49 The Absence: 03

- The country can be a dangerous place for an elderly woman such as yourself. - the same man finished.

A deadly silence followed his last sentence. No sound of boots on the floor, no whispers. I could barely hear my own breathing. We were all waiting for the smallest hint of each other's presence. They must have known there would be at least one more person in the house. As twisted as it was, the cop's presence was a relief, balancing things a little towards our side.

- Oh well! -  practically shouting Louise broke everyone out of the general paralysis. We heard her walking from the front door to the kitchen. - I'll get you guys some good ol' country water. Just wait here, gentlemen. 

She was up to something. The old lady knew those men had second intentions. We had to act before she did anything hasty. I pulled my mind back to the simple minimalistic suite, mouth already half opened ready to warn the Officer when I saw it. Two blue neon lines coming up from inside her red jacket. It went up through the base of her neck and followed her jawline. The meaning escaped my brain as if I had been purposefully blocked by my own consciousness from naming what was standing by my side. 

- You're BFS... - I let out in a tone not even I recognised. Immediately my murmur was followed by the sound of a step on the wooden stairs. 

The men were cautious. They had intel on the property and the house. Obviously, I didn't need to tell the Force agent any of that. Simultaneously to the man's step she assumed an offensive position. Coming from the tip of her fingers more blue lines turned her stand a lot more intimidating. 

- Hey, sir, - Louise's loud petulant voice was already engraved on my mind. - here's your "water"!

The woman fired a weapon that made the ground underneath us shake. I heard the sound of bodies falling and a blue flash was all it was left of the cop's presence in the room. I hurried after her in an impulse. 

On the living room floor the officer was over one of the men while the other was advancing against Louise that, on the other hand, was holding her shotgun to his body. I never doubted the farmer's courage but in that situation courage was suicide. Running down I jumped him seconds before he pulled out a gun attached to the base of his neck. 

- GET OUT! -  I shouted at Louise while she insisted on  aiming at the guy beneath me. 

My distraction allowed my opponent to strike me with an elbow to the ear. In an attempt to gain distance, I rolled back towards the door hoping he would focus on me and forget about the woman still standing in the small hallway.

As the man stood over one knee pointing a gun at me I realised my strategy was just as suicidal as Louise's but it wasn't until he pointed the other arm at her that I truly regretted my actions. The hitman had the same tubes as officer Abrom's coming out of his sleeve. I miscalculated and he knew it. With a sadistic side smile he pressed the trigger. 

Two shots crossed the room. Thanks to the most stupid human defense mechanisms I  didn't see what happened. I could only hear my heart pumping on my forehead and new sounds of struggle. 

In the middle of the room, between the sofa and the dinning table, was the Officer. Surrounding her were the two men both fighting her at the same time. Her moves were so fast my eyes could only see the neon trail left by her arms and legs. Alive and unharmed, I looked out at Louise to check if she had been hit. The older lady was standing firm in the same place that she refused to abandon, however, her likeness wasn't the same. 

I had to act. There were no guns at range, so I had to find something that could be used as one. By the fireplace, the sticks that once were used to roast marshmallows, made decent weapons to knock down those sneaky bastards. 

With not much time to figure out what I was going to do to help the Officer, I headed to the fireplace. For a second I took my eyes off the blurred blue figure to pick up the weapon and was surprised by a flying man that crashed against the wall in front of me. In the next second a loud shot sound pushed me down and I landed on my ass.

Finally the house was quiet again, except for the high noise zooming in our ears.

As for the Officer, she was immobile. Her breathing was heavy which differed from her expression. She looked calm, tired but calm, as if she had just finished her daily morning run and not shot dead two men at the same time. Her blue lights were pulsating in a steady paced rhythm. It was fascinating and frightening at the same time. 

I stared shamelessly at the lines framing her face. They crossed her cheeks on both sides and at the end there was the biggest, most unsettling change in her physiognomy. Her once peaceful green eyes were dark as the night sky and her pupils a penetrating shade of cerulean blue.

She glared at me for the longest seconds of my life then suddenly she was interrupted by consecutive blinks that evaporated the bionic eyes giving back the green I found myself very thankful for. 

- Are you guys okay?! - almost as if she had only then recovered her senses, her voice sounded desperately worried. 

- Well... my house is trashed! - Louise pointed the gun down and relaxed her posture. - Thanks for that.

- St… - she began but I turned my gaze to the tall bald man leaning on the opposite wall under the window. There was no blood, just a small black dot on his forehead. Closer to me, the other man was just as tall. Black hair, small eyes wide opened. Tarnishing his white shirt there was the same mark as his fellow. Again no blood. A clean job worthy of the finest, most advanced soldier the Force possessed. 

- Only a Bionic Force Soldier would do such an efficient job… - I got back to her who was looking straight and exclusively at me. - I wish I knew that before I jumped that guy… now I have this annoying buzzing in my ear and everything sounds... muffled. 

- I should've told you-

- It's okay. - I raised one hand to signal my non-offensive position and prevent her from apologizing unnecessarily. - I… understand why you didn't. 

As uncomfortable as I was feeling, I decided to ignore my insecurities and let that traumatized kid behind. We had so much to do and a little help would be needed.