Chapter 20: Attacked and Captured
Aeris quietly clung to Zack's shirt as she kept her face buried in his chest.
Concerned, Zack kept his firm grip around her waist as he carried her to the top of the stairs and out the side door. He slowly slid the door shut as he leaned back to keep Aeris balanced in his arms.
He could faintly hear the people outside the Shinra Mansion, talking among themselves about Cid and themselves. Zack didn't know what to do, he for once in his life, feared going near people. He was afraid they might attack and he didn't want to attack them back because they would have died innocently for being confused about what had happened.
"Where are we going?" Aeris suddenly asked quietly as she lifted her face from his shirt and looked up at him. He looked down at her, trying to hide his fear, trying to look like he knew what he was doing but she seemed to notice it quickly.
"Zack…" She started but he hushed her as he shook his head silently at her, closing his eyes softly as he did so. She pressed her lips together again in silence as he started off towards the stairs quietly, with each of his footsteps creaking slightly against the old floorboards beneath his feet.
He suddenly stopped as he heard the soft clang of the bottom door that led into the main hallway hit the side of the wall. He started to back up against the wall and Aeris struggled for a minute to get herself down but Zack clutched to her tighter to get her to stay still.
He wasn't about to give up now and ruin both their chances of escaping he thought to himself as he took in a deep breathe and slowly peeked his head from around the corner at the top of the stairs looking to see who was there.
The door remained wide opened but no one was standing around it. Zack's heart began to quickly pick up the pace as his eyes darted around the room looking for any sign of anything but nothing was noticeable.
Carefully, Zack turned his body gently to the side quickly scanning the area first before he took each step down the silent stairwell. Aeris was watching also around him, making sure that there was nothing around to harm them, or even surprise them.
A quick flash of black caught Zack's eye as it vanished into the bottom room next to the staircase. The red carpet that was neatly placed beneath their feet was starting to feel much slipperier and he couldn't exactly hold to anything for balance and wasn't about to let Aeris down for a quick moment so he could.
Slowly, he took another step forward, planting his foot firmly into the soft red carpet as he started downward once more. They could hear the soft footsteps in the room next to them and were beginning to pick up the pace on their way down.
"See this?" They heard a voice suddenly speak up as the swish of someone turning echoed through the doorway.
"Yes sir, isn't it a Summon Materia?" Asked another voice quietly.
"Yes… yes, it is…. and what would it be doing here?" The other person asked as he started to walk a bit again.
"I do not know, sir but…" He started but was quickly silenced by a loud sounding gunshot.
Aeris's lips quivered uncontrollable as Zack stumbled down the last step and fell back into the wall from the gun's sudden shot. They both remained speechless and soon after Zack shook his head furiously to vanquish the echo that ran through his head and started running for the open door.
The other man seemed to have noticed that him and his once living partner were not the only ones in the building as they heard him quickly walk towards them.
Zack began to pick up the pace as he flew out the door and kept running towards the main town, not caring what the people did to them now. As they passed through the open gate on the fence around the Shinra Mansion, a large bloodstain caught their attention that rested on the pale coble stone ground.
He skidded to a stop as he took in a quick gulp of air and his eyes widened at the spot, noticing it outlined a large man. Aeris's grip on his sweater began to tighten as he started to back up and she tugged at it to bring him back into focus.
"HEY!" The man from the house screamed at them as Zack started off again.
Another gunshot was sounded through the quiet town and it quickly passed them, hitting a nearby wall.
"GET BACK HERE!" He screamed again as Zack's pace began to quicken and another shot was heard. Zack swerved his head to the left swiftly as the bullet skidded across his temple and then kept going into the pole that held up the city's main building.
Slowly, he began to loose his stamina but tried hard to press on. He couldn't quite seem to go on though as his footsteps began to slow. His arms began to grow weak and weary of Aeris's weight and sweat poured down his face but he held tightly to her still not wanting to let her go.
