Lynn's car drove through the gunfire that was fired between the government and opposition troops. She was safe since her car was armored, but she had a little bit of worry if an RPG hit her. Still, she only an unwanted combatant at that point since she wore her combat loadout.
'What was Lizeth thinking? Sending me to warzone like this,' Lynn dodged wreckage of the main battle tank.
She put her SCAR-H right below the steering wheel of her car and checked the trauma plates position on her vest since one of the bullets that were fired between the military and the opposition accidentally hit her car.
The rendezvous position was located in an address that was familiar to her. It was located near her old house and Patrick's old boarding house that was destroyed by RPG when the Russians first appeared.
'Have Aline given Lizeth her new arm?' Lynn wondered as she drove to a military checkpoint. The military checkpoint was guarded by two T-72 tanks and there was a short queue of cars that were waiting to be checked.
Lynn stopped her car behind the car and turned on the siren that was hidden in her car to give the soldiers on that checkpoint a clearance for her. One of the soldiers approached her and told Lynn to open the window.
"Evening fellas," Lynn said as she showed her phone to the soldier and the soldier nodded in acknowledgment.
"Evening Ma'am, we are currently searching for the car in front of us," the soldier replied.
"That's ok. Please take your time," Lynn said as she opened a package of candy and put it on her mouth as the soldiers in front of her were searching a car.
20 Minutes Later
"Sorry for the wait ma'am," Lynn drove her car through the checkpoint and entered the area where the coordinate that Lizeth sent was located.
Lizeth was a little bit of an asshole at that time, she only gave the rough location of her position. It looked like she wanted Lynn to search for her in that area. It was similar to finding a needle in a haystack.
The only lead that she had was a distress signal that Lizeth told Lynn to follow. She only had one frequency that she was meant to follow. In order to do that, she must be on foot. She tuned her AN/PRC-148 to the distress signal frequency.
[431.00423]
The radio was plugged to her tactical headset and she must observe the signal on the radio or listen to the beeping sound that became faster every time she got closer to the signal.
Beep... Beep....beep.....
The signal beeps were still too slow, she needed to become closer to the signal source. She aimed her rifle at the general area while looking at the residential area where she used to live.
'Patrick and I used to walk together in this street,' she sighed, 'Does Lizeth send me on a nostalgia trip? Probably my imagination only.' She walked below the streetlights that were very dim.
She continued to follow the distress signal. She looked at the wall that was surrounding the house. There were a lot of bullet holes there. She continued her walk until she stumbled across a house that had a very large hole.
It was Patrick's boarding house that was attacked by the Spetsnaz. It had a lot of police lines that had been broken through. Lynn approached the hole in that house.
Beep...Beep...Beep...
The signal beeps became faster. Lynn's attention was grabbed by the large hole in that house. She knew that Patrick died in that place. It triggered a terrible memory in her mind. She looked at that hole.
The tear started falling from her eyes as she touched that hole, "Patrick... I'm so sorry," Lynn looked at that hole. She entered the house from that hole and kept following the distress signal until it became faster.
She looked at the house, it was long abandoned. There wasn't anyone occupying that house. Patrick had passed away, Lynn had no idea about Alex and his teacher. She went upstairs and entered a room.
The room was messy, but something hit her nose. It was Patrick's smell. Yeah, that dead person smell was still there. She saw something on the computer table. It was a distress pulser with a note taped on it. It was another frequency.
'What does Lizeth want with this thing?' Lynn asked herself as she tuned into another frequency.
[429.00123]
The beep was different, but it worked on the same principle. The faster the beep, the closer she went to another distress pulser. Lynn turned off the distress pulser and walked outside of Patrick's room since the occupant of that room had long gone.
Lynn wiped her tear, "I'm so sorry, I can't protect you," Lynn put a Star Bethlehem flower that was caught by her clothes on Patrick's dusty bed.
Lynn saluted at the bed as her respect. She left that room with her assault rifle aimed at her front direction as she followed that distress signal. The road that led to that distress signal was darker than before. She wore her NVG on her head as she followed the beeping noise on her headset.
Beep....beep....beep...
She walked on that road as she was aware of her surrounding had become a battle zone. She follows that beeping as the night was getting eerier.
She arrives at another house. It was a house located not that far from Patrick's house. It was her house in fact. The house that she sold before she moved to the capital.
'Ah, my house. I almost forget about you. Hmm, Patrick died after she went to this house,' Lynn sighed, 'Good times.'
Lynn looked at the ground of her house, "Patrick, why did you leave me?" Lynn cried again as she remembered the last night that she saw him. That city was a pain for her heart. She got too emotional in that area.
She entered her old house by breaking the door with a crowbar and searched for the distress pulser. The door wasn't locked since someone accessed it before. She was on standby with her rifle on her shoulder. The furniture of that house was sold and only leaving basic furniture.
She went to the living room, there was a distress pulser on the table of her living room. She saw the couch where she and Patrick watched a movie together. It had been so long since Patrick left her. Lizeth had gone too.
