Chapter 12: A game of Wolf and Hound
My eyes widened in fear.
"H-how many?" I asked, drawing my gun from its holster, wondering who could've been storming my apartment.
Holo's ears flicked slightly. "Five… possibly eight." She muttered, gliding over to press her back against a nearby wall.
I blinked at her, wondering what she was planning, feeling a little unnerved by the sight of the wild animatistic glow in her eyes. It reminded me when I first found her, back in that lab… the wolf was breaking free.
I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a high-pitched whine emanating from the door, and I instantly recognized the sound as a breaching charge.
"Oh Shi-" I hissed before the charge detonated with a small popping sound that demolished the biometric lock. The door was kicked in by a heavy plated boot, with enough force that it nearly de-bolted the door in the process.
Two fine red lines of light shone through the opening, aiming strain for my chest. I froze.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON AND KISS THE FLOOR!" A horribly processed voice screamed at me.
I felt sweat drip down my face, instinctively throwing the weapon off to the side, my hands shooting up in the air.
"D-Don't shoot, I'm unarmed!" I blurted out, terrified.
"KISS THE FLOOR!" The Voice screamed again as two men entered my apartment, sleek combat rifles in hand. They were dressed in black tactical combat suits, faceless metal visors covering their heads, the words 'S.W.A.T' stenciled on their armor.
It was the LAPD. I got down on my hands and knees as one of the men dressed in black sent a sharp kick to my ribs. I felt the metal of his boot collide with my side, but before I could react to the pain, he'd grasped the back of my head and slammed it into the floor. I fell flat against my chest, aching with pain.
"Kraft Lawrence, you are hereby under arrest for suspected terrorism, espionage and murder. Resist and we won't hesitate to put you down, criminal dog!" The officer spat, his inhuman sounding voice made my stomach crawl.
'They had tied me to what happened at Wheaten… How? I had covered my tracks, tied up loose ends. How'd they get to me so fast?!' I screamed in my head.
"I'm innocent!" I exclaimed, trying to lift my head off the floor. Only to have it violently shoved back down, my nose started to bleeding again.
"Silence! You're coming with u-" The other officer exclaimed, before his inhumanly processed voice was cut off by the sound of a mighty 'THWACK'. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the second officer fly into the wall, grunting with pain as he slammed against the hard surface. He promptly slid off the wall before falling limply upon my brown couch.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" The remaining officer screamed, trying to raise his weapon to aim at something that was beyond my vision. A dainty hand gripped the barrel of the man's rifle, tearing it from his grasp. Without a moments notice, the officer was kicked squarely in the chest, and an old cork thong broke in the process. He crashed through the glass doors of my apartment before clipping the railing of the balcony. He flipped over the edge, and I heard his processed voice scream as he fell. Eventually falling out of earshot and stopping dead somewhere down on the pavement.
My vision was a little blurry as a result from the recent police brutality. I felt a soft hand brush against my cheek and a voice spoke to me.
"Get up you moron, that wasn't the last of them." It was Holo, her voice was cracking with concern. I groaned as I got to my hands and knees.
"H-holo? T-they found me out… I… I don't know how…" I muttered, still a little dazed from it all.
"We'll worry about that later, just get up!" Holo grunted, hauling me to my feet.
I heard the pained grunts of the wounded officer, as he tried to raise a pistol in his unsteady hands, aiming for Holo.
"Damn… you…" He spluttered as Holo quickly darted over to him, leaving me to balance myself out.
The wolf spryly kicked the gun out of the man's hand. Before hoisting him up by the neck. The man-made a deranged gurgling sound as Holo held him a loft for a moment longer. Her eyes glinting with a slight hint of delight, before tossing the limp man like a ragdoll. The man tumbled through the entrance and hit the wall of the corridor beyond, before slumping down to the floor like a crumpled sack.
There were several processed shouts of surprise, before a somewhat calmer voice rung out. "Officer down! Smoke them out!"
There was soft clinking sound as two canisters bounced into the room, each deposing a thick layer of gas that began to flood the room. I cupped my bloody nose and mouth with my hand as my eyes began to water.
"Crap! Gas!" I coughed, my lungs felt like they were on fire.
