Chapter 2

Encrypted

It was 1:00 PM now. The men paid and left.

  “I need you to come with me to the warehouse, the one where the target was supposed to be”, Agent Carmen said. 

They drove to the site. It was now 1:30 PM. 

“When you told me the story of how your case went you didn't mention that the warehouse was full of-”

 “Whisper”, Agent Carmen interrupted.

  “You didn't tell me it was full of highly deadly explosives!” Agent Bunkleberry said in a whisper.

 They continue to walk through the warehouse. Weaving in and out of the aisles like a viper trying to catch its prey. 

“Agent, come over here”, Agent Bunkleberry shouted. 

Agent Carmen sprinted over to him in a hurry.

 “Look at this”, Agent Bunkleberry said softly.

 They both stared at the ground, analyzing something. A track of footsteps leading down the hallway. They followed the tracks until they suddenly stopped. 

“Where did they go?” Agent Carmen asked. 

“It looks like the tracks stop right in front of this wall”, Agent Bunkleberry responded. 

They observe the wall closely, it looks like it's made of a different material then the rest of the walls.

  “It feels thinner than the rest of the walls”, Agent Carmen observed.

 They both started to feel around the bricks to see if one opened a secret passageway. Then they heard a sound- click. The ground started to rumble, as the wall moved into the ground. 

“It was a secret entrance after all,” Agent Carmen remarked. 

They carefully walked down the stairs that were behind the wall, trying not to make any noise. They found a moist cave. They both trekked through the cave until they found the end. It led to the quarry.

  “What is this place?”, agent Carmen asked. 

“It looks like a cave”, Agent Bunkleberry responded in a joking tone.

 They found a suspiciously placed folder on the ground. It was labeled “-Z CORP FILE--TOP SECRET- “. 

”Should we open it?” Agent Carmen asked nervously.

  “I think we should. It might help us in our case”, Agent Bunkleberry responded.

 Agent Carmen carefully opened the file. Inside was a hard drive, both the agents were intrigued.

 “What is it?” Agent Bunkleberry asked. 

“It's just a drive,'' Agent Carmen said confused. 

“I think we should head over to my house to plug in the drive to my computer,” Agent Bunkleberry suggested. 

The two agents drove over to Agent Bunkleberry’s house. “This is your place?” Agent Carmen asked surprised, envisioning that Bunkleberry would live in a mansion.

“Welcome to Casa Dei Bunkleberry,” Agent Bunkleberry said in a cheery voice. They stepped through the door of a modest house.

 “Hey honey, who is this?” Mrs. Bunkleberry said in a concerned tone. Mrs. Bunkleberry motioned her hand at Agent Bunkleberry asking him to come towards her.

 “Wait just a minute,” Agent Bunkleberry said to Carmen.

“You know what I said about guests, tell me in advance,” Mrs. Bunkleberry said in an annoyed tone. 

“I'm sorry honey, it's for work I-”

  “It's always about work, you never take any time off to spend with your family. All you do is work all day and all night. Some days I don't even see you. You-”

  “I'm sorry, I really am, I'm trying. I've just been so busy and stressed out. And I have to teach this new recruit and my boss well, he's my boss-”

  “That's no excuse, it's like you don't even care about this family anymore-”

  “Im sorry Sweetie I-”

  “You know what I said about calling me that,”

  “I'm sorry, he just needs to stay for one night,” Agent Bunkleberry said to finish the argument. 

“Welcome to our home,” Mrs. Bunkleberry spoke softly with tears developing in her eyes.

“Thank you for having me in your beautiful house,” Agent Carmen responded, hoping to cheer her up with his compliment.

The two agents walked up the stairs into Bunkleberry’s office, closing the door behind them. 

“Let’s plug it in,” Agent Carmen said, determined to discover what the drive contained. 

“Here we go,” Agent Bunkleberry responded.

Agent Bunkleberry plugged in the drive. A Z CORP logo popped up in the corner of his screen. He eagerly clicked on it. As he did, the logo consumed the whole screen. “PASSWORD:*****” was displayed on the screen. 

“I think I know a certain someone who can help us,” Agent Bunkleberry said, locking eyes with Agent Carmen….