The other man's pace began to quicken though as he noticed his chance was getting larger, making his excitement give him a swift kick to his own energy.
Zack looked around for any sign to get anywhere but tripped over a large rock that he didn't notice was in front of him as he turned his gaze away.
Aeris lifted her arms to his neck in protection at the first hint that they were falling and smacked into the hard dirt beneath them, letting a soft groan escape her lips as her back hit.
Zack fell into Aeris's chest and he pushed himself up slowly trying to pull himself forward to her head in fear that the man might try to attack her.
The footsteps grew louder, and harder as he neared them and Zack painfully forced himself up towards her head and rested his forehead against hers looking tiredly down at her.
"I'm…sorry…" He whispered to her, his eyes weak and heavy from his attempted escape.
Aeris closed her own gently as she lifted her hand placed it in his on her side as she slightly shook her head at him.
"It's not… your fa-." She started but was interrupted by the other man.
"Bastard! What's your problem!? I should kill you right here for trying to run!" He yelled as he swiftly kicked Zack in the side, the same side that Dyne had hit before and he clutched his eyes tightly shut in pain as he was forced off Aeris.
"Well… a girl?" He said as he gazed down upon her, chuckling to himself quietly as he watched her try and get up.
"This might be worth doing after all…" He told himself as he reached down and wrapped his fingers around her neck, holding to it tightly. She reached up and placed her hands over his trying to make him release her from his grasp, but was to weak to do anything.
"DAMN YOU!" Zack suddenly screamed as he jumped to his feet and kicked the man in the ribs, causing him to let her go.
"BITCH!" The man cried out as he hit the ground and watched Zack glared down upon his body.
"And I just had this thing washed! When we get down to Shinra Head quarters you're surely going to pay for this!" He screamed as he reached for a remote on his side and sat up, swiftly whipping out his gun and pointing it to Aeris's head.
"Move… and she's dead… understood!?" He yelled as he pushed himself to his feet. Zack continued to glare angrily at him, but obeyed to save her.
The man slowly lifted the remote to his lips and took in a deep breath before pressing in the side button and speaking.
"Yeah! I got the ancient all right! And you all owe me a new suit! You should have sent Rufus!" He cried out as he let go of the button and dropped it back down to his side, clipping it to his pant's pocket.
"Now… we're going to wait until my people get here…" He started to explain and Aeris slowly began to push herself up and leaned back against Zack. She had never seen people like this in her life and she didn't know what she had done wrong. She watched intensely, locked in curiosity as she looked upon the man, scanning his every detail.
He had short dark black hair that flowed behind his head loosely and was combed neatly. His black shades covered his eyes that she felt gazing down upon her from behind them. He wore a deep navy blue suit that was lined with a light blue tone that glowed with the bright cloudless blue sky behind his body. A white shirt was visible at his neck from the folded back navy blue flaps from his jacket. A deep blood red tie rested in the center of his white jacket perfectly, but his whole outfit was lined with dirt now from Zack's second attempt to escape.
Half of his hair was shot up at the side, which the man tried to ease down into his nice touch again, but his hair seemed to refuse to listen. Zack continued to stare the man down and refused to even blink but it seemed useless for the man's face remained locked in deep solitude towards them.
"Sit…" He commanded to Zack as he snapped the gun's safety off swiftly.
Taking in a deep sigh, Zack obeyed as he kneeled down but didn't break his gaze from him as he wrapped his arms around Aeris's waist from behind her. She slowly raised her hands to his and crossed her arms as she gripped his own wondering why this man was doing this.
"What do you want?" Zack suddenly began holding to her tightly incase the man tried to shoot her that he could move her out of range.
"I want nothing… These are my orders, I just follow them…" He told them calmly, his voice seeming to have a nice cool to them as if he felt much better then everyone else because of his sudden gain of power with his weapon.
"I could have killed you at any moment… I just chose not to…" He started up again looking down at Zack, with a small smirk starting to spread across his face.
