To quell the rebellious thoughts, Congress had shut down the agency that had been in charge of handling the Chicago situation (no, not the FBI or CIA; it was the bureau that Team 13 used to work for). But this act was the only thing that the central government did to try and sate the anger of the populace.
The citizens that supported the government also up in arms. Martial law had been declared in three separate regions since the Riots, and federal troops were becoming a common sight in major cities. The civilian population still in support of the authorities opted to join the Reserves or state police to combat the new anarchist uprising.
It looked like the U.S. was fast becoming a nation of extremes.
***
In the midst of all this, Team 13 was having a short vacation.
In the pleasant meadow next to Lake Winnebago, Frink was happily out collecting specimens for God-knows-what with his butterfly net. From a distance, Andy practiced his espionage by spying on the scientist.
Without making a sound, he watched the Professor prance gaily though the tall grass, chasing dreamily after some wild butterfly.
Andy knew he had to stop him.
He silently crept down the tree he was hiding in and pulled out his BB-gun. Then his cell phone rang.
Shit, he thought. Frink had noticed him by now. Andy angrily pulled out the device. He’d have to remember to turn it off next time.
“Hello?” he said blankly.
“Agent Andy, you and Agent Frink are needed immediately at the cabin. Agent Johnson out.” With that, the other end clicked off.
He didn’t even tell me why, Andy thought. It was probably just another -
Behind him, towards the lake, Andy heard an explosion of water. He spun around and stared at a geyser that had just erupted in front of the distant cabin.
Shit, he thought again as he and Frink ran back.
***
Agent Johnson, always in his black suit and tie, ducked into the small building. Water sprayed down overhead from the explosion. He drew his Berreta, although it probably wouldn’t be much help.
He had seen the disruption in the still water a few seconds before the impact. It was coming straight for the cabin, creating large ripples. It must have been right below the water surface. He barely had time to contact Agent Andy.
Then it hit the beach and shot upward.
The black-suited agent peeked carefully out the front window. He didn’t see anything save water driblets. It could have just been an underwater concussion missile, Johnson thought. But why would anyone send such a pointless weapon?
Suddenly the front door was smashed open by a huge, black, snake-like form. Johnson spun around and fired repeatedly at whatever it was. The inertia of the creature sent it hurtling into the fireplace on the other side of the room.
Johnson turned to the window again and prepared to jump out. Then he realized that a moving black form covered the window from the outside. His immediate escapes were blocked off.
***
When Andy and Frink arrived, they could feel the rumble of something huge inside the bungalow.
“Our weapons are in there!” Frink shouted in alarm.
“Agent Johnson is in there,” Andy calmly said.
Frink seemed to pale even further. Andy ignored him and looked around. If there was anything he could use as a weapon lying around . . . he spotted a blowtorch next to a toolbox and grill. He looked toward the team’s two cars parked in the driveway and saw the fuel canisters. He quickly illustrated his plan in his mind, nodded, and ordered Frink to grab the fuel tanks.
***
Agent Johnson hardly had time to escape the room before it was filled with the writhing black creature. He ran toward the kitchen and leaped for safety.
He didn’t make it. The creature’s massive mouth was opened and around him before he could land. He hoped it didn’t have many teeth.
***
Andy fixed the blowtorch into place with the rope and spun the gas dial. Then he ran as quickly as he could around the other side of the cabin.
In a few seconds, the gas tank Frink had set up right beneath the creature’s rear exploded. The effect was massive.
Even though only one tank had been used, the entire lower half of the snake-like monster was blown off and fire coursed through the rest of its lithe body. The front part of the cottage was also blown in, and the roof was on fire.
Andy and Frink boldly ran in to remove any explosives they had in the cabin. And to check up on Johnson.
***
Johnson was enveloped in darkness for a few brief, painful moments. Then the snake thing’s rows of teeth stopped moving, and the agent heard an explosion from the outside.
From deep within the creature, he saw a light. That light grew into a ball of fire hurtling toward him from the rear of the monster. Johnson pulled at a flap of the creature’s loose inner skin and wrapped himself quickly in it. If he was lucky, the skin wasn’t flammable.
***
“You were very lucky, Agent Johnson,” Frink began as he helped pull the suited agent out of the carcass, “This creature - an aquatic hybrid of the ‘purple worm’ - has flame-proof skin.”
“Yeah, very lucky indeed,” Andy said sarcastically. Nobody laughed.
***
In a copse of trees a safe distance away, Ramo the ex-assassin watched his work with glee. Sure, the purple worm he summoned had been killed, but it had done quite a bit of harm to the team of agents that had almost been his downfall.
The team he hated with a passion.
Team 13.
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