Holo wasted no time, gliding over to the two canisters and nimbly picking them off the floor, completely unaffected by the foul substance. She hugged the wall beside the entrance, before tossing the two canisters down the hall.
"Stop playing games Lawrence! You're out manned and out gunned, give yourself over!" I heard one of the officer shout in anger, I figured they were somewhere down the hall, rapidly making their way towards us.
I directed my attention towards Holo, as I began to think of a way out for us.
"Holo, we're getting out of here!" I hissed quietly, knowing she could hear me.
Holo flicked her gaze towards me before giving me a sharp nod, still hugging the wall. She was setting up for another ambush.
I raced over to retrieve my fallen gun, looking around for what else I might need. By the piles of electronics I had in my room, there was a small locker box I kept in case of emergencies. I ran over to it and pistol in hand, aimed for the lock. 'BLAM!' With a single shot, I managed to shoot the lock out. Inside were several unmarked credit disks, which I promptly stuffed into my pockets, before I heard one of the officer's call out again.
"That's it! Send in the mechs!" He called out, before I heard the sound of rapid footsteps and swirling servo motors echoing down the hall.
'Mechs!? How prepared were these guys?!' I exclaimed in my head as Holo spryly leapt back from the door and over towards me.
"Lawrence! We need that information, I'll hold them off for as long as you need." Holo rapidly explained as something appeared in the door way. We both glanced up to see a man-sized skeletal like figure, a vertical blue sensor inbuilt into the machine's head. It held a solid combat pistol firmly in its dexterous grip, taking less than a second to line up it's targets… us….
Holo shoved me to the ground, before rolling out-of-the-way herself, just as the mech opened fired. Holo ducked behind one of the workbenches, as the mech blasted several shots into the room. I heard the ricochet of bullets and the shattering of monitors. I looked up in horror to see that several fifty inch, thirty-forty resolution monitors had been cracked wide open, I had to fight back the tears of despair. My grief quickly gave way to anger as I aimed for the mech, shooting several precise shots towards the mech's spindly limbs.
The bullets bounced harmlessly off the robot's metallic body and it quickly aimed for me. But that was all the time Holo needed. With lightning quick reflexes, the wolf darted out from cover, closing the gap between her and the mech with alarming quickness. The mech switched targets, identifying Holo as a much more threatening target, it's self-preservation subroutines coming into play. She wrapped her hands around the mech's weapon arm, cocking her head to narrowly avoid a final bullet, and heaved the mechanical construct over her head.
The robot was thrown in an arc, before crashing chest down against the floor, dropping its gun in the impact. I heard the strain of the mech's motor joints as it tried to pull it's arm free from Holo's grip. A small wild flash appeared in Holo's eyes as she stomped her foot down on the robot's shoulder. And with a sick twisted smile, Holo wrenched upwards, tearing the arm clean off in a shower of sparks. The mech twitched and spasmed from the abuse, before lying still against the floor, unmoving.
"Don't just stand there!" Holo snapped as another two mechs walked into the apartment, raising their weapons to take aim. On a split second decision Holo ditched the severed robotic arm at them, before launching into an attack.
I scrabbled to my feet, heading over to one of the surviving monitors and strapping the electrode back onto my arm. I felt the electrical charge run through me as I hastily hammered upon the keyboard, copying whatever decrypted data I had over to my arm. I kept my eyes glued to the monitor despite the sounds of gunfire and tearing metal ringing through my ears. I had to stay focused and trust that Holo could manage the two of them. Suddenly I felt something hard press against my neck. I gagged as a mechanical forearm clenched me in a one-armed necklock. I heard the servos groan as the damaged mech from before tightened it's grip. I dropped my pistol, my vision started to blur. I grabbed at the metal arm, heaving at it with all my might, but to no use. My windpipe was slowly being crushed by the one-armed machine, a few moments more and my neck would give way to the constricting metal.
Just then I heard a loud 'BLAM!' and a shower of sparks erupted from over my shoulder. I felt the mech's arm twitch, then go limp as the construct slumped to the side, lying on the floor nonfunctional.
I rubbed my throat, staring wide-eyed at the downed mech.