Chapter 3   

Interrupted Infiltration

The men were in the room, staring at the “PASSWORD: ***** ”  still displayed on the screen.

“So you said you know somebody who can help us?” Agent Carmen asked.

 “I used to know a guy; I think he works at Z CORP  now, and he’d be willing to talk”, Agent Bunkleberry responded.

 “You used to know him?” Agent Carmen inquired.

“Yeah,” Agent Bunkleberry responded confidently.

“So then how do we know he will give us the information, if you used to know him? He might not trust you anymore,” Agent Carmen responded.

“Good point, agent;  we might have to infiltrate the office of Z CORP,” Agent Bunkleberry remarked. 

“We should leave tonight,” Agent Carmen added.

The two men tried to create a plan of how to sneak in. They mapped out their plan of entry and escape, until they were interrupted.

“Hey, dinner is ready,” Mrs. Bunkleberry shouted from the kitchen.

“Okay,” The two agents said in unison down the hall.

They walked down the stairs and turned the corner into the dining room.

“Hey honey, and I never caught your name,” Mrs. Bunkleberry said, looking at Agent Carmen.

“Hi, my name is Liam Carmen, but you can just call me Carmen,” Agent Carmen Responded.

“And yours?”

“It's Becky,” Mrs. Bunkleberry responded. 

“So Liam, you work with my husband? 

“I do, and what do you do for work?”

“I work at a library; I'm actually the librarian.” 

The conversation ended there; they continued to eat their pork chops, with rice, and a nice salad- until they heard a CRASH. Agent Bunkleberry jolted up out of his seat, and carefully walked over to where the crash came from. There were fragments of a vase and a wilting orchid on the ground. He looked up to see a gray fluffy cat sitting innocently on the table next to it. It had bright aquamarine eyes, although the left one had more of an emerald hue. He looked at the cat intently before turning around and walking back to the table.

“It was just Hermes, our cat,” Agent bunkleberry announced to the table. 

“That’s such a cool name, he’s named after a Greek god!” Agent Carmen said.

“The god of trade, and the cleverest of gods,”Agent Carmen added.

The cat slowly walked into the room after hearing his name in their conversation. 

“Speak of the devil, here he is,” Mrs. Bunkleberry said, pointing at Hermes, giggling. 

They finished dinner and cleaned up, Mrs. Bunkleberry showed Agent Carmen to the cramped guest room, which is barely even big enough to be a home office. It had a twin bed and a nightstand. Agent Carmen thought it was one of their kids' old rooms, considering the bed size. Mrs. Bunkleberry put a clean white towel on his bed.

“The bathroom is down the hall to the right,” Mrs. Bunkleberry said, walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. 

It was 7:30 PM now and Agent Carmen walked down the hall and turned right to take a shower. He turned the water on, and adjusted the knob to the right a little, freezing. He adjusted it to the left, boiling. He eventually found the perfect in-between. He took a shower and got out, and got into some old “pajamas” that Agent Bunkleberry let him borrow. It was a pair of gray sweatpants and a shirt two sizes too big for him. He wiped his hand across the steam covered mirror and did his hair. 

He walked to his room and laid down in the bed, his feet hanging slightly over the end of the bed. It was around 8:00 PM when his eyelids started to feel heavy. He closed his eyes, until he heard a loud sound, glass shattering. He giggled to himself in bed thinking it was just Hermes. But once he heard a scream, in his gut, he knew it wasn’t the cat…

Chapter 4

The Burglary 

Agent Carmen jolted up from the bed, and heard a loud gunshot. With knots in his stomach, he slowly walked out of the room into the hallway, and peered down the stairs. He saw a shadowy figure, which he thought was Agent bunkleberry. Agent Carmen walked down the stairs, still pitch black, holding onto the railing. He walked up behind the figure. It was about 6” taller than Agent Bunkleberry. The figure was rummaging through the cabinets and drawers. Home invasion Agent Carmen thought to himself. Carmen quickly sprinted away from the mysterious figure, not knowing if they were responsible for the gunshot. In his sprint, he tripped over random junk that the intruder threw on the floor while rummaging through the house. The others in the house were nowhere in sight. Agent Carmen tried to get up, only to receive a blow to the head. His vision was blurry. The only thing he could make out was a green Z on the back of the outfit of the intruder. 

