30 minutes ago…

He was planning on resting today. Clarice only allowed him one resting day a month. This is why he was so frustrated when he returned back to the dorms from his current mission to find that Ailith Gallow was missing.

Alex groaned. “Of all the days…”

Not only did Clarice force him to join this stupid assassin’s squad, she also put him on babysitting duty. He was expected to watch over Ailith Gallow and report on any suspicious activity. “Damn it.” He kicked his bed. Checking his surroundings, he was able to conclude that she had fled through the window. Smudged glass, slightly cooler air temperature in the room, no camera footage of her leaving through the door.

Thankfully, she hadn’t gotten far. He tracked her down to a train that had left just 5 minutes ago.

‘Shit. If only I’d been faster.’

Alex dialed a number on his phone and waited as it rang. Once, twice, times.

“Authorities speaking. Please state your full name and concern.” the other end answered.

“This is Alexander Adler. Put me on the phone with your captain.”

“I’m sorry, if you wish to speak to our captain, please make an appointment.” she said.

Frustrated, he shouted at her, “Just put your damned captain on the phone!

The woman was about to speak when a voice interrupted her. “Who is it?”

Leaning away from the phone, she stuttered, “Sir. captain. Sir..the person is demanding to speak with you.”

The captain said more firmly this time. “Who is it?”

Even more frightened, the woman squeaked, “He called himself Alexander Adler.”

Alex heard the captain curse and a crash from the other side as he shoved the woman out of her chair. “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience sir. The woman was new. We’ll fire her right away. Sir. Alexander. How may we assist you?”

He rubbed his forehead. “No need for that. Just get me a team to sweep through the train that just left station X.”

“On it sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“That’s it.”

“Ok, I’ll get right on it. My team will be on before it reaches the next station. Is there anyone in particular that you are looking for?”

“That is none of your concern. Just stall the train and make sure no one gets off.”

“Yes sir!” he said, almost too eagerly.

Alex hung up the phone and hijacking the nearest car, headed towards the direction of the train.

‘Ailith Gallow, who really are you?’

Present time

“Holy…” Alex nearly cursed.

He had witnessed a sight that rarely if ever, occurred. Ailith Gallow had just made the chief of authorities fall to his knees and shiver in fear... with a look.

He watched her whisper something to the captain and run out of the train. Before he left to follow her, he caught up with the captain. “Not a word of what happened tonight gets out of this train, understand captain?”

Still shivering with fear, he replied, “Yes sir.”

“Good.”

He followed Ailith out of the train and into an alleyway. Watched as she carefully and silently made her way from roof to roof. ‘I’ll have to keep a close eye on her.’ he noted to himself. She glanced back several times and he would have been caught were it not for his training. This went on for around an hour before she finally halted. Ahead of them was a single strip of tape and a sign that read ‘Dorrance.’ Adjacent to it was a more recent sign reading, ‘Do NOT cross. Hazardous chemicals in the area.’ Beyond the tape were empty buildings and piles and piles of rubble. The streets were deserted and it seemed as if sunlight had not shone on it for who knows how long.

‘Dorrance…’ Alex racked his brain, sure he had heard of it somewhere. ‘Hmm Dorrance, Dorrance.’ It clicked then and he thought to himself. ‘She’s crazy, doesn’t she know that the radiation in the place can kill her?’ For a second, he considered going after her. They still needed her alive. But he was stopped dead in his tracks when from the rubble, emerged a person. He watched from the roof as the man approached Ailith. The two of them started speaking quietly. From where he was, even with the enhanced hearing tech that he had borrowed, he could only make out a few of their sentences.

“Weapons?...” said the man.

“No…”

“Following..traced…”

The conversation went on for a bit longer before the man led Ailith past the caution tapes and into Dorrance.

Alex followed them through deserted streets and worn buildings.

The man led them to an old building. It looked as worn down as the other ones until he shoved a rug aside and opened a hatch on the floor. Below it was a ladder.

Alex waited, making sure that Ailith and the man were long gone before making his way towards the rug.

‘Just who really are you?’