by BobTam
‘But there are guards and soldiers in the airport. And there’re people from the air force. We have to fight against them if we go there,’ Leon says.
‘Escaping on land is too difficult! We have no other options. Just move!’ Catala says impatiently. She gives Leon a gun, which is from the killed guards.
Leon turns to Nakashi, whose face is so pale, whose eyes are so emotionless. ‘Are you okay?’ Leon asks. Nakashi looks at Leon and just nods slightly without saying a word.
They run along the corridor. Suddenly, there is a series of continuous loud beep. ‘Attention! There is a highly dangerous intruder! Two patients have escaped!’ a clear voice issues this message through loud speakers repeatedly.
‘Run! They’ve noticed us already. We need to get to the surface as soon as possible,’ Catala says.
Just at the moment when they are making a turn, they notice that more than ten guards are marching towards them. ‘Halt! Surrender now!’ they order. The three of them immediately turn back and sprint as fast as they can so that the guards cannot see them. Yet, the heavy and rapid footsteps from the guards irritate their nerves and arouse their anxiety.
‘We need to find another way!’ Leon says nervously.
Leon is sprinting so fast that he cannot hear any sound. He sees that Catala is dashing in front of him. She is carrying her laser gun and preparing to shoot at any time. He turns his head slightly and sees that Nakashi is following him closely, but her pale face is still being emotionless.
Leon has been running for more than three minutes along that winding corridor. His stamina has been exploited viciously. Yet, anxiety keeps up his momentum. They are making another turn and they discover an elevator available in the far end of the corridor. Yet, they also realize two guards are stationing at the two sides of the elevator.
‘Pew, pew.’ The two guards scream and collapse before attempting to lift up their rifle. ‘Engaging a gun fight with me is the most stupid thing in this world,’ Catala says sharply.
Leon is shocked, not because of how powerful Catala is, but how easy two lives are being taken away.
‘What are you two waiting for? Come on!’ Catala shouts, who has already rushed to the elevator and pressed the button to open it. Leon turns his head to look at Nakashi. Tears are floating on her emotionless face.
‘I can’t go. I shouldn’t. I won’t go…’ she whispers.
‘What are you doing? You will be killed!’ Catala shouts impatiently. ‘To live by killing others! I won’t do that!’ Nakashi replied in a soft but agitated tone.
Leon looks at Catala, and then turns back to Nakashi once again. The footsteps of the guards are getting louder, so does his heartbeats. ‘Nakashi, we have a goal, a mission, you have told me, haven’t you? We have to move on.’ Leon says calmly.
Nakashi does not move. She stares at the floor. Leon drags her arms and tries to pull her towards the elevator.
Bullets and laser bolts are firing towards them. ‘Run! Will you!’ Catala shouts madly.
Leon cries desperately, ‘Run, please. Nakashi, please!’ He drags her violently and pushes her to the elevator as hard as he can. Then, he lowers his body to evade the fire and sprints to the elevator at his top speed.
Catala presses the button right after Leon has gone in. The elevator door is closed immediately and the three of them are safe. Leon is kneeling on the floor, grasping heavily.
‘Sorry,’ Nakashi, who is squatting at the corner of the elevator, whispers. Her voice is weak and soft.
Catala stares at her unsympathetically. ‘Pathetic.’ Catala whispers coldly.
The elevator moves slowly. The three of them remain so quiet such that the sound of the metal strings and the engine of the elevator can be heard clearly.
‘Leon, prepare your weapon. They may be stationing right outside and will attack us just after the door is opened.’ Catala breaks the silence. ‘And you,’ she turns towards Nakashi, ‘I should apologize, but you should be brave and stay firm too,’ Catala says, in a slightly more sympathetic tone.
Nakashi looks at Catala and nods slightly. Then, dead silence comes back once again.
‘Run!’ Catala shouts right after the door of the elevator opens. The three of them sprints as fast as they could.
‘Halt!’ two guards who are stationing at about twenty meters away from them shout.
‘Turn left!’ Catala shouts and the three of them immediately flock to the left passage.
‘Where are we?’ Leon grasps as he is running.
‘The security department. There are many guards, but don’t panic, I know this place well. I have sneaked into this place for a few times before. Just run along this passage,’ Catala replies confidently.
They sprint for about fifty meters until they meet a heavily locked silver metal door. Catala tries to kick open it, but fail to do so. Then, without hesistation, she fires towards the door violently with her laser gun until there is a hole large enough for them to get through. Yet, an emergency siren system is activated.
Panzhi steps inside the Sou-gen’s meditation room promptly. ‘My respected teacher, what can I do for you?’ He asks politely.
‘My beloved child, I am sorry to inform you that Leonardo and Nakashi have further broken away from us. They have chosen the wrong path once again.’
‘They…they have run away?’ Panzhi asks nervously.
The Sou-gen nods slowly and speaks, ‘Panzhi, talented people are valuable. But talented people who choose the right path are much more valuable. You are one of them. But I also hope that your friends are one of them. Go and save them.’
‘I will, my teacher. This is my duty as a friend. This is also my duty as a follower of the Sou. I swear to myself that I will never give up until the two of them have gone back to the right path,’ Panzhi says determinedly.
