A/N: Sweet mercy, school is over! And the holidays are over (at least where I live) and so is the Mayan Apocalypse! To celebrate those of us who survived the end of the world, I present to you this latest chapter :)

Chapter Nine: Runaway

Fifteen minutes. 900 seconds. In Agni Kai training, they called it "the extract-and-exterminate window". Interrogation would end around the ten minute mark, leaving a respectable 300 seconds to finish off the now useless informant. It was effective time-management, a tactic that even the United Nations employed. Of course, Asami knew none of this.

The room was exactly the same as when they had entered it a few hours ago; the single sagging bed, the old furniture, and dim lights. But the two people who had first entered as companions were now no more. Asami was staring down at a face that was familiar but altogether horrifying. It was like some stranger was wearing Dai's face so that he had the same brown eyes, hair, and high cheekbones. She'd known that face for five years, and was torn between a desire to hurt him – to break the handsome face – and the desire to break down and cry, laying the pieces of her broken heart bare before him.

Ty Rhan gulped, his eyes pleading. His wrists were bound tightly behind his back but he still managed to sit up and kneel before Asami, his head bowed slightly.

"Please…." Said Ty Rhan. "Whatever she told you, it's a trick to get in your head."

"You just can't stop lying, can you?" Asami's knuckles grew white as she tightened her grip on the handle of the switchblade. Ty Rhan hardly failed to notice but did not comment.

"Asami, you know me, okay? You know I would never do this to you."

"All I know is that I've wasted five years of my life believing a lie," said Asami, her green eyes narrowing with hatred. "Now I know why you tried to keep me away from my father, why you needed to keep me away from everything." She moved closer to him, raising the serrated blade so that it was level with Ty Rhan's face. "I want answers."

Ty Rhan was quiet for a moment. He studied the blade and, to Asami's surprise, his expression softened as though in defeat or resignation. Was it a ruse?

"There're all yours," said Ty Rhan shortly. He nodded at his bag which was lying in the armchair behind Asami.

Heart racing like a spurred Ostrich Horse, Asami quickly moved over to the armchair. The bag was a plain old mud-brown satchel with a worn strap, one that had been around since the beginning of the five year journey. The clasp was secured with a small combination lock but she barely looked at it before slitting the side of the satchel open with her knife. In her haste, she dumped the contents carelessly onto the floor, sifting through stacks of letters tied with string, scraps of paper, and a small pouch of coins, passports, old ticket stubs, a fountain pen, a silver revolver she had never seen before. She was just about to go through the letters, most of which had no return addresses, when she heard a noise behind her.

Before Asami could fully turn around, she felt something hard collide with the side of her head. Blinded by pain, she fell to her side, the switchblade spinning across the floor and out of reach. She barely had a moment to gather herself before Ty Rhan, his hands still tied but holding a cracked lamp, attacked her again. Asami rolled over just in time, the lamp base breaking against the floor.

Asami lunged for the knife which was lying behind the armchair. Her fingers were inches from it when a hand shot out of nowhere and roughly grabbed her by the shoulder, launching her backwards. She knocked the armchair over, sending the bag and its contents sliding across the floor. Asami tried to get up, to fight, but a weight was pressing down on her midriff and cold fingers wrapped around her throat.

"You really are pathetic, aren't you?" growled Ty Rhan as he applied more pressure to Asami's windpipe. He ignored her gasps and whimpers, her fingers which clawed desperately at his hands. "After everything we've been through, you were so naively trusting of Ona. You think she's gonna let you go?" He removed one hand just long enough to backhand Asami straight across the face. "You're just like your mother, so high and mighty, acting like everyone else is scum –"

Asami didn't know what came over her or if it was just a reflex. Even as her oxygen deprived brain raised a white flag, her left hand acted of its own accord; it grabbed the nearest object from the floor as though it knew where it was, and plunged it straight into Ty Rhan's face.

Perhaps twenty seconds passed while Asami lay on her side, coughing and gasping, sucking in air which seemed to burn her windpipe. Then she realized that someone was screaming, a shrieking wail of agony that wasn't coming from her own split lips.

Not far from where she sat, Ty Rhan was clearly in pain, his hands shaking uncontrollably in front of his face. A fountain pen was protruding from his right eye socket, his face and sweater already drenched in blood and gore.

"AAAUUUURGGGHHH!" He shrieked, rocking and back forth; saliva dribbling down his chin and mixing with the trail of blood. To Asami's horror, Ty Rhan's shrieks turned into gurgling hysterics, his crazed laughter more frightening than his curses.

Without pausing to think, Asami scrambled for the silver revolver which had skidded into a corner next to the ancient cupboard just as the door flew open. Ona was ready, prepared to strike or subdue as needed – but she couldn't have anticipated the sight that awaited her.

Ty Rhan's continued wails and shrieks were drowned out momentarily by the crack of a gunshot followed by a deafening explosion. Smoke and flames quickly engulfed the room and then spread throughout the entire floor. In a few short seconds, the only human noises were of Ty Rhan's pathetic screams before it was silenced as well.

