Watching My Back: A Stacy Smith Short Story
By: L. D.
“I can’t believe she hung up on me! Damn it! When I actually need help she can never come through,” I whispered in anger.
I was hiding in a nearby alley across the street from the Hilton Hotel. I barely escaped two thugs saying that I had something that threatened world order and national security. All I know is that I went to work everyday, go home, eat, shower, sleep, and then repeat. If I had anything to do with national security or threatened world order I didn’t know it. I work for a computer chip company where we install computer chips in several computers like Dell, Lenovo, and HP. We even have special orders sometimes from the government.
“Hey you come here! Don’t think about running this time or I will put a cap in that ass!” a deep voice screamed towards my way.
I dashed through the alley not really caring if he shoots at me. Two fires rang out nearly missing me. I ran across the street towards the hotel. Hopefully there were enough people inside so that it would distract the thugs’ long enough so that I could get away.
“Watch out! I should have hit you for running in front of my car!” a driver said honking his horn.
I ignored him and entered the hotel. Thankfully there was a conference going on. I blended in with everyone trying not to be seen. I looked over my shoulder to see the two thugs’ walking in. They aren’t blending in as easily. One of them has a long scar under his eye and light pink eyes and short. The other one always where sun glasses whether it’s night or day inside or outside. They both wore black from their hats all the way to their shoes. They slowed down their pace and everyone started staring at them. I slipped through the crowd narrowly escaping.
“Ma’am, drink?” a waitress asked.
“No thank you,” I mumbled.
I continued through the room trying to reach an exit. The thugs were closing on me. I went out a side door to get away. I thought I was safe and I went down the street towards my apartment. I ran into my front door bumping into a homeless guy sitting near his cardboard box house and I dashed into the elevator. As I was going up the thing broke down, again. I forced opened the door and ran to my apartment door that was already open. I pulled out my knife and entered slowly. When I walked in my whole house was destroyed. Books were thrown everywhere. My sofa was ripped open and television busted. My desktop was broken open into and CDs all over the floor.
“What the hell happened here,” I said to myself.
I walked towards my bedroom where everything was on the floor. My desk lamp was busted and carpet was damp. It looks like blood deep, red, and fresh looking. I went into the bathroom to find more blood. I looked into the tub and found my friend laying there with a bullet in her head and bathing in her own blood. She was holding her cell phone. That’s why she hung up on me. I backed up out the room in tears.
I walked back to the living room wondering what to do. Still in shock I didn’t hear anybody come in.
“Freeze! Move or we will shoot. Give us what we want or YOU, WILL, DIE!
I froze only for a second and I dashed through the window with five fire rings flying towards me. I climbed to the roof. I held out on my own. A helicopter landed near me.
“Stacy, I have been trying to catch up with you. Climb in and hurry because they are coming for you. Ditch the clothes they are tracking you.”
I climbed in clothes less in the helicopter and prayed that the thugs didn’t find me.
“Boss she got away. She climbed into a helicopter and flew off. All the tracking devices on her clothes are gone. But we still have one more device strapped on her. Hopefully it still works. It’s a little old but I am going to turn it on and we can get her and what we need.”
“Damn Stacy what happened out there?!” Jon asked handing me some clothes.
“Man I have no idea. All I know is that two dudes started following me around. Man they even broke into my apartment and ripped through all my stuff. I have no idea what they are looking for, but they are pointing the finger at me,” I said pulling down my shirt. “All this didn’t start happening until recently right after we did that big government contract for the White House and military.”
“I think I have seen those dudes before. They were at the plant the day we were working on the project. They said that they were “inspectors” and they would be interviewing everyone to make sure we all were in the right mind to be serving on this project,” Jon said sitting down in front a computer.
“They said that I was a threat to national security and would destroy world order,” I said rolling my eyes.
“What in the hell did you do? Did you steal something from the office? But I do know this if they found you then they must have put tracking devices in your clothes.”
“Man maybe something dropped in my bag or I downloaded something on my computer. I don’t know what’s going on,” I said putting on my socks.
