Chapter Two

Zella Mills - London

On every TV and Internet broadcast, people mourned the death of Zip. A beloved immortal. The wider world was blissfully unaware of the atrocities committed by the immortals. Even reporters were naïve to their nature, and so they spread dread and fear-mongering across their platforms in the aftermath of Zip’s murder.

“If the immortals can be victims of murder, then what hope does humanity have?” one reporter said.

Zella blew air through her lips when she heard that. “Do their sources come from anyone outside of the political ecosystem?” she asked. Zella knew that if they did their research, they would hear about immortals striking down military bases. And assassinating political threats at the behest of the Covert Operations Group. Better known as COG.

“You can’t trust any news station here or back in the States,” Khloe said. She leaned forward on the sofa, digging her nails into her scalp. Khloe had been on edge since Zella killed Zip. Joe had sat her on the sofa with a fresh batch of coffee to calm her. “Their news comes from the top down. And it’s tailor made to feed the public propaganda.” Khloe was a former intelligence officer for the Eagle Intelligence Agency. She’d left the organization after feeling incessant guilt and shame over their practices. It’s because of Khloe that Zella and Joe knew how deep the government’s surveillance strategies went. The Eagle Intelligence Agency—better known as the EIA—worked closely with COG. And both of them were pro-immortal. Using the Immortals for their own brand of global corruption.

“Well, it won’t be long now till Elias and Lola dig through the data and find something to expose them,” Joe said. “If we find the footage we’re looking for, then their shady actions can’t escape the spotlight.” Elias and Lola were two junior assistants scouted by Joe himself.

Joe sat next to Khloe on the couch with a bottle of soda in his hands. They were staying in a temporary warehouse storage space. When they were in the clear, they’d catch a flight back to their base in the South American country, Naguela.

Joe took Khloe by the hand. Their fingers interlocked. “You’re sure that Zip had the footage of the Red Hounds slaughter, aren’t you?” Joe asked. His deep-set, dark eyes fell on Khloe. The two of them were in some kind of relationship. Zella didn’t quite understand it and kept her nose out of it.

“One of my friends back in the cyber warfare division of EIA confirmed it,” Khloe said. “My poor friend is probably working overtime now after Zella’s little assassination.” Khloe watched Zella, waiting for a response. Zella rubbed her neck, unsure how to respond. Her throat felt tight from when Zip tried to choke her. Khloe continued speaking her mind. “We’re supposed to be activists, not terrorists.”

Joe set his soda down and placed his other palm over Khloe’s hand. “I know we weren’t ready for that. But Zella has given me her reason, and I understand. They killed my mother, too.”

Zella had only known Joe Halili and Khloe Duff for a couple of months, but she’d heard Joe’s story and resonated with it. Like her foster father, Joe’s mother had been an inventor. She’d built a purification system that could provide clean drinking water. It was technology that would help millions of people in poverty. Especially with the world’s supply of water rapidly declining. It would also disrupt worldwide capitalistic markets. Something that often caught the wrong attention. Following her refusal to sell or license the technology, someone mysteriously murdered Joe’s mother and stole it.

When recalling the events of the murder, Joe and his family told of a blackout at their family’s home. Somehow, the power had cut out. Even their backup generators were affected. And Joe, who had been in the lab with his mother, recalls someone grabbing him from behind. He didn’t see what happened next, because he went momentarily blind. All he could do was cry out to his screaming mother. He’d stumbled around the lab, trying to locate her. After a while, she stopped screaming.

When Joe’s eyesight returned to normal, he called for his mother. The lab was so dark that he couldn’t tell if his eyesight had fully returned. It was a light from his mother’s cellphone that alerted him to her location. When he felt her body, it was stiff. There was no pulse. There were no open wounds on her body. After some observation, he could see that someone had twisted her neck.

Zella had heard the rumors that one of the Immortals could turn people blind for a short amount of time. That validated Joe’s claim that they were involved. But what would be their motive for stealing a water purification system?

