The Gunslingers #10: Unfinished Business
The unforgiving desert burns hot, very hot. Miles away from civilization, the mad scientist Saul Ghoulachov silently treads forwards, praying to god that he is at least heading in the right direction. As the sweat beads across his brow and throughout his beard, he wishes that he hadn’t worn his best suit in this blistering heat, and that the metal briefcase hand-cuffed to his wrist was a little lighter. Off in the distance, where the paved road seems to dip off into the infinite oblivion, where you can literally see the heat coming off of the pavement, something moves towards Dr. Ghoulachov at a very quick pace. He sees it, a black shape, moving very fast indeed. He sighs, knowing exactly what it is. He sits down on the side of the road, holding up the briefcase, the heavy mid-day sun reflects off of it, surely blinding anyone that looks at it. The shape, now clearly a van, slows as it approaches. Saul imagines how hot the metal of it would be if he was to touch it. He’s a doctor damn it, he knows better. The man in the driver’s seat doesn’t look at Saul, but the man who opens the back door does. He stands a little less than six feet, wearing a jet black suit with a red tie. His dark sunglasses are small, just covering his eyes. His hair is cut short, parting in the middle. And he is clean shaven… he is always clean shaven.
“Saul,” says the man in the red tie, his voice sounds neutral, neither happy nor upset to see his co-worker. “It’s been days, why didn’t you make contact. We sent an agent.”
“I never met your damn agent, I’ve been alone in the field since you dropped me off three weeks ago”
“Did you find any Guardian Positives? Did you find Annie?” His voice stayes neutral, never changing.
“I found two positive, and yes I found Annie.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
“Saul,” still neutral, “You were supposed to bring her in alive, her father won’t be happy about this.”
“There was a complication, Jason Abernathy, Guardian Positive, had his powers activated while I was in his company. It was a very volatile combination, he’s impulsive, so fire manipulation can be very dangerous in his hands.”
“Did you offer him a position with The Organization?”
“He’s un-turn able. He’s like a boy-scout. Ex-military, what can you do?”
“Is he the one that blew up the civilians?” The man in the red tie seems greatly interested in this, even though his tone hasn’t changed.
“Yeah, he’s really messed up.” Saul pushes his final conversation with Jace out of his head. “He can’t be brought aboard.”
“Then he must be taken care of.”
“He will be, if I can just get back to my lab and finish the new strain of advanced viruses, then I can take him out.”
“Fine,” the man in the red tie grabs the briefcase attached to Saul’s wrist and pulls a key from his pocket. He frees the cuff from Saul’s wrist and pulls the briefcase inside. “Take this.” He hands Saul a green vial of the temporary cure.
“What’s this for?” Saul says, taking the vial.
“You have a long walk ahead of you.” The man in red tie slams the door shut, and the van U-turns, driving off into the distance. Saul looks at the vial in his hand, and then at the long walk ahead of him.
“Fucking asshole.”
Next: The Organization: Bringing in the Cavalry
Why is the man in the red tie visiting a the crash site of a prison bus a whole two months after meeting Saul on that desolate desert road? And why is The Organization still interested in Toronto at all? Stay Tuned!
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