I moved towards Jon to see what he was looking on the computer. He was clicking around on a locator map.
“What are you watching? What or who are you tracking,” I asked leaning over Jon’s shoulder.
“We have to move. They are on the move and they are heading here.”
Jon shut down the computer. He saved some files and then destroyed the computer and told me to follow him outside. We climbed into an unmarked car. We pulled off towards the night air.
“Boss they are on the move. I am going to follow them. They must have known that we were coming. Sure will boss. Kill one save a thousand. That’s our motto. A bullet to her brain just like her friend. Will do. I will give you updates.”
“Jon where are we going? I think we just left the city and into the boonies. I don’t see any other cars, people, or even a gas station,” I said looking out the window.
“We are almost there I promise. I have to hide you. They will continue to chase you and demand something that you don’t have,” Jon said.
“Aight man. I am trusting you with my life so don’t screw me over,” I said rolling my eyes.
I continued to look out the window but eventually fell asleep. As the car slowed down my head knocked back on the seat.
“Ouch,” I whispered.
“We are finally here. I will take you to where you need to go and then from there you’re on your own for a while. Here is a cell phone you can contact me and nobody else. The place is small but livable. It is also fully stocked. I will try to figure out what’s going on,” Jon said getting out of the car.
“So that’s it. You are leaving me out here by myself? I can’t live like this forever.”
“Look, I will come by from time to time. But for right now you have to stay put. People are looking for you and you can’t be seen or heard. We have to pretend like you never existed. Trust me you will be fine. If anything happens in the mean time call me or push the panic button.”
Jon handed me a key and walked me inside. Inside there was a fridge stocked with food and drinks. The kitchen had a basic stove and countertops with utensils. The living room was small with a love seat and television. Down a narrow hallway was a closet that was a bedroom and a pantry that was a bathroom.
“There are several firearms and weapons for you to use just in case something happens. Here is a map to show where you can find the weapons. There is also a panic button and panic room and an escape route. Use it if you have too. For now you’re safe. Like I said before contact me if really need too and no contact to the outside world,” Jon said handing me a map.
Jon left the small get-a-way and I was all alone. I sat in the middle of the floor thinking about the tight situation I was in. Strange men coming after me and Jon was gone.
Three months went by with nothing happening. I didn’t do anything and didn’t go anywhere. All of my basic needs were taken care of so there was no need to leave to even go to the store. I eat, sleep, watch a little bit of television, and repeat. I often wrote in a journal to keep me sane. At some parts of the day I could hear tiny voices on the right side of my brain. It was weird. I thought I was going crazy. I ended up picking up yoga to release some tension that I have been having.
One day out the blue I heard a huge explosion outside the door. I jumped up scared out my mind. I reached for a gun and planted a game face on.
“Come out, come out, come out where ever you are! We know that you are in there,” a deep voice screamed out.
“We?” I mouthed.
The door was busted through and three guys appeared. Two of them I knew from before but the other I didn’t know. I ran and hit the panic button and hid in the panic room. I was trying to control myself from passing out. I heard pots and pans hitting the floor and the television being beat by a baseball bat. Things were being thrown across the room. I heard one of them scream out, “Let’s check the panic room. Every one of these special houses has one. I bet you that she is down there.”
“Shit. What am I going to do,” I said looking for an escape route.
I searched and found a tiny door. I opened it and saw a long tunnel. I climbed in not knowing were it would led me.
“There she is! Hurry she’s getting away!”
I quickly made my way through the tunnel. I got to the end and jumped down to an empty room. My eyes were trying to adjust.
“Welcome Stacy to the Underground. You have been selected for a special program ran by the government. You are the one,” a female automatic voice said.
Three huge lights shinned on top of me.
“Welcome,” a voice said behind me.
I turned around to find a tall female smiling down at me. She looked like she was a former model.
“What’s going?” I asked.
“Follow me,” she said.
She walked and I followed. We went to three long hallways before we stopped. She opened up a door to a large room with a table and four chairs. All of them were occupied.