Outside, the villagers were crowded around the inn, gawking and shouting in a panic as the fire raged, blowing out windows and stretching up to the night sky as though determined to reach the stars. Throughout the commotion, not a single villager noticed the lone figure fleeing from the horrific scene, never to return again.

Republic City

Housing around a hundred Survivors in one building – even a sizeable hotel – was a tough job. Especially when they were all crammed into the grand hall on the 17th floor, some perched on dusty chairs, some standing, most sitting in groups, arguing noisily, some crying hysterically and clinging to their friends. A few harried Surrogates were nearby trying to calm the younger ones down.

"All right, everyone, settle down!" The double doors opened and Loc strode in, his dark hair disheveled and a pained expression on his face. He bounded up onto the stage at the front of the room, pushing a couple of kids out of his way. "Hey! I said shut up and calm the hell down!"

A hushed silence fell over the room. A couple of kids hiccupped and sniffled as they tried to suppress their tears. The older kids looked up at Loc with apprehension and hope. The other Surrogates who were exhausted also looked relieved.

"Okay, we don't have a lot of time here so I'll cut to the chase and sum up for you: The Hunters are coming. Tonight, apparently."

Several of the Survivors looked ready to pass out or vomit.

Loc continued, "Here's what we're going to do. We are evacuating headquarters before the end of this day. Effective immediately."

A rush of voices and complaints filled the air.

"But what if they catch us?"

"I don't want to leave!"

"Can I take my bed with me?"

A loud banging noise echoed through the hall as Loc smacked the podium with his open palm. When relative silence had been restored, Loc let out a low sigh.

"C'mon guys, work with me here! It's a good thing this room is padded – otherwise, it's a miracle they haven't found us already. So let's stop with the chit-chatting and move."

A deep voice belonging to one of the older Surrogates spoke out, "How do we know they're really coming?" A murmur of agreement passed between some of the others. "How do we know this isn't a trap to draw us out?"

"I'm glad you asked, Chatoo," said Loc. "It's good to get the stupid questions out of the way so we don't embarrass ourselves later on." Before Chatoo could retort, Loc continued, "As most of you with a brain might have noticed, this is a safe house for freaks –"

"Loc!" hissed one of the other Surrogates disapprovingly.

"Sorry, Ae Jeong," apologized Loc with mock-shame. "I believe the PC term nowadays is "Special Bender". And some of you are just relatives of those Specs but anyway, the important thing is, there's one special person – and I'm not telling who it is – that has the ability to… uh, know these sort of things. So take my word for it, the Hunters are coming."

A hand shot up at the back of the group. Loc pointed at the boy. "Yeah, what is it?"

"I can't find my brother," said the boy, his voice barely carrying over the din as everyone started talking frantically again.

"Hold on – hey, shut up all of you!" Loc slapped the podium a couple more times. "Okay, what was that, kid?"

"I said I can't find my brother!" yelled the boy, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Loc sighed. "Wow, we've got a runaway already. Kid, what's your brother's name?"

The room suddenly went quiet at the moment, making the answer sound twice as loud, echoing around the room like an alarm bell.

"MAKO!"

Bolin was momentarily dumbfounded by the sudden silence as every single person turned to stare at him as though he had just bellowed a stream of offensive profanity. One by one, the chatter broke out again, this time in backhand whispers and nervous glances.

"Mako… that guy?"

"Yeah… he's not even a Spec."

The crowd suddenly parted as Loc came through. He grabbed Bolin sternly by the shoulder and led him out of the hall, calling instructions to the other Surrogates. Once the double doors had swung shut behind them, Loc turned to Bolin, fixing him with a grave expression.

"When's the last time you saw your brother?"

"Umm…" For a split-second, Bolin considered lying. After all, he knew full well that he had been breaking the rules when he had gone to visit his brother on the roof after hours. But this was urgent. If they didn't find him first, the Hunters certainly would. "Last night. On the roof."

Loc was quiet for a moment. His expression was unreadable. Then he asked, "And after that? Did you see him at all later?"

Bolin shook his head. "No. I went looking for him this morning after… after I took Kria to see you. But I couldn't find him anywhere."

Loc nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. He patted Bolin on the back and told him to go back inside with the others.

A few seconds later, Ae Jeong came out, leaning against the door to close it shut. She looked harried, sleep-deprived and extremely worried.

"What's going on?" asked Ae Jeong, noticing the look on Loc's face. "Do you know where Mako might have gone?"

Loc shook his head. "This could be… dangerous."

"You think he just ran off?" Ae Jeong looked worried.

"No, it's not that… Ae Jeong, don't you think –" Loc stopped mid-sentence, biting his lower lip.

"Don't I think what, Loc?"

Loc turned to her, more serious than she had ever seen him in her entire life. "If they catch Mako..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Then it's no wonder they find us tonight."

To be continued...

A/N: Hope you had a wonderful holiday! Happy New Year, everybody!