by Jack Parker
Cal ran a hand through his hair. "Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The direction of the cinema –listen."
She refocused her attention and listened, carefully. And then she heard it. "There's a lot of shooting. And people."
"There's some sort of fight and it's in the direction of the cinema. Either most of the people who were meant to be here are involved in it, or they used their brains and got away as soon as possible."
"And we're going to walk into it?"
It was like signing her own death warrant.
"It'll be just as dangerous to go back as it will be to go forward."
As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point.
She ran her hand over her bleeding knee-cap once again. "Fine. Forward it is, then."
Cal looked down, finally noticing her injury.
She met his gaze. "I need somewhere to sit. The glass didn't go in too deep, but I want to take it out before we go ahead."
"Okay." Cal pulled out one of the nearby stools and pushed it toward her.
She picked it up, then sat down and brought her knee toward her chest. Lia ran her hand over the cut and searched for the small shard of glass. It wasn't hard to find, seeing as the part it was in stung more than the rest of the cut. She closed her thumb and forefinger over it, then wrenched it out. She bit her lip in pain and grimaced at the small shard of glass within her palm. Beads of blood glinted over its surface, tingeing it a bright red. It looked like the glass you would use in stained glass windows.
"Done admiring the glass yet?"
She wasn't in the mood to retaliate and she was sure that was what he wanted her to do, anyway; therefore, the best solution would be not to do it.
"What's the time?" She had never tried ignoring one of his comments before. At least, she didn't think she had but right now her knee was stinging far too much for her to say anything.
Cal shrugged. "About time you got a watch."
"Ha. Ha. How old is that one?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm not sad enough to research my insults before using them."
"It's not your insult. Everyone uses that one."
"I didn't say that they didn't."
Couldn't he see that she was in pain, or did he just choose to ignore it?
"Let's just go. It's probably pretty late."
"It's six-thirty so yeah, it is."
She frowned. "You could have just said that from the beginning."
"But what would be the fun in that?" His tone of voice had adopted a softer edge, as if he were speaking to a small child.
That gun was looking pretty tempting by now.
"Let's go before I shoot you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"
"What do you think?"
"And that means no," he commented, dryly.
"Do you ever shut-up?"
"A lot more than you, yes."
"That didn't even make sense."
"Not to you, no. It was too complex for you to comprehend."
"Using big words now, are we?" she replied, scathingly.
He smirked. "Unlike you I don't have a vocabulary limited to that of a three-year olds."
Ouch. She should have seen that one coming.
"And unlike you I don't have a vocabulary limited to that of a two-year olds." She knew how pathetic that sounded even as it left her mouth. But he had left her with no alternative.
Why does he always have to win?
"That was pathetic."
Lia shrugged and looked toward the window or what was left of it, anyway. The Elonsican had shot right through it; hundreds of shards of glass lay scattered over the floor and table-tops.
"They weren't experienced. Probably their first time handling guns," she surmised.
"Then they shouldn't pose as much of a threat."
"How do we know that the ones down by the cinema are just as bad?"
Cal shrugged and pulled out his gun. "We don't."
He made his way to the door and pulled it open, stepping out onto the rough tarmac. "Hurry up. I don't know how Ted looks like, so I can't do it on my own."
Lia rolled her eyes and bit back a retort, then followed him out into the empty street.
They walked along the path, against the wall, their eyes alert and scouring the empty streets. The shouting was getting louder by now, the sound of an occasional gunshot audible beneath high pitched screams. Lia could feel a familiar weight reside within her chest, an overwhelming sense of unease overcoming her.
It wasn't a game. It wasn't the training anymore. This was real. And in reality you didn't always have a happy ending.
They neared the corner.
Cal pulled out his gun. "Ready?"
She nodded briskly.
"Move."
* * *
Jack slumped down on the bed and kicked off his trainers. He lay down, then sighed.
He was so tired. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before because of the party and then he had to get up early this morning because of the break-in. He yawned and ran his eyes over the clock. Six-thirty. It was still pretty early, but he was far too tired to care.
Jack ran his eyes over the thick, blue curtains enshrouding his window. He still hadn't looked at the view. It would probably be quite nice, he thought, seeing as they were pretty high up. But for now all he wanted to do was sleep.