‘Grab the opportunity to save them while they are still near to us.’
‘I will, my teacher,’ Panzhi says promptly and leaves the room. He walks to another room where a group of elite guards and soldiers discussing the plan in mitigating this crisis.
‘Mr. Panzhiherashto, your help is vital to us. The position of the enemies is currently unknown. But some guards report that they witness them in the security department. We have limited forces. It is difficult for us to capture them,’ one of the soldiers report.
‘How many soldiers do we have?’ Panzhi asks.
‘Less than one hundred, Sir.’
‘Station at least ten soldiers in each exit of the temple. No matter where they are, they still have to escape through either one of those exits,’ Panzhi says.
Catala uses a card that she has obtained from a defeated guard to attempt to open a security door. ‘Yes! How easy it is!’ she says excitedly as the door flashes open.
‘This is the weapon store room for the guards in the temple,’ Catala says quickly.
‘Quick, get some stronger weapons,’ she says. Catala fires at the thick glass windows in order to get access to those locked weapons. She drops her gun and grabs an advanced automatic laser rifle; she also grabs a sword and ties it to her belt; she even grabs a few hand grenades. She then hands another automatic rifle to Nakashi, who receives it with reluctance after a few seconds of hesitation.
Leon wanders around to find a weapon that suits him. ‘Quick,’ Catala says impatiently.
‘My sword!’ Leon says excitedly. His elegant sword is lying peacefully inside the locked glass cupboard in the corner of the room. ‘Well, then, my brilliant swordsman, go and get your weapon,’ Catala says and fires at the cupboard without any hesitation.
The three of them leave the room through another door. Catala leads the way and sprints quickly at the front. They pass through the guards’ dormitory where there are no one. They pass through endless deserted corridors until they finally reach the exit to the surface and arrive to the temple’s airport.
Catala hides behind a truck at the corner of the airport. Nakash
i and Leon follows her.
‘Now, our plan is to use this plane,’ Catala points to a small military transport plane which is near to them. ‘I will run out and fire to cause distraction. You two should then immediately dash to the plane to prepare taking off.’
Catala has already rushed out before the two of them give any responses. Nakashi grasps, ‘Wait!’ Yet, Catala has already been thirty meters away from them in just a few seconds. The guards from the two sides of the airport spot her and shoot her. Catala uses her speed and agility to evade all the laser bolts and bullets.
‘Come on! Nakashi, let’s go!’ Leon says and darts towards the transport plane. He does not have time to observe whether anyone has noticed them. Within a few seconds, the two of them have already climbed inside the plane.
Catala continues to run madly around various planes. She gets out a grenade while she is running. Then, she throws it towards the oil tank without a single glance. Then, she dives to a bunch of boxes.
‘Boom,’ There is a violent explosion. The ground shakes fiercely. Metal pieces, stones, cements, ashes and flames fly to all directions. Then, there is another explosion. More fragments and flames dash through the air.
The whole oil tank burns ferociously. Extremely intense heat is generated such that people feels hot even in the extreme snowstorm environment. The fire spreads brutally towards all directions and smoke is extending towards the sky.
Guards, soldiers, pilots and technicians run to safe places. Some of them are pulling their injured companions desperately. Others are shouting for help or looking for water. All of them have already forgotten about the intruder or their original duties.
Catala climbs out from the boxes slowly. She is hurt and bleeding. There are bruises in her legs and arms, or simply her whole body. Despite the pain, she moves quickly to the transport plane. Nobody notices her movement now.
Nakashi and Leon have got inside the cargo hold of the transport plane. There aren’t any loads. The plane is small and it only takes a few steps for them to go to the cockpit. Leon presses the button and the door opens.
There are two pilots, a young man and a young woman. They immediately stands up as the door is opened. They look perplexed and frightened. Then, they become more relieved as they realize that one of the intruders is Nakashi.
‘Nakashi, you’re here,’ the young female pilot says, ‘I can’t believe what the bishops have said about you. They’ve said our President has been consumed by infidelity and darkness. But, I still believe in you.’
Leon interrupts bluntly, ‘Leave the plane immediately.’
The two pilots are perplexed once again. ‘We won’t…We’ve received orders that no planes are allowed to take off in this emergency situation. We believe in you. But sorry, we can’t do that.’
‘Leave immediately!’ Leon interrupts aggressively and draws out his sword.
The two pilots are shocked. They are so surprised that they cannot give any responses. They cannot believe that the boy who is famous for his humbleness and kindness doing such thing.
‘No! Leon, calm down! We need not to do this!’ Nakashi interrupts anxiously. ‘Please, I don’t want any fighting. Just let’s take off and everyone will be fine. Please.’
‘No! I’m sorry to say so. But we won’t do that!’ the male pilot says firmly. ‘We won’t act against the order,’ the female pilot also says firmly.
Suddenly, the door is opened violently. It is Catala. She is injured but she still manages to climbs on the plane. She stares at the two pilots menacingly. ‘What’re you two waiting for? Take off now! Negotiating with them is useless!’ Catala shouts at Leon and Nakashi angrily and impatiently.
