THE OUTCASTS

Chapter 5

"Doran, Matthews how far are we?" Neji asked his two pilots. "Not far of sir, fifteen minutes to the base."

"Excellent. Inform the Major that we have her prisoner."

"Yes, sir."

 Neji knew that there was something wrong with that redheaded girl the second he saw her. She wasn't apologetic or seemed to even care about the consequences of her arrest. She was looking at them through the class of her cell in the aircraft the same way he saw his small cousins would look at him when he would show them how to solve puzzles. That was unnerving him. Even the way she was dressed was odd. 

Nothing emiting from her was ordinary or even remotely like a former convict. He blackened the glass hoping that would ease his discomfort. His men were having small talk about girls they met at some kind of club and were asking older, higher ranking officers for advice on how to ask them out the next time they saw them. Only Esla kept quiet. He couldn't blame her. She was 32 and widowed, her wife' s funeral three months ago. She didn't talk much since then.

 Stevens was saying something through the com about an electricity impulse probably emiting from the local power plant and that there might be some turbulence. Which Neji striked as odd since his map didn't show any power plants in the area. The aircraft spiked up and there was a grunt coming from the cell. "Kent, check the prisoner." he yelled.

"Yes sir."

"Sir, she hit her head!" Kent yelled across the aircraft.

"Get the med kit." Neji ordered to no one in particular and went to the cell. 

 "Is she alright?" – he asked. He couldn't bring her in for interrogation if she was under painkillers.

-"Are you hurt? " Kent asked her

"Not really. First, I didn't get to drink my morning coffee, then someone had the nerve to take my com without asking me and to top my day I got arrested for a reason I don't even know and I hit my head in a guard craft. What a day, am I right."  She said with such a bored tone even a sloth would be pleased while rubbing her head. Kent pressed a cooling wrap on her head as Neji stood unamused.  

"Oh, and I forgot to mention. I had a hard time bypassing through the crafts emergency protocols to open fast exit. "

 Kent looked at him than at her with a puzzled look on his face, but Neji understood and leaped on her too late as the floor underneath her opened and a cable hooked her, Kent and Neji as they started to fall out the craft. 

Neji grabbed the girl as Kent suspended a few feet over them and the rest of his men drew their weapons and aimed at them, but Kent stopped them yelling that they could shoot their captain as well. The cable started to go down and the girl tried to break free of his grasp just as they started to fall down faster until they were six feet over a roof of the building as the cable snapped and they fell. 

Neji remembered his training and the right way to fall landing a few feet from Jane Evans who didn't land as graciously. She looked at him and started running.

Neji swore and ran after her. He wouldn't let her escape.

 She might not have had any training but she was fast.

 Neji tried to call in but for some reason his com didn't work. She ran down the fire escape onto the streets, but he was catching up to her. The sun was already down and he didn't feel like spending the night with a convict in one of the most dangerous parts of the town. She turned right checking where he was. 

He knew she was getting out of breath, he could see it by the way her shoulders were slacking and she was doing her best to maintain her speed. But, for Neji this was a small part of his everyday exercise. 

The girl hit a dead end and Neji was drawing his weapon, slowly moving towards her. 

"Are you done?" he asked her and she was catching her breath. 

 "Put your hands in the air." She looked at him and slowly started to raising her hands. 

 "You mean like this?"  she asked and then everything went dark.

The whole street was out of light. Neji pressed his gun closer, trying to figure out where she was when something darted past him and kicked his gun out of the way. He could hear her laughing as she ran away and he followed. The light went on again and he saw where she was running towards so he shouted.

"Stop! Are you insane! If you want to get away from me you don't have to kill us both! "

 But she just kept on running when a group of men tackled him, kicking him in the gut and then in his face. He saw the wild, angry look in they're eyes. He knew that he was going to die in agony and all for that little brat. 

He fought back, managing to knock out one of them when a big, ugly brute seized him from behind, both of the falling and Neji hit his head against the pavement. 

He felt dizzy, he couldn't fight all of them, not without his armour. 

Neji knew he wouldn't last long, his head hurting just from moving it to the side to avoid a man falling when he kicked one of the attackers with his left leg, but when he tried to smack down the brute with his right hand someone grabbed his left arm and tossed him against the pavement, again.

He wouldn't die like this here. Neji repeated to himself again and again as he tried to fight back, but he was losing.

 And then there was nothing but darkness. He might have thought that death claimed him was it not for that awful headache and the feeling of weight of six men holding him down. All of a sudden a light appeared. 

It was shifting from yellow to blue to violet as sparks flew and in the middle of it was Jane Evans, his prisoner and escapee. She was glowing and from her hands sparks flew that knocked the men holding him unconscious. One by one they fell and then she looked at him with fear in her eyes when Neji could feel his eyes starting to close as he heard a voice yelling at him. 

"Don't you even dare. I didn't come back just so that you could die on me." she yanked him by the shoulders, easing him up.

"Wake up, dammit!"she yelled, but he couldn't stay awake. 

She was trying to hold him as she walked as fast as she could without falling down. And as she was saving him the only think he could think before he fell into unconsciousness was What the hell was she and why did she save him.