Part 18: The Pretender

The Promised Land: 

(Part 18) The Pretender

Lifting his gun, Caden said in a loud voice, “Who are you working for?”

Hunter raised his hands in innocence. “Calm down, Blitz. Put the gun awa-“

Caden shot the ground next to Hunter’s foot. “Let’s try this again. Five teams walked into that facility, four walked out. I know you killed them so tell me who you’re working for!”

Hunter smirked. “Looks like you got me, kid. I’m actually surprised you didn’t catch on sooner.”

Blitz shot again, this time in Hunter’s chest. “WHO?!”

The man didn’t flinch. Caden watched the blood stop pouring from the open wound and crawl back to its source. The wound closed as the metal bullet fell out and hit the floor. Caden grimaced. He wasn’t expecting that.

“I had really hoped you could be reasoned with.” Hunter said as he drew a sword from the sheath on his back. Taking a step back, Caden unleashed five more bullets into the adversary, two of them headshots. Just like the first one, the five wounds closed and five bullets clinked harmlessly on the ground. 

“Then let’s start talking.” Caden took a few more steps back, his red glare ever present. “You killed our squad. I want to know why.”

“Simple. They weren’t supposed to outlive the mission. Neither were you.” Hunter calmly swung his sword up and let the flat of the blade rest against his shoulder. “I’ll give you a break, kid. If you hand over the package, I’ll let you walk.”

“What do you want with it?” Caden spat before he stopped to think about it. He was really getting tired of the conversation, but he had to give himself time to find a weakness.

“It cuts out the middleman, if you will.” Hunter took the blade off his shoulder and started walking toward Caden. “So you do have it.”

Cay’s stomach flipped, but he stood his ground.

“What’s it gonna take to get you to tell me where it is?”

“Sorry.” Caden smirked. “I don’t negotiate with grays.” He shot the four solitary light fixtures hanging from the ceiling and flooded the room with darkness.

Caden dove for cover behind a shelf and thought, “If I can’t see, neither should you.”

Heavy footfalls indicated Hunter was getting closer. “I’m too old to play hide and seek, kid.”

“Who’s hiding?” Cay jumped out from his cover and shot Hunter again. Neon blue light streaked across Caden’s vision and he ducked as the sword sliced through the air near his head. Shooting again, he rolled out of the way, but rammed into a crate. In an instant, the blue light came crashing down on the crate, just inches away from his face. Diving between the giant’s legs and twisting around to shoot him in the back, Caden got up and ran. He turned a few corners and hid behind another crate, trying to catch his breath as silently as possible. He listened intently for a sound, any sound, as he silently pulled a clip out of his pocket.

He didn’t hear any footsteps, but Hunter’s voice came in loud and clear. “You can’t kill me, Blitz. I know. I’ve tried for over thirty years.” Hunter’s voice got closer. “On the plus side, I age well.”

“He’s really getting on my nerves,” Caden thought. With one fluid motion, Caden dropped the empty cartridge, reloaded, and shot Hunter again. Blue lightning shot out and Cay flipped over the sword that nearly took out his legs. Another bolt nearly impaled the teen, but he deftly avoided that attack as well. He took off running again, this time with Hunter right behind him. The massive man’s longer legs made it easy for him to catch up and nearly overtake Caden. In the darkness, Cay just barely had time to turn before running into the wall. He kept running until he found himself trapped in a corner with Hunter blocking his exit, nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Caden pointed his pistol at the attacker.

“Try all you want, Blitz. I’ve killed grown men twice your size.” Hunter’s stride slowed as he approached his prey.

“So have I.”

Cay could hear the victory in Hunter’s voice. “You haven’t got a chance.”

“Who are you working for? The Emperor?!” Caden shouted as he unleashed another volley of bullets.

A deep laugh echoed off the wall. “Not exactly. Life isn’t as straightforward as you want it to be, kid.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Caden saw the blue light swipe toward him from his left. Acting fast, he turned and flipped backwards over the blade. Attempting to execute a backward handspring in the dark, Caden landed on his free hand wrong and crashed on the ground. As pain laced up his left arm from his throbbing wrist, Cay tried to get up quickly enough to avoid the next attack. Before he could do so, Hunter clamped one large hand around Cay’s throat and slammed his head into the wall. Grunting in pain through gritted teeth, Caden fought for breath and clawed at the muscular arm with both hands, his fallen gun out of reach.

“You know,” Hunter said casually. “It’s a miracle you made it out with the package at all. Now tell me where it is.”

“Never,” Cay barely managed to choke out. Hunter let go, but delivered a heavy fist to Caden’s ribs and another to his face before letting him crumple to the floor, gasping for air.

“Do it for your brother, kid. If you don’t have it, I’m going after Boomer.”

“Fine… I’ll tell you…” a broken Caden whispered between wheezes.

Hunter leaned in close to hear him. “I’m listening.”

Caden took another breath and spat out the blood leaking from his cut and bruised lips. Watching Hunter turn from grey to light blue, Cay’s mouth twisted into a grim smile before he whispered, “Finally, some light.”

“What?”

Grabbing Hunter’s head and bashing it against the floor, Caden ripped the pins out of four mini-grenades, shoved them into the stunned man’s open mouth, grabbed his gun, and ran for the door. Pulling the pins out of as many grenades as possible while still running, Caden threw them behind him as he exited the building. The explosions that followed shook the ground and ignited the facility.

Caden collapsed next to Ezra’s minivan, out of breath and out of energy. Pulling himself into a sitting position with his back against a front tire, he rested for a bit to catch his breath. With a shaky hand, he rubbed the back of his pounding head. His wrist throbbed, his side ached, his lip bled, and his throat burned, but he was still alive.

“I need to get to Jericho…” he thought. Grunting with a wince, Caden pulled himself to his feet and went to the medkit in the van’s trunk. He downed a few painkillers with half the bottle of water and wrapped his wrist with an ACE bandage. Going to the front of the vehicle, Caden noticed a jeep sitting behind some debris. Not willing to take any chances, Caden shot holes in all four tires before starting up the van and leaving.