Oh, dear. This story is getting pretty damn far-flung. I hope I don't turn Myr into a slut… well, I turned Daine and Kel into sluts, and gave Alanna different boyfriends, so whatever. One of the scenes in this chapter really reminds me of Return of the Jedi- well, you'll see. I'm raving, aren't I? On we go then.
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Chapter 9: The Action Part
Faeya wanted to go home. Funny, she never thought she'd miss it, but she did. It was Myr who never wanted to go back, that was the obvious thing. But maybe Fae wouldn't have so long to wait- The Stormskin were planning escape. Fae knew this was the past, Carson had explained it to her- but she still couldn't quite believe the whole thing. She was still convinced that she would walk home to see Mom and Dad…
~*~
Carson shortwired the sliding doors and motioned for his group to follow him. They were all going in separate shifts, in case they were caught. Some members stayed behind, to let any new kids know that life didn't have to be the way it was… that they could escape. Another kid had had the computer scrambled with a cheap virus- an altered cheap virus.
Carson's group, the eighth (and last), consisted of five people. The plan was to get out of the building as soon as possible, and get out of town by the river. Originally, it had been aboveground, but when they built the city they diverted it somehow. They'd go in through the resevoir, and, hopefully, emerge outside of the city.
Of course, the reservoir wasn't exactly close. They'd have to dodge civilians and cops, but before any of that, they had to take care of another problem. When a kid went into Juvenile Hall, they put a special chip in his/her ear that alerted if it got too far from the building. Anyone with telekinesis was assigned the job of removing these nearly microscopic chips. Carson got his groups' out without hassle, and he could only hope the other groups were successful.
They ran through town, skirting nightclubs, bars and the like, and heading for the reservoir at the other end of town. When they finally got there, the sound of rushing water alerted them that they were close. Single file, they went down the metal ladder in the manhole to wait below. Once everyone was down, they stood on the edge of the water on a little ledge used for maintenance. The entire tunnel was maybe four metres wide, the ledge about 3/4ths of a meter across. The way out was east, so they continued in the north-east tunnel and got quite far without mishap. Other than a few cameras killed by well-aimed rocks, their trek was fairly uneventful- it was going through town that was the problem.
The tunnel started to slant uphill, and you could tell the river was pushed by something other than gravity. Faeya thought maybe it was some kind of suction thing. When a cool breeze wafted against her skin, she knew they were about the leave the tunnel. Soon a starry patch of night sky could be seen overhead, and they were out in a field full of waving grasses.
"We're out," someone murmur. Fae suppressed the urge to say 'well, duh.' She inhaled in the fresh scent of spring- only to have her ears nearly blasted off by an alarm.
"Shit!" Carson cursed, and ran for the trees. Bullets hit the dust beside them, getting more and more accurate.
"Run, you idiots!" Carson yelled. "They think we're Warties!" Men in dark suits and night-vision glasses mounted hov-scooters and revved them up.
Fae was clutched by overwhelming fear- she was going to die, oh gods she was going to die- until another girl grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. Moments later that same girl was sprawled in the dust, blood pooling around her chest. Faeya stopped dead still for a moment- and then ran as fast as she could, passing the others, driven by fear.
Carson could hear the whine of the hov-scooters on their trail- model fives, it looked like. Not amazing, but even a model one could overtake a human on foot and think nothing of it. He clutched his side as a stitch formed, and tried to dredge up some energy from his last reserves. He chanced a look behind him and saw one a bit smaller than the rest- and faster. The woman riding on it fired, and it grazed past Carson's shoulder, wetting his sleeve with blood.
I'm never going to outrun them, he thought desperately. I can at least take one down with me… He stopped suddenly, and the moped shot past him. Carson grabbed wildly for the back and was swept off his feet, legs dangling. He managed to get his feet up and sat on the back of the hov-moped, getting his balance. The woman finally noticed him and turned around to fire-
He hit the gun with a shockwave of telekinesis, knocking it out of the woman's hand and into his own. He raised his hand, aimed at her head- and fired.
~*~
Faeya had already reached the shelter of the trees and was frantically searching for a hiding spot. She could hear the scooters behind her- she could almost see them. But she couldn't see any good spots- no fallen logs, no overhanging rocks. She debated dashing off again, and was almost decided when a man grabbed her arm. Fae stifled a yelp an whipped around to see a man clad in full armor, sword halfway out of its sheath.
"Shh," he hissed. "We're attacking the city, get out of the way!"
"We- we were escaping," Faeya gasped.
"Go." He interrupted. "We'll cover your back."
"The others-"
"Them too. Now!" Fae continued running into the trees, her surroundings a blur. She wondered if everyone else was even alive…
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I'll end it on the cheerful note. *right*. Oh, please review. PLEASE. I'm beggin' ya! The sci-finess is wearing out, maybe one more chapter and it'll go back to fantasy. Mostly because- well, I can't tell you. *tee he*.