Jack closed his eyes, then sighed again.
Bliss.
And then the phone rang.
Jack groaned and slid out of the bed, then made his way to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Is this Harlton?"
"Yeah."
"There's a riot down south by the local cinema. Your presence is requested immediately. It's getting out of hand and the-"
"I'll be there. Bye."
Jack hung up. He didn't need to hear any more details. They had already ruined his evening.
So much for an early night.
* * *
Lia's eyes widened with shock.
The ground surrounding the cinema was full of people –hundreds of people. They were all crowded around something, or someone, and Lia located the gunshots as coming from the center. They were all shouting something, their voices drowned out by the deafening crash of bullets. There was a lot of pushing too, she noticed, and hoards of people fighting and screaming at each other. The ground –or what could be seen of it- was littered with wood and broken down signs, the words of which Lia could barely make out from a distance.
"It's a mess."
"Brilliant observation," he commented, dryly.
She chose to ignore him. "How do we get in?"
Cal shrugged placidly. "You should know. It's your area." The condescension was barely there, but there nonetheless.
She ran her eyes over the building, which was barely visible beneath the hoards of people. She had only been here a few times before with Carmon and Dan, and she faintly remembered one time when they had arranged to meet here. Dan had been late and he had used some other entrance. They had asked him how he had gotten in and he said that he had used a back entrance and that he would show them some time.
He never did.
But then, seeing as he had used a back entrance, there had to be one; it was just a matter of finding it and finding it quickly.
She ran her eyes over the building again, her mind absently suppressing memories too painful to dwell upon. She bit her tongue, then her bottom lip. If she told Cal he would be able to help her find it, but, then again, if she told him it would make her look stupid; it would look like she didn't actually know in the first place if there was one and she was just making it up, based on a hunch, to stop herself from looking stupid. And he would take it that she was trying to stop herself from looking stupid, which would make her look even more stupid for trying to stop herself from looking stupid.
But if she didn't tell him it would be much harder for her to find it and he wo
uld take her delay as an indication that she didn't actually know of any other way in, which would, in turn, make it look as though she knew nothing about her old area. And, therefore, consequently, he would think her stupid for not knowing anything about her old area.
Either way, she would look stupid.
She decided to go for the former solution.
"There should be a back way in."
"Where?"
"I would have already gone there if I knew," she said dryly.
"So you're acting on a hunch?" he didn't even try to keep the scorn from his voice.
She had been expecting that. "It's better to act on something than not to act at all."
He massaged his temples. "Any idea where it might be, Leanora?"
It was a last attempt to annoy her. She bit her bottom lip, deeply suppressing the wave of anger as it seeped through her chest. She would not let him get to her. Not now. Not today.
"No."
He smirked. "If it's a back way in, it'll probably be in the back," he replied ruefully.
Oh yeah…
He had probably figured that out already; he had just wanted to embarrass her a bit first by asking for her opinion.
Cynical prick.
He's a guy. What do you expect?
"And how do you suggest we get past this entire crowd, master?" she bit sarcastically.
"It's not a matter of getting past all of them-" his eyes scoured the building, then the crowd "-it's more like how do we get through all of them?"
She regarded him with a look of contempt. "And risk getting shot?"
"If you can't beat them, join them."
She brushed back a stray strand of hair. "It's too risky."
"Everything is risky. It doesn't mean we can't do it."
She shrugged. "What's the plan?"
"There is no plan."
She regarded him with distaste. "So we just randomly walk through them just hoping that they won't attack us."
"That's the idea, yeah. Though, it would be wise to stay nearer to the edge."
"If you're planning on doing that, why not just use the front entrance?"
He looked at her with disdain.
"That would be too obvious. If there's something going on out here"-the sound of another gun-shot pierced through the air "-it's probably far worse within the cinema. Which means going through the front entrance would be like signing your own death warrant."
"And the back would, hopefully, have less people about."
"Exactly."
"Fine. After you, then."
"Ladies first."
She rolled her eyes. "Since when have you considered me a lady?"
"I haven't. It's just common courtesy."
"Courtesy? You don't even know the meaning of the word," she scoffed.
"Not properly, no. I have better things to do with my time than memorize dictionary definitions."
"Whatever. You go first, since it was your idea, after all."
