Hunter or Hunted?

ลำดับตอนที่ #4 : CHAPTER 3 JASON WEST

CHAPTER 3 JASON WEST

            Jason has never thought of a stupid plan like this. He jumped out of the 60^th floor building without any support, backup, gadgets, tools, or etc. for surviving, at all. All he could do right now was trying to get balance from the strong wind. The falling speed was so fast that he could not see properly. But, of course, luck is on his side. Alonso shot a roped arrow from a building nearby to the window below him about 5 meters. Jason kept the Desert Eagle and took out his belt, then, zip lined towards the old man. He was saved by him, again. Jason dropped himself beside the old man and thanked him.

            “Uncle, we should hurry to the safe house.” Jason said with some adrenaline left in his blood.

            “Yes, those guys back in the park came back to life. And the twins killed all the S.W.A.T. in the van on the way to the headquarter.” He explained the situation

            “Dammit…how did they…” Jason wondered with a little temper.

            “I don’t know.”

            “Never mind that. We should get going now." Then, they went down the building through the fire escape. But, unluckily, there were more of them waiting on the alley that the stairs led them to. There were about 8-10 men in suite with arms standing on their exit. When they got down, Jason observed them carefully. He saw that everyone has the same face and body structure, but not like the twins.

            One of them said, “Put your hands in the air.” And they did so. But, in the old man’s hand, was a white ping pong ball that doesn’t seem harmful at all. He threw the ball directly at the crowd without warning. Within a second everything was white. The flash bang made the whole alley bright like snow. After half a minute, they all regain their eye sight but the two agents were gone.

            “Find them and kill them!” a guy, who seems to be the leader, told the rest with anger.

            The two agents went down the sewer during the bang. They climbed down the stairs that leads to a dark tunnel. It reminds Jason of his childhood incident, but he shook it out of his mind. Alonso turned on a flashlight and led Jason in the tunnel and they walk on the foot path beside the sewage. That old man always carries useful gadgets with him everywhere he goes. And usually, those gadgets were used to save Jason because of his craziness and clumsiness. The awful smell from the sewer made him nauseous.

            “Where are we going, pops?” Jason asked with his nose closed.

            “To my underground base.” He said and continued walking. They found a tunnel that leads to somewhere and beside it, stands an iron door. On the top, it says, staff only, then, Alonso pressed a button on the door knob and a small holographic window that shows a number panel appeared.  He typed a set of number and the door made a click! He went inside, followed by Jason and they encountered with darkness. Then, Alonso pushed another button on the wall and a couple of neon lights came to life. The room was not really big, but a table on the wall made the room feel crouded. That table in full of high technology un-finished gadgets. Hundreds and thousands of mechanical gears were piled up and formed a small hill of metal.

"Is this where you've been the whole time?" Jason asked the old man.

"Actually, this is just my garage. My house, where Betty and I lives is on top.", he explained.

"So, now we're in the middle of New York?"

"Exactly."

Jason nodded and sat on an old couch beside the table. He examined the room while Alonso was searching for something from the pile of things on the table. There's a refrigerator beside him and a small microwave. The ladder that probably was for returning to his house was right beside the table. Jason relaxed his legs and took out his Desert Eagle and checked the status of it. Then, he dialed Rex, Kristen's birthday present. He and Alonso chatted with her for about a minute or two.

"Is Aunt Betty in the house?" Jason asked the old man.

"Yep, go check her out if you want." he said as he was busy searching for something. But, Jason wasn't bothered to ask. So he climbed up the ladder and went through the hole on the ceiling. He came out from under the living room's matt and found Aunt Betty in the kitchen.

Aunt Betty was the best in cooking. She was actually English that moved to the US for work. She always cooked for Jason and her daughter, Kristen. Her face and Kristen's looked so much alike and made Jason worried about her.

"Ahem, Hey Auntie." Jason made a sound and greeted her.

"Oh Jesus!!! Where did you come from!!!" she turned around from the pile of vegetable and shouted to the poor boy.

