Taine's POV
I stirred back to reality and felt the firm grip of the ropes around my wrists. Sneaking into their base and making sure I was caught was not fun, to say the least. I used all my might to pull the ropes apart or to at least loosen them. I even lifted my body and threw my weight downwards to try to snap the rope. No luck.
"Don't bother." A voice said from the corner of the room. I looked in that direction and could identify the shape of a thin girl in the dark. She hung from the ceiling with a rope around her wrists, same as me. The light of what I assumed was a car drove past and gave me a better view of the girl. She had dry blood and bruises around her wrists from struggling to break free from the ropes. I recognised her instantly.
My handler had informed me that one of our own had been held captive by a rival gang. My mission was to retrieve her and escape with as much surreptitious notice as possible. The photo I was given was of a healthy black girl with braided hair. The girl I found was starved, weak and covered in yellow and purple bruises. The purple bruises were recently caused, but the yellow bruises meant she had been here for a while.
"I already tried." She stated and continued to keep her head down.
"I've come to get you out of here. D.T.A sent me." I remarked. I knocked my heels together, which made a sharp knife pop out the tip of the shoe. I then used my upper body strength and bent my body so that my feet were above my hands. I used the knife to start cutting the rope. It took a few minutes, but the rope eventually snapped, and I fell to the floor. Not a soft landing, might I add. I shot to my feet, pushed the knife back into my shoe and helped untie her.
"I didn't know the D.T.A employs young agents." The girl mumbled.
"I'm not that young. I'll be 14 this year." I snapped, and she fell to the ground. I help her waist to keep her upright. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I'm just weak." She nodded and took a step forward. Her legs wobbled, and her knees buckled as she stepped forward. I caught her before she fell and put her up against a wall.
"Just gain some strength," I ordered as she sat down.
"We won't be able to escape here alive. Go without me. You're better off alone." The girl muttered.
"No, sir. The mission is to retrieve you alive." I replied and searched the room for anything I could use as a weapon.
"What's your name?" The girl asked. What didn't she understand about reserve your energy? I ignored her and continued my search. Nothing, not even a pipe or a rock. Guess it's up to the trusty shoe knife. "I'm Tamara Moore. Code name, Peanut. I thought you should know for when you make it out." She added.
"They call me The Shiv," I remarked. "Awe! Guards! I think the girl is dead! Guards?" I shouted.
"Are you trying to get us killed?" Peanut snapped. I ignored her and shouted again. I heard keys rattling as a guard opened the metal door that led into the room. He held his gun raised, so I stepped towards him and twisted his hand so that the gun pointed towards the floor. His finger was on the trigger, so the weapon fired next to my foot. That was close! I disarmed him and used the gun to knock him out.
"Get up; more guards are on their way from the gunshot," I demanded and helped Peanut onto her feet. I shot a guard as he ran down the passageway then ran the way he came. I shoved Peanut behind a box and covered her mouth as more guards ran past. She tried to remove my hand, but I was stronger than I looked. I slowly let go of her as an alarm went off. So much for being stealthy.
"What's the big deal?" Peanut hissed and pulled away from me.
"Don't ruin my cover," I whispered and looked to see if the coast was clear. Hopefully, the guards all ran in the opposite direction since they assumed we ran that way as well. I signalled for Peanut to follow me, and we ran down the passage. I stopped at the end and peeked around the corner. Three guards were posted in front of a door, I held up 3 fingers for Peanut, and she nodded.
"Hey!" She yelled, and the guards started moving our way. Peanut knocked out one guard while I dealt with the other 2. We disarmed them before any shots were fired and pulled their unconscious bodies into a room. Peanut searched their bodies and found a key card for the door. We also took their guns. It was double deagle time.
D.T.A or Dead Tears Alliance is an undercover gang that worked for the S.A.P.S (South African Police Service). We were just another gang to the public that gained the trust of drug dealers and other illegal associations. We helped S.A.P.S take down traffickers, contracted assassins, uncontrolled gangs and people who use their power or wealth to exploit the law. Were we legal? No. Did we kill people who were just doing their jobs? Yes. D.T.A went on without interruptions from the police, and we were granted freedom to take out anyone we targeted. Reasons beings personal or just simply business.
D.T.A was well known for taking out gangs in the cape, and slowly we were rising to the top. All members were trained as lethal assassins and loyal to the alliance without a doubt. We went by our code names in case a rat had to leak information. I mostly did undercover work at schools and got into power families by making friends with the children. This was my first retrieval mission.
