Freerunner

Chapter 23

"Don't think about it. Disregard it for now. Clear your mind and do everything without hesitation. Think only about us three but don't worry about me or Drifter, we can take care of ourselves. Got it?"

Before I could respond, the tables near the windows came crashing down. Elijah ran towards it and just as a soldier stuck her head in to shoot, he kicked her in the back of the head. She flopped forward and sprawled onto the wooden floor. Elijah's heavy footsteps stomped towards the soldier. Just as she tried to stand up, he knocked her onto her back and crushed her throat with his foot. Then he swept up her gun and threw it to Gabriel. Two more peeked in and fired at Elijah, who ducked and ran to the other side of the building to join us. Gabriel fired back but had just as much luck as the soldiers. "Okay! Here's what we're gonna do!" Gabriel shouted. However, I'd stopped listening. My eyes were drawn to Elijah. He sensed my stare and turned to face me. He gave me an apologetic smile, as if I'd only witnessed him smashing a plate in anger rather than killing someone. I gulped. I averted my eyes to the lifeless figure on the ground. Her eyes had rolled up into her head. I shuddered violently, the lump regrowing in my throat. Oh no, I thought. Not again. I could already those three words echoing in my mind.

That woman. Seeing how quickly her life was ended in the midst of our escape acted as a trigger. People dying around me was what caused this state of madness because it made me realise that it could've been me. Gabriel could've just as easily done that to me in a fit of anger. Prince could've as well when we fought in his solitary cell. I could've done it myself when I jumped from the prison watchtower during the tests. Thinking back, I'd been faced with death many times. Yet, for some reason, I never felt that same fear I felt now. Then it clicked.

Either I let my fear control me or I controlled it. It was as simple as that. I cleared my mind of everything going on around me. I pushed my emotions and memories to the back of my head, relying only on my body to know how to move. Anyone who wore that dusty camouflage uniform was meant to fall. It was normal. I felt for the pistol in my waistband. As I curled my hand around its hard surface, my expression turned to stone and I blanked out.

With a burst of speed, I ran forward, leapt one-footed onto a table and launched myself out the window. I could hear Gabriel yelling after me but I ignored him. Two soldiers had hidden just by the window sill. They were shocked by my sudden appearance but brought their weapons up quickly. I continued on my trajectory and hit the barb wire fence. I momentarily fused with the metal, aimed the pistol at one of the soldier's knees and fired. I knew I wouldn't miss at point blank range. Whilst one of them was doubling up in pain, I bounced off the wires and launched a two-footed kick into the other soldier's stomach. He brought his gun up to protect his face and fell backwards from the impact. I pushed his gun against his chest and knocked him round the side of the head with the butt of my pistol. As I turned around, the other soldier had raised a shaky hand, training a pistol on me. He went to pull the trigger but was met with a bullet to the head first. From the window, Gabriel came out and confiscated ammunition from the corpse. "Reckless, I'll admit but this is more like it!" He cheered, reloading his gun. Once he'd closed the chamber, he turned to Elijah. "You go find the other two, Pinks and I are gonna find a vehicle." Elijah nodded and passed off the backpack to me. I took it and slung it over my left shoulder without a word. He eyed me worryingly but turned away. With his powerful legs, he jumped up and grabbed the edge of the convent roof. He pulled himself up with ease. He'd be alone for a bit but I didn't worry. I couldn't worry. At least, not whilst I was in this state.

"Alright Rose, where to from here?" He asked enthusiastically, keen on my new approach to the situation. He didn't even flinch at my stony look. It gave me the impression that he was all about pragmatism. I took a moment to think then pointed to the other side of the compound. I remembered that we had one truck behind the shipping container. I wasn't sure if there was fuel in it but it was our best chance. Gabriel nodded. "Let's go then. We'll need to draw the soldier's attentions while we run so the others don't have too much of a bad time. Lead the way." I nodded then took off behind the buildings. As we passed the gap between the convent and the main block, a soldier made eye contact with me. At first he was stunned but as soon as he saw Gabriel, he yelled out to his team. I ran faster. We were around halfway down the back of the building when Gabriel's footsteps ceased. I skidded to a halt and turned to face him. His eyes were unfocused as he spoke.