The two pilots are not frightened by the arrival of this girl. Instead, hostility and firmness rise among their blood.
‘I give you one last chance. Don’t stop us, or I will kill you!’ Catala roars angrily towards the two pilots.
‘I won’t concede to a demon! Shoot if you want, monster!’ The female pilot shouts.
‘No! Stop! Catala, don’t shoot! They can help us to fly the plane,’ Nakashi interrupts urgently and anxiously.
‘We won’t work for demons. You will never break our loyalty to the Sou-gen. Our allegiance to the Sou-gen is undefeatable!’ the male pilot shouts firmly.
Catala snickers, ‘Brilliant words indeed, let’s see how your undefeatable Sou-gen save you.’ She snickers again and holds up her gun slowly. ‘No, you shouldn’t!’ Nakashi shouts and pushes Catala such that Catala’s gun drops.
The male pilot looks at Nakashi and says, ‘Stop your hypocrisy. We do not beg for mercy from infidels.’
Then, the pilot turns towards Catala and speaks slowly, ‘You cannot kill us. Your sins will not be forgotten and you will suffer for your sins.’ The pilot picks out a pistol from his belt.
‘Drop your weapon!’ Leon draws his sword closer to the pilot and says nervously. ‘We are not like you. I’m not going to kill you,’ the pilot says calmly. He pulls the trigger.
‘Pew.’ The female pilot who stands next to her collapses and dies instantly. ‘No!’ Nakashi cries desperately. ‘Wait!’ Leon shouts at the same time.
‘Your sins will be remembered!’ he shouts. Then, he pulls the trigger once again. ‘Pew.’ Blood darts towards the front glass window of the cockpit and he collapses.
*********************************************************************Chapter 12
The fire around the oil tank is still spreading violently. Planes, trucks and containers catch fire. The smoke towers up to about seventy meters now. People throw buckets of water hastily towards the fire. Others attempt to connect water pipes.
‘Sir, five aircrafts are damaged. About twenty soldiers and technicians get injured. There are no reports of death so far.’ A guard reports to Panzhi.
‘It is their tactic to divert our manpower and attention. Nevertheless, human lives and overall safety are more important. We have no choice but send more manpower to carry out the rescue work,’ Panzhi says. ‘Yet, we still need to keep at least seven guards in each exit of the temple.’ ‘They are so unpredictable. I was careless in omitting the fact that they may escape to the airport,’ Panzhi thinks.
Catala picks up her gun and gets up. She walks towards the bodies of the two pilots and pull the two bodies away from the cockpit. ‘Unbelievably foolish,’ she says while she is pulling them. Then, she walks back to the cockpit and sits at one of the pilot seats.
Leon has already calmed himself. He walks towards Nakashi, who is again crouching at the corner of the room and burying her head into her arms. He tries to pull her up. But this time, he fails to do so. Nakashi does not have any desire to face the world anymore.
‘Quick, just…just leave her alone first,’ Catala says. Leon releases Nakashi’s arm unwillingly and takes another pilot seat.
‘This is an advanced transport plane for transporting important personnel or materials. Its strong propeller engine can provide a speed up to 500 km/h. It has two laser guns at the front and two laser guns on the wings for defense too.’ Leon studies the plane quickly with his professional knowledge.
‘Yes, then I will be the gunner and you will be the pilot,’ Catala says.
‘We do not have much oil, we can fly at most for about two hours,’ Leon adds.
‘Don’t worry much now. Just take off first,’ Catala replies impatiently. Leon activates the engine and drives the plane to the lane.
In the control tower of the airport, the technicians are confused about the movement of the transport plane. ‘CCT2, report, why are you going to the lane? There is an order of prohibition of take-off. Report,’ one of the technicians asks.
Leon and Catala have received the voice message. Catala switches off the contacting device right away. ‘They’ve noticed already. Take off now,’ she says. Leon increases the speed of the plane. People at the other end of the lane are puzzled and evacuate from the lane immediately.
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‘CCT2, Stop the take-off immediately!’ the technician says urgently. ‘The plane is hijacked by the intruders,’ a more experienced technician says. ‘Contact the air force and Mr. Panzhiherashto now.’
The plane runs recklessly along the frosty icy lane. Leon pulls one of the bars slowly to start taking off. The plane rises sloppily and unsteadily from the ground. Soldiers and guards have already received the order of attacking and are shooting at the plane repeatedly. But the bullets can only scratch the unimportant parts of the plane and cannot stop it from getting further and further away from the guard.
‘We are safe now,’ Leon, who is still concentrating on the flying, says. Strong winds shake the plane continuously and Leon uses his piloting skills to stabilize the plane. ‘You’re quite good at doing this,’ Catala says. Leon is surprised by the fact that Catala compliments him. ‘But you can never beat me in any form of combating,’ she says boastfully and confidently.
Leon does not know how to reply and decides to remain quiet. He turns his head and looks towards Nakashi, who is now watching them emotionlessly. The atmosphere is awkward. Leon finds that Nakashi has been increasingly detached from Catala and him. She is also becoming weaker and weaker, both mentally and physically. Leon wants to help her but he lacks the courage.