Fire Wall (Book 1: The Fall)

4 | Pedal to the Metal

"An ambulance is on the way!" Sky announces.

"Cancel request!" I groan, feeling as if someone is punching my face.

"Request to override cancelation-"

"Denied!" I scream.

The last thing we need is a humanoid med-bot getting in the way of a shoot-out.

The car finally skids to a stop and I gasp for air to regain my breath and heartbeat. My head feels like a block of lead as I struggle to pick it up.

"Raven, can you hear me?"

My mouth moves slowly in reply and I feel a wave of grogginess sweep over me. 

"U-h..."

"I'm giving you a jump!"

L inserts a booster in my chest and after a sharp pain, energy floods through my body. I gasp feeling air flood my lungs. A new wave of energy surges through me and the throbbing in my head fades.

"Thank you!" I breathe, grabbing my backpack.

I try the car door but it doesn't budge.

"It's jammed!" I huff.

I position myself to throw my body against the door but a hand stops me.

"Allow me."

L slams his foot into the door and it swings open.

"Nice!" I exclaim.

"Thank you."

He hooks his arm around mine and hauls me out with him. I groan staggering onto my feet, feeling the muscles in my body untwist. L calls to me over his shoulder.

"Follow me!"

He wastes no time and breaks into a sprint across the rooftop. How is he so athletic?

I force my body to run as hard as I can and wince with each painful stride. Car engines thunder above our heads and their headlights form a large, collective spotlight on our path. There's no doorway, platform, or stairs to take us down. The giant skyscrapers cave us in. 

Where is he going?

"It's a dead end!" I scream to L.

"Then we make a way!" 

L hurls an object over the ledge of the building and a pink light unfolds. It takes shape into a platform-shaped hologram.

"Get ready to jump!" He shouts.

"What?" I cry.

A hologram won't catch us! My mouth parts as L leaps over the building's ledge. He rolls onto the hologram, shattering my reality. It's a Solid-State Hologram! That's military tech! How did he get that?

I push hard off the ledge and stagger onto its surface. Without warning, the platform drops, plummeting through the air. Completely thrown off balance, I fall sideways and slip off the platform. I'm sure I'm going to fall to my death but L grabs one of my flailing arms and pulls me roughly into his embrace. I sigh shakily landing against him, grateful to have his arms wrapped securely around me.

"When this stops," He warns me, "We're going to jump onto a residential balcony."

I'm not sure what he's thinking but I trust he has a plan.

"O-okay!"

My knees shake as the platform slows to an abrupt stop in front of a balcony. I turn to find an astonished young man leaning on the railing. He wears a sharp pair of glasses and a striking, red kimono. L greets him casually.