"Damn! Nice shot Ho-" I turned to see the two now destroyed mechs and the wolf ramrod stiff. Her eyes were slammed shut and looking away, as the smoking combat pistol trembled in her hands.
My elated expression quickly turned to one of bewilderment when I realized that she hadn't been aiming at all. Holo cracked an eye open, before staring down at the pistol with a look of surprise.
"Huh, it worked…" she muttered, before carelessly tossing the gun aside.
The processed voices emanated from down the hall once again.
"S-sergeant, the mechs are all down. O-orders?" One stammered.
"God dammit! Fine, we'll overwhelm them. Shoot to kill" Another growled, presumably the Sargent.
Holo darted over to me as the sound of multiple running footsteps echoed from the hall.
"I doubt I can take all of them at once. Have you got what we need?" She asked, her eyes growing wild once again.
I checked the monitors. "It's done, let's get out of here." I said, unstrapping the electrode from my arm.
I caught a flash of movement as one of the officers took up a position at my apartment's entrance, quickly leaning to the side to glance at the two of us. He was joined by another officer, who took up a position opposite to the first.
"GIVE IT UP LAWRENCE, YOU'RE TRAPPED!" I heard one of the officers growl from the entrance.
I gritted my teeth before grabbing Holo by the wrist and rushing out onto the balcony of my apartment. I looked over the edge of the railing, seeing the multiple angular black cars and flashing emergency lights that bounced off the nearby buildings. It seemed the whole street was colored red and blue, I looked around for anyway out of this. There was nothing, just a straight drop past the balconies below us and down onto the street below.
"Prepare to move in! Engage all hostiles!" I heard the sergeant bark through his voice processor.
Holo gazed back to the direction of the encroaching officers before down onto the street below us.
"Do you trust me?" Holo asked, her calm, almost soothing voice cutting through the tense atmosphere.
I glanced between Holo and the street.
"You can't be serious…." I muttered as a wild grin appeared on Holo's face.
"GO, GO, GO!" I heard the sergeant snap, quickly accompanied with the sound of rapid footsteps.
Without another word, Holo snaked an arm around my waist and sprung onto the railing. I felt the sudden lurch of being lifted off the ground, and before I could register it, we started to fall. I let out a shout of pure terror as I slammed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the pavement before it smashed through my skull.
Suddenly with a jolt we stopped dead. I felt Holo's grip around my waist slip and I began to fall once again. I opened my eyes to see the ground rushing towards me, the rush of air batting against my face. I felt something grip me tightly by the hand, halting my rapid advance to the ground. I looked up to see Holo, holding me by the wrist, her face slightly contorted from holding all my weight with one arm. As I dangled helplessly, I realized we had fallen a couple of stories down, Holo had managed to catch herself upon one of the many balcony railings of Sunrise Housing.
I caught a glimpse of relief in her vivid crimson eyes when she found out I was alright. My whole body trembled with adrenaline, as Holo held me in her steady grip. We hung vertically off the side of the building, a single slip away from death.
With a puff, Holo started to swing me, gradually gaining momentum as she tried to heave me up to the balcony. I swiftly holstered my gun as I comprehended the situation, weakly grasping the railing with both arms after Holo swung me upwards. Once she knew I had a stable grip, the wolf vaulted the railing without a second thought.
Suddenly I heard a horrid processed voice call out from above.
"Tango spotted! Below us!"
I looked up to see one of the officers, aiming his rifle to fire at me. I desperately tried to heave myself over the railing, scrabbling against the rough concrete with my feet, unable to find a footing. Out of the blue, Holo grabbed me by my jacket, before violently throwing me to safety. I landed against the concrete balcony, grazing my already bruised ribs against the floor. I huddled in on myself, cringing as I clutched my ribs.
"Stop lying about. We've hardly gotten away." Holo muttered as she flicked her hood over her head, covering her ears.
My face contorted with pain as I staggered to my feet with a grunt.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" I scolded her in a strained voice.
Holo shot me a look. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just saving your life." She sneered before gazing upwards, her hood rustling softly.
"They're moving again… and so should we…" Holo noted, before walking over to the glass door of the balcony and with a mighty heave, threw the door aside. The dark single room apartment before us was presently unoccupied, I figured the owner must've been out. I scanned the dingy apartment regardless as Holo made her way to the front door.
