The jerk of the change made her stumble, and Ro would have fallen if Zee had a lesser grip on her hand. "Ro, come on! Run!" he yelled, because they were running.
Behind them the familiar hum of the NSA vehicles were closer than they ever should be allowed to come, and the sound of lasers hitting buildings and targets that were thankfully not they yet.
Terror filled her, because of course, she was getting shot at, but what was worse, she didn't know why. Not the real reason for this time, how the agents had found them this time, how truly dangerous this was. Yes, all chases were dangerous, but there Ro had learned how judge the level because of her time with Zee. Was this one worse than usual? And it was all so unfamiliar, the city and streets. She could have never escaped alone.
Ro tried to run faster, tried to match Zee's pace, but of course she couldn't. Zee was a synthoid and could run faster than a horse, and this Zee – this clone – he could at least run as fast as a horse. Even if the man holding her hand and dragging her was trying to go slow enough for her to keep up, adrenaline wanted him to run faster and his brain told him to, and he was doing so even as he told himself to slow down.
And suddenly her leg was on fire and she screamed and fell, eyes crying and nerves flaring. Ro couldn't even turn and look at the damage of her leg, because she couldn't even move, the pain was so great. Dimly, she heard Zee yell her name, felt his hands on her, but the pain was making her insensible.
This couldn't be real, Ro sobbed to herself. It couldn't.
Through the fog, she felt herself leaving the ground and then the painful jarring motions as her protector ran with her in his arms. Ro could only sob into the heaving chest as she fell to darkness.