******
Quiet as a whisper, Malcolm slipped past the milling group of Citizen soldiers, who appeared to be waiting for something. From what Malcolm could see, they had moved to this point undetected by Miguel's forces. Aside from passing by several bodies on the way, there had been no noise or visual signs of any real struggling.
He moved through the shadows, sliding a few feet behind a guard on watch, and he slipped down an empty alleyway. Foregoing silence for a moment, he sprinted through it, and was finally through the loosely protected border. He continued for several blocks, moving towards where he thought Kaylee had been taken.
Finally, Malcolm came to a clearly occupied building with huge neon lights glowing in the darkness. The sign read "Heavenly Bodies." He stared at it for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning, but he disregarded after a moment. He could see numerous men carrying weapons and walking about, coming and going out of a few buildings adjacent and across the street from the club. By their lack of concern or preparation, a part of his brain assumed they were unaware of the coming assault.
He slipped his cloth face covering aside, trying to find Kaylee's scent once again. The smells of hundreds of sweaty, dirty men wrapped in tobacco and liquor washed over him along with various other odors. Concentrating for several moments, he finally picked out her lingering presence. He could tell that she'd been through the square a few times, but he couldn't quite detect which building she was in and couldn't investigate further without being seen.
Scooping up a small chunk of crumbled rubble, Malcolm cast it in the direction of one of the men walking around, far off to the left side of the square. The man gave a yell of pain as the piece struck the back of his thigh hard enough to rip the cloth and draw blood. Soon after, the man started a loud commotion of angry accusation and lewd insults, limping towards someone else.
Most of the other men in the square took notice of the disturbance, walking towards it as a small scuffle broke out. Malcolm took the opportunity of distraction to run off to the right, through some well-lit portions of the square. He was only a short distance away from the Heavenly Bodies building, next to one he could see was called "The Dungeon." He detected a foul aroma emanating from that place.
Kaylee's scent lingered, but it seemed to be traveling away from the building and not inside it. He was glad. Something about it, not just the disturbing stench, was unnerving, but at least he could now reasonably guess that Kaylee was being kept in the other place, the one with the neon sign.
Still emboldened by the successful distraction, which escalated to a brawl between the two individuals, Malcolm cut across another narrow street to the tall structure of the club. He heard a yell, quite close to him, as he passed again into the shadows. As silently as possible, he sprinted away from the square down the street, unsure if it had been directed at him. After a distance, he turned back and watched; no one came looking for him. Satisfied he was not being pursued, he resumed looking for other ways into the building. It appeared as though most of the windows were barred, and no fire escapes were present.
He moved into the alleyway behind the large building. There wasn't anyone to be seen, but he did discover a locked back door. He threw himself against it, trying to break it down, but the door was thick and sturdy enough to do no more than shudder against his weight. He stopped for a moment, looking around again.
Malcolm about to hit the door again when, after a quiet click, the door was thrown open. A largish man stepped out and stared at him open-mouthed. The guard pulled his pistol from a shoulder holster, but Malcolm's hand shot out and snatched the weapon. The man barely had time to look down and notice he no longer held his gun before, with his other hand, Malcolm seized the man's outstretched wrist. In a swift motion, Malcolm yanked the man with overwhelming strength, ducking underneath and throwing him overhead.
With a surprised yell escaping his throat, the man sailed through the air, ramming into the alley wall face-first. He flopped to the ground, unmoving.
Without hesitation Malcolm walked into the building. Immediately on his right was a staircase upward, which he took. He didn't exactly know where he was planning on going, but Kaylee had to be in there somewhere. He was going to find her.
Uprising Page 34