Meanwhile, Agent Bunkleberry was driving 20 mph over the speed limit with his wife in the passenger’s seat. She was pressing down on her chest with a bloody cloth, she had been shot. He was rushing to the hospital, hoping it wasn’t too late, until he slammed on his brakes, almost hitting a car. Her body jolted forward from the sudden stop, but she didn’t lay back in her seat. Her lifeless body leaning against the dashboard. The bloody cloth fell out of her limp grasp. Agent Bunkleberry grabbed her arm, pulling her body back off the dash. He held her close, slightly shaking her, hoping she would come back. The lone widower sat there, fidgeting with his wedding ring. No thoughts in his head. The only emotion he felt was despair. 

14 hours after the incident Agent Carmen regained consciousness. He was in some kind of cell, bars in front of him blocking the exit, light gray brick walls surrounding him. There was a small cot in the corner and a tiny sink with a toilet in proximity to it. And a big camera in the corner, mounted to the ceiling. Agent Carmen slowly regained his vision. As he did, a figure appeared in front of him outside of the cell. It was a tall man with no hair. He had a freshly lit cigar in one hand and a tall, black cane with a carved oak handle in the other hand. 

“So Liam, or should I say “Agent Carmen”, I see you found my hard drive by the quarry. That was meant for my minions to find. What did you need that information on the drive for?” the mysterious man said.

“I won't tell you anything until you set me free, and let me see-”

“Let you see Mr. Bunkleberry, I'm guessing?” The man said, stepping forward a couple feet.

“Who are you?” Agent Carmen said in a serious tone.

“I am Mr. Morgan, head of Z CORP. Like I said before--”

Agent Carmen ignored his monologue and observed the room. There was a hole in the wall, in the lower corner. About 3” by 4” in dimension. There was debris on the floor by the hole, like it had been freshly made. There was a small metal bracket on the floor underneath the cot. Agent Carmen had an idea of how to escape..

Chapter 5

Interrogation

Agent Carmen was still locked inside the cell. Mr. Morgan left the room since Agent Carmen was being uncooperative. Agent Carmen noticed a clock down the hallway. It was on the wall above a door labeled INTERROGATION ROOM.  Agent Carmen carefully looked at the clock, it displayed 11:35. 

 Agent Carmen grabbed the bracket from under the cot. He started chipping at the wall where the hole was. At the point of exhaustion he only added about an inch and a half to the hole. He re-hid the bracket, and laid on the cot. He woke up the next day in restraints and tied to a metal chair. The room was dark except for a bright light shining in his eyes. It reminded him of when he was a kid at the beach with his mother, splashing in the water under the bright sun. 

His flashback faded away as he heard a distorted voice.

“What is your full name?” the voice asked.

“Huh..where am I?” Agent Carmen asked in a surprised haze.

“Answer the question”, the voice said in an irate tone.

“My name is Liam Micheal Carmen” Agent Carmen stated.

“Where were you on December 6th at 1:45 PM?”

“Uhm…I-I was at a warehouse”

“What were you doing at that warehouse?”

“Now that's none of your business” Agent Carmen said in a smug voice.

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way”, the voice in an even angrier tone.

Agent Carmen didn’t respond, until there was a very faint beeping sound, then the floor under his chair started to rise. He realized he was sitting on a platform that now elevated him into another room. There was an iron rod on a table with a sharp pointed end accompanied by other weapons meant for torture. 

“Would you like to cooperate now?” the voice asked. 

Agent Carmen noticed the duct tape on his wrist was starting to tear. He tried to maneuver it so it would tear more but a figure walked into the room. It was someone with a tall build, dressed in all black and wearing a World War 1-style gas mask. They grabbed the iron rod from the table and slowly walked over to Agent Carmen.

“Okay i'll tell you, just don’t hurt me.”

“I went back to the warehouse that I staked out the night before. I was looking for more evidence of what happened to my target. My target was-”

“Your target was me, Liam”, the person said in an ominous voice.

The figure took the gas mask off. It was his true target this time - Cirillo 'The Phantom' Tierno. An infamous gang boss and prominent member of Z CORP. 

“The Phantom”, Agent Carmen gasped in a surprised voice.

“So you were looking for me? I'm here now, what are you going to do about it?” The Phantom said.

