Omega Squad Read online

  Omega Squad

  Omega Metahumans Book 1

  Kurtis Eckstein

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 – KURTIS M. ECKSTEIN

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the copying, scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support.

  ASIN: B07H7Z7W3F

  Cover Art by Soffani Soffa

  Cover Art Copyright © 2018 Kurtis Eckstein

  Signup for Updates

  Support on Patreon

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  I heard her scream again, yelling as loud as she could muster, but it was lost in the fire this time, unable to penetrate the heat. I think she ordered him to stop. We both ignored her anyway, just staring at each other through the white energy pouring out of his body. It was like a powerful storm of pure thermal plasma raging out of him, like shaking hands with the center of a super nova.

  He wasn’t angry. If anything, he was a little surprised, but there was something else there too.

  Respect.

  He was a monster who could survive an ungodly amount of heat, who could live in the flames. And I was equally a monster, who could stand in the flames with him. Something no one else could do. Something he could respect.

  Chapter 1: New Recruit

  The day I woke up to my worst nightmare was also the day I was wrongfully imprisoned for murder. I was at the mall with my girlfriend when I unexpectedly passed out from a searing pain and woke up to a bloodbath, with me at the epicenter. Unlike my surroundings, I didn’t have a drop of blood on me. I was quickly surrounded by over twenty men with guns, dressed in black military gear. They immediately slammed my forehead into the blood covered floor and handcuffed me, despite my protests of innocence.

  That’s also when I discovered I didn’t appear to feel pain, as they repeatedly tried to knock me unconscious with the butt of their guns.

  Once they realized that wasn’t going to happen, they roughly picked me up and dragged me out of the mall, throwing me alone into the back of an armored vehicle. It was dark blue on the outside, appearing like it might be disguised as one of those trucks used to transport money from companies to banks.

  As I laid on the hard metal floor in the back, I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. I had no idea if my girlfriend was even alive. I had been in the process of buying ice cream for her as a surprise while she had run off to the bathroom.

  That’s what bothered me most, wondering if she had escaped the horror.

  I was too traumatized to process my current situation, so all I could think about was her, hoping that she was alive. My last sight of her was her walking away from me, her blonde hair trailing over her thin shoulders. It horrified me to think that she might have been one of the unrecognizable bodies scattered around the mall. Really, ‘bodies’ was an exaggeration. More like ‘body parts.’ I think the largest piece of a person I had seen on the way out was a leg.

  I shivered at thought, remembering the horrible sight. I felt numb. I tried not think, not wanting the separate images of my whole girlfriend to combine with what I had seen in the mall. I was pretty sure merging those thoughts would shatter my soul. My psyche would snap under the pressure.

  After what seemed like forever, the heavy doors of the vehicle finally opened up to reveal eight men pointing guns at me again. As they pulled me out, I saw that we were in an empty warehouse. I felt too numb to walk, so I just let them drag me through a door and down a long hallway. After making a few turns, they put me in an empty room with a table and chair. Once I was chained to a hook on the metal table, they left and I was alone again. I looked down to see that all four legs of both the chair and table were bolted to the concrete floor.

  Now that I was facing the door, I saw that there was a mirror to my left. I looked over at my reflection to see my hollow expression. It was like a ghost of who I had seen in the mirror earlier that morning. I stared at my empty face, feeling like the person with blue eyes and brown hair staring back at me was a complete stranger. After a few minutes, a deep voice crackled on a speaker in the corner of the room, forcing me to think again. I looked up at it, as if expecting to see the man speaking to me.

  “Jacob Knight, let me introduce myself, I’m–”

  “Jake,” I automatically corrected him, forgetting not to be rude. I hated my full name.

  The guy paused briefly, but then continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “I’m Major General Armstrong. You’re looking at life in prison if they prosecute you, and that’s assuming you don’t get the death penal–”

  “I didn’t do anything!” I exclaimed. “It wasn’t me!”

  The General yelled at me then, annoyed this time by the interruption. “We have the whole thing on camera! And let me assure you, there is only one person responsible, and he is sitting in a chair chained to a table! Now you can either shut up, or we can ship you off to the most fortified prison in the country! Your choice!”

  I was silent then. Did they really have it on camera? I wanted…no, I needed to see it. But I also didn’t want to get shipped away to prison. What did this guy want from me?

  Satisfied that I was going to keep my mouth shut, the General continued. “As I was saying, if you ever want to see the sky again, then you’re going to start working for us. We have a specialized team with people like you, murderers, who have nothing to lose. Your old life is over now. You’ll either rot in a cell for the rest of your insignificant existence or do what we tell you. Any deviations from our orders and you’re off the team. Rotting in a cell might not seem so bad to you, but we can assure you it won’t be comfortable. You’ll spend most of your time in a bodysuit with your arms tied behind your back like the lunatic you are.”

  I really wanted to comment, but I doubted it would get me anywhere. I just sighed, bring my elbows up to the table and putting my head in my hands. The chain attached to my handcuffs was several feet long, which kind of surprised me. It could easily be used to strangle someone, even myself, if I wanted.