"Uh... Sorry. I and uncle just arrived at the basement a minute ago." Jason said with a soft voice. Aunt Betty was the only who could make Jason became so down from scolding. Not even his mom can make him be like this.

"That's why you smelled like toilet. Go take a bath will ya!" Then she pushed the poor FBI upstairs.

Jason entered Kristen's room on the second floor and went to take a bath immediately. He took out his clothes in Kristen closet and changed immediately. He put on a black Pierre Cardin suit and a black pants. He went down stairs and found Aunt Betty talking with Uncle Alonso. He was carrying a backpack and gadget belt which is extra size from his belly. No offense, pops, thought and laughed in his head. He noticed that Alonso had also changed into his suit.

"Are we ready?" Alonso smiled at him and showed him a key.

"What is this?" he received the key from Alonso and saw the Honda crest.

Alonso took out another key from his pants and said, "Just like old times."

They went outside the house and entered the garage. Alonso's and Betty's house was in a village beside the Central Park so you can expect to see a mini forest where ever you look. In the garage stand an old Ford Mustang, a Honda big bike, and a Ducati.

"Why didn't I get to ride the Ducati?" he wondered to his uncle.

"Because it's mine that's why." he laughed and mounted his beloved Ducati. Aunt Betty came out from the house and gave Jason a box made out of aluminum

"For you and Kristen." She said and smiled at Jason.

"What's inside, Auntie?" he asked.

"Your future. Now get going. Before those men in black suits come. Be careful you two." She stared at Alonso like the sentence was meant for him.

"Alright. If they come to you, you know what to do right? Alonso asked.

"Of course I do."

Then, Alonso and Jason grabbed a helmet and rushed outside with their bike. Jason and Alonso usually go biking together. During his summer in his high school days, he often bike with his uncle through the US. The farthest they went was India. Alonso was not Jason's uncle by blood. But, his mom, who was a nurse, and his dad, a general in the army, didn't have much time for him. So, they always drop him with the Valdez family who was the West family best friend for generation.

"Hey pops, where are we heading again?" He asked him through the Bluetooth radio.

"First, we will report to the head quarter and retrieve some armories. Then, we will head directly across the globe." He replied.

"On bike?"

"Yes, of course. It's better this way."

They drove through 3 traffics and stopped on a gas station. Then, they talked to Kristen who called Jason's emergency number. After that, they ate their dinner at the cafe in the gas station. Jason scanned around the café every 2 minutes to check out for those guys in black suit.

“It’s 7:00 p.m. now. Better get going.” Alonso said and both for them got up from the bar.

Suddenly, a man from behind Jason knocked him in the head with his chair. Then, the fight began. When Alonso stared at the man, 3 more guys came into the café and entered the fight. The people in the café went chaos. There were screams and shouts of terror from the people. Jason got up and shook his head as Alonso knocked the first guy on the floor.

“So you haven’t given up your name, Iron Fist?” Jason smiled at him and went back-to-back to encounter the enemies.

“Of course, Eagle eye.” Then, he grabbed a table and threw it to the 3 guys on the entrance. They went scrambling on the floor and the two switched position. Alonso pulled out an iron knuckle and wore it in his both hands. Jason pulled out his Desert Eagle and put a sound compressor; then, he rapid-fired at the three. Every bullet went through all their heads even though they were behind the table which is impossible for normal people to get a headshot from a hiding target. Alonso jabbed the guy whom he knocked out a seconds ago but is still coming up. He choked out blood and went down to take a nap. The fight ended within 1 and a half minute.

“Nice job, pops.” He said.

The cops reached here afterward. The two showed them the FBI badge and ordered them to clean up the mess. They mounted their bikes and headed towards the head quarter. After a few turns, they stopped on a 110 floor building that has no name on the entrance, just the FBI crest. The building was busy as usual. People and agents are going in and out even though their work time is over. Jason put his helmet down on the Honda and went into the building through the spinning door.

The building interior was amazing as ever. The round table of the receptionists was in the middle of the hall and people are surrounding it as usual. Alonso followed Jason inside the hall.

