Chapter 8 - The Up and Down

"GET DOWN!"

Heero darted forward, knocking Relena to the floor, covering her with his own body. The nanosecond later, they heard a loud bang of the gun and a whistle of the bullet flying just above their heads. The shot rebounded in ricochet from the floor and got stuck in the wall on the opposite side of the room. The cat made a loud, terrifying meow and bolted away in an unknown direction.

"Oh, God!" Relena gasped, "Heero!"

"Quiet," he ordered, grasping her by her arms and unceremoniously shoving her across the floor to the wall under the window, trying to stay as low as possible. When they reached there, he propped the girl to a sitting position, leaning on the wall, and faced her.

"Listen to me. We have to get out of this house." His voice was calm but confident, yet it didn't soothe the panic and fear in her blue eyes, as the second shot was fired in the direction of their hideout. They could hear the voices of several men on the streets.

Heero grasped Relena's shoulder and pressed her whole body even harder against the wall. "No matter what happens, you stay close to me and keep your head down. If I run, you run too, the fastest you can. Understood?"

Another bullet cut the air around them, hitting the floor inches from Heero's leg. The sound made Relena jump. She let out a terrified moan and shut her eyes, clinging to Heero's shoulder. The voices from the street were getting louder. They were approaching so fast.

The hunters. The legendarily brutal survivours, that claimed themselves as the new owners of this territory, and were ready to kill and rob anyone outside their group.

Heero understood that they were running out of time. They had to move.

"Relena, look at me!" Heero shook her and cupped her face with one hand. Still terrified, she finally opened her eyes and frowned at him, giving him her full attention. "I'll get us through it," he whispered, his eyes fixated on her. "Trust me. You have to trust me."

The look in her eyes finally changed, and she nodded. "I trust you."

"Good," he muttered, then let go of her and took his rifle in both hands. "Follow me."

Another series of shots passed over their heads. Heero moved on bent legs towards the corner of the room, to the right of the window frame through which the shots were coming from. He looked back at the girl, signalizing to her to follow him. Relena, uncertain at first, eventually followed him crouching, her head low. Then Heero pushed the sofa away from the wall and crawled through the space between the couch and the wall. Relena followed him. The furniture trembled slightly under the avalanche of bullets aimed at it but was resistant enough to protect them. The sofa was also large enough to partially block the view of the entrance to the hall, allowing them to get out of the room without losing cover.

When they were finally in the corridor, Heero made a quick look around. The doors to the house were still closed, but someone was evidently trying to get inside, scrambling loudly. Heero knew there were also windows in the office where he was sleeping. There was no way out from the other side of the house. They had only one option left for escape.

He got up to his feet and hoisted Relena up. "Go upstairs!" he ordered, then pushed her toward the stairs. Relena ran up the stairs holding onto both handrails. Meanwhile, a series of shots from the room stopped. Heero leaned against the wall and cautiously looked around the corner, noticing the first hunters getting inside the house through the broken window. He loaded his rifle, aimed, and fired two sure shots, taking off both the attackers. Behind him, he heard the sound of broken glass, indicating that the others were getting into the house by the window in the other room.

He ran up the stairs, following Relena. She stood at the end of the corridor, tugging her hands at the attic entrance's ladder protruding from the ceiling. "It's stuck!" she shouted at Heero.

"Leave it, there is no time," Heero growled, running up her, then hung the rifle on his shoulder and knelt, entwining the fingers of both hands right at his knee. "I'll boost you up. Hurry!"

Relena hesitated, then set her foot on his hands, swinging her arms forward. When Heero rose from his lap, lifting her up, he was surprised at how light she seemed. Relena grabbed the handles of the ladder then began to climb up to the attic. Meanwhile, Heero grabbed the ladder with his hands, then pulled his body far up, clenching his teeth when he realized that his recent shoulder injury hasn't yet healed. His view darkened due to a blow of pain.

"Heero!" he heard Relena's voice above him. "Take my hand!"

