Aegis Academy - Chapter 4

After the long silence from Michael, Jack realised that his time here may be limited. His fears were reaffirmed by what came next.

“Looks like there is nothing we can get from this boy, this is hopeless” said Michael to no one in particular. “He did get to our secret location so we can’t just let him go. Sorry kid” the last statement was said to Jack conveyed with a sympathetic expression from Michael.

Jack’s heart sank. Is he going to die here, in the middle of nowhere! No one knowing what happened to him, his father, who jack isn’t sure even survived, his neighbours and the village he grew up loving. Not even Sandra, his childhood friend who left the village a year ago to go to school. He was looking forwards to going to her school and meeting her after all that time. He wasn’t going to see her again. He doesn’t want that.

He needs to get out of here and fast.

Michael got up and walked around the table to Jack. He placed his muscular hands on Jack’s shoulder, “I am so very sorry about this, but no one can know we exist. We will decide on what to do with you shortly, so you have a few moments to yourself until then. Farewell”

“Post two guards here Johnson; I don’t want anyone finding the boy here.” He commanded “of course, sir” Johnson replied before closing the door behind them.

Jack understood that he had no time left. He wasn’t going to sit and wait helplessly for his executioner to arrive. He looked down at his hand where a black access card was dangling between his index and middle finger – a little trick he learned from his time in the village. On one side there was a complicated looking computer chip and on the other golden letter formed one name.

“Michael Hendrix”

******

Jack’s village wasn’t exactly a normal living location. Everyone there was brilliant.

To Jack, the inhabitants of this village were either ninjas or wizards. They all had the ability to somehow materialise out of thin air and have tremendous strength and speed; it was a little disturbing because they were mostly older men. The village population was made up mostly of older men and their children. The last time he saw his mother, before relocating to the village, was when he was five years old; his father brought him to that village and, ever since he can remember, life in that village was constant training. Strength, speed, stealth, even pick-pocketing. These training objectives and principles were reinforced in their everyday life, for example, cleaning the entire house was done with a 20-kilogram broom. That was just when he was eight years old.

There weren’t many kids in the village so they all became quite good friends very early on as any free time they had was either spent in the library, learning some history and new things about the rest of the world, or with each other playing classic games their fathers taught them like ‘killer hide-and-seek’.

He didn’t know too much about anything outside the village. All he knew was what he learned in the library. He did have one visit to his mother in New York that left him in awe with the contrast between the city and his village, however. He would also sometimes sneak into a neighbouring village for some fresh air; he did that so often that he had actually made a friend in that village. He taught him many things about what is considered normal for his village. He was looking forwards to going to the outside world, like Sandra did a year ago. He wanted to see his best friend and discover the world outside of their village.

He hadn’t given up on that dream yet, so he applied some of what he learned in the village and stole Michael’s access card when he came in close.

******

A minute after Michael and Johnson left the cell, Jack heard some footsteps that came to rest outside the door. He assumed they were the guards Michael requested. He was going to have to subdue them if he wants to get out of here. There was no way around it. Once again, his training is going to come in handy.

Jack took off his jacket and placed it on the floor, it was going to hinder his escape attempt. he felt slightly guilty though, because it was a gift from his mother. Jack then placed the access card on the scanner and hid behind the door in wait.

The two guards heard a quiet hum as someone opened the cell door from within. They held up their weapons and waited for the culprit to attempt an escape however no one came out.

As per procedure, they had to secure the prisoner, so they began walking in. To their surprise there was no on sitting on the table, and no one sleeping on the metal framed bed. They started walking in carefully and fully alert. Maybe there was no one in from the beginning and this was just an elaborate gag, but then they remembered they were posted here by Johnson himself. Johnson doesn’t Joke. The jacket on the floor confirmed there was someone here, but before they can search further blackness enveloped their minds.

Jack saw the two guards walk in slowly and ready with their weapons in shooting positions. They walked further into the room without checking behind the door; Jack felt lucky these guys didn’t seem as capable as his interrogators. Jack took the opportunity and pounced on the two guards with a swift chop to the back of their necks that put them to sleep immediately. He could’ve easily killed him but saw no reason to complicate things, so he grabbed his Jacket, Michael’s access card and a baton from the belt of one of the guards. Now he needs to be vigilant, he has no idea what was waiting for him outside this cell.