I focused on getting a hold of myself, starting to recover from the shock of nearly plummeting to my death, and the fact the LAPD had raided my apartment. It had all gone so wrong so fast. Holo pressed the side of her head against the front door, her eyes gleaming in the darkness as she listened intently to the hallway beyond. With a nod, she swung the door open and darted through. I followed, as I cautiously scanned the hall, beginning to form a plan in my head.
"We need to get to the basement…" I whispered to Holo, not wanting to attract attention to ourselves.
"Why? Shouldn't we flee this place?" Holo asked with a somewhat harsh tone.
"Yes, but we're not going to be able to walk out through the front door, the cops are crawling all over the street. We'll need to take the back way." I explained beginning to move down the hallway. Holo followed, as we reached the fire escape doors.
I creaked the door open, scanning the stairs for any officers. When I was sure it was safe I entered the stairwell, looking down at the snaking grey steps that twisted all the way to the bottom. I glanced down the thirty-something flight of stairs below us, the feeling of unease setting in.
'Oh, this is going to be so much fun.' I griped in my mind, when I felt something tug on my jacket.
I glanced around to see Holo, a worried look on her face as she gazed upwards, her hood rustling.
"What is it?" I asked in a hushed voice.
Holo was silent for a moment, before she flicked her gaze to me. "Three are coming down the stairs, another two in the escalator. Lawrence! They're trying to cut us off!" She exclaimed before a processed voice called out from above.
"I heard something! Down below us!" It called before multiple heavy sounding footsteps began echoing from above.
I furrowed my brow into a scowl as my hand shot out to grab Holo's, before braking into a run.
"Then we'll just have to beat them! Come on!" I exclaimed, while Holo was taken by surprise from the sudden action.
"STOP!" One of the officers screamed as we took the stairs three at a time.
I heard the sound of gunfire, as metal collided with the concrete behind us. The pursuing officers were unable to get a clear shot, due to the ever twisting stairwell. As the adrenaline pumped through me, I quickened my pace even more. Focused on reaching the ground as fast as possible, before they managed to pin us from both sides of the stairwell.
The pursuit continued until we reached the ground floor, still unscathed from the ever pursuing officers. We rounded a bend before seeing the lobby, red and blue lights flashing just outside. To the left of us was the basement's exit, I ran down the steps, ready to get out of the stairwell and descend to the basement level.
"LAWRENCE WAIT!" Holo cried before the lift doors flung open with a loud 'DING'. Two men dressed in a familiar combat suit appeared from the elevator, their rifle's now aiming for my head.
My eyes widened as I went to draw my gun, but I already knew it was far too late for that. The officers trigger fingers slipped down from their guards, ready to squeeze… ready to end me.
However I felt my leg buckle as Holo hard kicked me sharply in the hamstring. I collapsed under my weight, crashing sharply against the floor. The officers hesitated, realizing their target had collapsed and a monstrous girl was rushing right towards them, fangs bared. They quickly switched targets, ready to pump a clip full of lead into the wolf's stomach. Even if she thought that no human would be the death of her, an assault rifle would swiftly prove the smug wolf wrong.
In the chaos, I managed to draw my weapon. Not wasting anytime I lined up my target, aiming for one of the man's shins. I fired, the bullet hitting it's mark. The metal upon the man's suit protected him from the gunshot, the bullet striking and veering off harmlessly. The force however was enough to make the man stumble. The officer lost his steady aim, losing his mark on Holo and caused the other to flinch with surprise. The officers desperately tried to renew their attack in time, but it was far too late. The wolf was at their door.
Holo swatted the men's guns aside before smacking one of them across the metal visor, which caused him to stumble back and flop against the wall of the elevator, dropping his gun i the commotion. Without any hesitation, Holo grabbed the other man by the back of the helmet and with a mighty slam, forced his head into the nearest wall. The officer's helmet withstood the impact, but the officer spasmed violently before falling limp, his neck vertebrae shattering from the impact. The man slumped down the wall as Holo turned her attention to the other officer, who now was scrambling for his gun.
