises. Car doors slamming. An engine being turned on. The blinking lights vanished.

Hands on me. Hard. Unyielding. Dragging me a little, turning me. My hands pulled behind me. The club taken from my hand.

Dark.

Then halfway lifted as well as dragged. My legs were not responding. My shoes scraped against the road.

Dark.

Hitting something soft startled me. I blinked hard. Car seats in front of me. A door slamming close by. Words were spoken over again. No, not words. A word, a name. Mine.

“Evans.”

“Hhemehhh…” I uttered. It took me a moment to realize it didn’t sound anything like “yes”.

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