tight hat feel even more constricting, so I threw it on the closest bed. When Sammy saw the damage on my face she stopped giggling.
"Oh my God, you poor man!"
"It looks worse than it is."
"It looks like you were hit by a car," Nami said.
"Never mind then, Nora, it looks exactly like it feels. But I was hit by a shovel, actually. Twice."
"Oh, we saw it. If the video wasn't classified, I would have uploaded it to YouTube by now."
Sammy walked up and put her hands on either side of my face, inspecting my bruises. I wondered if it was too early to propose.
"Ash, what are we doing here? We need to run away from this madness," she said as she looked into my eyes.
"How did you get away from the police? We watched them arrest you," Nami said.
"I woke up in Prince George's Hospital, detained in a bed. I had to MacGyver my handcuffs and then trick a guard into the room." I looked down at my clothing, "Unfortunately he wasn't quite my size."
A half empty pizza box on one of the beds caught my attention. I grabbed it and sat down beside Nami at the bistro table.
"The last thing I remember was a shovel flying at my face; then I woke up in the hospital. What did I miss?" I asked as I crammed a slice into my mouth.
Nami's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Here's the sat feed, starting right after you got fucked up by an old man and a lady who drove to the cemetery in a minivan. A woman with four kids. Who's forty-six. Probably starting menopause. Weighs one hundred pounds less than you."
I showed her the chewed up pizza in my mouth as she angled the screen so I could see it. The video started with the little kids stomping on my back. The mom raised the shovel above her head, the edge of the blade pointing down. That blow probably would have killed me. Everyone froze in place at the same time for several seconds, before looking around in bewilderment. Soccer Mom dropped the shovel and bent down to check on me.
The police and a ton of paramedics came a few minutes later. They obviously recognized me because they slapped the handcuffs on before throwing me in the back of an ambulance and driving off. The rest of the paramedics went to work on the flattened government agents.
"What are they saying about the insanity at the cemetery? No way they could cover that up."
"They're calling it a terrorist attack. It doesn't look like they're releasing too many details yet. No mention of you. The major networks are already blaming Iran for causing the incident. People are getting very pissed off. President Thomas is giving a massive speech in front of the Washington Monument in a little bit. They're expecting a huge turnout, too. Everyone thinks he's going to announce we're invading Iran. It looks like he's finally going to be able to start his war."
I found myself wondering, again, how I managed to go from watching television to being at ground zero of a possible war.
"What happened with Murdock?" I asked between bites.
"Apparently he anticipated the satellite surveillance. We lost him when he ran into a recreation center a block away. His disguise was found in a hallway. We think he forced a volunteer to drive him further into the city, as she has no memory of leaving the rec center," Nami said without looking up from her laptop.
Grabbing another piece, I leaned back in my chair and looked at her for a full ten seconds while I chewed.
"That doesn't make any sense. If the goal was to take Murdock out, why not just use a sniper? Sending in those agents was a suicide mission. And with all the crazy technology and resources at Smith's disposal, how could he lose one man after he ran into a rec center?"
Nami stopped typing and looked up at me. "He did say that Murdock wiped out his entire organization. Maybe he doesn't have much to work with?"
"He managed to get you transferred over from the NSA in less than a day and give you access to an intelligence satellite. How did he get so many people in the assault at the cemetery?"
Sammy
"Oh my God, you poor man!"
"It looks worse than it is."
"It looks like you were hit by a car," Nami said.
"Never mind then, Nora, it looks exactly like it feels. But I was hit by a shovel, actually. Twice."
"Oh, we saw it. If the video wasn't classified, I would have uploaded it to YouTube by now."
Sammy walked up and put her hands on either side of my face, inspecting my bruises. I wondered if it was too early to propose.
"Ash, what are we doing here? We need to run away from this madness," she said as she looked into my eyes.
"How did you get away from the police? We watched them arrest you," Nami said.
"I woke up in Prince George's Hospital, detained in a bed. I had to MacGyver my handcuffs and then trick a guard into the room." I looked down at my clothing, "Unfortunately he wasn't quite my size."
A half empty pizza box on one of the beds caught my attention. I grabbed it and sat down beside Nami at the bistro table.
"The last thing I remember was a shovel flying at my face; then I woke up in the hospital. What did I miss?" I asked as I crammed a slice into my mouth.
Nami's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Here's the sat feed, starting right after you got fucked up by an old man and a lady who drove to the cemetery in a minivan. A woman with four kids. Who's forty-six. Probably starting menopause. Weighs one hundred pounds less than you."
I showed her the chewed up pizza in my mouth as she angled the screen so I could see it. The video started with the little kids stomping on my back. The mom raised the shovel above her head, the edge of the blade pointing down. That blow probably would have killed me. Everyone froze in place at the same time for several seconds, before looking around in bewilderment. Soccer Mom dropped the shovel and bent down to check on me.
The police and a ton of paramedics came a few minutes later. They obviously recognized me because they slapped the handcuffs on before throwing me in the back of an ambulance and driving off. The rest of the paramedics went to work on the flattened government agents.
"What are they saying about the insanity at the cemetery? No way they could cover that up."
"They're calling it a terrorist attack. It doesn't look like they're releasing too many details yet. No mention of you. The major networks are already blaming Iran for causing the incident. People are getting very pissed off. President Thomas is giving a massive speech in front of the Washington Monument in a little bit. They're expecting a huge turnout, too. Everyone thinks he's going to announce we're invading Iran. It looks like he's finally going to be able to start his war."
I found myself wondering, again, how I managed to go from watching television to being at ground zero of a possible war.
"What happened with Murdock?" I asked between bites.
"Apparently he anticipated the satellite surveillance. We lost him when he ran into a recreation center a block away. His disguise was found in a hallway. We think he forced a volunteer to drive him further into the city, as she has no memory of leaving the rec center," Nami said without looking up from her laptop.
Grabbing another piece, I leaned back in my chair and looked at her for a full ten seconds while I chewed.
"That doesn't make any sense. If the goal was to take Murdock out, why not just use a sniper? Sending in those agents was a suicide mission. And with all the crazy technology and resources at Smith's disposal, how could he lose one man after he ran into a rec center?"
Nami stopped typing and looked up at me. "He did say that Murdock wiped out his entire organization. Maybe he doesn't have much to work with?"
"He managed to get you transferred over from the NSA in less than a day and give you access to an intelligence satellite. How did he get so many people in the assault at the cemetery?"
Sammy
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