Harry drove us the rest of the way to his friend's supermarket the next day as soon as it was light. Erin was silent the whole journey. In fact, the only thing words she had uttered that morning was to ask if I wanted my arm healed. Harry had watched in fascination as the gash from the bullet closed up but I waved him away. Erin and I always had to concentrate when we healed. One slip meant that I'd either send all my energy in a massive rush to her, or I'd take all of her energy which wouldn't be good either, especially if she was injured.

As we drove, now, Harry just kept talking to us, asking me about our powers and our lives with Triple. I answered him in one word answers where necessary or gave him no answer at all where things got personal...which was most of the questions. 

"Alright then, here we are," Harry said as we drew up into the empty car park. Only a few trollies littered around showed any signs that people had actually been here. I jumped out the car with Erin, shouldering my rucksack.

"Are you coming with us or not?" Erin asked Harry.

"Nah," he said. "I'm going to head off out of this damn city, find some nice place out in the countryside, maybe settle down with a girl, you never know."

"I wish you luck," I said, holding my hand out for him to shake. "And thanks for getting us out back there. We owe you one. If you ever need anything, well, we'll be in this city. You'll be able to find us." He took my hand with a strong grip.

"You too, mate," he said. "Try not to get killed by Triple and-" he looked around to see if Erin was listening. "Consider what I said last night." I rolled my eyes. He said his goodbyes to Erin before getting in his car and driving away.

"Well, he was a strange one," Erin said as she watched Harry drive away.

"You ain't kidding," I replied. I turned to the seemingly abandoned supermarket. "So, you ready to find this Jack Peters?"

"What choice do we have?" she said glumly.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked. "You've seemed a bit out of it ever since the black market."

"I'm just sick of it all," she said. "I hated seeing how people had to live because of what Triple did. And I'm sick of helping Triple do this to the world!" Her voice was rising to a shout now. "Why us, Josh? What did we ever do to deserve this? Why can't we just run away and never come back?"

"You know why, Erin," I said quietly. "And even if we did decide to end this...to kill ourselves...what good would it do? Only delay Triple a few years while they get two other poor kids to end the world. I don't know if I can put that on anyone, Erin."

"But can we do it?" she whispered. "I've just had enough, Josh. I really have." I encircled her in my arms, stroking her soft hair.

"I know. Me too," I said. Then an idea came to me. "Maybe instead of killing Charles Hunt, we could convince him to help us. He's smart enough to get into Triple's files, he's probably smart enough to find out what this thing is that the Master has. Then maybe we can come up with a plan to get it."

"You really think we can do that?" Erin sniffed. "You really think Hunt will trust us to do that? He probably knows by now that we're coming to kill him. We triggered his trap."

"We'll convince him, don't you worry," I said. "Now come on, we've got someone else to threaten before we get to him." She nodded, wiped her eyes and set her jaw. She suddenly went from looking vulnerable to being a warrior in about two seconds.

Being extra careful, we picked our way through the car park, watching out for anyone remotely suspicious or threatening. We made it to the glass doors, or what were left of them. They were smashed to bits, only the frame left standing. Surprisingly, it still worked once you got close enough.

"Welcome!" A female voice suddenly boomed over the announcer cheerfully. Erin jumped and had her guns in her hands in a flash. "Oh, right, please dropped you weapons in the basket to your left and proceed to the checkout area! I'll be with you in a sec!"

"Well that was unexpected," I said, dropping my M16 in the basket and my pistol in the basket. Erin reluctantly did the same.

"I don't like being unarmed," she muttered.

"Oh come on," I said. "We both know you can handle them, guns or no." We dumped our bags in the basket too then made our way to the checkout.

A red headed girl was sitting on one of the tills, dangling her legs. "About time," she said, hopping off onto the floor. "My name's Jackie Peters and I help run this supermarket. Just tell me what food you need and I'll get it for you."

"Wait, you're Jack Peters?" I said.  The girl pouted.

"No," she said. "Everyone always assumes that I'm my dad just because I'm named after him. My dad is busy right now so I'll have to get what you need."

"You do this for free?" Erin asked.

"Well kind of," Jackie said. "We just ask that you don't attack us. This market has got massive stores so we won't run out for a while yet. People need something these days that doesn't have any risks to it and is helpful." Erin was smiling, like she was relieved.

"That sounds incredibly nice," I said. "We actually came to talk to your father. We're looking for someone and he's the only one who can help."

"Huh, I could see if he'll see you, sunshine," she said. I blinked. Sunshine? She left us for a moment and was back in half a minute with a man following her. He had the same red hair as her, so I worked out that this must be Jack Peters.

"Hello," he said in a gruff voice. "Jackie tells me you're looking for someone. How may I be of service?"

"Your friend Harry, he told us the batteries he sells at Hank's black market came from you," Erin said.

"Convenient of him to tell you where I am," Jack murmured, suddenly not that friendly. 

"We're not going to cause any trouble," I assured them. "We are looking for a guy called Charles Hunt. Harry sold him twelve batteries that you supplied to him. We're wondering if you can tell us anything about the batteries that might help us find him. We know that he's set up a load of traps in a circular area in New York. We want to know a bit more about them so we can be prepared." Jack was silent and looked at his daughter. His gaze seemed far away.

"What do you think, Jackie?" He asked.

"No," she said. "I don't trust them."

"Neither do I."

"We won't hurt you," Erin promised.

"Oh but Mr Hunt knows all about you two," Jack said.

"Yep he does," Jackie agreed. "Did you really think that we're so nice that we just help people for free? How could you be so stupid? We all have to do the things that we have to do to survive. I let you come in. I made sure that you dropped your weapons. Charlie paid us to look out for you. He wanted you alive. Harry set you up. He knew as soon as he saw you who you were. Charlie paid him too to bring you to us. You fell for an act." I instantly stepped in front of Erin.

"You lied to us,"  I growled.

"Yeah," Jack shrugged. He nodded to someone behind us. Before I could react, I felt the sharp sting of a dart hitting my back. I collapsed to the floor, Erin not far behind me. The last thing I saw was a dark figure picking up Erin's limp body.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

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Did you see that coming?!?!? Neither did I actually...

Please comment and vote and let me know what you think! The entire thing was a set up! Ahh!

Love ya!

CricketCat