by Drew Avera
Chapter 6
Kara screamed as four blue lasers cut through the stone wall in front of Thom's apartment. Thom jumped over the couch and flung open the closet door to grab his gauntlet. I looked out of the window and saw three of the policemen scrambling for cover. One of them was hiding behind a vehicle and was within firing range. I fired my gauntlet and hit him in the neck killing him instantly. I had lost sight of the other two policemen so I moved quickly away from the window and joined Kara who was hiding behind the couch.
Thom crouched down beside us and set the controls on his gauntlet. "How many?" He asked while he kept his eyes moving.
"There were four of them that I saw. I took one out, but there could be more," I replied. It was hard to tell how many policemen were out there without a good long look, a risk I wasn‘t willing to take.
"It looks like we're kind of stuck in here. I only have three windows to serve as vantage points. I can cover the bedroom if you can cover in here," he said.
"Sounds good, let’s get this over with and regroup," I said. Kara was crying next to me. I put my hand on her shoulder to try and console her. I didn’t think that it would do much good in the middle of a fight, but I wanted her to know that I was there.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know that they were following me. It's all my fault." The tears ran down her face is streams that smeared her makeup.
"Shh," I tried to quiet her down. "It's alright, you didn't know. You've been under a lot of stress. We will get through this just like before." I moved over to the bay window and peered out. I could see some movement behind a large bush and I took aim. The laser from my gauntlet hit my target and set the dried leaves of the bush ablaze as well. I didn't feel confident that it was a kill shot so I treated it as a living threat and fired again, there was no movement. I kept my eyes moving and scanned the perimeter for another policeman. I could hear Thom in the next room taking fire and cussing under his breath. I maintained my position for the next several seconds before I decided to join Thom.
I ran into the room with Thom and ducked under the window. The back wall was covered with burnt holes where the lasers had fired at Thom and missed. I could trace the blue beams and calculated where the next policeman was located. I fired in a large sweep and the policeman’s beam went out. It had to be a hit. Was it a kill shot? I didn't know. Thom stood up and fired his gauntlet into the head of a policeman who had crept up less than ten yards away. That was four targets down.
We looked out from the windows, he stayed in the bedroom and I moved into the living room. Neither of us could see any more policemen lurking outside. The bush that was burning on the other side of the yard filled the area with black smoke as the sun began its decent towards the horizon. The days were short this time of year and time was flying by in a blur. It felt like I had lived through a week in the past two days. I was a wreck.
I looked over at Thom, "watch Kara while I go outside and take a look." He nodded at me as I ran out of the apartment to make a quick sweep of the area. I looked behind all of the hiding spots that I could find. All four bodies were sprawled out and lifeless on the ground. Each of the men looked fairly young and were probably somewhat inexperienced. They had to be rookies. It figured that the Agency would send in the most expendable policemen for a hit like this. These men may have radioed in what was going on and their location before the attack started. If that were true then the Agency would now be aware of Thom's involvement as well as my own from the fight at Kara's home. I made a final sweep of the area and felt it was secure before I returned into the apartment to check on Kara who was still hiding behind the couch.
"Are you alright?" I asked as I checked her over for injuries. Her clothes were torn a little, probably from when I threw her into Thom‘s arms. She was crying and blabbering about it being her fault. I was concerned that she was potentially going through a mental breakdown. The human mind can only take so much. "Look, Kara, you need to stay with me. It will be fine, but you need to calm down. You can't change what has happened, though you do have control of what will happen. Are you with me?" I wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her a hug. I could feel the shaking of her body between sobs begin to slow down. It was a good sign at least. If I could calm her down then we might have a chance of getting out of here.
"Alright," she said as she pulled away from me and started wiping the tears and smeared makeup from her face. "I'm sorry," she said and she started to stand. "I just can't believe this is happening." She stood there shaking from fear in the middle of Thom's apartment, the furniture was strewn throughout the room, holes and cuts were torn through the walls of the apartment. It looked like a war zone. I guess you could call what we were going through a war. It certainly felt like one.
"I know, Kara, but we will get through this together." Thom walked up to us and gave me a nod letting me know that he was ready when we were. "We need to get out of here," I finished. Thom and I escorted Kara out of the apartment. We left our gauntlets armed and ready in case another policeman emerged to perform the hit. I felt better having a friend who cared fight by my side. It helped take some of the edge off.
"I'm pretty sure White was behind this hit," I said to Thom. "The timing was too perfect and he was the only one who knew that I was with her." He was the most likely suspect in a very short list.
"Sounds reasonable. I could see that being the case. I guess now they know that I'm in the fold as well." Thom said with a slight grin. I think he liked this more than he would like to admit.
"Well I guess you are now at least. We need to find shelter, a place to hide and sleep. We can’t keep Kara out in the open, it’s too dangerous. The only place I can think of to go is to my father’s old apartment. It has been condemned for a few years but it is one place that they may not think to look. It could buy us some time at least." It wasn't a great plan, but I'm mostly an offensive strategist. Trying to play defense in this situation was a weakness that I hoped I would not regret.
"I’m game," Thom replied, he was still along for the ride.
"One more thing," I added. "I need you to keep watch over her. Don't let her out of your sight. I don't think she will bolt on you again, but I don't want to tempt her. I'll relieve you after I share some words with White." I believed that Kara knew the risks now. She was a smart girl; surely she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Thom chuckled under his breath and gave me a pat on the back. "I won't let her out of my sight." That was just what I needed to hear. With that behind us we went to find shelter at the condemned apartment that had belonged to my father. Hopefully it was still somewhat inhabitable. Either way it would be better than parading around in the middle of Archea. Together we walked, keeping a constant eye out for further danger. This wasn’t the kind of quality family time that I would have wanted, but it did feel good spending time with Kara again, despite the circumstances. I put my arm around her as we kept to the side streets, traveling to the last home that I had really known, our father’s apartment.
