by Alex Fedyr
They heard his voice call out from nearby, “Over here!” Kalei poked her head out and identified the source as the second door on the left. The Wardens were already on their way.
“Here.” Jenna slapped a pistol into Kalei’s hand.
Kalei looked back and saw that Jenna was still holding the original gun from the tunnels. Kalei had forgotten all about it. But if Jenna had that gun, then— “Where did you get a second gun from? And where the hell did you hide it? Last I checked, these short shorts don’t have holsters.”
Ignoring her, Jenna crawled up the stairs to stand behind the narrow strip of wall flanking the door. She said, “Shoot their kneecaps.”
Kalei dropped the question and climbed to the opposite wall, readying her weapon.
Jenna nodded at Kalei and shouted, “Go!” Both girls leaned out and shot at the Wardens. Kalei’s shot missed the kneecap, but caught the first Warden’s shin as he ran, sending him face-first into the floor. Jenna hit both knees on his accomplice.
Before the echoes of the shots had cleared the air, Kalei and Jenna were sprinting down the hallway. Kalei’s target picked up his gun, but Jenna sent a bullet through his wrist. His cry filled the air as the gunfire died out, and then that too faded away to the sound of ringing in Kalei’s ears. The report of gunfire in a narrow hall had not been kind to her eardrums. She half expected to find blood pouring out of her ears if she was so inclined to check, but she wasn’t worried about it. Even as they ran, the ringing was dying down.
The sisters ducked into the room, gasping for breath as Josh slung a black bag onto his back. Jenna wheezed, “What the fuck is so important... that I just wasted... four fucking bullets!” She took another, deeper breath and continued, “You plan on buyin’ me ammo when we get out of this shithole?”
The room was cleaner than most of the others; the walls were finished, the wiring for the lights and outlets was complete, and a couple of old but undamaged desks lined the far wall, with a single plastic chair sitting before the one on the right.
Josh replied, “Uh...I don’t know where to buy ammo, but—”
New voices shouted in the hallway, accompanied by the sound of thumping boots.
Kalei turned to check and saw two more Wardens coming down the route their companions had taken. They ducked into the first door on the right, using the doorway as cover as they trained their guns on Kalei’s hideout. The helmeted figure on the left shouted, “Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!”
Kalei pulled her head back in and said, “Shit, they got here fast.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
On the Road Again
Kalei looked to Josh. “Which way?”
“We have to go through the hall and back down the stairs,” he said, pointing.
“Dammit. Jenna, get over here.” At Kalei’s request, Jenna joined her sister, standing on the opposite side of the door from Kalei.
“How many?” Jenna asked.
“Just the two.”
Jenna nodded. “Got it. I’ll take left.” They swung out into the open doorway and shot at the Wardens. Jenna caught hers cleanly in the shoulder, and as the force knocked him back, she sent her second bullet through his now-exposed heart.
Kalei’s bullets mostly found the plaster wall her Warden was hiding behind, but that didn’t seem to matter, since one of those bullets made her target cry out and fall to the floor.
Kalei turned back to Josh. “Come on!” She pushed him out in front of her and ran after him.
Jenna caught up and commented, “Your firs’ guy is gettin’ up. That leg don’ look like it’s buggin’ him no more.”
Kalei replied, “Then take care of it.”
As Kalei and Josh started to descend the stairs, Jenna spun around and took out the Warden’s right knee, but not before a bullet grazed the side of her face. “Dammit!”
“You all right?”
“Yeah.” Jenna wiped at the blood that began to spill above her right eye.
Josh’s voice echoed in the stairwell as he called back, “Why didn’t you just shoot them in the head?”
Jenna plodded down the stairs after them and said, “They’re wearing bullet-resistant helmets, you dumbass!”
Josh nodded to himself. “Oh. Right.”
They took an exit on the right, crossed another abandoned floor, down the stairs, to the left, another right...
Several flights later, they finally arrived at the first floor and ran for the exit. Kalei and Jenna kept low and headed for the walls at either side. Kalei thought Josh was following her. She had overtaken him in the sprint, but when she looked for him, she saw that he was standing in front of the open door, watching her with confusion as he said, “Why are you—?”