“Hello Stacy.” The chair turned around and sitting before me was no other than Jon.
“Jon what the hell is going on? And why are you with them? I thought you were on the same team?” I said in disbelief.
“We are Stacy. You did great and you just got my project approved. You were better than expected,” Jon said standing up smiling.
“Jon, what are you talking about? You set me up?”
“Well yeah. Matter of fact you are a functional human machine. We have a working computer chip implanted into your brain. Everything was great until you tried to leave the country.”
“I was planning a vacation with some friends,” I said leaning against a nearby wall.
“Well your little stunt almost threatened our national security. Any other country that gets their hands on you will use you against us. So we had to take you down. So now that we see that you work we can move forward with the project.”
“What kind of project are you talking about?”
“You see I was giving a small grant to start a computer chip company. We used that company to put tracking devices in every computer that has come through there. We used it to keep track of criminal activities and terrorists groups.”
“Since that went pretty well we decided to try it out on a human. We would implant a chip in their brain to see if it would work out. The chip let us see your thoughts, dreams, and feelings. We made sure that you were not stealing government information. And since it worked so well with you we have also implanted chips on everyone who has worked at the company.
“You did well. You proved to us that you can function as a human and machine. So now we are getting a huge grant so that we can expand.”
“Jon, did you have to play me like that! Why would you so this to me?” I screamed out leaping towards him.
The three thugs grabbed me, stuck a needle in my arm, and dragged me out the room. I woke up in a small cold room. I am guessing it’s a hospital room because there were two nurses and a doctor standing around looking at me. I had a pounding headache.
“She’s awake doctor,” one of the nurses said.
The doctor left the room and then came back shortly with clothes.
“Get dressed. You are going to be late for work.”
With that I was dressed and practically pushed out the door. The hot son pressed against my face. I had no idea what just happened. I walked to my car and headed to work.
“Jon it worked. She is off to work and she has no idea what happened.”
“Good, good. I guess system restore really worked. Follow her and make sure she makes it to work.”
The End!!!!!!
By: L. D.
“I can’t believe she hung up on me! Damn it! When I actually need help she can never come through,” I whispered in anger.
I was hiding in a nearby alley across the street from the Hilton Hotel. I barely escaped two thugs saying that I had something that threatened world order and national security. All I know is that I went to work everyday, go home, eat, shower, sleep, and then repeat. If I had anything to do with national security or threatened world order I didn’t know it. I work for a computer chip company where we install computer chips in several computers like Dell, Lenovo, and HP. We even have special orders sometimes from the government.
“Hey you come here! Don’t think about running this time or I will put a cap in that ass!” a deep voice screamed towards my way.
I dashed through the alley not really caring if he shoots at me. Two fires rang out nearly missing me. I ran across the street towards the hotel. Hopefully there were enough people inside so that it would distract the thugs’ long enough so that I could get away.
“Watch out! I should have hit you for running in front of my car!” a driver said honking his horn.
I ignored him and entered the hotel. Thankfully there was a conference going on. I blended in with everyone trying not to be seen. I looked over my shoulder to see the two thugs’ walking in. They aren’t blending in as easily. One of them has a long scar under his eye and light pink eyes and short. The other one always where sun glasses whether it’s night or day inside or outside. They both wore black from their hats all the way to their shoes. They slowed down their pace and everyone started staring at them. I slipped through the crowd narrowly escaping.
“Ma’am, drink?” a waitress asked.
“No thank you,” I mumbled.
I continued through the room trying to reach an exit. The thugs were closing on me. I went out a side door to get away. I thought I was safe and I went down the street towards my apartment. I ran into my front door bumping into a homeless guy sitting near his cardboard box house and I dashed into the elevator. As I was going up the thing broke down, again. I forced opened the door and ran to my apartment door that was already open. I pulled out my knife and entered slowly. When I walked in my whole house was destroyed. Books were thrown everywhere. My sofa was ripped open and television busted. My desktop was broken open into and CDs all over the floor.