She grabbed that distress pulser and she noticed a piece of paper with a different frequency. She looked at that couch where she and Patrick were watching a movie.
"Hmmph," Lynn sighed as she looked at that couch and flipped it over in sadness. She didn't want to remember any of that thing. She put the frequency on the radio again.
[427.00124]
She left that house and went to that distress pulse signal source. She went walking again to a location in the residential area.
Beep...Beep....Beep.....
She walked to the slum zone of the residential area. 'Lizeth, what are you trying to imply? Patrick's house then my house, then what?' she thought as she walked on that road.
Beep.....Beep.....Beep.....
The beeping noise became faster as she approached a broken house. It wasn't an ordinary house. It was Patrick's first gang hideout. She looked at that house and had a hallucination.
She suddenly saw Patrick was laying on the floor with her aiming her SCAR-H at his head.
Hands behind your back, and drop the pistol please," Lynn said as she moved away from Patrick and she threw his pistol away.
Lynn looked around, 'No, this isn't real,' she saw the hallucination of herself in that house.
"Looks like you've done a good job. Well done. I thought that I will see your dead body," Lynn's hallucination said to Patrick before Lynn shot him in the head. It wasn't the real deal. Her hallucination looked at her.
"This is your fault," that hallucination grabbed Patrick's pistol and aimed it at Lynn.
"NO!!!" Lynn shot the shadow of herself with her SCAR-H. She took a deep breath. She needed to be calm. Everything was not real. It was only her imagination.
'I need to calm down,' Lynn took a deep breath and grabbed her canteen. She drunk the water inside of it and managed to calm down.
'Lizeth, what are you trying to do?' Lynn really wanted to ask her that question, but she had to find her first. The problem was where the fuck she is.
She looked at that former gang hideout and found a distress pulser laying down on the ground. There was a paper taped on the distress pulser. Lynn grabbed it and tuned her radio into a new frequency.
[420.00666]
The frequency beeps were very slow this time. It was very vague too. Nevertheless, Lynn wanted to get things done and get out of that town as soon as possible. There were too many traumatic experiences in that town.
Lynn followed the beeping of that distress pulser. She thought about what the meaning of those locations was. The location was very far from there. It was around two kilometers away from that position.
Lynn was more surprised when she arrived at the location. It was her old school. There was also Lizeth's car. It made her question everything.
'Why the heck she visits my school? What are you doing here Lizeth?' Lynn thought as she walked to the unlocked gate of that school. She also saw that the security guards weren't longer there. Maybe they got relocated.
Beep...Beep...Beep...
She entered her old school and the beep came faster as she stood up in front of the library of the school. The beep was very loud, but she didn't see anyone in that room. Well, Lizeth could be using camouflage to hide between the book racks. Well, you never know.
Lynn opened the door slowly and saw a distress pulser in the middle table in that library alongside a note. Lynn approached the distress pulser and turned it off.
"So many memories in here," Lynn said as she looked around that library. The library was the place where both of them met, talk, hug. Well, it was a very pleasant place for both of them.
"Patrick. Rest in peace," Lynn said as she grabbed the note from Lizeth and the note was written like this:
Hi Lynn. Sorry for the nostalgia trip, but it should be reminding you of how you met my brother. From the library to be killed on his own boarding house. Well, come to the place where it all started, the rooftop.
I will tell you everything and I mean it. Please don't wear your balaclava or any face concealment. Don't worry, I won't do the same thing as what Clara did. Just come here, please.
Lynn read that note. It made her more confused, but it didn't make any sense. How could she know the story of Patrick became a contractor in a highly detailed manner? Unless...
"Lizeth, do you really have a brother? Or...," Lynn got a crazy thought in her mind.
She took off her balaclava and put her helmet on her belt. She made a dash to the stairs. It wasn't locked. She opened the door to the stairs.
'Could it be?' Lynn cried as she climbed the stairs She was too confused and too happy at the same time. It was just weird. She was worried that she would be disappointed when she arrived at the rooftop.
She arrived at the door between the rooftop and the staircase. She wondered for a second, 'Will this be anti-climactic? Am I ready?' she put her hands on the door handle.
She opened the door slowly and the cold breeze of night wind hit her wet face. The rooftop was empty with an exception. There was a figure there.
The figure was standing near the railings of the rooftop. He was standing there as he looked at the city. He was leaning on the railings beside his rifle.
The figure looked at Lynn. Lynn was shocked, she felt that her face was crumbling down to the ground. Her heart burst as if it wanted to get out of her body.
It was Patrick. It was Patrick with the addition of scars and glasses on his face. Lynn was very happy once she saw her.
Patrick looked at Lynn who was crying with a smile on his face, "How long did I make you wait?" He opened his arms.
Lynn ran to his direction. She hugged Patrick as tight as she could, "Too long... Too long. I miss you," They hugged each other at that rooftop.