His head snapped forward and the blast of a gunshot ripped through the air. He crumpled to the floor.
“Fuck!” Jenna mopped her blood away from her eye and leaned out to return fire. She pulled back just as a bullet whizzed through the doorway. “It’s Terin.”
“What?”
“It’s fucking Terin!”
“Shit.” Kalei reached out and snagged the edge of Josh’s pants leg, using it to pull his limp body away from the gunfire.
Jenna frowned at Kalei, fresh blood pooling in the crease between her knitted brows. “What are you doing?”
Kalei finished dragging Josh and propped him against the wall. “We’re not going to leave him here.”
“Why the fuck not?” Gunshots continued to ricochet off the floor and walls. Jenna returned a few of her own.
Kalei ignored Jenna and checked her pistol. The magazine was still half full. She popped it back in and chambered a round.
Jenna said, “Fine, we’re taking the kid, but I sure as hell ain’t carrying him.” She took another shot, then her gun made a sharp click. Jenna tossed the weapon away. “Hey, gimme your gun.”
“What? Why?”
“Cuz I’m out. Now give it.”
Kalei slid her gun over to Jenna. “It’s just Terin, right?”
“That’s what it looks like. Though fuck knows how he managed to land that shot on Josh.” Jenna caught the gun and tucked it into the back of her shorts. When she pulled her hand away, the gun was replaced by a grenade. “This should keep him busy.”
“Where the fuck did you—?”
“You ready?” Jenna looked at Kalei with an eager grin growing on her face. Kalei wasn’t sure if she should be more concerned with where the grenade came from, or the fact that she was related to this madwoman.
“Hold on.” Kalei stooped down and picked Josh up in a fireman’s carry. “Okay, ready.”
Jenna tossed the grenade, waited for the explosion, and then sprinted out into the dust and debris. Kalei was hot on her heels.
Running through the dirt cloud, Kalei’s eyes burned and her shoulders ached as Josh’s bony weight dug into her muscles. She soon lost sight of Jenna, but Kalei kept running, hoping she was running in the right direction.
She made it a few more steps, wondering if this could have an end, when the ground dropped out from under her. Her foot fell through open air, then abruptly found the pavement several inches lower than she was expecting it to be. Her knee buckled and she almost dropped Josh, but she caught herself with her right leg and kept on running.
The dust was finally beginning to fade on the wind. She looked around for Jenna and heard her sister curse loudly. Kalei found the young woman’s silhouette several feet to the left, picking itself up off the ground next to what appeared to be a tire. Kalei slowed and called out, “You all right?”
“I’m fine. Just keep running.” A bullet ricocheted off a patch of dirt beside Kalei. She picked up the pace, running straight for an old pickup truck parked on the other side of the road. Her breathing became labored, and Josh seemed to feel heavier with every step, but she pushed forward, diving behind the truck as another bullet pinged off the hood.
Jenna was already there, crouched beside the cabin with the gun i
n her hands. Kalei lowered Josh to the ground. “He had a clear shot. Why’d he miss?”
Jenna smiled at Kalei, blood running down one knee in addition to the gash that continued to weep above her eye. The red on her face was mixed with dirt, painting a grotesque mask streaked with handprints where Jenna had wiped the mess from her eyes. She said, “You’ve never seen Terin shoot, have you?” Kalei shook her head. “To say that he sucks ass would be an understatement.” Jenna handed over her gun. “Keep him busy for a sec.” She wiped at her eye again and opened the door to the truck.
“What’re you—?” Kalei had to scoot back to avoid getting hit by the door.
“Don’ worry ‘bout it,” Jenna said as she crawled into the cabin.
Kalei flicked the safety off and said, “Whatever.” She popped out of cover and sent a couple shots at Terin and the van he hid behind. One-two, she ducked and waited for his return fire. She heard the bullets hit the cement and wood of the abandoned strip mall just behind them. Jenna wasn’t lying; he really was a terrible shot. She stood up again, three shots this time, then the slide on the gun kicked back and stopped. She retreated to the shadow of the truck.