After losing his mother, Joe moved the rest of the Halili family to the Philippines. Their home soil. Once he had settled them in, he flew back to America with a new motivation. Taking part in tactical training programs to get himself in shape. He wanted to support people like himself. People who’d had their loved ones taken from them for political reasons and could do nothing to seek justice. He wanted to build a support network for helpless victims. Joe took it one step further than that, forming his own group to fight against the corruption of groups like COG and the immortals.

“Maybe I’ll empathize more if she tells me more about herself,” Khloe told Joe. “Tell me your story, Zell. You’ve never really laid it on me,” Khloe said, grabbing her coffee mug. Her eyes scanned Zella. Khloe was like a model you saw in American advertisements. She had an athletic body. Her shoulder-length red hair flowed over her tight-nit wool cardigan. She had a well-aligned row of teeth, and her long lashes complimented her hazel eyes.

Zella walked over to the tiny kitchen area and poured a shot of rum. She closed her eyes as the warm, bitter kick went down her throat. She coughed twice to clear it. “My childhood is fuzzy,” she said. “I remember little. I just know that my biological mother was from Thailand. And my father was an African-American soldier from the States. For reasons that I don’t know, they gave me up for adoption as a toddler. And that’s how I fell into the care of Dr. Calloway.”

“The mad scientist himself,” Khloe said.

Zella turned on her heels. “Don’t say that,” she snapped. Joe and Khloe shot awkward glances back at her. She thought about it for a moment. She remembered that people sometimes liked to say things sarcastically. Perhaps this had been one of those moments. “I mean… never mind. I’m sorry.” She still had a lot to learn about people.

“It’s fine,” Khloe said. “I should apologize. I know he meant a lot to you.”

“Yes,” Zella said. “Going back to what I was saying, Dr. Calloway took me in as his foster child. He raised me in Brazil. Because after those children died during the Starlight program, his name was muddy in America. Nobody wanted to work with him.”

“The world knows him as the man behind the Starlight program,” Khloe said. “And although we got the immortals from it, two babies died. People have mixed thoughts about experimenting on children.”

“People judged him too harshly,” Joe added. “I mean, the government funded the Starlight program, too. And Dr. Calloway had an entire team with him, ya know?”

Khloe poked Joe in the chest. “You sure that’s not your bias talking? You come from a family of scientists.”

“I’m just being honest,” Joe said. “I’m sorry, Zella. Carry on.”

“I have little more to say,” Zella continued. “My life isn’t as interesting as everyone else. Growing up under father, I learned to be curious about how things worked. Playing with dolls, learning sports, or going to parties weren’t things that I did. I learned how to reverse engineer things. I took smartphones and tablets apart and replaced the screens and batteries. When father’s computers needed upgrading, I did it for him. I set up security systems. I learned martial arts. And I learned how to assemble firearms.”

Joe’s mouth fell open. “He raised you like a child soldier or something.”

“Most of the time, it was just father and I. That meant that I had to do my part to sustain our living.”

“That explains why you’re always dressed like you’re ready for a fight,” Khloe said.

It was true. Zella dressed for practicality. Although she combed her curly hair every morning, she always kept it in a simple style. She favored comfortable, non-restrictive clothing and sturdy footwear. She did not know of the latest fashion trends and what brands were popular. “I just wear what’s appropriate,” she replied, now feeling the buzz from the shot of rum. She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes again, they fell back on Khloe. “I have a question for you. What did you see in the EIA that made you leave?”

Khloe raised the coffee mug to her lips, her eyes trailing somewhere up to the ceiling. A door opened above them, and Elias leaned over the railing. “We’ve found it. Come see. We’ve got the footage.”

Joe leaped up from the sofa and was halfway to the stairs before Khloe could reply. “Sorry, Zella, we’ll chat later.”

- Mere Immortal is written by Gary Swift. If you see this on another website under another name, then someone has plagiarized it. Visit mereimmortal.com for official chapters. Substack premium subscribers get to read further ahead in the story.

-This version of Mere Immortal is written in US English.