E18: Another Exam-II
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“Um… What do you mean by ‘surprise us’?” Zack asked.

“See, what you want from us is a job, right?” Mr. Johnson explained. “So, to get it, you were first required to pass the exams, right?” The two nodded. “So, just keep it simple. Surprise me. Achieve anything which you think is great and can make me give you the job. It can be anything. Any theft, murder, or a collecting a valuable piece of intel, maybe even of that thug group. The choice is yours now. What I want are just results, got it?”

Zack inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it through his mouth. He was in pressure. “Should not have signed the papers,” He said. Then, he turned towards Adam and glared for a few seconds. He tried to speak through his eyes and tell him that it was his fault. Adam glared back, and he read the message quite easily. He turned his head down due to disappointment. Zack turned back to Mr. Johnson, who was busy watching the reactions of the two. “Sir, we can’t steal something; it’s against the morals. We can’t murder someone, and the same condition implies. And, collecting a valuable piece of intel… Which type of intel we can provide to SAI?”

“I’ve no say here now.” Mr. Johnson started working on his laptop and papers again. “I warned you in advance. Now the next is up to you two.”

“So you can’t help us out here?” Adam worriedly asked. Mr. Johnson shook his head and continued doing his paperwork. Zack and Adam stood up from the chairs, turned back and dejectedly left the room.

 

The two walked down the whole corridor with their heads tilted down and without speaking a single word. At the ‘Carlos’ Entrance/Exit’, Zack opened the door as he spoke dejectedly, “It’s your fault, Ads. It would not have happened if you didn’t catch the cold of ‘we’re low on number’.”

“Who signed the papers and didn’t give me the time to think again right at the last moment?” Adam sarcastically replied.

“Whose fault it is that Harry—” Zack suddenly stopped in between. He was very lost in despair, but now he was back in senses. “Um…” He turned back and saw Adam, who was looking at him sorrowfully.

“Yeah, it’s my fault from every side— whether it’s Harry, not thinking again before signing the papers, and catching the cold.” He continued moving forward. But, Zack was still standing still while looking at him.

“S-Sorry, Ads.”

Adam surpassed Zack in the stairs as he soon replied, “Nah, it’s okay.”

 

March 14th, 2014 (7:16 pm)

“Hey Zacky!” Olivia called Zack on the phone. “Your next match is gonna begin. Where’re you?”

“We’re at my house, Olly.” Zack was sitting on his sofa-set in front of Adam with a table in between them. The table was full of papers and stationery. Zack was sounding very serious and so were his look. “We’re actually doing some other work for now.”

“What the hell Zack! Are you gone nuts?!”

“No, Olly. Just listen to the announcement. It’s gonna happen any minute by now.”

“What?” She disgustedly asked. But, Zack had already hung up the phone.

“Who was on line?” Adam asked him calmly.

“Olly,” Zack replied as he took up a paper and spread it on top of others.

“Lucy was really helpful, isn’t it?” Adam asked as he glared at the paper. It was a detailed map of a house. It was meters long— both in length and breadth.

“Yep, giving us a detailed map of Mr. Johnson’s house is highly appraisable, except for us.” Zack was smiling smugly. “Now we’re gonna pass the test clearly. Now the only thing we need is the copy of that portrait.”

“I’ve seen the photo sent by Lucy and cropped it; now only printing is left. The resolution is a kinda off-mark but by the time anyone would notice it correctly, we’ll be goners.”

“Great. Everything’s on the right path. Let’s call Harry and give him the good news.”

“No, not now,” Adam stopped him when he was taking his phone out of his pocket. “We’ll inform his when the heist will be complete and we will have passed the test.”

“Okay, that’s also a good idea.”

 

Olivia was sitting on the stands of the tournament, nervously waiting for her mates. “What’s gone into their head?” She thought while nervously shaking her legs. She looked at the playing-field, where Zack and Adam were supposed to play against by now. The other teams’ members were angrily waiting for the last late-comers to arrive and play. Suddenly, the public speakers turned on as someone announced, “Hi everyone! I hope my players are good and kicking! Oh wait, you won’t be good for now because one of the teams in LATE, right? No worries. Actually, I forgot to tell you, but nevermind. The team is OUT OF THE COMPETITION! Yes, Zack’s team is out of the competition because they were low in number.” There was a wide chaos in the stands as well as the field. Everyone started talking with each other, discussing why one of the finest team would have been knocked out of the competition. “W-What’s goin’ on?” Olivia was very confused. So, to erase her confusion, she called Zack again. When someone picked-up the call, she said, “Hey, Zack! What’s going on? Mr. Johnson just announced that you’ve departed away from the competition. Why? What happened?”

“See, Olly, I understand your confusion, but I can’t tell you here in phone. It’s actually a long story. I’ve got some errands tomorrow, so I’m gonna tell you the tale the day after tomorrow, Olivia. Please, this one time.”

“Um…” She didn’t expect Zack to use the word ‘please’ and be so sensitive about the matter. “Uh, okay.” She hung up the phone and thought, “Maybe something fishy is on again in the Agency.”

 

Zack just hung up Olivia’s phone as he started speaking, “So, let’s revise everything, Ads. First, we’ll enter the house through the roof drains to Lucy’s room, when she’d probably be bathing. Then we—” His sentence was cut by the ringing bell of his phone.

“Maybe Olly again.”

“No, it’s an unknown number,” Zack replied as he saw his phone’s screen. He took it up and said, “Hello?”

