However, this wasn't their intention. One of the two men placed his weapon onto the floor and began to check Jack's pulse. Before he could do so he felt a sudden burning sensation in his eyes. He cried out and began rubbing at his eyes, as did the second man. Tony picked up the riffle that had been discarded on the ground and smashed it against the first mans head, then the second, knocking them both out cold onto the floor.
Tony herd Chloé gasp when he did so, but he ignored her. He would have killed them, but he didn't want to reveal their location to any other men in the compound. He quickly took the second mans gun and handed it to Chloé who stared at it dumbfounded. He grabbed the tape Jack had earlier pointed out and began to tie the men up together, back to back. Once this was complete he gagged and blindfolded both men. He checked their restraints were tight enough, then looked to Chloé, who was still looking at the gun worriedly.
"Its a gun. If anyone comes at you, pull the trigger." Was all he said as he pulled the black leather strap over his head and under his arm, securing it around himself.
He helped her pull it over herself, then they both looked at each other, nervously. They had no idea where to go or how to get out, and they had to leave Jack. Breaking up the uneasy silence that had formed between them he said, "Come on, we need to go."
They headed towards the door, but before he left Tony turned back to look at the sleeping Jack. He silently promised himself he would come back for Jack, they would all make it. Even if he had to send a team through C.T.U. Jack would return.
With that he hurried out of the door and slowly pulled it closed behind him. The corridor was long and dark, with no doors or windows leading off to anywhere else. The walls were made of concrete, and they had no choice but to follow the passage. After following it for five minutes, they came to the end and they could either go left or right. Straining to hear anything, Tony thought he could hear noise from the right direction, so he chose to go left.
Running down this corridor they could see a metal staircase, and underneath it a little sheath to hide. Tony was relieved to see this, as he saw shadows of people coming down the stairs towards them. He silently motioned to Chloé to hide with him under the stairs, and they did so, quietly.
Minutes later three men dressed in combat wear and passed them, too deep in conversation to even notice them hidden. Once they had passed and the cost was clear, Chloé moaned, "Tony my arm hurts." She was also out of breath from the short distance they had ran.
"Look, were almost out of here. The first window we see, well break through. Well call C.T.U. and get you to a hospital, okay?" He said reassuringly. She nodded her head, telling herself how brave she was being.
The two came out of hiding and began to walk up the metal staircase, which resembled a fire escape, cautiously. Tony was in front the entire time, as Chloé was lagging behind. The finally reached the top and Tony realised he had been holding his breath. He saw another dull concrete corridor and leading from it, a door into a room. This immediately gave Tony hope. He held his ear against the cold hard door, listening. He knew it was pretty useless, it was probably too thick to hear through.
Weighing up the odds he decided to risk opening the door, there may be a phone. Inside the room, a man was waiting for his team to meet him, he was a little early. The door began to open and he got up from the upturned black crate he was using as a seat to greet them. As he saw the two figures enter, he raised his gun to fire, knowing instantly they were hostiles. The man didn't have time to take the safety off before Tony's bullet's cut through him, sending him to the floor in a bloody mess.
Tony searched them man and was disappointed to see there was no phone or radio, still he took the ammunition. He saw their was a window and smiled, running over to it. Almost immediately his hope was destroyed, when he saw he was on at least the third floor of the building, too high to jump from. Silently and quickly Tony wondered how they had reached this height, when earlier they had been underground. The staircase had been deceiving, he realised.
He studied the view from the window, and noticed this was the last window on the building, and next to it was a similar looking building, with a rusty escape ladder leading to the floor. He quickly calculated the distance in his mind and realised that if they jumped far enough, they could land on the steps. They could be free.
He shouted for Chloé to come over and pointed at the steps. He fumbled about with the jerky lock on the window, and had it open full in no time.
"We can jump. From here to there. We can make it!" He said, excited.
"What if we don't make it?" She asked, negatively, as usual, her glass was half empty.
"Then we fall to our death, so we had better make it. Who's going first?" He asked her, impatiently waiting for her to answer. She didn't like the idea of going first and not making it, but also didn't like the though of being here alone and the men finding her. Tony interrupted her line of thought,
"Fine I'll go. Just do exactly as I do... okay?" He nodded, building her confidence.
Tony took a deep breath and pulled himself up onto the window-ledge. He did not look down. He was crouched on the edge now, looking at his target. He felt himself tense up, and taking another breath he pushed himself up. He felt himself falling through the air as he jumped. He had closed his eyes, scared to see the view of himself falling if he missed. What seemed like hours, but was really seconds later Tony felt his body collide with the fire escape. He opened his eyes and quickly grabbed a step and held it tightly to prevent himself from rolling down them. He stood up and quickly brushed the muck from his maroon T-shirt, which was already filthy.
Chloé had watched in fear as Tony jumped. She felt her entire body slump with relief as he landed, she was convinced he would fall. She grabbed the ledge of the window with her good arm and pulled her body up. She looked down, which was a mistake as she felt her stomach drop. Tony watched her, the fear evident in her face.
"Come on Chloé, its easy, there's no way you can miss it!" He yelled over the wind.
"What if I slip!" She yelled, worried.
Tony climbed down a few steps, and yelled back, "I'll stop you, come on!"
Chloé closed her eyes, nodding. She could do this, she had to do this. Taking a deep breath she jumped.
It was a powerful jump that should have carried her to safety. As her body flew through the air a huge gust of wind blew, throwing her away from the fire escape. Tony watched as though it was in slow motion, he couldn't believe what was happening. The wind had knocked her off course, and now she wasn't going to make it. He ran over to the ledge and threw his arms out, somehow managing to catch her injured arm and preventing her from falling to her death.
He pulled her up, she didn't say a word, her eyes were tightly squeezed shut and tears were streaming down her face. Finally she realised she was safe, she looked to Tony, enraged.
"I told you it was not safe! I almost died, and you were pulling on my injured arm!!!" She screamed at him. "Have you got it in for me or something!"
Tony watched in amusement as she ranted at him, he knew it was from the fear, after all, she had been extremely close to death. Taking a breath Tony said,
"You finished shouting at me for saving your life!?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Yeah I'm done." Was all she said, still having a hard time comprehending just what had happened.
"Good, then we should get going."
They both climbed down the fire escape and began walking back in the direction of C.T.U.