In one swift movement, Agent Carmen ripped the duct tape on his wrist. With all his strength he managed to break through the remaining restraints. He lunged from his seat, catching The Phantom off guard. Carmen pushed him out of the way and ran through the door. The Phantom chased after him with the iron rod in hand. Agent Carmen ran down the hall until he reached a dead end. The Phantom cornered him. He tried to stab Agent Carmen with the sharp rod, but Carmen moved quickly to grab the weapon and turn it against his attacker. He stabbed The Phantom in one swift motion. The Phantom fell to his knees trying to grab at Agent Carmen, but Carmen fled. 

 Agent Carmen was running through the halls trying to find the way out. He saw a door at the end of a hallway with an exit sign above it.  The door led outside, where he was met by 20 armed guards. In a desperate attempt to get away, Agent Carmen ran through them. A bullet hit his shin and he dropped to the ground. Agent Carmen prayed for something, anything to get him out of this conundrum. 

Chapter 6

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

Agent Carmen woke up in the same cell as before. He recognized the same gray walls, cot, sink, and toilet. His shin was covered with a gauze dressing where he had been shot. He slowly stood up and limped over to the metal bars at the front of the cell. He pushed against the door of the cell and to his surprise, it swung open.  He took off down the hallway hoping he could escape his captors once more. 

He found a door labeled “Head Office”. He walked up to the door and pressed his ear against it. He heard Mr. Morgan’s gruff voice, as well as a familiar voice, a thick italian accent. It can't be, no way Agent Carmen thought to himself. The Men inside the room were talking about payment for some operation, and what to do with Agent Carmen. Once Agent Carmen heard the door knob turn he knew he had seconds to hide. He continued down the hall and hid inside a room labeled “Darkroom”. Agent Carmen looked around at all the pictures hanging on the wall. Although it was hard to see because of the red lights, he recognized some of the pictures. There were pictures of Agent Carmen walking down the street, pictures of the inside of his home, and pictures of him asleep in his bed. Agent Carmen was freaked out by the pictures and stepped backward in shock, bumping loudly into the door. He heard footsteps approaching and hid underneath a desk.  He heard the door knob turn and the creak of the door opening. 

“Nothing here”, someone said in a thick Italian accent. 

Agent Carmen recognized the accent and saw a glimpse of the person, it was Agent Bunkleberry, his partner. 

After a moment, he opened the door and peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. He took light steps through the hallway to avoid making noise. He soon found a door labeled “Weapon Storage”, he turned the handle and walked in. There were various firearms and blades on the walls, each one displayed proudly like trophies. He helped himself to a pistol from the top shelf and continued on his way until he found a door to the rooftop. 

He stepped out onto the rooftop. It was slippery and wet. Rain was pouring down. Agent Bunkleberry was standing next to Mr. Morgan. 

“About time you showed”, Mr. Morgan said in an ominous voice.

“How-how’d you know I’d be here”, Agent Carmen said surprised.

“There are 100s of cameras throughout the facility, we have been watching your every move”, Mr. Morgan responded.

Agent Carmen stepped towards them, then pointed at Agent Bunkleberry.

“How could you, I trusted you. You were working with Z CORP this whole time.”

Agent Carmen shoved Agent Bunkleberry. The two men began swinging at each other. As they fought, they approached the edge of the rooftop. Agent Carmen made a final push which shoved Agent Bunkleberry off the rooftop. Agent Carmen watched as his opponent fell to his death. Agent Carmen turned around, wiping blood from his mouth. Mr. Morgan had his firewarm drawn, pointed at Agent Carmen. Remembering he had a gun, Agent Carmen drew his pistol and the two men fired at each other simultaneously. BANG! Mr. Morgan fell back. Laying in his pooling blood, he spoke to Agent Carmen.

“Mr. Bunkleberry was working for me the whole time, h-he set you u-up. You w-were meant to d-die so we w-would get o-our re-reward.

Before Mr. Morgan drew his last breath, he called for reinforcements with his walkie talkie. Agent Carmen descended down the fire escape and fled the scene. Still in disbelief that he had successfully escaped his captors, he hailed a cab and didn't stop until he was miles away. Sitting in the back of the cab, he realized that he was now the target that got away.