“Hello sir. Am I talking to Mr. Zack Will?” A woman calmly and respectfully asked him.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Sir, we’ve some bad news about your brother Mr. Harry Brown.”

“What type of bad news?”

“Sir,” She was afraid to tell him. But, after finding some courage, she replied, “Sir, your brother Harry Brown has run away from the hospital premises.”

“What?!” Zack was absolutely shocked by the awkward news. “How can such a thing possibly happen?”

“Sir, we don’t know. We’ve contacted the police but they’ve refused to cooperate. So, for paperwork and other stuff, please arrive at the hospital as soon as possible.” The woman hung up the phone.

“Who was it?” Adam asked after observing the expressions of his friend. Zack’s eyes were wide open now and he suddenly stopped blinking. He dropped the phone from his hands as his body became numb for some time. “Hey, Zacky!” Adam was worried about Zack. “What happened, bro?” He started shaking his body when suddenly Zack blinked and came back to this world. “What happened?” Adam asked again.

“H-H-Harry,” Zack found it difficult to explain. He continued murmuring that for a few seconds. “Ha-Ha-Harry.”

“What Harry, Zack? Is he in some sort of danger? What happened to him? Is he alright?” Adam was now worried about Harry’s health. He continued shaking Zack for a few more seconds.

“Ha-Harry. H-He’s no more.” Zack spoke the truth at last. “H-Harry’s no more. I-I can’t believe Harry’s no more.”

Hearing the bitter truth, Adam was pushed back to his seat. His eyes were wide open and he also went in the shock for a few seconds as Zack continued chanting the same sentence. “Ha-Harry’s no more. Harry-Harry’s no more.”

“I-I-I don’t know what to say,” Adam replied, slapping his forehead in shock. “N-Now what do we do, Zacky?”

“Harry’s no more. H-Harry’s—”

“ZACK!” Adam scolded. It helped Zack to come back to his original self. Suddenly, his frown went away as he said, “Sorry.”

Zack, in return, didn’t reply, but tilted his head downwards. “I-I never imagined him to leave us and step into the hell himself.”

“Me too,” Adam replied. “Why is everything being so harsh on us? First, that kidnap, then my betrayal, then there was another kidnap. At the kidnap, Harry was injured badly, and now, Harry’s dead.”

“He’s not dead.” Zack’s eyes widened again, in surprise. “Nurse said that he’s lost, and is considered dead.”

“But if he’s just lost, then why is he considered dead?”

“Police gave up on him. If he doesn’t get a surgery now, maybe he can die. Now if the police have given up on him, who’s gonna find him? Plus, it’s possibly too late, she said. T-There’s absolutely nothing we can do now,” Zack explained him in despair. He thought angrily, “Damn you, Harry. You left us when we need you the most.”

“So, what do we do now?” Adam asked.

“First, let’s visit the hospital.”

 

March 14th, 2014 (7:46 pm)

Zack and Adam walked inside the hospital building, walking towards the reception when they saw a bunch of policemen with hospital’s nurses and staff. The two directly turned towards the black-uniform holders, “Hello, sir,” Zack gave a hand to the one who was probably the leader.

He turned around and asked, “Mr. Zack Will?”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Sir, I just wanted to meet you in person. Even though we can no longer find Mr. Brown alive, we can still not give up on him. So, I’ve got several questions to ask you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please come with us at the Police Station.”

 

The two were at the Police Station now and were sitting just before one of the policemen. His name, Mr. James Scott, was written on the miniature badge on his uniform. Scott sighed and started, “So, when did you last see him?”

“It was just some hours ago.” Adam replied.

“Then where did you go?”

“Wait, why’re you asking such questions here?” Zack disgustedly replied. “I don’t see any sense in replying to such a question.”

“See, sir. It’s a week-day and most of the men are with jobs. You probably also have a job, do you?”

“Erm, yes we do,” Adam replied.

Scott stood up from his seat and bumped on his table, “Okay so, you got jobs. Was it your holiday today?”

“No.”

“Then, if you have a job and it was a working day today then how did you visit him in the afternoon?” Scott seriously told them. “Maybe you’re the murderers.”

“What?!” Adam was disgusted. “Do you even recognize that y’are directly blaming us?!”

“Yep, sure I do recognize, sir.” He started walking round the desk as he continued, “See, in most of the cases, the murderer is someone close to them, who know them for about a period of two-three months but are very close.” Then, he whispered in their ears, “And there’s absolutely no better one who fits the description than you two!”

“What the—” Adam disgustedly replied and tried to stand up as the policeman pushed him downwards by his shoulders again.

“Sit, you dumbass!” He angrily said. “And listen to me!”

Adam and Zack were now scared to hell by this policeman. Scott sat back on his seat as he asked them, “Well, was there any favorite place where the lost man wanted to visit, or frequently visited?”

“Um, we don’t know,” Zack replied.

“Okay, you can leave.” The two got up from the seats and quietly left away. “He’s gonna pay me a lot of money for this!” He whispered with a smile.

 

While at the corridor towards the exit, Adam and Zack walked side-by-side with each other, their head tilted downwards. No one spoke even a single word as they continued down the corridor. Suddenly, Zack said, “Here comes another problem.”

“Yeah, we needa handle this shit now,” Adam replied. “I don’t know why such things are happening! I think we needa follow astrology to find solutions for such problems!”

“It’s not a good time to joke, Ads.”

“I’m not—”

“Just be prepared for the test tomorrow. Be ready at six, and I’ll pick you up.”

 

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