Outsmarted

"Where did his body go!?" asked one of the agents.

'"That doesn't matter, he can't survive without his core. Not after the hole I put through his stomach. Find out what happened to the prisoners that he went after." Mr. King calmly ordered.

"Sir, we tried contacting Isabella Carter, but we couldn't reach her. Her office is empty too!" reported one of the agents.

"What!" Mr. King gasped.

"Sir!" another agent yelled, "We tried looking for the files on the two prisoners, but they are gone. They must have been deleted!"

"Sir!" called yet another agent.

"What now!" asked Mr. King, annoyed.

"The prisoners are gone!"

Mr. King began to lose his temper, "Look through all the video feeds, and find Ms. Carter!"

"Oh my God!" shouted Lorraine. "Is he going to be ok?!"

They were in an Uber driver's minivan. The driver was very concerned when a woman put a young man with a hole in his stomach in his vehicle. Ms. Croft promised to pay him extra for the bloody mess. The driver asked if they wanted to go to a hospital, but Ms. Croft denied that and ordered him to drive towards the east suburbs while promising even more money to the driver. The driver gave in.

Ren was laying on the floor between the seats, blood pouring out of the hole in his stomach. Lorraine was in the seat next to Ren. Eric was in the back seat while Ms. Carter was in the other seat next to Ren. Ms. Croft was in the passenger seat telling the driver where to turn.

Ren coughed up blood, then smiled.

"The hell you smiling for?" questioned Lorraine.

"Ms. Croft... it was... a close one...but we... did it..." Ren stated.

"We fooled him?" asked Ms. Croft.

"That's right... he grabbed the golf ball... that we painted over... and put just in front of my core. I'm pretty sure that... he thinks that I'll die... because of the hole... he put through me." Ren was having a lot of difficulty talking while breathing."

"It's a good thing he doesn't know what the core looks like," added Ms. Croft.

"Also, Ms. Carter... what are you doing here?"

"She works with us now." Ms. Carter smiled at Ren then quickly looked away.

Ren feel asleep as the minivan bumped along the road.

Ren woke back up in the house he and Ms. Croft rented out. He was on the couch leaned up against the wall. He sat up and saw Eric on the couch in front of the television. Ren sat up and looked straight ahead at the kitchen where Ms. Croft and Lorraine seemed hard at work preparing food. To the left was a small hallway leading to two bedrooms that sat opposite each other. To the right was a slightly longer hallway which lead to the bathroom of the house complete with a shower. Further down that hallway were two more bedrooms that sat opposite each other.

"How long was I asleep?" asked Ren.

Lorraine turned smiled. She had her long white hair held up in a high ponytail, her cold blue eyes glistening in the kitchen light. Ren was mesmerized by her beauty.

"You were asleep for around four hours. It's almost time for dinner now."

"Dinner?" Ren scratched his head then asked, "Where is Ms. Carter?"

"She's in her room setting up a new laptop she bought." replied Ms. Croft as she set the table for five.

"It's ready everyone!" announced Lorraine.

Everyone slowly gathered at the table in the kitchen. The main dish was chicken noodle soup. The dish brought back memories from Ren's childhood as he dipped his spoon in the bowl. The room was silent as everyone ate since they were all extremely hungry.

Everyone finished their soup and then began to put their bowls in the sink for washing later.

"Ms. Croft, what facilities do you know of and where are they?" asked Ms. Carter.

Everyone sat back down at the table to hear her answer to this question, even Eric showed some interest.

"Truth is, I only know of one other facility, but I'm sure there's someone there who knows where others are."

"So where is the one you know of?" questioned Ren.

"It's in Nevada. We should move as soon as possible. They may have gotten their hands on the brainwashing drug Mr. Donavin developed."

"I think we should also try to find out how they're transporting the drug. Although, it may be too late. How long has it been since they developed it?" Ren asked.

"It was developed about a month ago."

"Hold on, a brainwashing drug? Care to fill us in?" requested Lorraine. Lorraine and Eric had very confused looks on their faces.

"Oh, that's right. I'll go over everything." Ms. Croft went over the whole story which took about twenty minutes including various questions from Lorraine. Eric just sat back and absorbed the information.

"So you killed nearly 8,000 people?" Lorraine sputtered.

"I had to." Ren replied simply as his expression darkened.

"Oh, and your name is really Ren not Ray?"

"I can explain that part." chipped in Ms. Carter.

Ms. Carter went over the assignment that was assigned to Ren before they discovered Ren's secret.

Everyone was now on the same page after much explaining. Lorraine wasn't sure how to feel about all the people Ren killed. Ren stood up and walked out of the room towards the front door.

He walked outside and closed the door behind him and stood on the small porch in front of the entrance. It was now dark outside with the stars being the only light source. Ren marveled at the stars' beauty.

Ren began to think of all that he had done. He wasn't sure how to feel. He was happy that he had new friends and that they were now safe, but he was about to put them in more danger by bringing them along with him on his mission. He didn't want a repeat of what happened to Alex and Marissa.

"I'll get stronger... for them." Ren vowed.