Free The Adventures of Kid Combat Volume One: A Secret Lost by Christopher Helwink Page A

unmarked
warehouse.
    He looked at the old, decrepit building. From
the outside, it looked like it hadn’t been used in ten years. The
building was filthy. The old bricks that made up the outside walls
were covered with dirt and started to flake away. Several window
panes were broken, and glass littered the driveway. Two could hear
the glass crunching and shattering underneath his tires.
     
     

     
     
    As he cautiously pulled around to the back of
the building, he straightened his car out and parked. Exiting the
vehicle, he grabbed a flashlight from the backseat and headed for
the building. The back entrance was a loading dock. Two approached
the building toward the large metal garage door. He bent his knees
and grabbed the handle. He was not surprised to find it unlocked,
yet he still struggled to open it. Finally, with one last tug, it
sprung loose of its rust and catapulted straight up with a large
clank.
    Two walked into the pitch-black warehouse and
shined his flashlight left and right. He looked around at all the
old machinery. It appeared that this building was once used as some
sort of printing operation. Old copying and printing machines were
strewn about. It was apparent that the machines hadn’t been used in
quite some time. Cobwebs, dust, and dirt covered them, and rust was
starting to form on the older machines.
    Two walked deeper into the warehouse, and
with every step, his heart beat faster. As he quickly weaved his
flashlight back and forth, the shadows he created on the walls made
haunting images. The building creaked around him, and he could hear
small animals scurrying about. Two’s imagination began racing as he
feared nothing more than the darkness and the unknown that
surrounded him. Walking slowly and alertly, Two found himself well
inside the warehouse.
    Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. He
quickly turned his head around but didn’t see a thing. His eyes
raced back and forth and his head turned just as quickly. He
swallowed hard, as his fear started to consume him.
    Footsteps were heard, and much to Two’s
dismay, they were getting closer.
    “Hello?” he said in a low, frightful voice.
“Who’s there?”
    “This was the first building I ever bought,”
rang out a voice from the darkness. Two squinted his eyes, and he
could see the silhouette of a man standing in the entrance.
    “Jones!” he said with relief in his voice.
“You scared me to death!”
    His boss proceeded into the old building.
Clunk, clunk, clunk. Two’s fears shifted from the fear of what was
in the warehouse to the fear of what was on his boss’s mind. Why
did he want me to meet me here in this building? Why are we
alone?
     
     

     
     
    Clunk, clunk, clunk went Jones’s boots as he
approached. Then, he stopped. The silhouette of Jones illuminated
as he struck a match and brought it up to his pipe. The shadows
created by the match on Jones’s face made him look like a madman. A
puff here and there, and a smoke cloud hovered all around him. His
sly smile turned to a wretched laugh.
    “You can’t die, Two. Well, not yet, at least.
I still have some use for you. Now, be a good boy and listen to me
carefully.”
    Outside, Samantha rode her bike through the
industrial park. Her red bike looked black in the dark of night,
and she wore black from head to toe. She steered the bike with one
hand and carried the remote locator device in the other. The beeps
were coming faster; she was getting close. She rode a few more
blocks, and the signal showed that she needed to turn down the
dead-end street to her right. She headed for the cul-de-sac. The
signal got louder as she rode and landed in the center of the
locater screen when she pulled in front of the abandoned warehouse.
She had found Jones. Samantha made her way up the driveway and saw
the two cars.
    That’s Jones’s car, all right, Samantha
thought. He must be inside.
    Questions about what Jones was doing filled
her mind as she made her way closer to the building.