The Rising - Chapter 34: 'What's In The Box?'

‘So are you gonna show me what’s in the box?’ Carl asked me once he had finished deleting me from existence.

‘Are you sure you want to see it?’

‘Of course. Who does it belong to, you?’

‘No, it’s his,’ I said, pointing at Skinner and remembering my cover story.

I picked up the metal box and set it down on the desk. I unclipped the lid and lifted it up, leaving Carl to peer inside himself. He nearly fell back in his seat.

‘Oh my God, that can’t be real!’

Skinner stepped forward. ‘You know who this is, don’t you?’

‘Of course I do. It’s my job to know who all the big players are. This is Commander North. He’s a senior figure in The Brotherhood. This is incredible. How did it happen?’

Realising that we had already told Carl I had only just turned into a vampire, Skinner spun him a half-true story about being a soldier of The Brotherhood, killing Commander North and escaping, then finding me and turning me. He almost had me convinced and as long as Carl wasn’t trying to read his mind, I knew it would stand up to scrutiny.

‘Why did you do it?’ Carl asked, ‘This is going to bring a major shit-storm down on us, you know.’

‘I know. Roxy had me placed in the regional headquarters. I was ordered to extract someone from the base but I failed. I needed to reset the balance as much as I could to seek forgiveness for my failure so I’ve brought her the head of Commander North.’

Carl laughed to himself. ‘Holy shit, man. That’s a badass way of saying sorry! I’ll need to call her’, he said, ‘I need to call her now. She’ll want to know about this immediately.’

Skinner nodded in agreement and I did my best to look like I didn’t know what was going on. Carl took his phone out of his pocket and hit a speed dial number. The person on the other end answered very quickly.

‘Hello Roxy,’ he said, ‘Two men have just arrived at my outpost. One is a rebirth but I think you’ll be very interested in the other. He says he knows you and he has a package for you. His name’s Skinner.’

Carl held the phone out to Skinner. ‘She wants to talk to you.’

I sensed Skinner’s apprehension as he took the phone from Carl.

‘Hello Roxy. Yes, I did exactly what you told me to do. The bodies turned and attacked the base. Yes, almost everyone was killed. Only the doctor and a female agent escaped. I don’t know where they were going. The package? To apologise for my failure, I have brought you the head of Commander North of The Brotherhood.’

Skinner handed the phone back to Carl. ‘She wants to talk to you again.’

Carl took the phone. ‘He’s right, Roxy. It’s the commander’s head alright. Okay, thanks.’

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. ‘She said she wants to see you and it can’t wait until nightfall. She needs both of you for some kind of operation and she wants to speak to you about what you did. Looks like this was just a flying visit, guys. She’s sending someone over now to pick you up and take you to her.’

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