Hannah Shepard had spent the whole day looking around the shops of New Hope. Sometimes she wondered why they even had shopping centers on a space station. Probably just to give it a more familiar feel. She was walking down a high street when a news burst came over the stations public vid network.
"Police are still looking for the killer of five young men earlier today. Reports say they were all killed with hand-to-hand methods and that some of them had their clothes stolen after. This comes after an unusual electrical disturbance was reported in the area. A similar disturbance was detected in the warehouse district at the same time, before a break in at one of the warehouses. One officer described the suspect as a white male in his late 20s to early 30s, who showed signs of mental instability, he is considered armed and dangerous. In other news a weapons storage facility was broken into and..."
Hannah kept walking, when her omni-pad started beeping. Pulling the small mobile device out of her pocket she looked at it. It said someone had broken into her and Bales apartment. She froze. Someone had forced the door open and entered, she didnt have anymore information as it was just a standard burglar alarm, but she wanted to call Bale and the police anyway. Getting Bales number up she pressed the call button. Nothing happened, she couldnt get through. She tried the police, still nothing. Great, now her omni-pad had mysteriously stopped working so she couldnt call any friends for help. Where could she go to phone someone? It was saturday evening so most places would be closing. She set off walking, hoping to find a bar or a restaurant or something that would have a phone.
Hawkins was running through the apartment building, up the stairs, through the halls, down the corridors past the different homes, which were all labeled with a letter for the floor level and a number for the door. He kept running, past H3, H4, H5, how many apartments did this place have? He was looking for level N. He'd found the Shepards home address through a public network terminal. And if he'd found it, so had the Infiltrator. He just had to hope he could get there first, he'd heard the news broadcast about the dead youths and the robbed weapons storehouse. That meant the 500X had already found modern clothes and guns. And Shepards address. He sprinted down corridor N to Shepards home, Apartment 7. The door had been kicked in.
"No!" he said aloud. Rushing into the apartment, gun drawn, he searched the place for any sign of Hannah or the 500X. Nothing. The place had deffinately been searched though. But what for? He kept looking until he came across a picture frame that had been smashed and the photograph removed. He picked up the photo. A man and a woman on a beach, smiling at the camera. Fuck Hawkins thought. That was what it was looking for, now it had a positive ID of Hannah Shepard. But where is she? He thought to himself, where would he go if he was a pregnant woman? Where was there to go on New Hope station anyway? This was a primitive station compared to the ones he'd been on in his time. He didnt even know what type of facilities or entertainment there was. He put the gun away and exited the apartment, closing the broken doors as a woman walked towards him.
"Can I help you?" she said
"What?" Hawkins replied back.
"You looking for Bale? Im their neighbour" the woman asked
"Oh.. er.. actually, Miss, I'm looking for Hannah, you wouldnt know where she is, would you? Its... very urgent that I find her" he said.
"Matter of life and death, eh?" she said humorously.
"Something like that."
"She said earlier she was going to the public sector, nothing for her to do around here all day, you see. I'd call her for you but I cant get through to anyone on my omni-pad."
"Thanks, I'll find her myself." Hawkins knew that the 500X must have put some kind of virus or signal through the station preventing anyone from making or recieving calls on handheld devices. He could have easily disabled it. It was easy to disable in the future but in this time no one was equiped to fight Cerberus or its weapons, and Hawkins didnt have the tech on him to disable it anyway. He headed back down the corridors
"Well I hope everything goes well and you find her" the woman said. So do I, girl. So do I he thought as he walked. Once he was out of eyesight he started running again. Someone was going to notice sooner or later that their apartment door was barely hanging on to its hinges. He didnt intend to be chased by the police again.
Hannah was still walking. Nowhere was open and all the people she had asked had complained about similar occurrences on their omni-pads. No one could call anyone. She had decided to head for her friend Jill's and hope she was still in and not sleeping around at some guys place again. She still had to walk through the town though. And for the last ten minutes she was sure that someone had been following her. A man had been going the same route as her. She remembered the news report earlier about some "mentally unstable" man who was considered armed and dangerous. Normally she would challenge him and be ready to defend herself, but in her condition, she couldnt risk hurting baby Johnny. She picked up the pace a little, knowing that would do a fat load of good. She hoped someone would walk past so she wasnt alone. She kept walking until she came past a nightclub, the "Space Dust". She'd heard the bass a short distance away. Maybe their was a phone inside? There was a long queue waiting to go in. At least the mysterious follower couldnt do anything here. She tried talking directly to the bouncer. Some nightclubs had emergency panic buttons or hardlines to the police for when fights and riots erupted.
"Excuse me sir-"
"Im sorry Miss, I'm afraid I cant let you in, not in your condition." he said
"No, I just want to get in touch with the police but my omni-pad isnt working. I think im being followed. Please." she begged. The bouncer must have thought about what a dickhead he would be if he turned a pregnant woman away while she was being followed.