“What the hell happened here,” I said to myself.
I walked towards my bedroom where everything was on the floor. My desk lamp was busted and carpet was damp. It looks like blood deep, red, and fresh looking. I went into the bathroom to find more blood. I looked into the tub and found my friend laying there with a bullet in her head and bathing in her own blood. She was holding her cell phone. That’s why she hung up on me. I backed up out the room in tears.
I walked back to the living room wondering what to do. Still in shock I didn’t hear anybody come in.
“Freeze! Move or we will shoot. Give us what we want or YOU, WILL, DIE!
I froze only for a second and I dashed through the window with five fire rings flying towards me. I climbed to the roof. I held out on my own. A helicopter landed near me.
“Stacy, I have been trying to catch up with you. Climb in and hurry because they are coming for you. Ditch the clothes they are tracking you.”
I climbed in clothes less in the helicopter and prayed that the thugs didn’t find me.
“Boss she got away. She climbed into a helicopter and flew off. All the tracking devices on her clothes are gone. But we still have one more device strapped on her. Hopefully it still works. It’s a little old but I am going to turn it on and we can get her and what we need.”
“Damn Stacy what happened out there?!” Jon asked handing me some clothes.
“Man I have no idea. All I know is that two dudes started following me around. Man they even broke into my apartment and ripped through all my stuff. I have no idea what they are looking for, but they are pointing the finger at me,” I said pulling down my shirt. “All this didn’t start happening until recently right after we did that big government contract for the White House and military.”
“I think I have seen those dudes before. They were at the plant the day we were working on the project. They said that they were “inspectors” and they would be interviewing everyone to make sure we all were in the right mind to be serving on this project,” Jon said sitting down in front a computer.
“They said that I was a threat to national security and would destroy world order,” I said rolling my eyes.
“What in the hell did you do? Did you steal something from the office? But I do know this if they found you then they must have put tracking devices in your clothes.”
“Man maybe something dropped in my bag or I downloaded something on my computer. I don’t know what’s going on,” I said putting on my socks.
I moved towards Jon to see what he was looking on the computer. He was clicking around on a locator map.
“What are you watching? What or who are you tracking,” I asked leaning over Jon’s shoulder.
“We have to move. They are on the move and they are heading here.”
Jon shut down the computer. He saved some files and then destroyed the computer and told me to follow him outside. We climbed into an unmarked car. We pulled off towards the night air.
“Boss they are on the move. I am going to follow them. They must have known that we were coming. Sure will boss. Kill one save a thousand. That’s our motto. A bullet to her brain just like her friend. Will do. I will give you updates.”
“Jon where are we going? I think we just left the city and into the boonies. I don’t see any other cars, people, or even a gas station,” I said looking out the window.
“We are almost there I promise. I have to hide you. They will continue to chase you and demand something that you don’t have,” Jon said.
“Aight man. I am trusting you with my life so don’t screw me over,” I said rolling my eyes.
I continued to look out the window but eventually fell asleep. As the car slowed down my head knocked back on the seat.
“Ouch,” I whispered.
“We are finally here. I will take you to where you need to go and then from there you’re on your own for a while. Here is a cell phone you can contact me and nobody else. The place is small but livable. It is also fully stocked. I will try to figure out what’s going on,” Jon said getting out of the car.
“So that’s it. You are leaving me out here by myself? I can’t live like this forever.”
“Look, I will come by from time to time. But for right now you have to stay put. People are looking for you and you can’t be seen or heard. We have to pretend like you never existed. Trust me you will be fine. If anything happens in the mean time call me or push the panic button.”
Jon handed me a key and walked me inside. Inside there was a fridge stocked with food and drinks. The kitchen had a basic stove and countertops with utensils. The living room was small with a love seat and television. Down a narrow hallway was a closet that was a bedroom and a pantry that was a bathroom.
“There are several firearms and weapons for you to use just in case something happens. Here is a map to show where you can find the weapons. There is also a panic button and panic room and an escape route. Use it if you have too. For now you’re safe. Like I said before contact me if really need too and no contact to the outside world,” Jon said handing me a map.
