Chapter 2 - The Rescue

The hand from the sky caught him in a steely grip.

Heero braced with both legs against the wall of the cellar and bounced back up. He could hear the enraged howl of runners left just below him. With his other hand, he got hold of the edge and pulled himself uplift from the hole.

Once outside, he rolled away on the grass and reached for his gun. But his savior was faster and halted him with a revolver aimed at the center of his forefront.

"Think it through, buddy," the man with a long braid sent him a cocky smirk. Heero looked up through his gas mask, slowly withholding his hand from the gun. "You just made it alive from hell, it would be a shame get a bullet between the eyes from the very same guy who had sav-"

The man didn't get to finish the sentence as Heero bolted up straight, pushing the gun away. The revolver shot in the air around them when Heero knocked the other man down, grinding him against the ground.

"You son of-" the long-haired man cursed as Heero pinned his chest to the grass with his knee and reached for the gun.

What froze him still was a cold, hard, round object hammering at the back of his skull and a soft but authoritative voice.

"Let him go!"

Heero calculated the odds, and this time the result for him came negative. The gun was digging harder into the skin of his head.

"On your feet," spoke the same, female voice. Heero reluctantly got off the long-haired guy and slumped against his heels, raising up both hands in a surrender gesture. "Slowly," commanded the voice from behind. Heero froze for a second, then obediently, slowly straightened himself up. He could feel first raindrops on the back of his neck.

The braided guy reached for his gun as soon as he got liberated and quickly got up, aiming at Heero, this time preserving enough space between them. "Thanks, angel," he muttered to his companion that was still standing somewhere beyond Heero's eye range. "That was clever. Now, let's skip further courtesies. Take off this gas mask."

Heero didn't react, standing still with both hands wrapped up behind his head. His savior glanced knowingly through him, at his companion, and then back at Heero. "C' mon buddy, don't make me repeat myself," he said, sounding somehow merrily. "Don't be rude, we have a lady here."

Heero couldn't care less about that particular reason, but he wore the mask long enough to feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it was still soiled with the Clicker's blood. And though it meant obeying the cocky man's orders, that was what he wanted to do anyway. So he removed the mask, feeling fresh, moist air filling his lungs.

"What were you doin' there, pal?" asked the long-haired guy, tilting his head slightly in the tunnel's direction. "You don't seem like you had lost your way home."

"Not your fucking business."

The long-haired puffed at those words. "I know that times are hard. But haven't I already mentioned that we have a lady in our company? You should know how to behave and at least speak decently."

"Duo, stop this charade," the lady's voice finally got a personification as its owner walked from behind Heero and stood next to the long-haired guy. Heero shot a glance, realizing with anger that he overestimated the possible thread coming from this woman as his opponent. She was shorter than him and very skinny, her long, honey hair was combed in a low ponytail. She was still aiming at him, holding the gun with both hands, and her knuckles already turned white. Her track jacket started getting wet because of the rain. She returned Heero's glance, fixating at him her ocean-blue eyes. "Play open cards. If you were after the lost guns, so we were too."

She sounded much more imminent than she looked. In other circumstances, Heero'd probably consider it sexy. "No idea what you're talking about," Heero replied, poker-faced, both hands still wrapped behind his head.

The man apparently called 'Duo' adjusted the black baseball cap on his head. "You're a lucky bastard that you've bounced on us. Anybody else would have left you in that den for infected' prey and then got down there to retrieve the merch over your dead body."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"Because I offered it to you long before you had the chance to even spot me," Duo lowered his gun just a little, looking Heero straight in the eyes. The woman still held him at gunpoint. "Look, pal, I don't have to kill you. Frankly, I don't really wanna, because I see in your eyes that you're not like most smugglers I know. And we could help each other."

Duo made a pause. The storm thundered, and the bolt hit somewhere on the other side of the city. The rain was straightening. "How 'bout we make a deal?"

Heero furrowed his eyebrows, hiding his annoyance.

"Forget 'bout that stuff," Duo pointed at the hole. "Now that you've woken up all the shit luring down there, it's too dangerous for you to come back without proper support. But I see you know how to survive outside the zone," he scanned Heero from the top of his head to toes. "That's my offer. We'll pay you twice as much you were agreed on for this merch if you help us get to Houston."

Heero's face remained unchanged at this man's incredible nerve. "What makes you think I would consider this offer? You don't look like you stank a single penny."

"You truly are clever," Duo continued, wiping raindrops from his nose, "so I guess you already calculated your chances. You can't get to the merch through the tunnel filled with infected. Which makes your return to the zone even riskier." Duo sent him a sinister grin. "I've seen a warm welcome that awaits for a smuggler who failed a job."

Heero blinked as raindrops fell from his forehead on his eyelids, and it was his only visible reaction to the mention of the cruel practices in the smugglers' subculture. "Still, you don't look like you can afford me. Besides, Houston is far. Fucking far," he emphasized. "It would take weeks to get there."

"No risk, no fun, huh?" Duo insisted with too much seriousness in his voice. "Now you're underestimating us, buddy. Plus, I want to remind you that you owe me for saving my life. Let me introduce us properly. I'm Duo Maxwell. And this dangerously beautiful lady over here," he motioned at the woman, "is Relena Peacecraft."

A man made a pause, letting the weight of the name sink between them. The woman got visibly nervous at Duo's behavior and shot him an anxious glance, but Duo gave her a reassuring 'I got it' look in return. Heero held his neutral look as he frowned at Relena. So in front of him stood the heiress of the Peacecraft family, which shipped total pacifism and disbarment when all countries worldwide continued to financially support the production of biological weapons. That eventually drove to the creation of the mutant Cordyceps fungus and its - supposedly accidental - emerge from the laboratories to the public. And so the pandemic began. The whole Peacecraft family was supposed to be dead by now.

Unless those rumors were true.

"We have to get out of Philadelphia," Duo continued in a low voice, closing the distance between them and letting his gun fall to his side. "And reach Houston as soon as possible."

"I don't give the slightest damn 'bout that," Heero returned, his tone blank.

Duo was a bit catch off-guard as if he wanted to raise his gun at Heero once more, but then a smirk returned to his face. "Listen, bro, I was kind to ask-"

"Duo!" Relena interfered, turning abruptly behind. They all heard a loud rumble of engines. "Guards!"

"Fuck!" Duo cursed, turning away from Heero as if he never tried to kill him before and ran to get his backpack lying just next to the big, crooked "subway" sign. Relena stayed closer to him, gazing at Heero, her eyes full of anxiety. Noticing that, he quickly broke the eye contact, feeling unfamiliar chafe rising in his chest.

"So, what will it be?" Duo asked hurriedly.

Heero wiped the rain off his face and took his gas mask from the ground. "I don't have time for your businesses, but indeed, I have a favor to return. I'll show you a way to the other side of the Schuylkill River, then we'll part ways."

Duo grinned momentarily and looked reassuringly at Relena. "We'll make the most of that."

"This way," Heero commanded.

"Before we go..." he heard Relena's soft voice, "could you at least tell us your name?" He hesitated a moment to answer, but then he looked back at her.

"Heero Yuy."

TBC