“Sarge, I’m not seeing anything” Trinity said, setting her binoculars down carefully on the windowsill next to her and rubbing her icy hands together.

“You’re not seeing anything? Jesus Christ Sarge, why’d we bring the blind girl on the mission?” came Brick’s garbled voice over the comm.

“You know what I meant Brick. At least I get to go on missions, when was the last time you left base before this?” she snapped.

“Oh you really want to talk-” retorted Brick.

“Not another word from either of you. I want the line clear,” Sarge cut him off. “Both your egos are big enough to know why I chose you.”

“Aw shucks Sarge, you really know how to make a guy feel special.” responded Brick.

“I said not another word Brick.”

The wind picked up, ruffling Trinity’s hair “I’m getting a lot of noise from your comm Trin” said Sarge.

“It’s the wind, I’m going to turn my mic off until it dies down.” she said, reaching up and turning the dial down. Leaning back against the window she took a deep breath and let it out, smiling to herself as the sun came out and warmed her chilled face.

“Trin, I’m cold.” Trinity startled slightly upon hearing Brick’s voice in her ear.

“I thought I had finally gotten rid of you,” she groaned, turning her mic back on. “And shut up, Sarge is going to yell at us both.”

“Switch to the private line, he can’t hear anything. It’s been twelve hours Trin. We’ve been up here for twelve hours and nothing has happened.”

“Comm status, switch to L2,” Trinity waited for the transfer confirmation before continuing. “Stop complaining, when you’ve sat outside doing nothing for 32 hours then we’ll talk.” She blew out a breath, watching the vapor disappear in the cold January air.  

“I’d be more excited if it wasn’t -18 degrees and I could feel my toes. I’d be even more excited if I had more company than a rat who may or may not be frozen solid to the roof I’m on. What a dumb rat, it probably had a warm burrow in the tunnels under the street and it came outside.”

“Yeah living in the nice cozy sewage tunnels, what a life” Trinity joked looking down at a manhole cover on the street below her. She felt a chill run through her, but it wasn’t from the wind.

“Oh my God. Brick! You remember what Min’s last message to me was right?”

“Min? Ex President of the West Republic who tried to begin a war by bombing the East? Min, who also coincidentally murdered your parents when they found out it was him? Nope, doesn’t ring a bell” she could hear the smile in his voice.

“I’m being serious Brick.”

“Yes, Trinity, I vaguely remember Min’s last message to you. It was more of a taunt to be honest. Didn’t he say something like ‘Your parents got in too deep, and that’s why they’re dead. You’ve barely scraped the surface.’ Why do you ask?”

“Don’t you see? You’ve barely scraped the surface. The surface. The tunnels, Brick. Min is underground.” She grabbed her pack and stood up from her perch on the windowsill, balancing carefully on the pane before swinging over onto a balcony.

“And how did we not get that before?” she heard confusion in Brick’s voice.

“I see a way to get into the tunnels, I’m sending you my coordinates,” Trinity muttered, ignoring the bite of the freezing iron as she climbed down the fire escape stairs.

“What? No, we can’t leave our posts! Trinity stop and think about this rationally. You can’t do a job in a job. Not only are you putting the President in danger by leaving, but if you go in there alone you’re putting yourself in danger.  

“Five years, Brick. I’ve been tracking Min for five years, and now that I have the chance to potentially find the man who killed my parents, you’re going to say ‘no Trinity, you have to follow protocol’? You know how important this is to me I’m going with or without you.” jumping from the bottom rung, she hit the snow covered ground, before tightening her pack straps.

“You’ll get suspended, or worse, kicked out for doing this. What if something happens while you’re gone. Maybe you’re forgetting that we’re the only protection the President has while he’s talking down the ER from waging war on us, ”

“Jesus Christ, Brick! Fine! Let’s sit and wait 10 more hours for nothing to happen to the President because no one knows he’s here.” Walking into the middle of the road, she used her boot to break the ice off surrounding the cover.

“You’re going anyway aren’t you.” Brick sighed.

“Yes.”

She heard Brick take a deep breath and exhale harshly. “You have an hour tops, not a second longer. Recon only, Trinity. I don’t care if you find him, you mark his location and come back.”

“I’m going in now, track my location if it’ll make you feel better,” Rubbing her hands together she bent down and lifted the manhole cover, moving it enough to slip through. “And Brick?” She paused at the top rung.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t tell Sarge.” Dropping into the sewer she blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

“Good luck-” Brick’s words were cut off by a static.