He looked up and saw her, but she was still too high. He could hear steps on the staircase already. He gritted his teeth and pulled up one more step, then threw his left hand to her. She gripped his hand, giving him enough anchor to drag up through the hole to the attic.

Having climbed through the hole, he rolled across the dust-covered floor, clutching at his shoulder. "Close the entrance!" he groaned, but Relena had already pulled out her pistol and shot twice at the metal handles holding the ladder. The ladder fell down with a loud bang. A moment later, an avalanche of shots fell in through the hole.

We can't stay here, he realized the obvious. With a grunt, Heero rolled over and slowly stood up, still holding his shoulder.

"What now?" Relena asked, looking expectantly at him. "What do you want me to do?"

The cannonade of missiles eased for a moment, and the command 'look for something to climb there' was given.

"We have to get to the roof," Heero said, heading for the window. He kicked the window glass with a strong kick. "We will go to neighboring buildings and try to go down."

After a while, they both climbed the roof covered with roofing felt and, overcoming the short distances between the buildings, reached the last house in a row. There they descended to the ground, hopping down first onto the terrace and then onto the roof of a wooden shed. Jumping off the wooden structure, Relena misjudged the distance and fell to her knees on the grass, making a soft grunt. Heero helped her up, then looked her in the eye. "You're doing well so far," he reassured her, "but you still have to run. It's not safe here. Hold on."

He saw that she was breathing heavily, but she gave him the exact same look he saw in the port of Philadelphia. Then she nodded.

They ran out of the yard through a hole in the fence and rushed down the street toward the crossroads, meandering between abandoned cars parked on the streets. There, suddenly and unexpectantly, bullets began to fly over their heads again. Relena covered her ears with her hands and bowed her head, screaming in terror.

"Don't stop running!" Heero ordered her, pulling out his rifle, and giving several shots around. The fire didn't decrease, bullets were flying now from both sides of the street. They needed to find a hideout immediately.

And then, suddenly, Heero noticed a high building with letters 'MALL' written at its front, just above the doors. Something in that building made him feel concerned.

"Heero!" he heard Relena's terrified scream.

They had no choice. If they continue to run like that, on the open field, they'll get shot. Fuck it!

"Here!" he turned sharply right toward the building's entrance and the demolished revolving door. He stopped, letting Relena get in and quickly jumped inside behind her. The rain of bullets stopped at the remains of the exhibition space and echoed loudly in the dim hall of the mall they had just run into.

"This way," Heero ordered, turning on his flashlight and pointing down the stairs. Without dropping their speed, they ran down to the lower level of the shopping center, then deep into the gallery, and then even lower. When they got there, and as they proceeded to the garage entrance, almost total darkness fell around. Heero eventually stopped, then looked around, lighting the view with his flashlight. Behind him, he heard Relena sit on the ground, catching her breath.

"Have we lost them?" she asked after a moment.

Heero was still exploring the surroundings. "I think so," he replied in a grave voice, just a little bit breathless. Although they were surrounded by emptiness and silence, he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Isn't it good?"

He turned to Relena, temporarily blinding her with the light of his flashlight. Relena covered her face with her hand. "It's not safe here. But our only chance is to go through the garage. Then we'll probably get out on the other side of the mall."

"Wait," Relena moaned. "Heero, wait a minute..."

"Relena, you have to get up," Heero said, offering her his hand. "We have to move."

The girl's tired face depicted great weariness and anger. She lowered her gaze for a moment, but then slowly rose to her feet, without his help. Heero watched her for a moment, then straightened up and reached into Relena's side pocket, pulling out her flashlight. He flashed it on and slipped it into her hand. "Do you remember where you keep the mask?" Relena nodded, then reached over her shoulder and showed him the mask, attached to her backpack. "In places like that, we can encounter spores. If we spot them, you have to put your mask on quickly. Immediately."

"I know," she muttered, avoiding his eyes. "You lead the way."