"I'm glad you killed Dyne…" He began and Zack lost his focus as Aeris jolted from slightly.
"Besides… I think that's why my boss wants you…" He said looking to Zack and Aeris began to become confused at what he was saying.
"Your boss? What are you talking about?" Zack started as a nearby helicopter started to approach. Despite the sound of the airship, the man refused to break his gaze away from the two, keeping his cool as he watched them.
"Hey Vincent! Come on! Bring them up here!" Another man commanded from the ship and Vincent slowly dropped his gun to the side and pointed it towards the helicopter.
"You heard him… get on…" He commanded and Zack lifted Aeris to her feet as he stood himself, slowly starting to walk towards the airship. As he lifted Aeris into it, he slowly reached back behind his head for his large sword that was placed behind it but was stopped by a sudden bullet that reflected off of it near his head.
"Don't even try to be the hero Zack…" Vincent whispered as Zack turned to see that he had his gun aimed for his temple now.
Angered and frustrated, Zack carefully pulled himself over the ship's edge and sat next to Aeris, laying his head against the side of the wall with his arm wrapped around her waist as she laid her head against his shoulder, to tired to keep it up straight.
Vincent was sitting across from them, crouched over as he eyed them both for any sudden movements.
"Get rid of the sword Zack…" He told him and Zack lifted his hand disgustedly behind him and pulled it out from behind him and then tossed it to the side.
Vincent's smirk began to grow as he lowered his gun to his knees, folding his arms down on them as well quietly as the helicopter began to pull off from the ground.
The sun's rays poured into the opened door but were quickly shut out by another man who was standing behind Vincent as he slid the door shut on the side. Aeris raised her arm to her eyes until the door was closed and Zack did the same, not wanting to bare any more pain from anything. They were both tired from all of the running, all the pain, and all the suffering… and now they were being dragged off to the Shinra Headquarters that rested in the center of the large city, Midgar for a reason yet to be known.
Aeris quietly clung to Zack's shirt as she kept her face buried in his chest.
Concerned, Zack kept his firm grip around her waist as he carried her to the top of the stairs and out the side door. He slowly slid the door shut as he leaned back to keep Aeris balanced in his arms.
He could faintly hear the people outside the Shinra Mansion, talking among themselves about Cid and themselves. Zack didn't know what to do, he for once in his life, feared going near people. He was afraid they might attack and he didn't want to attack them back because they would have died innocently for being confused about what had happened.
"Where are we going?" Aeris suddenly asked quietly as she lifted her face from his shirt and looked up at him. He looked down at her, trying to hide his fear, trying to look like he knew what he was doing but she seemed to notice it quickly.
"Zack…" She started but he hushed her as he shook his head silently at her, closing his eyes softly as he did so. She pressed her lips together again in silence as he started off towards the stairs quietly, with each of his footsteps creaking slightly against the old floorboards beneath his feet.
He suddenly stopped as he heard the soft clang of the bottom door that led into the main hallway hit the side of the wall. He started to back up against the wall and Aeris struggled for a minute to get herself down but Zack clutched to her tighter to get her to stay still.
He wasn't about to give up now and ruin both their chances of escaping he thought to himself as he took in a deep breathe and slowly peeked his head from around the corner at the top of the stairs looking to see who was there.
The door remained wide opened but no one was standing around it. Zack's heart began to quickly pick up the pace as his eyes darted around the room looking for any sign of anything but nothing was noticeable.
Carefully, Zack turned his body gently to the side quickly scanning the area first before he took each step down the silent stairwell. Aeris was watching also around him, making sure that there was nothing around to harm them, or even surprise them.
A quick flash of black caught Zack's eye as it vanished into the bottom room next to the staircase. The red carpet that was neatly placed beneath their feet was starting to feel much slipperier and he couldn't exactly hold to anything for balance and wasn't about to let Aeris down for a quick moment so he could.