“Comm report, battery and signal” she said, wincing as her voice echoed off the walls.

“Battery is at sixty three percent, signal is low” the monotone female voice said into her ear.

“The tunnels are interfering with the signal, you’re going to be going in and out” she said hoping Brick would hear.

Straightening up, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. For a sewer tunnel, it smelled clean. “Almost too clean,” she murmured, walking over to the wall and examining the fluorescent lights. , illuminating the noticeable lack of sewage water and filth she had expected.

“Okay Min, where are you?” she whispered, taking out her sensor. “Comm status, switch to sensor and scan for bio signs.”

“Bio signs located” the sensor lit up, indicating a person was coming up behind her.

Stuffing her sensor into her pocket, she pressed herself against the wall and pulled her gun out, training it on the direction of the approaching footsteps. As the footsteps got louder, Trinity felt the familiar feeling of calm run through her, the one that came before the dread she felt after killing someone. Narrowing her eyes she tightened her finger on the trigger, just as a large figure rounded the corner.

“Don’t shoot!” they cried out lifting their hands above their head.

“Keep your hands up and walk to me slowly” Trinity called back, keeping her finger tight on the trigger. As the figure got closer, Trinity was able to pick out a woman’s face from the mountain of grimy shawls and blankets covering her.

“What are you doing in the tunnels?” she questioned, keeping her gun level with the woman’s head.

“I could ask the same about you” the women responded, her eyes traveling from Trinity’s black down coat to her polished combat boots.

“I’m looking for my father,” the lie rolled off Trinity’s tongue.

The woman chuckled. “With those clothes and a gun like that? I don’t think your father’s down here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You obviously come from some money,” the woman gestured at Trinity’s clothes. “So what business would he have in the Whell?”

“In the well what?”

“The Whell, W-H-E-L-L,” the woman spelled out. “The black market” she further explained at Trinity’s confused look.

“That’s down here? Show me” Trinity demanded.

“Let’s make a deal. I’ll take you to the Whell and in return you give me your jacket.” The woman smiled revealing several missing teeth.

“How about you lead me to the Whell, and I won’t shoot you” Trinity smiled back.

The woman huffed before giving a quick nod and walking past Trinity. “Better to put the gun away. We’ll encounter more people when we get closer to the Whell and they’ll be curious as to how a young girl like you got such fancy arms.”

Trinity shook her head. “Gun stays out, and your hands stay where I can see them” she said as the woman buried her hands back into the mountain of clothes.

“You march me into the Whell with my hands on my head and a gun at my back and we’ll both be killed. They don’t take too kindly to narcs and snitches,” she paused, eyeing Trinity again. “You working for the police?”

“If I was working for the police I would have shot you when I saw you.” This answer seemed to satisfy the woman because she huffed again and continued down the tunnel. As they walked in silence down the tunnel, more people began to appear, the woman stopping every now and then to whisper to them. She was right, the gun attracted attention like a moths to a light, people coming up to Trinity offering their personal belongings just to hold it.

“I’ll give you my son” a man pleaded, grabbing Trinity’s bag. Shaking him off, Trinity pushed her way through the crowd and looked around for the woman.

“Oi,” the woman emerged from a hole in the wall and motioned for Trinity to come over. “I know you don’t trust me but you’re gonna have to take my hand. These tunnels aren’t lit and you don’t know where you’re going” she held out her hand. At Trinity’s reluctance she let out an exasperated breath and grabbed Trinity’s free hand. “I don’t bite” she muttered as they ventured into the darkness.

Without visuals, Trinity’s senses kicked into high gear. She noticed the increase in temperature, the dampness of the air, and most importantly, the quiet footsteps behind them. The woman must have noticed the footsteps as well because she sped up. Whoever was behind them sped up too.

“We’re being followed” Trinity breathed out.

“Many people go this way” the woman’s voice sounded confident but her grip on Trinity’s hand tightened. They continued at a brisk pace until the woman stopped abruptly, yanking Trinity back as her momentum carried her forward. The footsteps behind them passed them before fading into the distance.

“I think we lost them-” Trinity stopped as she felt someone behind her.

“I heard that we had a visitor,” before she could turn, she felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of her head. “Don’t move.”