  The guy spoke again. “I’ll have the leader of the team fill you in on the rest, but first I need to make sure we are clear. Any signs of disobedience and you’ll wish you were dead. Understand?”

  I just sighed again, pulling my face away, and nodded. It didn’t sound like I really had a choice.

  The guy yelled at me again, “Yes or no!”

  “Yes,” I said quickly. “I get it.” I waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. Instead the door opened up in front of me, and I was shocked to see a teenager girl skip in with a huge grin on her face. The extremely small shorts and top she was wearing did little to cover her thin body. Her stomach muscles were especially toned, showing a flat six-pack even though she wasn’t flexing.

  Other than her breasts, it didn’t look like she had an ounce of fat on her. However, that wasn’t her most striking features. Her hair was dyed a vibrant blue, even her eyebrows and eyelashes, and her irises were a bright vibrant red. For a second, I wondered if she had contacts in, but they just looked so real that I couldn’t help but stare at her.

  “Yay!” She said, clapping her hands together. “Fresh meat! Jacob Knight, right? I like that name!”

  “Jake,” I automatically corrected her.

  “Hmm, testy are we? No matter! I’m Trinity – Trinity for short!” She gave me another huge grin, like her joke was actually funny. “Come with me and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  I was about to comment about the fact that I was currently chained to the table, but then she reached down and grabbed the chain. With a quick tug, it snapped in two like it was made of paper. I couldn’t bel
ieve it – either the chain was that weak, or else she was much stronger than she looked.

  I looked up at her in surprise, and she flashed me yet another grin as she pulled the end of the chain up to her chest, giving it a light tug once it was taut between the two of us. The handcuffs securing my wrists helplessly pulled forward slightly, and I realized that I had just found myself leashed to possibly the strongest person in the building. I stood up immediately, not wanting to find out if she had a more devious side to that innocent appearance. After all, the General had said this was a team of murderers.

  “Good boy,” she said approvingly. “I’ll go slow for you.” She then whipped around and gave me another tug, encouraging me to fall in step behind her. I tried not to look at the dimples in her lower back as we walked out of the room and down the hallway, but her swaying hips made it almost impossible. Her walk wasn’t exaggerated – if anything it was very casual – yet her hips still moved hypnotically. She had a black shiny belt on that held her shorts tight against her waist, preventing them from revealing any more than they already did.

  Not wanting to get caught checking her out, I instead tried to focus on the back of her head, wondering if she had just dyed her hair today. There wasn’t even a hint of her true hair color at the roots. She looked back then, seeming disappointed that I was looking up. “Aw, you’re no fun!” She complained with an adorable pout. She then grinned when I focused on her full lips. “Or maybe you are!”

  Faster than should be possible, she spun around on her heels and was suddenly barely an inch away from my face. I gasped in surprise as I got a close up of her red eyes – definitely not contacts. She quickly tapped me on the nose so gently that I barely felt it, before spinning around again to continuing walking. I had stopped dead in my tracks, and found my arms being tugged ahead of me as the chain went taut again.

  She quickly stopped, gave the chain a slight tug of encouragement, and then resumed walking once I had recovered. Every cell in my body was telling me she was extremely dangerous, but I couldn’t help but feel excited by that realization. Which was a bad thing. I had a girlfriend…

  Who might be dead…

  I sighed, and looked down at the concrete floor once I was reminded of why I was here. This girl, Trinity, had momentarily taken my mind off it. It was hard to focus on anything other than her when she was around.

  She seemed to notice my reaction and misinterpret it. “Nervous?” She asked in a sweet voice.

  “Of meeting the others?” I asked in confusion. When she nodded, I shook my head. “No, not at all. Should I be?”

  She paused for a second, causing me to suddenly be a foot closer to her before I could stop. She studied me for a moment before responding. “Was your big massacre also the first time you killed? Or are you just feeling regretful that you got caught?”

  “What? No, that really wasn’t me!”

  “Uh-huh,” she almost snorted trying to hide an unexpected laugh as she began walking again. “Nice try buddy, I already saw the video.” She then tugged me up a step closer to her, so that I was almost at her side, looking at me curiously. “Unless you have a split personality or something fun like that? Oh! That could be fun! It would be like dating two guys in the same body!”

  I jerked my hands away from her, and I got the distinct sense she allowed me to do so – that she didn’t have to loosen her grip on the chain. “No, I don’t have a split personality. I just don’t remember what happened.” I then looked at her suspiciously. “Maybe if someone would show me this mysterious video everyone keeps talking about, then I might believe all of you.”

  “Oh! We can do that! I’m sure you’ll want to see your handiwork. It was marvelous really! All that blood and gore! I’m already your biggest fan!”

  I scoffed in response, hardly believing what I was hearing. “You’re crazy.”

  Abruptly, Trinity tugged on my chain hard, and slipped up between my handcuffed arms. It looked like I was hugging her, but I saw from her suddenly cold expression that I’d made a grave mistake. Her hands were suddenly on the sides of my face, her fingers curling behind my neck like she was about to plant a kiss. I froze as her hard, red eyes stared into mine from barely an inch away. Her lips were so close I could stick out my tongue and touch them.

