Reapers: The Shadow Soldiers Read Online Free Page A

minutes, they were at a storage room door. She flashed her credentials and the door hissed opened.  
    “Good luck,” she wished as she walked away. Burns gave her a smile back and then waited until she was out of view before entering the room.  
    The storage room was small. It had a few shelves for extra supplies and then had a large space in the center where the pallets of medicine were kept. Burns made his way around this sealed pallet of meds in the center. From the outside, he wasn’t sure if it was the Flenin or not.
    Shuffling through his pocket, he found a spare razor blade and used it to cut some of the plastic wrap around the pallet. He then ripped open a box and removed a transparent vial that clacked with little blue pills. He brought the vial closer to his face and read the inscription on one of the pills:  
    Swabboxsta
    Swabboxsta was manufactured by Rhodine pharmaceutical, and its consumer name: Flenin.
    Burns smiled. He’d done it.  
    Pocketing the items in his hand, he made his way to the front of the pallet and activated polarity. After a short humming sound, the pallet rose a few inches off the ground. He then approached the back once more and pushed the whole pallet of medicine easily out the door.
    The fire preparedness map upstairs had noted a large crate elevator at the back of cold storage. It was accessed only by employees and let out to the arrivals pool. It was the elevator they used when they received shipments, but it would be the perfect method for Burns’ escape. He just hoped his stolen doctor’s credentials would work for the elevator’s scanner. He didn’t want to spend another second in cold storage, and for that matter, he never wanted to be in a place this cold again for the rest of his life.  

ANSWERS

    Leaving cold storage and the Veterans Affairs hospital behind, Burns pushed the pallet of Flenin down a few blocks. He then left the illegal drugs behind a defunct building while he acquired some lighter fluid and a match. Returning, he sent the entire pallet up in all-consuming flame. The inferno might have called attention to the local fire department, but a flaming pile of drugs was beyond banal for Fifth Street standards, so he doubted anyone would care.
    The sun then began to lower and the evening commenced, so Burns took off from Fifth Street and headed back to Central City. There was a reason he no longer lived in this part of the town, and the nights were it.  
    Since he didn ’ t feel like walking all the way back, Burns decided to spend his remaining dollars and take the tram.  
    Descending to the station underneath the city, Burns had to admit that looking less homeless certainly helped with people ’ s perception of him. Walking through the dungy, urine-smelling underground, people actually managed to accept him as normal. It felt strange. He still didn ’ t feel normal. Maybe he truly did deserve the looks he used to get. They saw him as an abomination, and he couldn ’ t say he disagreed.
    Finally boarding the tram, he sat down in an empty seat. It was well past rush hour and plenty of seats were available, so nobody sat next to him. The doors then closed, and the tram sped forward at lightning speed. All the other people seemed pleased to be heading home after a long day of work, but Burns could only put his head in the palms of his hands and breathe.  
    During the mission he’d felt more alive than he had in a while, but afterwards—after the adrenaline went away—he began to feel as bad as he did that morning. The truth was, he had no idea what was going to make him feel well again. Nothing he tried ever worked. Not even saving people could help. Maybe this was just what life was going to be for him.
    No. He wouldn ’ t take it like this. If everything he just went through wasn ’ t going to work, then maybe he did need help. He would have to take Lagona up on his offer. Talking to him may be the only option left to solve the problem, even if it