After the Bombs Fell

12. Trouble

Emi opened the door to the hospital and made her way to Henry's room which was on the second floor. As she entered his room with a smile on her face it quickly faded when she realized Henry was not in the bed. She quickly looked around the room, she checked everywhere to no avail. Henry simply wasn't there, Emi qucikly rushed down the stairs to the hotel lobby where she found the receptionist. Emi begged the receptionist to tell her where Henry went.

Emi: "Hey! I need information on a patient."

Receptionist: "Can I get a name?"

Emi: "Henry Mclafferty, please be quick!"

Receptionist: "One moment please..."

Receptionist: "It seems he left with 2 men recently who said they were his family."

Emi: "Ughh! They weren't his family!"

Receptionist: "If you have a problem please take it up with the police."

With a huff Emi left the building to find information on where Henry had been taken. On her way she made a stop at the scavenger stop where Festus was, she bargained for a flashlight. After paying she made her way across town looking for clues as to where had gone. She knew if she didn't get a lead she would never know where they took him. She thought everyone must see her as crazy, a woman looking all over town for her friend. But Emi knew Henry would and had done the same for her.

She stopped at the hospital and running back inside made her way up the stairs to the second floor. As she made her way into Henry's room she noticed Henry's bag still by his bedside which she took as it had Henry's rifle in it. After again searching the room she looked under his bed and found a clue which she thought could help her, a white piece of fabric stained with blood. She assumed when Henry was taken he had used his knife to cut a piece of his attackers clothing off. She examined the fabric only to find it had been drawn on.

Emi saw what appeared to be part of a symbol under the blood stains, she pocketed the piece of fabric and ran out of the room. Upon heading downstairs and out of the hospital she knew exactly who she would go to and ask for help, someone who she knew had the knowledge she seeked.

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As she arrived at Festus' shop Festus smiled at her.

Festus: "Back again I see Emi."

Emi: "Festus I need your help right now!"

Festus: "Well what can I do for you?"

Emi: "You know this city better than anyone, can you tell me what this symbol means."

Emi gave Festus the piece of fabric, taking the fabric he examined it and told her that it would take him a second. Festus looked at the piece of cloth thoroughly before recognizing the symbol as that of one of the gangs in Atom City. Noticing this he informs Emi who is furious.

Emi: "So these are the bastards who tried to rob me and who kidnapped Henry!?"

Festus: "Well I assume so, they're one of the cities many gangs, fortunately they aren't very big."

Emi: "Ughh! Those bastards are gonna pay for what they've done."

Festus: "Now hold on there Emi, my pa told me if you're lookin for vengance make sure you dig two graves."

Festus: "Are you sure you wanna take these people on? I mean you have no idea what they're capable of."

Emi: "I don't care, if I don't do something ill have no reason left to continue this miserable existence either way."

Emi uttered those last few words as she stormed out of the store, ready to fight until her death. In the end though Emi decided on a better plan, she knew where their warehouse was thanks to Festus. So she decided that instead of risking her and Henry's life, she would instead attempt to sneak Henry out of the building undetected. As she made her way to the warehouse she knew her time was limited and that any second now Henry could be executed. She just had to hope they hadn't already killed him.

Emi saw a back door which she promptly rushed over to, attempting to be as quiet as possible. Before entering the building she picked up a stone slab which she found laying next to the door, As she opened the door she found herself in a large but dark room. She clicked on her flashlight and got to searching. As she made her way through the mazes of boxes and storage racks she heard a crunch undernearth her foot. She froze and looked down to find a piece of glass under her foot.

She took one of the broken pieces and pocketed it for later use, continuing on she found more boxes and more useless junk piled high. As she went through the warehouse she saw one of the members approaching up ahead and quickly ducked behind a storage rack. She grabbed the piece of glass with her hand and held it, when the man approached she jumped out and stuck him in the neck with the piece of broken glass, he dropped the gun he was carrying and collapsed. She put the gun in her waistband and continued forward.

She came upon a dark area with a chair in the middle, tied to the chair was an unconscious Henry. She promptly used the piece of glass to cut the rope after some effort, and lifted up Henry. She had a hard time carrying him as he was very heavy and had to set him down periodically. From down the hall she heard a yell from one of the gang members and footsteps in her direction. Quickly she set Henry down behind a shelf and grabbed the gun from her waistband.

She ducked behind some boxes and waited for them to approach, as they ran down the hallway she popped out before quickly spraying the area with gunfire but one managed to jump behind a storage rack. She ducked back behind the box as gunfire rang out from the enemys position, Emi had been in a gun fight before but never one indoors. She crawled along the floor behind the boxes to get a peak of the hallway, it was empty save for the dozens of boxes and junk strewn everywhere. As Emi was about to jump up and charge the guys position the man ran into the hallway and right towards where she was.

Emi quickly got up but the man had kicked her knocking the gun to the ground. Emi grabbed the pistol out of her waistband and fired but she was so full of adrenaline the shot missed. Before she could fire off a second shot the man knocked the gun out of her hand and tackled her, she tried to fight back but the man's entire body weight on top of her was too much. As she struggled she realized she still had the piece of glass but due to the man's weight she couldn't move her hand to reach it. Slowly she inched her hand towards the glass, finally the man grabbed her and lifted her up at which point she grabbed the shard of glass.

Sqwelp the shard dug into the man's skin forcing him back, giving Emi just enough time to grab her gun... But it was missing, the gun was gone. Thinking on her feet she grabbed the stone slab from her pack and prepared to defend herself. As the man charged at her she whacked him in the face with the slab knocking him down. After this Emi dropped the stone slab and jumped on top of the man grabbing the glass shard, the shard sliced through the skin on his neck. Emi left the man there to bleed out, but before she could escape she heard footsteps coming down the hall and before she knew it one of the gang members had appeared. Emi raised her hands slowly as the man pointed the gun at her, as the man approached- BANG.

A shot rings out and the man falls, it was Henry who had now came back to consciousness. Without wasting time Emi grabbed Henry and they both rushed out of the warehouse, before more members could arrive and seek revenge for their fallen comrades.