  “Now you listen,” she said in a monotone voice. “I’ll let that slide one time since you’re new, but never again. You will not call me any names, unless it’s exceptionally flattering like ‘beautiful’ or ‘cute.’ Especially not crazy. Are we clear?”

  I couldn’t nod my head – her hands were like vice grips. I was reminded again that I didn’t appear to feel pain, because the pressure she was exerting gave me the impression that I normally would have found it extremely uncomfortable. Instead, it was only threatening in the way it communicated her seriousness. When I didn’t respond right away, she cleared her throat.

  “Umm, yes, I understand, and you are beautiful.”

  A smile touched her red eyes immediately. “Good boy. I think you might be fun after all.” In a fluid motion, she slipped out from underneath my arms and was tugging on the chain again. “So, do you have a girlfriend?” She wondered as we continued walking.

  “Yes,” was my automatic response, before my thoughts caught up with me. “I mean…I did…”

  “She break up with you?” Trinity asked in a mockingly sad tone.

  “No…she…” I wasn’t sure if I should be sharing this information with this clearly mentally disturbed girl dragging me around like a dog.

  “She what?” She wondered, not looking back. Her voice was sweet, and almost sounded sincere. Almost.

  “She was with me…at the mall…”

  Unexpectedly, Trinity laughed. “Wow! Your as evil as they come! Killing your girlfriend like that!”

  “Stop it,” I immediately replied, getting annoyed at her teasing. The potential death of my girlfriend was not funny.

  “I guess I better watch out for you. If that’s how you treat the people you love, I don’t even want to know what you do to your enemies.”

  “I said stop it!” I was pissed now. “Why do you have to be such a–”

  She abruptly stopped and glared at me, cutting me off. “A what?”

  Her sudden anger completely dissipated my own, making me briefly forget why I was upset in the first place. I studied her posture, feeling confused about her reaction. “Wait, what did you think I was going to say?”

  “I don’t know, you tell me.” She looked just as pissed as I had just been.

  I eyed her suspiciously. “Are you going to hurt me if I do?”

  Trinity turned to face me and crossed her arms, hiding the end of the chain between her chest and forearm. “I guess I'll let it slide if you're honest.” However, despite her words, I didn’t trust the fact that she had essentially strengthened her hold on the chain.

  Sighing, I took a deep breath and just decided to be honest. “Well, I was going to say ‘why do you have to be such a jerk.’ Do you consider that calling you a name?”

  Unexpectedly, her expression softened. “No, I guess I am being a little insensitive.” Her eyes then narrowed. “You don't cuss.” It was more of a statement rather than a question.

  I answered anyway. “No, not really. Why? What did you think I was going to say?”

  “Bitch.” She said it harshly, almost as if she was calling me it.

  I stared at her in surprise briefly. “No! As a general rule, I don't call anyone that. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually used that word in my entire life.”

  She eyed me carefully for a few seconds, as if deciding whether or not she would believe me. Finally, she nodded. “Then we should get along just fine.” She abruptly spun around on her heels to continue walking.

  I took an extra-large step to catch up with her. “Do people actually call you that?”

  She just shrugged in response, the anger in voice completely gone. “Not regularly. Anyone who has dared say it to m
y face is dead.”

  “Oh.” I realized that shouldn’t surprise me given what I’d seen so far.

  Trinity abruptly laughed again. “You must really have a split personality, because I can't imagine a goodie-goody like you killing all those people.”

  I scoffed again. “I told you it wasn't me.”

  “And I told you I saw the video myself. Just make sure your evil half doesn't get you killed with his mouth.”

  I sighed in reservation. “I really don't have a split personality.”

  “That's what they all say, babe!”

  I stopped abruptly, and surprisingly she did too, instead of forcing me along. “Okay serious question. And I'm not trying to be rude.”

  “Yes?” She asked expectantly, her red eyes soft.

  “Do you have a split personality?” Her red eyes immediately narrowed again, and she didn’t say anything, so I quickly added. “I promise I'm not trying to be rude. You just talk about it like you're really familiar with the subject.” Her expression didn’t change, and I started to feel uncomfortable by the silence. Normally, I wouldn’t be such a wimp, but it was like my instincts were screaming at me that she was highly dangerous.

  Finally, after a few more seconds, I let my eyes drop to the ground with a sigh. “Okay, please don't hurt me.”

  Trinity immediately smirked. “Good boy.” I looked up at her to confirm that she wasn’t pissed. Even her eyes appeared to be grinning as she continued. “No, I don't have a split personality. I’m more than comfortable with who I am. Generally, that kind of thing only happens when your psyche can't handle two polar opposite desires, like a murderous bloodlust and strong morals at the same time, so rather than having a meltdown, the mind protects itself by snapping in two. Viola, split personality.”

  Despite the fact that her answer sort of sounded logical, I was still skeptical. “Is that really how it works?”

  She responded with a smirk. “Maybe. Or maybe I just made that up.” She shrugged and then started walking again. I really wanted to keep talking to her, finding myself more and more interested despite my better judgment, but she interrupted my thoughts. “Alright, here we are!”