Slowly, he took another step forward, planting his foot firmly into the soft red carpet as he started downward once more. They could hear the soft footsteps in the room next to them and were beginning to pick up the pace on their way down.
"See this?" They heard a voice suddenly speak up as the swish of someone turning echoed through the doorway.
"Yes sir, isn't it a Summon Materia?" Asked another voice quietly.
"Yes… yes, it is…. and what would it be doing here?" The other person asked as he started to walk a bit again.
"I do not know, sir but…" He started but was quickly silenced by a loud sounding gunshot.
Aeris's lips quivered uncontrollable as Zack stumbled down the last step and fell back into the wall from the gun's sudden shot. They both remained speechless and soon after Zack shook his head furiously to vanquish the echo that ran through his head and started running for the open door.
The other man seemed to have noticed that him and his once living partner were not the only ones in the building as they heard him quickly walk towards them.
Zack began to pick up the pace as he flew out the door and kept running towards the main town, not caring what the people did to them now. As they passed through the open gate on the fence around the Shinra Mansion, a large bloodstain caught their attention that rested on the pale coble stone ground.
He skidded to a stop as he took in a quick gulp of air and his eyes widened at the spot, noticing it outlined a large man. Aeris's grip on his sweater began to tighten as he started to back up and she tugged at it to bring him back into focus.
"HEY!" The man from the house screamed at them as Zack started off again.
Another gunshot was sounded through the quiet town and it quickly passed them, hitting a nearby wall.
"GET BACK HERE!" He screamed again as Zack's pace began to quicken and another shot was heard. Zack swerved his head to the left swiftly as the bullet skidded across his temple and then kept going into the pole that held up the city's main building.
Slowly, he began to loose his stamina but tried hard to press on. He couldn't quite seem to go on though as his footsteps began to slow. His arms began to grow weak and weary of Aeris's weight and sweat poured down his face but he held tightly to her still not wanting to let her go.
The other man's pace began to quicken though as he noticed his chance was getting larger, making his excitement give him a swift kick to his own energy.
Zack looked around for any sign to get anywhere but tripped over a large rock that he didn't notice was in front of him as he turned his gaze away.
Aeris lifted her arms to his neck in protection at the first hint that they were falling and smacked into the hard dirt beneath them, letting a soft groan escape her lips as her back hit.
Zack fell into Aeris's chest and he pushed himself up slowly trying to pull himself forward to her head in fear that the man might try to attack her.
The footsteps grew louder, and harder as he neared them and Zack painfully forced himself up towards her head and rested his forehead against hers looking tiredly down at her.
"I'm…sorry…" He whispered to her, his eyes weak and heavy from his attempted escape.
Aeris closed her own gently as she lifted her hand placed it in his on her side as she slightly shook her head at him.
"It's not… your fa-." She started but was interrupted by the other man.
"Bastard! What's your problem!? I should kill you right here for trying to run!" He yelled as he swiftly kicked Zack in the side, the same side that Dyne had hit before and he clutched his eyes tightly shut in pain as he was forced off Aeris.
"Well… a girl?" He said as he gazed down upon her, chuckling to himself quietly as he watched her try and get up.
"This might be worth doing after all…" He told himself as he reached down and wrapped his fingers around her neck, holding to it tightly. She reached up and placed her hands over his trying to make him release her from his grasp, but was to weak to do anything.
"DAMN YOU!" Zack suddenly screamed as he jumped to his feet and kicked the man in the ribs, causing him to let her go.
"BITCH!" The man cried out as he hit the ground and watched Zack glared down upon his body.
"And I just had this thing washed! When we get down to Shinra Head quarters you're surely going to pay for this!" He screamed as he reached for a remote on his side and sat up, swiftly whipping out his gun and pointing it to Aeris's head.
"Move… and she's dead… understood!?" He yelled as he pushed himself to his feet. Zack continued to glare angrily at him, but obeyed to save her.