"Okay, go in. Tell them Danny said you could go through with no charge."
"Thank you!" she said as he let her in ahead of the people lining up.
"Hey!" one punky looking girl shouted, "why does that bitch get to cut through? She shouldnt even be allowed in like that!" Hannah carried on in as Danny the bouncer tried to hush the line. She came to a guy behind a front desk.
"Woah sorry girl, I cant let you in like that, this is a nightclub." he said, looking at her stomach
"I just need to use your phone to call someone, its an emergency. Danny said to let me through." she pleaded
"Danny?" he repeated.
"Yes, the man outside on the line" she continued. He looked like he was thinking about it for a moment.
"Go on then, go in. I guess it wont hurt to let you in" he said "Theres an emergency phone out on the main floor, if that doesnt work, try the main office. They both should work, theyre hardwired, not wireless."
"Okay, thank you" she went through. As soon as she opened the doors the bass hit her. BOOM BOOM BOOM to todays latest club hits. She made her way through the crowd until she found the phone on the wall. She punched in the emergency number, and waited for someone to answer.
"Hello, you are through to the New Hope Police department, what is the nature of your emergency?" said the VI on the other end.
"Hi my names Hannah Shepard" she shouted over all the bass and music "my apartments been broken into and I think im being followed."
"Thank you, your call and the severity of your emergency has been processed and you are being redirected to the appropriate handler. Please hold..."
"Fuck sake" Hannah said under her breath.
"Hello, Mrs Shepard? This is Sergeant Franks, you say your being followed?" A new voice asked.
"Yes!" she shouted, so happy that she was talking to someone finally. "I cant call anyone else on my omni-pad and my apartment got broken into and please dont put me on hold again and-!"
"Dont worry Hannah, we'll get you. Where are you?"
"Im in a club, Space Dust."
"Yeah I know it, my son goes there most weekends. Just wait there and stay in a crowded area, that way your safe. See you in a few minutes."
"I will, and thank you" she said before the call ended. She sat down at one of the tables and thought about what was happening. Why would someone follow a pregnant lady? Sick bastard she thought.
Hannah had been waiting for a few minutes now. She looked around at all the young people dancing and having fun. She figured she must be the oldest non-employee here. And she wasnt even that old! She remembered back when she used to go on nights out like this. She looked round towards the bar. And saw him. Looking right at her. Her heart almost skipped a beat. It was the man who had been following her, somehow theyd let him in. He started walking towards her. She started to move in the opposite direction, pushing through the crowds. She came across the girl from outside.
"Well look who it is, I think you owe me a drink, bitch." She said
"I dont have time for this get out of the fucking way!" Hannah shouted in a terrified voice as she punched the girl in the face, flooring her. She kept moving. Then she saw another man looking at her. This ones face was completely devoid of any emotion though. As soon as he saw her he shoved a young man to the floor and pulled out a pistol, aiming it squarely at her forehead. This was it, she thought. She thought of her baby.
And then someone shot the man in the head.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. The man didnt go down, but looked stunned. Everyone started screaming and tried to run all at once, which just created a wild frenzy. Hannahs military training kept her calm under fire as she looked for an exit. They were all blocked by escaping clubbers. Out of nowhere the man who had been following her ran into the stunned gunman with such force that he knocked him to the floor. The follower got back up straight away and ran to Hannah, who had jumped to the floor when the shooting started. He held out a hand, while his other held onto a gun.
"Quick! This way!" He shouted. Hannah was still shocked that the other man had survived four gunshots to the head.
"What was -?" she started.
"Come with me if you want to live!" He shouted again. She took his hand and they both ran to an emergency fire exit that no one had noticed. The follower kicked the door down, just as Hannah turned to see the gunman sitting up, this time a sub machine gun in his hand.
"Run!" the follower shouted. They both ran as a spray of bullets went through the walls behind them as they moved through an alley. They were still sprinting, her hand still in his, she couldnt keep it up though, not while she was carrying a child.
"Wait!" she slowed, panting, "I.. cant!" he took her hand again.
"Dont worry Hannah we're almost there, just a bit further. I'll carry you if I have to, your not dying!" they reached a public transport shuttle.
"Quick inside!" Follower shouted
"What is your destination, Sir?" said the on board VI.
"Anywhere just get us the fuck out of here!" Follower told it.
"No destinations match "the fuck out of here", Sir. Please request a valid destination." it replied.
"Whats the quickest way off this station?" Follower asked.
"That would be the New Hope Spaceport, would you like to go there, Sir?"
"Yeah take us there, quickly."
"Of course, Sir. ETA is five minutes." And they started moving.
"Right then." He turned to Hannah and grinned. "I guess I'd better start explaining?"