“Where is his office again?” Jason asked the mustached man.

“The last room, of course.” Said Alonso and they headed towards the high-speed elevator. Within 20 seconds, they reached their destination. The 110^th floor was a bit smaller than the lobby hall. There was a small reception table and many offices along the straight hall. Alonso led Jason through the office hall and turned right at the end of the hall. Jason greeted Marybeth, the beautiful receptionist, with his charming eyes. They met another hall that has offices on one side and the edge of the building that a thin window separated them from. Jason walked passed his office which says, Agent J on the top. The long hall way led them to the last room. On the door, a metal panel was written; Agent Z. Alonso knocked the door and waited. Jason turned his back around and observes things. He usually spied at people when he was bored.

“Come in.” a deep voice answered their knock. Alonso opened the door and went inside. Before Jason followed him, he saw an eye tattoo on the neck of an agent, maybe Agent F, who was talking with another agent. Now, he has a weird feeling in his spine. The guy turned around and looked at him, but Jason went into the room in time.

The room was as big as a basketball court. The room was decorated differently than from the whole 110^th floor. Creamy background were paste on the wall and ceiling, the poles were carved with Chinese and Greek architecture, the ceiling was painted with a Chinese myth and Greek myth separately, the crystal lamp was hanging beautifully, the floor was decorated with creamy granite tiles, and Chinese and Greek relics were decorated around the room. A man was sitting on his counter with documents around him.

“Oh, hello there. What can I do for you, Agent J and Agent A?” the man, or so called, Agent Z asked them. The alphabetical letter aliases were only given to the top agents only. Only 26 agents were to be working in the 110^th floor and Jason was the youngest among the 26 agents.

“Hello, sir. We would like to have a few armories and gears in our mission.” Jason smiled and said humbly.

Agent Z made confusing face for a few seconds and said, “Oh, the attack from them, again?”

“Yes sir,” said Alonso.

“This is the 3^rd time in this month.” He said and put his palm on this face. The wrinkles on his face grew more visible. Jason made an observation on his boss and worried a little. The last time he saw Agent Z, he looked much younger. Maybe he had too many works lately

“But, it seems that this time they are going to be serious on me now.” Jason said and scratched his head from his mistake a couple of months ago. He had found out the foundation of a branch of the Illuminati cooperation in New York and he was blacklisted by them.

“I’ve noticed. This time, you can take as many gears as you can. Just be sure that you have connection to me. Not the whole FBI. It’s too risky.” Agent Z ordered them and gave them a small tablet. “Contact me when in need.”

“Yes sir. Thank you very much.” Alonso received the tablet and started walking towards the exit.

“Uh, sir, I need one more thing. Can you give me and my team a permission to leave the country?” Jason said humbly.

“Of course.”

“Thank you sir.” Jason said and walked towards the door.

“I guess you also need an extra protection for Kristen?” Agent Z said with a kind smile.

“That’ll help too, sir.” Jason smiled back and left the office with Alonso. He walked into his office.

“Go get your gears pops. I’ll meet you in the lobby.” Jason said.

            “Ok, sonny.” Then Alonso walked along the hall way.

His office was half as big as Agent Z’s office. His table was full of documents that he didn’t finish it since last month and a laptop. The office wasn’t decorated Chinese-Greek style, but decorated like other normal offices. He pushed a button on the vase next to his table and the book shelf flipped. It became a shelf of armories and gears that are suitable for every situation. He changed his leather shoe into a black combat leather shoe. Then, the young FBI grabbed a pair of combat gloves and wore it like he did a thousand times before. The Desert Eagle was reloaded, extra magazines were packed, and surviving gears was packed in his backpack. Now he is ready to kill some society waste.

Jason went down through the high-speed elevator and met up with Alonso.

“So, what’s our plan?” Jason asked his uncle.

“We will hunt them down before they hunt us.” Alonso smiled wickedly.

“Hahaha, that’s a good plan.”

They went out of the building and mounted their bikes ready to travel across the globe. Their helmets worn and engine started, they took off for a life-risking adventure.