Prologue 4: Rooks and Blackwatch

Caption (to assist readers):

- Everything is fine. - = speech of the character

"It's okay." = character's thoughts (during certain scenes)

*boom* = ambient or scenery sounds (similar the use of other types of font letters in comics)

This chapter is narrated from the point of view of James Heller.

Two flights of stairs and an unnumbered door, probably number 302, as next door was 301, with an eviction notice.

A small apartment, with one bedroom, one bathroom and the main room, being half living room and half kitchen, a little messy, but for a house in the most lethal area of the city, it looked great.

- Before you ask, it really wasn't easy to live here, no wonder there's a big map in the middle of the room. - Dana said as she pointed to the largest wall in the room, which had a map of the city and several lines, notes and pads of paper glued to a large part of the map.

There were only three routes out of that building, including a partial underground one, her nickname Athena was not for nothing, in extreme conditions she really managed to resist her maximum, even if Mercer indirectly spared her life, it didn't make her easy against all the chaos caused by a war between the infected and Blackwatch.

- Dana, I need your help. - I went straight about it, because the clock might not be in our favor.

- Can you talk while I check my stuff? I just need to check that I have another cellphone and a spare battery for my laptop. - Dana reported, as she rummaged through one of her boxes in the living room, each one seeming to have a function for her. One of electronics, another with folders of documents and a third that appeared to contain clothes.

Maya discovered the sofa in the living room and lay down on it, quickly falling asleep, it was a long and tiring night for all of us. She only managed to sleep, because only now did she finally feel safer.

- Dana, I need you to find Bradley Ragland and take care of Maya while I go after a much more dangerous source within Blackwatch. - I told Dana, while sharing my new goals.

- Doctor Ragland is one of ours, he helped me last year with Mercer and is the leader of independent research on the virus in the yellow zone. I can stay with Maya while I contact Ragland from here, but I can't guarantee her safety outside this apartment, and I'll need your help later too. - Dana replied without sparing words, I could feel her sincerity and concern for my daughter, this city has not been safe for children for a long time, but knowing that Raymond is alive and researching the virus for over a year seems positive.

- I will hunt my informant and return as soon as possible, I will help you until I get a definitive end to the virus and manage to guarantee the safety of my daughter back. - I said to Dana, as she took one of her coats and covered my daughter sleeping on the couch.

- You'll need this, I already found mine. - Says Dana as she throws my cellphone towards me, which I easily catch with my left hand and absorb it reflexively, such an action makes her facial expression paralyze for two seconds, the likely time it took her to remember that I'm not more human.

- I'll explain the cellphone thing later, thanks again Dana. - I say goodbye to Dana with a slight wave of my right hand, which she waves back, before walking out the door of her apartment and heading down the street.

As soon as I leave the building I run and climb the other building that is just opposite, I climb running trying not to make too much noise until I reach the top. When I finally reach the top, I walk to the middle of the terrace and prepare to jump.

I mustn't hold back in my jump, I need to jump as high as I can and use my hunting skill in mid-air, I already found Rooks once, and it won't be hard to find the second. While concentrating all the biomass in my body to increase the momentum, all my body vibrates as my legs change shape and color several times, always in shades of red, gray and black.

*Sound similar to a concentrated explosion*

I launch myself dozens of meters into the air, instinctively raising my clenched fists in the air, as if to help me face gravity even more forcefully, like a projectile piercing the sky. I finally reach the top, it's the highest jump I've taken since I got infected, I manage to realize that I am higher than every building on the island, hundredths of a second before I change my body's biomass to glide and then activate my hunting's ability.

I feel like I can search further than before, even though I didn't have to have expanded further my search, Rooks is in a helicopter near the center of the island heading west, my hunt starts.

I move my arms and legs with extreme speed backwards, as an impulse on an invisible wall that I push, with this move I can go forward while in mid-air, with this impulse combined with changing the biomass of my body again to glide through the air, I can increase my speed.

I felt one urge to test my limits, I remembered that I did this impulse just 3 time before the final fight with Mercer, that was my limit. I want to try more, I want more! Three impulses, four impulses and the fifth impulse, I found my new limit.

I wanted to try to fly and got lost between my desires losing my focus, I decide to use my hunting skill one more time to locate Rooks again. Just to find that I have passed over them and reached the southwest of the island, completely losing track of my own speed in mid-air.

I don't have the ability to fly, I feel like I want to try to find out if I can, but at the moment I don't have that privilege and I can't turn around in mid-air. I really fucked the initial plan for bullshit.

My only option is to descend and launch myself again in the opposite direction, I'm close to two Blackwatch's bases, I decided to quickly descend to the farthest position for both without ending up diving straight into the Hudson River by accident, I finally manage to land on the ground.

I can feel the presence of soldiers hundreds of meters from my position, they still haven't noticed my presence, perfect for another jump in the air, with the same concentration as before.

*Sound similar to a concentrated explosion*

I can notice that the sound of my jump was heard by the soldiers as I going higher into the sky, I probably made a sound similar to one cannon's shot during my launch.

I get to the top again, repeating the process of gliding plus hunting, Rooks is northeast of my position heading west, more west than towards the center of the island, his flight pattern does not appear to be transport, but a patrol routine.

I focused on my objective, with enough altitude and using two air impulses, I am meters above the helicopter, deciding my approach. I've decided to avoid confrontation, I can't let my personal grudge affect those that I now feel duty-bound to protect.

As I approach the helicopter, I widen my senses and use two more skills in sequence, I use thermal vision to find out how many are in the helicopter and then my hunting skill to find out which one is Rooks. One pilot, and five passengers, including Rooks on the right side near the door.

Gliding on the right side of the helicopter, Rooks and other guards can see me now, since the aircraft doors are open, I look at the guards who at the same moment are preparing to shoot, but I can hear Rooks commanding them to not shoot. Before staying at an altitude meters below the aircraft, I rotate my body positioning my back towards the ground while transforming my right arm in the form of a whip, I shot with my whip on the right foot of the aircraft just to catch it, I reduce my weight using the biomass of my body and I don't pull my arm, I just keep shortening the whip until I finally manage to get close enough to the helicopter's foot and transform my arm back into normal shape, only for Rooks to realize my intention, I can hear and feel the fear of the other guards wanting to shoot while Rooks, the only one calm, remains with his command to not shoot.

- Colonel Rooks, we need to talk! - I yelled at Rooks loud enough that he could hear, even with the noise of the aircraft's engine.

- We will talk, Ex-sergeant Heller, this time alone and on dry land! - Rooks answered while pointing in the direction of one of the Blackwatch bases, one of the few that remained after all the conflict.

It seems that some things have changed within Blackwatch's command, it could be just a side plan by Rooks or just a trap, it doesn't matter to me, I'm ready to get the information I want, regardless of what is type of welcome reception is waiting for me.