Rogue Alliance

SIX



Brennan was silent as Victor drove across the Oregon border into California. The scenery was breathtaking, with tall evergreens as far as he could see. The winding switchbacks of Grants Pass made his stomach queasy. He hadn’t been in a vehicle in well over a decade. Still, he swallowed down the rising nausea and enjoyed the drive up the mountain.

Whilst he took in every detail of his surroundings, his mind wandered to his current and sudden change of plans. Not that he’d had any specific plan before. He’d just known he had to find a way to break out of the facility. He hadn’t expected his opportunity to show up in the form of a strange ally.

Victor had been silent since they departed in a cloud of dust. The vehicle was unlike anything he’d seen before.

“Hurry, get in the Hummer,” Victor had shouted as they ran out of the compound into the bright sunlight.

Brennan glanced around the inside of the car. It looked fairly indestructible yet very comfortable, exotic even. He rubbed the leather seats.

“This is nice.”

“You bet your ass it is,” Victor said, shooting a glance in his direction, “you like it? Have you ever been in one?”

Brennan shook his head and looked back out the window.

“No. I haven’t been in anything but the facility for a very long time.”

“How long?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Brennan sighed, “but I once heard Shinto say something about me being sixteen when he brought me in. I think I’m about thirty, so…I guess maybe fourteen years.”

“Holy shit!” Victor scoffed, then paused. His tone shifted.

“Well that’s in the past now, buddy,” he said, “you’re out. You work for me. We’re a team. You will never be bothered again…by anyone. Now, what’s your name?”

Brennan turned and looked straight into Victor’s gray-blue eyes.

“Brennan. Brennan Miles. Who are you? And what exactly is it that you want from me?”

“My line of work is dangerous,” Victor sighed, “throughout my life, I have had the opportunity to meet some very powerful people. People who make their own rules and codes to live by. They build strong loyalties with few and make enemies with the rest. I’ll be honest with you- what I do for a living is illegal. But what’s legal and illegal in this country is pick and choose anyway- at least that’s how I see it.”

There was a brief pause as his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“I could serve life in prison if the authorities were ever to bust me - which they won’t.”

When Victor looked his direction, Brennan gave a slight nod of the head to acknowledge that he was listening. Otherwise the silence was heavy.

“The point I’m trying to make,” Victor said, “is that whether my job is ethical or not is irrelevant. It is what it is. It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. And I have more than a few enemies. Even most of those who I do business with on a regular basis aren’t people I can trust. We negotiate and strike deals. But if they ever got greedy, or in trouble, I would be a sacrifice many of them would be willing to make. Then there is the law. They would love nothing more than to bust my balls and throw away the key.

“Long story short- I need someone that I can trust- someone who works side by side with me. I essentially need a body guard- someone who always has my best interests in mind and has my back.”

“And you think that someone is me?”

“When I heard of your particular skills, I thought ‘who could be better?’. With your strength and speed, and basic instinct for survival, you are the perfect person for the job.”

Brennan noticed that Victor used the word ‘person’ this time. He also took note that he was very direct in his speech and took his eyes from the road many times just to look him in the eye. He sensed that Victor spoke only the truth. He just had to decide if he really wanted to make an allegiance with someone like him when he had only just acquired his freedom.

But then again, hadn’t he already?

“You said freedom for loyalty. How does working for you equal freedom for me?” Brennan asked.

“There’s no way you could be free without me, Brennan. Let’s face it, some very influential people are going to be angry that their project just fled their facility. They are going to be looking for you. If word gets out to the public - and it always does - there will be hordes of people wanting you caught. People who are afraid of you, people who want to experiment on you, and people who just want to kill you.

“You would be on the run for the rest of your life. And with no one on your side, you would eventually be caught. You haven’t been out in the world for a long time. Things are brutal out here. With me, you have a friend, someone who has your back, too. Like I said, we’re a team. That’s freedom.

“Now, my next question is, how long can you go before you need your next supplement?”