Meanwhile, violent ripping and crunching sounds were coming from the truck’s cabin. As Terin’s shots ricocheted off a nearby tree, Kalei moved over to the open door. Lying on the floor of the truck was Jenna, sprawled out on her back with a large piece of plastic from the steering column sitting to one side. Her arms worked methodically as she ripped out wires and used a knife to cut through choice colors. Kalei tapped on Jenna’s boot and showed her the gun. Jenna nodded, a red wire held delicately in her mouth, then went back to work.
Kalei’s old instincts told her to grab the handcuffs and march this bitch off to the station. Kalei had to remind herself that she wasn’t a cop anymore, and seeing as she was already a fugitive, there was no harm in adding to the record. Kalei asked, “Where’d you learn how to hotwire a car?”
Speaking around the wire held in her teeth, Jenna said, “Don’ worry about it.”
The gunfire from Terin stopped. Kalei heard more voices shouting from the office building. She poked her head above the hood. “Terin’s on his way. The other Wardens too.” She ducked down and a random thought occurred to her. “Hey, do you think that big guy was Jarmel?”
Jenna no longer had the red wire in her mouth, but now sat puzzling between a blue wire and a green wire. “Nah, he went down too easy. Jarmel would’ve kept on coming even with a bullet in his leg.”
“Good point.” Kalei decided it was time to get ready to go. She crawled over to Josh’s body, pulled it over to the cab, then heaved and lifted the boy into the truck. By the time she got the boy’s torso in, Jenna still had not succeeded in starting the car. She knew it couldn’t take this long. Half the thugs in Celan could have had the truck to Telahar by now. She knew; she had to write up what felt like a million of those missing car reports and watch the ensuing hours of surveillance tapes. She couldn’t see Jenna from her position beside the back seat, so she asked, “Do you really know how to hotwire a car?”
Jenna’s voice called out gruffly, “Shut up, I’m trying to concentrate.”
Kalei finished laying Josh across the bench seat, then carefully climbed into the passenger side up front. Slowly, she raised her head up to peer through the window. Terin and friends were only fifteen feet away now and closing. Two Wardens created a solid vanguard, and a step behind them, two more flanked Terin on either side. All of them sported wet patches on their uniforms where Jenna and Kalei’s bullets had visited. The big guy in front of Terin raised his rifle and squeezed off a series of shots. Kalei ducked just as the driver’s side window shattered.
“Got it!”
Kalei looked down at Jenna. “You got it?”
“Yeah, I found the guy’s sidearm! He had it right there under the seat,” Jenna cheerfully responded, holding up a pistol.
“I thought you were hotwiring the car!”
“I am! Hold on.” Jenna twisted a couple of wires together and the radio blared to life with the latest pop music.
Kalei turned the radio down and said, “Alright, c’mon! Let’s go.”
Jenna squirmed a ways out from under the steering wheel and said, “Not yet. Get over here and hold this wire while I have a nice chat with Terin and the crew. And be careful not to let it touch anything.” Jenna crawled up onto the driver’s seat as Kalei slid down and lay on the floor, gingerly accepting the yellow wire from Jenna.
Once she was free, Jenna popped up into the open window and took a shot at their friends. Then she paused, eyes widening slightly. “Shit! Do you see this?” She quickly ducked back under cover as three shots crashed into the cabin.
“What?”
“He just pulled the same trick Xamic did back at the mansion. The whole ‘I just had my brains blown out and I don’t give a fuck’ bit.”
“Really?” Kalei started to sit up, but Jenna waved her back down.
“Stay down there. You ain’t done yet. You see the green wire hangin’ there?”
“Yeah.”
“When I say, I want you to touch the end of that wire to the yellow wire, then hit the gas when you hear the engine start, got it?”
Kalei retorted, “I only have two hands. How do you expect me to hold the wires together and hit the gas at the same time?”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “You don’ need to hold the wires. Jus’ drop ‘em when the engine starts. Now stop being a pussy and get ready.”