He smirked. "Scared?"
"For you, yes. You'll need someone to watch your back."
"I'm touched by your concern."
She didn't know how to answer that and she was sure it would be one of those comments that she would, undoubtedly, discover a retort for later on when it would no longer be necessary. So she decided to follow Jude's example.
"Whatever."
Cal reloaded his gun and turned the corner. Lia followed.
"Stay close. There are more Elonsicans here than Cadlians, so you'll be an obvious target."
She nodded and took a step closer to him, keeping to his shadow. If no-one noticed her, it would make this trip less eventful. And the less events, the less chance of her getting hurt. She was in no mood to get hurt; therefore, it was best to keep to Cal's shadow and avoid events.
Events are evil. Peace is good.
Almost as good as Lacey's curry…
They slid through most of the crowd with much ease –everyone was far too busy fighting each other to pay any heed to Lia and Cal- only occasionally skirting around the more dangerous of situations. They were reaching the edge of the crowd, having passed most of the people, and they were getting nearer to the back.
Then, suddenly, Lia stopped.
A tall, burly looking Elonsican with a square jaw and a thick tuft of brown hair stood before her, blocking her path. Lia stepped back as he brought out his gun and pointed it toward her.
"Stupid fucking Cadlian."
His finger rested on the trigger. She closed her eyes.
The deafening sound of gunshots rattled through the air.
Her eyes were still closed. She had felt nothing. She opened them, confused, then gazed at the man's body as it lay strewn upon the floor. Cal was stood behind him, his gun poised.
Before she could say anything, he had grabbed her arm and bolted toward the back entrance.
"They're after us, move!"
She could hear the sound of guns being fired, one after another, and the heavy thrashing of feet against tarmac.
They were being chased.
Occasionally, she felt a rush of wind bite against her cheek where a bullet had just narrowly missed her. They weren't like Cal's bullets –darts which made you unconscious- they were designed to kill. The sudden realization made her stomach clench in fear.
A large, wide bin lay before them. It was backed against the wall of the cinema and it lay around the corner from the back. Cal ran toward it and dived behind it, taking her with him.
He pulled up his gun. "Go around the corner and look for the entrance. It'll probably be locked. I'll cover you from here," he panted.
She nodded. Cal shot up and began shooting above the bin, ducking occasionally. She got up, then ran around the corner.
Lia massaged her temple, her breathing escaping in sharp gasps as she ran her eyes over the large, brick wall.
In, out, in, out. Stay calm.
She took in a deep breath. The wall was overgrown with vines, thick clumps of moss oozing out from its many cracks. And then she saw it: a thick, white door half-hidden behind a willowy tree. The tree's branches obscured her view, but, nonetheless, there was definitely a door there.
She rushed toward it and pushed away one of the branches, then searched for the handle. Finding it, she placed her palms over it and pulled. Her hands were sweaty, she noticed. She wiped them on her shirt and pulled so hard that the metal dug into her skin. It went down. She kicked the door, but to her dismay, it would not open.
She could still hear the deafening crash of gunshots.
I hope he's okay…
She kicked harder, but it still would not budge. And then she saw it. A small lock secured the door.
Lia was overridden with panic as she searched desperately for a key. She bit her lip, breathing hard, then wiped her palms on her shirt once again.
And then it came to her. She rolled her eyes. How could she have been so stupid?
Lia dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out her gun. She reloaded it, making sure that it had proper bullets within it, then aimed. Her aim had to be perfect. She couldn't destroy the lock, for they would need it later. She just needed to get it open from the outside.
She pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet was deafening as it crashed against the metal, causing the lock to fall off. She picked it up and pocketed it, then once again pulled down the handle and pushed. The door still would not budge. She kicked it and pushed again with all of her might.
It finally gave way.
Her eyes were met with an empty corridor.
She pivoted, then made her way to the corner and glanced around. Cal was still there. She suppressed a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead.
You say it as if it's a good thing.
I wasn't saying it, I was thinking it.
"Cal, move! It's open!"
He heard her. He got up, then pivoted and began to run. Lia looked behind him, only just noticing the Elonsican he had been shooting at. His gun was poised and he w
as aiming.
He was aiming at Cal. Cal had his back turned.