The man slowly lifted the remote to his lips and took in a deep breath before pressing in the side button and speaking.
"Yeah! I got the ancient all right! And you all owe me a new suit! You should have sent Rufus!" He cried out as he let go of the button and dropped it back down to his side, clipping it to his pant's pocket.
"Now… we're going to wait until my people get here…" He started to explain and Aeris slowly began to push herself up and leaned back against Zack. She had never seen people like this in her life and she didn't know what she had done wrong. She watched intensely, locked in curiosity as she looked upon the man, scanning his every detail.
He had short dark black hair that flowed behind his head loosely and was combed neatly. His black shades covered his eyes that she felt gazing down upon her from behind them. He wore a deep navy blue suit that was lined with a light blue tone that glowed with the bright cloudless blue sky behind his body. A white shirt was visible at his neck from the folded back navy blue flaps from his jacket. A deep blood red tie rested in the center of his white jacket perfectly, but his whole outfit was lined with dirt now from Zack's second attempt to escape.
Half of his hair was shot up at the side, which the man tried to ease down into his nice touch again, but his hair seemed to refuse to listen. Zack continued to stare the man down and refused to even blink but it seemed useless for the man's face remained locked in deep solitude towards them.
"Sit…" He commanded to Zack as he snapped the gun's safety off swiftly.
Taking in a deep sigh, Zack obeyed as he kneeled down but didn't break his gaze from him as he wrapped his arms around Aeris's waist from behind her. She slowly raised her hands to his and crossed her arms as she gripped his own wondering why this man was doing this.
"What do you want?" Zack suddenly began holding to her tightly incase the man tried to shoot her that he could move her out of range.
"I want nothing… These are my orders, I just follow them…" He told them calmly, his voice seeming to have a nice cool to them as if he felt much better then everyone else because of his sudden gain of power with his weapon.
"I could have killed you at any moment… I just chose not to…" He started up again looking down at Zack, with a small smirk starting to spread across his face.
"I'm glad you killed Dyne…" He began and Zack lost his focus as Aeris jolted from slightly.
"Besides… I think that's why my boss wants you…" He said looking to Zack and Aeris began to become confused at what he was saying.
"Your boss? What are you talking about?" Zack started as a nearby helicopter started to approach. Despite the sound of the airship, the man refused to break his gaze away from the two, keeping his cool as he watched them.
"Hey Vincent! Come on! Bring them up here!" Another man commanded from the ship and Vincent slowly dropped his gun to the side and pointed it towards the helicopter.
"You heard him… get on…" He commanded and Zack lifted Aeris to her feet as he stood himself, slowly starting to walk towards the airship. As he lifted Aeris into it, he slowly reached back behind his head for his large sword that was placed behind it but was stopped by a sudden bullet that reflected off of it near his head.
"Don't even try to be the hero Zack…" Vincent whispered as Zack turned to see that he had his gun aimed for his temple now.
Angered and frustrated, Zack carefully pulled himself over the ship's edge and sat next to Aeris, laying his head against the side of the wall with his arm wrapped around her waist as she laid her head against his shoulder, to tired to keep it up straight.
Vincent was sitting across from them, crouched over as he eyed them both for any sudden movements.
"Get rid of the sword Zack…" He told him and Zack lifted his hand disgustedly behind him and pulled it out from behind him and then tossed it to the side.
Vincent's smirk began to grow as he lowered his gun to his knees, folding his arms down on them as well quietly as the helicopter began to pull off from the ground.
The sun's rays poured into the opened door but were quickly shut out by another man who was standing behind Vincent as he slid the door shut on the side. Aeris raised her arm to her eyes until the door was closed and Zack did the same, not wanting to bare any more pain from anything. They were both tired from all of the running, all the pain, and all the suffering… and now they were being dragged off to the Shinra Headquarters that rested in the center of the large city, Midgar for a reason yet to be known.