The Drop Out Part V

As we drove toward California and the ocean, he asked me about my past and my life. There was nothing much to tell him. I wasn't an important figure, just a person with a job that paid quite well. I was extremely social at one time until I watched society change and felt myself slipping into that change with it. He nodded in agreement when we discussed those feelings but remained close-lipped about his past and how he came to live in Greetings. If I asked, he always said the same thing. "Later, I will tell you later."

We arrived at the ocean early in the evening before dark. I still had my backpack with the food I planned for the day and my emergency food. Frank suggested we park in a desolate area and have a bite to eat and wait for darkness to complete the task at hand. I agreed. I wasn't sure what removing the chip entailed but it seemed wise just the same. After supper, we looked for an area of shoreline that was relatively desolate. It took a while but we found one where we could park our car and walk only a short distance. The only thing left to do was wait.

Darkness covered the area and it was time to proceed. We left the car and walked to the edge of the water. "Take off your shoes and follow me," he said as he removed his shoes and socks and walked into the water. "Hurry."

I followed him until the waves splashed my face. "We're pretty far out, isn't there undertow or a drop off or something?" I had read in a magazine of the dangers of the ocean.

"Propaganda from the World Committee. They don't want people in the ocean removing chips. That's why we must hurry. We'll stand out like a sore thumb if someone walks by us." With that said, he grabbed my right hand with his left, felt it lightly and placed a hypodermic needle type gadget over the lump on the top of my hand. He held my hand and the equipment together as he submerged both underwater. I felt a painful stinging and tearing on the top of my hand that brought tears to my eyes.

Frank released my hand but kept his under water. In one second, he brought the hypodermic facsimile out of the water. "It's time to go. You're done and the chip is safely on the ocean floor."

On the way back, Frank was far more open than he had been on the ride there. According to him, without the chip, I was safe to talk to. He would watch me however, and if he suspected anything, would be forced to kill me.

"Could you let me know if you suspect something before you do that?" I questioned. "Sometimes I act suspicious but it's nothing. I'm just being me."

"Don't worry, you'll know." He laughed and I saw a different Frank from the first two. He was a gentle man with a soft and handsome face.

"So, Frank, what's your deal. You're not like anyone I've ever met. Who are you?"

"I guess I can tell you. There's no way you can get to the government now without me knowing. I was a spy. More than a spy, a trained killer. I've always had the ability to pick up languages instantly. There was no language I didn't understand within minutes. This skill made me very valuable to the American army before the world union. They trained me to fight and master covert actions."

"That explains a lot. I'm curious about the real Frank. Where did you grow up? What were you like as a kid?"

"Small town. Single mom. She was the strange woman in town that everyone avoided. It made it rough as a kid. We moved around quite a bit but always to smaller towns. Maybe that's what drew me to Greetings. I never knew my dad. Mom never would talk about him that I remember. I don't remember much. During my training, there are periods of time that disappeared and with those periods, some of my past memories disappeared also. Mostly I remember being different from the other kids. I knew things I had no way of knowing and could do things that I took for granted but scared the pants off the other kids in the neighborhood.

I really found my home at the army base. They loved the things I could do. Even put me in a special project, but I must admit, I don't remember much about that." His words intrigued me. How could this gung-ho army guy end up a fugitive from society in the out of the way berg of Greetings?

"So you loved it? What changed? What made you run?"

"After the world union, they sent me on a mission to kill an infidel that the people praised as a Holy man. He knew I was coming and planned a trap for me. Instead of killing me, however, he simply talked. I didn't hear him with my ears but inside my head talking. He said we, he and I, were different. We weren't like the others but experiments. I refused to listen. He then did something to me, I don't know what it was because I was out for days. When I awoke, everything was different and I could see clearly. What they did was wrong. I was being used."

I listened intently to his conversation. It seemed like some of the experiments that the U.S. conducted after WWII. "What did he do to you to make you change your mind?"

"I'm not sure. I was tied down to a bed and he lifted a glowing stick, a wand of sorts, to a position parallel to the top of my head. As he slowly scanned down, I lost consciousness. When I awoke, I knew what he meant and what I must do. He held the truth and that was dangerous to the World Committee. He helped me remove my chip and then gave me equipment to help others like myself. I thought you might be one."

I had to laugh. "The only remarkable thing I have going is that I can hitchhike with my big toe and have almost webbed feet. The toes are short. There is this "Rainman" thing I have with numbers but it's not remarkable."

Instead of laughing, he looked at me and replied, "You might be surprised. Maybe they simply don't need your particular talent now. Do you ever have lapses in memory?" That question sent chills down my spine. Indeed, I walked away from everything during a missing period of time. I simply found myself in a car five days after I left work. I decided at that minute I had to quit and hide but I never figured out why.

Our discussion was so intense, I didn't realize we were almost back to Greetings. Frank suggested we return to town separately and I agreed, but asked to meet him at the cave the next day. I dropped him off at the edge of town and we went back separately.

Continued in the final chapter, part VI