The halls outside were dimly lit and cold. Jack felt the luck of the Irish swooping at him in the hallways in the form of a salty breeze from, presumably, near-by sea water; Jack could follow this air to his freedom, all he had to do was avoid the cameras that littered the hallways. He found it hard to find any blind spots in the CCTV network; this is was a well-guarded building, however, their mistake was not placing more people in the hallways.

All Jack could do was avoid the cameras as much as possible, and hope the security guards watching the feed weren’t paying attention.

He hid behind a cabinet in an adjacent passage as he heard foot-steps approaching from the exit.

“Come on really?! Brangelina adopted another kid. It’s like they’re collecting kids from all races to prepare for repopulation after an apocalypse. But they’re all cute though. Look at this picture”

Jack didn’t know specifically what they were talking about, but he knew the term ‘Brangelina’ was celebrity-associated. from his visit to his mom in New York. Looks like no matter where you go in this world, even in an apparently secluded fully fortified Academy, there is always some celebrity gossip. He didn’t really relish gossip about people he never met, but it seems to work for his favour for the moment, as the two guards walked by him without noticing him, now talking about Charley Sheen opening a drug clinic in Colombia in a hysteria of laughter.

Jack stayed hidden for a few more moments and looked around to make sure no one else was coming through the exit, then he sprung up and ran towards the exit leading above ground.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the bright sunlight before noticing the greenery he was surrounded by. He turned in his heels and started dashing towards the sound of the crashing waves; he ran through the forest dodging poisonous plants and some odd-looking animals. As he approached the shoreline, he slowed his pace and crouched whiling looking around for any sign of guards lurking. He saw no one, so he stood up and started walking towards the waves.

What he hoped would be a port, turned out to be nothing but a deserted beach. There was nothing on the water; no boat, no people, and no escape from here. He was ready to turn around to find another way out of this place, but a giant human shaped figure blocked the way. It was Michael.

Jack knew from the moment he saw Michael that his escape plan isn’t going to be easy.

“Where exactly are you hoping to go kid? You’re on an island. There is no way out of here”

These words drained the last of Jack’s hope of ever escaping. He had no way to escape and no way to even try.

“So now that that’s settled, why don’t you go back inside and wait for the verdict on your situation?” said Michael

Jack knew there was nothing else he could do. He knew there isn’t even a sliver of an opportunity to exploit. He isn’t going to get out of here by his own accord, and now he was faced by this muscular man obstructing him from learning more about the island and finding another way.

Jack was angry. He didn’t want to be here nor did he plan on staying. The power gap between him and Michael is too great to think of physical confrontation. Jack was fully aware of that fact but… he is not going down without a fight.

“You kept me imprisoned in that cell without reason and without telling me what happened to my father. You may be stronger, but I won’t make it easy for you” Jack said while adjusting his frame readying for the impending fight.

“Come on now, are you being serious? I was hoping you would come peacefully. I don’t take keenly to beating inferior fighters, let alone children” replied Michael calmly.

Jack waited for nothing before springing at a high speed towards the behemoth of a man standing still without a care in the world. He swung his leg towards the chest in the hopes of knocking the man out of balance and creating an opportunity for escape. His attempt was parried easily by Michael with a gentle swipe of his arm. It was as if Michael was swatting a fly. The attack didn’t faze him one bit. Jack knew he is not going to win this fight, but perhaps he can knock Michael out or disorientate him using a feint.

Jack started running towards him once more and readied his arm for a body blow. Michael noticed and responded by defending the intended target with his elbow. What Michael didn’t know was that Jack wasn’t going for a body blow at all, now that Michael is concerned with defending his body, his head is wide open.

Jack spun around Michael’s body to get behind him. Using the spin’s momentum Jack grabbed Michael’s shoulder for leverage, lifted his right foot overhead, and directed the most powerful kick he could muster towards the back of Michael’s head. The attack was very fast, too fast for Michael to be able to defend against. That’s what Jack thought.

Jack was already preparing to run, expecting Michael’s to be thrown by the surprise attack leaving him a window of opportunity, but before he could land from his flying kick, he felt a hand wrap around his right foot.

He felt great force pull him back, sharp pain delivered from a strike to the neck, and then darkness.