Kalei mumbled under her breath and reached for the green wire. Jenna got off three more shots, then turned and slammed the butt of her gun into the keyhole and yelled, “Now!”
Kalei brought the two wires together, but before they even touched, a bright flash of electricity jumped between them, shocking Kalei as the engine roared to life. She cursed and dropped the wires, jumping away as the yellow wire caught on her arm and shocked her again.
Jenna took another shot at the Wardens and roared, “Hit the gas!”
Kalei found the gas pedal and shoved it to the floor. The tires screamed, the truck swerved violently out into the middle of the road, and then Jenna caught the wheel and set it straight.
Jenna said, “Now get out of there. I’ve got it.” Kalei hastily clambered off the floor, brushing dirt off herself as she sat up in the passenger seat. “Here, take this.” Jenna handed over the gun. “Keep it low.”
Gunshots pinged off the truck and the back window shattered. Kalei ducked and replied, “Fuck that. I should be shooting back.”
“No. Keep the gun low, keep your head low, and face forward.”
Kalei wasn’t sure what Jenna was up to, but the calm, determined look in Jenna’s eyes convinced Kalei not to argue. She slouched low in her seat and faced forward.
The gunshots stopped, and Jenna dropped their speed down to thirty-five miles an hour. Kalei glanced back over her shoulder and saw the Wardens running to their vans. As she turned forward again, the silence that was left by the lack of gunfire was filled by the sound of sirens. Jenna didn’t react, she didn’t speed up; if Kalei didn’t know any better, she would have thought Jenna hadn’t heard them. Her only response was to turn on her blinker and merge onto Cedar Street. It was a modest, two-lane road with minimal traffic, and while Kalei noticed a kid in the backseat of the car beside them, pointing and exclaiming at the bullet holes down the side of the truck, the rest of the road utterly ignored the newcomers as just another piece in the daily commute.
A block later, the cop cars appeared two streets ahead of them, lights flashing and sirens blaring as they turned onto Cedar. The daily commuters lazily pulled to the side as the two police cruisers picked up speed on the straightaway, gunning straight down the middle of the road toward Kalei and Jenna. Kalei brought the gun forward, flicking the safety off as she prepared to fire.
Jenna held her hand out over the gun. “Don’t.” Jenna slowed down and pulled to the side along with the rest of traffic. Kalei wanted to
scream at her sister, to demand why they were stopping, to hit her over the head, but instead, she shut her mouth and tightened her grip on the pistol.
Kalei watched Jenna for any sign of what her sister was planning, but Jenna just leaned back and lazily eyed the police as they approached.
The cops didn’t slow down as they closed the distance to their target. The sisters were sitting ducks now. Kalei looked from Jenna to the speeding vehicles and realized that even if they pulled back onto the road and sped off now, it was already too late to outrun their pursuers. Was this Jenna’s plan? To release Kalei, run them all over Celan in a crazy series of explosions and gunfights, just to hand her back over to the cops when she was done with her fun? Kalei had already accepted that this woman was her sister Jenna, but now she started to wonder just how much that sister had changed in the years since they were kids. Kalei realized that whether she was looking at Shenaia or Jenna, she still didn’t know what this woman was capable of.
The police were four hundred feet off now, two hundred— they made no sign of slowing. One hundred feet, fifty, twenty—they passed the truck.
Kalei turned in her seat, watching as the lights retreated into the distance as Jenna casually pulled back onto the road.
Kalei didn’t look at Jenna as she demanded, “What the hell was that? We were sitting right in front of them!”
Jenna turned down Seventh. “You keep goin’ on about how SWORDE doesn’t communicate with the cops, right? They had no fucking clue what they were looking for. They were just running down to the site like good little officers.”
Later, they dumped the truck in a ditch and hitched a ride in a taxi. Kalei had donned a pair of sunglasses and a sweatshirt they pilfered from the truck, and they found a baseball cap to cover the healing bullet wound on Josh’s head as they propped him up between them, claiming he was just passed out drunk when the taxi driver looked at them questioningly. The cabbie didn’t seem to approve of a drunk thirteen-year-old, but it was better than telling him it was a temporarily dead thirteen-year-old.