2.
Somebody shook me harshly, gripping on both my shoulders. "Wake up!" I heard a voice as if from a great distance. "Wake up!" the voice kept getting closer. I felt a harsh slap on my cheek. I suddenly took a deep breath. My lungs were sore, as if I hadn't used them for a while. The stinging pain returned to my side and my senses became sharp again. Tina was leaning over me, her expression clearly worried. Damn, I guess we're not equal afterall…
I noticed the flames around us. I ignored the pain and stood up hastily, taking her arm and running towards the only place with no flames blocking it. Naturally, a wall had to rumble and block it in the flames stead. We were trapped.
"Damn!" Rhoditina cursed, while looking around for any possible escape. "There!" she shouted and grabbed my arm, running towards a low line of flames. It was possible to jump over them but not probable. I wanted to stop, to find a safer way out… There was no time. It was our last chance. We jumped. The warmth of the flames embraced my legs without harming them.
We made it. We landed outside the circle of fire I would poetically call hell. Tina fell to her knees, cursing and hissing in pain. We didn't made it as well as I thought. I leaned towards her, examining the wound briefly. Her right shin was burnt badly. We had no time to linger here, though. It was still too dangerous. I helped her stand up.
"Did you get here by a car?"
"How did you know?" she asked puzzled. I grinned. "They've stolen your motorbike and I can't imagine you taking the train."
She grinned as well.
"You sure know me well. I borrowed a small toyota on the way." She stumbled forward and almost fell again. I caught her and put her hand around my shoulders to provide her stability. "Carefully." I whispered into her ear. She frowned a bit, but leaned on me.
We walked a little bit further and I saw it. The black machine that was once called a car. The bumper was completely gone and the back door seemed to be hanging on a string. I looked at Tina with lifted eyebrow and she returned my glance with an innocent smile. I sighed. I knew she couldn't drive, but I've never understood her ability to completely smash a car with one ride. "You said you borrowed it? Well, I'm not sure you're gonna return it." Her innocent smile quickly disappeared and she stuck out her tongue.
I helped her on the front seat next to the driver's and then found a first aid kit somewhere on the back seat. I might not be a driver but I certainly know it wasn't supposed to be there. Well, who cares?
I sat on the driver's seat and put the kit on the deck. You guess right, the airbags were long gone.
"Show me your wound." she said with a calm and serious voice.
"Yours is more severe."
She frowned and glared at me but I kept looking at her stubbornly. I knew she wanted to retort something but she also knew I was right. I fought a smile. Yes, she was stubborn, but sensible. She growled and looked away, then put her right leg on the deck. The burn was worse than I thought.
I took out scissors from the kit and carefully cut off the cloth around the wound. She hissed in pain through gritted teeth. I was not a medic but fortunately I knew what to do with burns. The important thing was not to bandage them immediately. The skin needs air to I also knew they hurt the worst. "Shit!" she cursed through gritted teeth.
"Be careful with that wound. I can't bandage it until the skin recovers a bit. You shouldn't move around very much… I guess it's pointless to tell you that." I said with a smile. She smiled as well through her frown. "You really do know me well."
She put the leg down, her frown suddenly disappearing as if the wound disappeared with its sight.
"Now, show me yours." she inquired. I was reluctant to do so. It was just a scratch afterall. However, as I said before, she was stubborn. She forcefully rolled up my shirt to see it. I frowned. "It's nothing serious, don't worry about it."
She took a dezinfectional liquid and poured a bit on a bandage, then put it harshly on my wound, cleansing it. I instatnly gritted my teeth in pain.
"You're stupid enough to almost get shot, but I won't let you be stupid enough not to clean and bandage it." Her voice was a little shaky again in an attempt to control it. Yep, she still had the right to be mad. She bandaged the wound. I was somehow glad the car had darkened windows, because the sight of two people taking care of each others' wounds in a completely smashed car would surely seem strange.
"You know, you could have taken me with you." she said quietly, anger clear in her voice.
I sighed. "We survived, it doesn't matter anymore." I said neutrally.
"Yes it does." she retorted and crossed her arms. "If I were with you, this wouldn't have to happen." she growled. I put my hand on her shoulder. She kept glaring in front of her. "I would have hacked the damn system without detonating the stupid explosions."
"That's true, but what about the trap?"
"I took them all down, remember?"
"You were hidden."
"So what?!" she shouted angrily and finally looked at me. I answered calmly.
"You really think I would admit the possibility of you getting killed is the better one?"
"And you think it's alright when you get hurt?! And I'm injured regardless!" her voice was shaking again and I noticed the tears slowly welling up in her eyes.
She wasn't usually like this.. She is a sensible person who thinks before acts, even though her speech can be a bit unwise sometimes. But never like this. It almost made me feel guilty. Fortunately I knew why I did what I did.
"What were you thinking?! You could have died in there! You have no idea how scared I was! I…" I stopped her words with a deep kiss. Her eyes widened and the tears started running down her cheeks. She wanted to pull away, but I didn't let her. I emraced her tightly and deepened the kiss. She hesitatnly closed her eyes and kissed back.
I knew. I could understand too well how she felt without her telling me.
We pulled back for air and stared into each others eyes. I caressed her hair gently wiping the tears from her face. "Please, understand." I whispered. She smiled sadly.
"Please, don't do this to me anymore."
"I can't promise you that. Your life is more important to me than mine after all. But I promise not to make you worry unnecessarily." She frowned a bit but smiled aftewards. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that since I can't promise you anything more either." I kissed her softly once again.