My Dad had been part of the D.T.A. as one of their lawyers. A rival gang targeted my older brother Joshua when I was 10 years old back in 2010. That's when D.T.A. decided to pull me into the alliance. Mom already worked for them as she took on the role of taking care of children we rescued, orphans and children that were just caught in the crossfire. I was good at what I did and could take out men triple my size. I felt like an actual undercover agent, but D.T.A. still forced me to go to school. They wanted all their agents that were underage to still have some sort of childhood and be educated. That way, we appeared, as usual, everyday children.
"Why did you join D.T.A?" Peanut asked as we snuck across the heavily surveyed storage yard. She asked a lot of questions for an agent, which made me cautious.
"Just to cause a little trouble," I smirked and ducked down as a guard flashed his torchlight in our direction. Peanut and I knocked out another guard and hid his body in an empty barrel.
"We make a good team." She cheered.
"No, I'm just good at what I do." I rolled my eyes, and she shrugged. We set up a distraction which sent the guards running that way as we snuck out of the gate. We ran across the street and dived into the gutter on the side of the road. It was full of rubbish and smelled like a dead rat. Something wet squished under my hand, which made me cringe. Peanut followed me as we crawled our way to an area out of view. I was thankful to finally leave the street gutters.
"This way," I instructed her, and we ran over to where my handler said a car would be waiting for the two of us.
"I can't believe we got out alive!" Peanut smiled. "Well done Taine Mecer."
"How do you know my name?" I questioned and held a gun to her head.
"Woah! I'm your new handler. The leader of D.T.A. believed you were ready to move up and take on more responsibility. They were right."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Your old handler is about to phone." She added, and a phone started ringing from the car. I kept my gun pointed at Peanut and opened the car door. A phone was left on the passenger's seat, so I picked it up and answered.
"Lekker time for a coke, ey?" A familiar voice asked. That was our code to prove the D.T.A was on the phone.
"With a stukkie wors." I replied.
"Well done on completing your mission, Shiv. You can lower the gun from agent Peanut now." My former handler stated; I nodded and put the gun down. "Good. We have received word from the leader of D.T.A, she wants you to take on a new mission of utmost importance. She asked for you personally. Peanut will discuss the details with you. It was good working with you. Good luck, my boy."
"Thanks, Dad," I remarked, and the line went silent. So, my Dad was my former handler. His code name was also Dad, ironically. "So, this was all a test?" I asked Peanut. We climbed into the car, and Peanut started the engine.
"No. My cover was compromised; I really did need to be retrieved. That knife in your shoe came in handy. Is that a new upgrade on the gear?" Peanut inquired.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, then that's new. I've been undercover for a few years; it feels good to finally be able to end the mission. I was given a list of names with a picture of each person before I went in. My informer said one of you would be my new apprentice when I got out. Guess you were the lucky chosen one."
"Can we please discuss my new mission?" I asked, irritated. I didn't care about her life story or how she became my handler. There were more important things to talk about.
"Right. The leader of D.T.A. wanted to find the perfect candidate to go undercover at a high school called Encore High. The target starts in grade 8 this year. Your mission is to get closer to the target. Let me remind you, this mission is to be taken seriously. This will be the most important task of your life as a D.T.A. agent. I can't stress how important this mission is."
Great, back to school. Back to my hometown, Morningside. Why couldn't I just drop out and focus on my training? But no, D.T.A encouraged me to finish my studies. At least I'll be on a mission, a mission directly from the leader. My target had to be the child of someone compelling. Like a corrupt politician, the leader of a powerful gang… perhaps even the president?
We drove out of East London, which was where Peanut was held captive. I had been all over South Africa doing missions during the December school holidays. It was early January 2014; at least I had a few days left before school started.
"When do I start?" I questioned.
"As a grade 8, you will start in 3 days. It is a day before the rest of the school so that you can be initiated and introduced to their system. Encore High is a private school; all the details and information you need is in an envelope in the cubby hole."
"And the target?" I asked and grabbed the envelope.
"There's a picture of her inside. No other details are given beside her name and what she looks like." Peanut explained. I stuck my hand into the envelope and pulled out a small picture.
The girl was about my age. She was white with brown eyes and long straight brown hair. There wasn't anything about her that made her stand out. She looked like any ordinary girl. She was pretty, but a just above average sort of pretty. I had seen better looking; heck, I had been with better-looking girls before.
I turned over the picture and read the targets name out loud, "Jane Randall."