Jon left the small get-a-way and I was all alone. I sat in the middle of the floor thinking about the tight situation I was in. Strange men coming after me and Jon was gone.
Three months went by with nothing happening. I didn’t do anything and didn’t go anywhere. All of my basic needs were taken care of so there was no need to leave to even go to the store. I eat, sleep, watch a little bit of television, and repeat. I often wrote in a journal to keep me sane. At some parts of the day I could hear tiny voices on the right side of my brain. It was weird. I thought I was going crazy. I ended up picking up yoga to release some tension that I have been having.
One day out the blue I heard a huge explosion outside the door. I jumped up scared out my mind. I reached for a gun and planted a game face on.
“Come out, come out, come out where ever you are! We know that you are in there,” a deep voice screamed out.
“We?” I mouthed.
The door was busted through and three guys appeared. Two of them I knew from before but the other I didn’t know. I ran and hit the panic button and hid in the panic room. I was trying to control myself from passing out. I heard pots and pans hitting the floor and the television being beat by a baseball bat. Things were being thrown across the room. I heard one of them scream out, “Let’s check the panic room. Every one of these special houses has one. I bet you that she is down there.”
“Shit. What am I going to do,” I said looking for an escape route.
I searched and found a tiny door. I opened it and saw a long tunnel. I climbed in not knowing were it would led me.
“There she is! Hurry she’s getting away!”
I quickly made my way through the tunnel. I got to the end and jumped down to an empty room. My eyes were trying to adjust.
“Welcome Stacy to the Underground. You have been selected for a special program ran by the government. You are the one,” a female automatic voice said.
Three huge lights shinned on top of me.
“Welcome,” a voice said behind me.
I turned around to find a tall female smiling down at me. She looked like she was a former model.
“What’s going?” I asked.
“Follow me,” she said.
She walked and I followed. We went to three long hallways before we stopped. She opened up a door to a large room with a table and four chairs. All of them were occupied.
“Hello Stacy.” The chair turned around and sitting before me was no other than Jon.
“Jon what the hell is going on? And why are you with them? I thought you were on the same team?” I said in disbelief.
“We are Stacy. You did great and you just got my project approved. You were better than expected,” Jon said standing up smiling.
“Jon, what are you talking about? You set me up?”
“Well yeah. Matter of fact you are a functional human machine. We have a working computer chip implanted into your brain. Everything was great until you tried to leave the country.”
“I was planning a vacation with some friends,” I said leaning against a nearby wall.
“Well your little stunt almost threatened our national security. Any other country that gets their hands on you will use you against us. So we had to take you down. So now that we see that you work we can move forward with the project.”
“What kind of project are you talking about?”
“You see I was giving a small grant to start a computer chip company. We used that company to put tracking devices in every computer that has come through there. We used it to keep track of criminal activities and terrorists groups.”
“Since that went pretty well we decided to try it out on a human. We would implant a chip in their brain to see if it would work out. The chip let us see your thoughts, dreams, and feelings. We made sure that you were not stealing government information. And since it worked so well with you we have also implanted chips on everyone who has worked at the company.
“You did well. You proved to us that you can function as a human and machine. So now we are getting a huge grant so that we can expand.”
“Jon, did you have to play me like that! Why would you so this to me?” I screamed out leaping towards him.
The three thugs grabbed me, stuck a needle in my arm, and dragged me out the room. I woke up in a small cold room. I am guessing it’s a hospital room because there were two nurses and a doctor standing around looking at me. I had a pounding headache.
“She’s awake doctor,” one of the nurses said.
The doctor left the room and then came back shortly with clothes.
“Get dressed. You are going to be late for work.”
With that I was dressed and practically pushed out the door. The hot son pressed against my face. I had no idea what just happened. I walked to my car and headed to work.
“Jon it worked. She is off to work and she has no idea what happened.”
“Good, good. I guess system restore really worked. Follow her and make sure she makes it to work.”
The End!!!!!!