Heero nodded, then turned on his heel and walked toward one of the dark corridors. Some boards indicating access to elevators or toilets still hung sadly above the halls. Beneath their feet crashed the glass from the broken window panes, here and there scared rats were running in various directions. There was constant silence all around, interrupted only by the rhythmic sound of dripping water from the leaking roof and the façades above them.

Though there was no indication of any danger, Heero felt all his senses strengthen in the dark. Subconsciously, he sensed that such places just by their nature couldn't be safe. But they had no other choice - armed hunters waited on the surface behind them. Heero hoped that they didn't know about any other passage through the empty mall. Going through the garages to the other side was their only chance.

They walked in silence until he heard Relena's hushed voice behind him. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Partly," Heero replied according to the truth, without turning to face her. "I hope the corridor is passable."

"When the epidemic broke out," Relena suddenly said, "I remember I was in a mall like this one. We lived in Washington at that time. My father and I were finishing Christmas shopping." She paused for a moment. "But we never came home again. We barely got out of the mall when the first infected people were running in the streets. Panic broke out."

Heero listened to her silently, still concentrating on the sharp light of his flashlight illuminating the Egyptian darkness in front of them. He noticed that the environment changed. They were passing open doors to store magazines on the sides of the corridor. Empty cardboard boxes and a lot of rubbish were lying everywhere. Some of the entries were bolted, with military markings informing about the infected lurking behind the door. Plastic plates, which were lined with suspended ceiling, fell here and there, cables hung from the ceiling and water dripping.

"Our bodyguard saved us," Relena continued. Heero started to wonder why exactly was she telling him all this. He thought that maybe talking made her feel braver while she had to follow him through this hellish corridor. "He somehow led us through the crowd and put us in the car. He alone stayed, I think those creatures killed him. Still, we were unable to get home. To this day, I don't know what happened to my mother and my brother, Milliardo..."

Suddenly they both heard a shrill, strangled moan in the corridor. Heero stopped and unlocked his gun, directing the light of his flashlight straight into the darkness. Relena gasped quietly and walked closer to him, also taking out her weapon.

"…what was that?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Infected?"

Heero raised his hand up, silencing her without taking his eyes from the darkness and began to go further along the corridor.

"Heero, wait," he felt her hand gripping his jacket and stopping him. "Don't make us go there..."

"Shut up and walk," he muttered curtly, "there is no other way."

Relena fell silent, and Heero felt her hand let go of his jacket. Soon she moved so close to him that Heero could feel her arms rub against his back with every step. Meanwhile, the moan grew louder and louder until it began to resemble a human voice.

"Heee... heeelp..."

"Did you hear?" Relena breathed, her voice unbelieving. Heero didn't answer, still looking for anything at the refraction of his flashlight.

Finally, he noticed a movement and then the shape of the human face and body. A man laid on the ground, facing them, frowning at them with big, terrified eyes. He raised his hand slightly above the ground, waving at them. "Thank God... please help..." he moaned.

"Jesus-" Heero heard Relena's voice behind him, then the girl passed him by and knelt by the wounded man. "What happened to you?"

"I can't feel... my legs..." the man moaned. He apparently couldn't raise his head high enough to look at Heero, who was now standing just above him. The man tilted his head to the side and looked at Relena instead. "Please... don't leave me here..."

Heero circled the lying man with distrust, illuminating him with his flashlight. The man had a blood-bleeding hole at the spot of the lumbar spine. He certainly had a broken spinal cord. "Were you here alone?" Heero asked.

The man was spitting blood. "We entered the city... hunters attacked us... only I escaped..."

"Don't talk anymore," Relena whispered, reaching for her backpack. "We won't leave you here. You'll get out of it. Heero, I need you to help me-"

"Stand back, Relena."

The girl's head snapped up at those authoritative words, her gaze visibly surprised, but Heero didn't look at her anymore. He positioned himself centrally above the wounded man's head, aiming at him with his gun.

"I'm begging you... help-" the man whined before Heero pulled the trigger.

TBC

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