Then I put the first aid kit on the back seat. The car key was where she left it, ready to start the engine. It wasn't so stupid to leave it in there since the car was already stolen and damaged. I turned the key in an attempt to start the engine. Attempt failed. I tried again, but the engine didn't respond. I turned my gaze on Tina, who had the innocent smile again, looking elsewhere.
"You know," I said while finally succesfully starting the engine, "I understand you were in a hurry, but it would be nice of you to leave the car able to drive the next time."
Whack! We both almost jumped. Tina chuckled.
"I'll keep that in mind mr. I love street lamps." I frowned. OK, I guess I do not have the right to question someone else's driving abilities.
I slowly drived into the street. It was much smoother than the last time I drived (I can't forget to say, it was my first time to drive then) but in a car like this we would attract attention even if I was the best driver in the world. Luckily there were too many cars for someone to notice a smashed toyota making its way through.
"So, what now? Did you get the address of the main hideout?" Tina asked casually as if riding with me was so usual.
"Yes, I did." I answered shortly.
"And?" Her voice was getting impatient.
"And we need rest right now, so I'm looking for a place to stay. We'll strike in the evening. And we also need a hacker."
She lifted one eyebrow. "What about me? Am I not good enough?"
"We need a hacker outside." I smiled. "I guess you won't let me go in there on my own."
"Hell no! You're not going on your own anywhere from now on." she answered stubbornly.
"Not even into the bathroom?"
"Nope!" she replied instantly.
I tried to set the mirrors to see the road behind me. Well, at least one was able to show me that. The street seemed calm even though there were many cars.
"What about my brother? He's a fine hacker."
"You think he'll be at home?"
She shrugged. " I'm not sure, we can call him later."
The sirens abruptly interrupted our conversation. I looked into the mirror and saw a police car chasing us and more of them joining it. "Shit!" I put the pedal down, the car quickening its pace. Tina instantly turned around confused. "What the fuck?!"
I took a sharp turn right, which threw her in the door. "Hey! Be careful, the door almost fell of."
I kept staring in front of me, looking for a way out.
"It's not my fault you crushed them before."
She growled as she rubbed the place on her head that got hit. "Why are they chasing us anyway?"
I sharply turned left for a change and she almost fell on me.
"You know the gang we are chasing has a big influence in this city. We can't depend on the police anymore." She widened her eyes slightly, and didn't ask more.
I got into an empty narrow street. The side mirrors were suddenly gone. Damn street lamps… never mind. The sirens kept getting closer. How uncomfortable. My mind raced. I was mentally searching for a place to hide where I could get without using the highway, which would soon be cut off. Damn!
There was no time. I kept going as fast as possible through the narrow streets. The sirens were almost deafening, disabling me to think clearly. I noticed far too late they cut the escape route in front of me.
"Shit!" I sharply turned to even narrower street, which obviously wasn't meant for cars. The back doors screeched. The car was being tossed by the uneven pavement.
Fortunately the policemen weren't stupid enough to follow me in this hellishly narrow street. We finally got out of the street and the back doors fell off. I finally knew where I wanted to go and turned right. The drivers must have cursed me a lot. I thoroughly avoided the cars, but it surely wasn't as easy as it is displayed in action movies.
The sirens got stronger again and I noticed three cars chasing me again.
"Shoot the tyres." I said, while dodging another car.
"Roger." Tina harshly broke the side window and leaned out. I grabbed her belt to assure her stability and dodged a truck. She started shooting but I had no idea whether she got her target. I noticed they started shooting back. Tina got back in and frowned. "This is not going to work." she mumbled and shot the windscreen. She quickly pushed it away and lied on the bonnet, shooting at the police cars from a better angle. I grabbed her calf and kept dodging the cars riding opposite me.
I turned sharply, dodging another truck. Rhoditina slided on the edge of the bonnet getting even better angle to shoot and me getting even harder time to dodge the cars.
"I got one!" she shouted and kept on shooting.
A bullet flew near my head, scrathing her tigh. She screamed in pain.
"Get back in!" I ordered her when a big truck rode few centimeters from her head.
"No way!" she retorted. I harshly pulled her calf, getting her in. She glared at me. "Idiot, I could have gotten them all!"
"You could have gotten yourself shot." Another bullet flew dangerously near my head. She widened her eyes. "Why aren't they shooting at our tyres? Are they trying to kill us?"
"They're paid to do so, I'm afraid."
I frowned. There were too few cars for some reason and there was only one explanation. They'd already blocked the road.
The cars slowly disappeared from the road, only the police cars chasing us grew on their numbers. They kept shooting and I must admit, it's much easier to dodge a truck than a bullet.
After a while of desperate riding I could see the roadblock. I noticed Tina's widened eyes at the sight. I gritted my teeth and tried to push the pedal even lower. The car sped up a bit, the roadblock getting closer. Tina at first looked at me with even more widened eyes but then smirked. Good.
She knew what to do. She loaded her guns and lied on the bonnet aiming in front of her. The policemen started shooting instantly. I tried dodging erratically but it was no use, so I kept going straight. One of the shots scratched my shoulder and another one almost got Tina's arm but she dodged and kept aiming without shooting yet. We were getting close in an incredible speed. The sirens were aproaching us from behind. There was no place ot time for hesitation.
"Now!" I shouted and Tina shot down two barricades with her perfect aim. The policemen backed up as I sped up, my leg already numb from the pressure I aplied on the pedal. We reached the barricade and everything around me slowed down.