Holo stomped down hard upon the man's grabbing arm, pinning it to the floor. Holo fixed the officer with a savage glare, causing the officer to freeze up with fear. She placed her two hands on either-side of the man's head and gave him a somewhat sadistic grin.
"No! No Plea-" The officer was cut off in a flash of motion, as Holo tore the man's head from his shoulders with a meaty crunching sound, holding the severed head in her hands.
I flinched away, unable to watch the spray of blood that followed. I heard it splatted the elevator and Holo with a thick layer of red. I eventually looked to see Holo standing there amongst the corpses of her victims, panting heavily. I got to my feet after hearing the sounds of more footsteps, echoing from further up the stairwell, still feeling somewhat weak kneed after Holo's kick.
I hesitantly grabbed the wolf by the arm, hoping to hurry her along. She turned and growled at me. It was a threatening, animatistic growl, her eyes blazing with fury, they were almost like wildfire. Her hands and clothes were soaked with blood. I let go, quickly backing away from her and raised my pistol, images of the laboratory fizzed in my mind. Holo's shoulders heaved as she panted, her savage snarl falling as she began to blink. Her look of rage subsided into confusion as she stared down at her hands, her eyes growing wide with horrid realization.
"L-Lawrence? I… I nearly…" Holo muttered before shaking her head.
"I told you to wait, didn't I?!" She snapped angrily. I slowly lowered my pistol, realizing that Holo wasn't planning to murder me... yet.
"Sorry..." I muttered, deciding I'd keep quiet about Holo's gleeful slaughter… for now at least. I pressed a button on the elevator's panel, deciding the elevator would be quicker then walking the rest of the steps, the overpowering stench of blood causing me to gag a little. I didn't inspect the corpses of the officers, it was something I didn't need to see. With a sharp chime, the elevator doors opened, revealing the basement. Before us was a cramped underground car park, cluttered with all kinds of motor vehicles. I stumbled out into the confining space, relieved to be away from the stench. It must have been worse for Holo's keen senses.
'How could she stomach it?' I pondered momentarily, before Holo drew my attention.
"So where's this exit of yours?" Holo muttered grouchily, trying to wipe the blood off her hands with her ever reddening night-gown.
I ran over to a large object, covered with a blue-ish looking tarp. I gripped the edges and pulled, throwing the protective tarp to one side to reveal the object beneath. A black sleek-looking motorcycle, its metal plating and chrome components gleaming within the dim lighting available.
I hitched my leg over the bike, before placing a thumb on a small panel just a little left of the speedometer. With a flash the bike roared to life, I proceeded to test the clutch, revving the bike loudly before turning my head over to Holo.
"Get on!" I called over the roar of the bike, while Holo gazed down at the vehicle with distaste.
"W-what is that thing?! It doesn't look very safe." Holo whined noisily, trying to cover her ears from the bike's loud revs.
"Look there's no time just get-" I was cut off by the sound of a door bursting open. Several LAPD officers, far more than before, burst in from the stairwell.
"Suspects spotted! Seven meters, twelve o'clock." One of the officers barked and they started to close in on us, raising their weapons.
Holo spryly leapt upon the bike without another word of complaint.
"Hold on tight!" I hollered as I kicked off, releasing the clutch and throttled the accelerator. With a loud roar that ripped from the bike, we shot off into the underground car park.
Holo squeaked in surprise at the sudden movement, before she wound her arms tightly around my gut and squeezed herself against me. It was like a vice pressing against my stomach. I cringed, but managed to keep the bike steady. Zipping towards the exit of the car park, the officers opened fired, a storm of lead hurting towards us. Narrowly escaping their fire, we darted out onto the streets, passing a crowd of gawking bystanders and flummoxed officers. Narrowing my eyes from the sheer speed at which we were traveling, I focused on the road. I dropped a gear as I rounded a corner, before quickly revving the engine once again.
Once on a straight stretch of road, I picked up speed, feeling Holo's grip tightening further and her head burying into my back. The traffic rapidly grew denser, forcing me to slow down as I swerved the bike through the gridlocked traffic. The sound of sirens began to buzz around us and I slowed the bike to a stop, trying to determine their position. Just then Holo spoke up from behind me.
"Well what do we do now?" She asked, trying to crane her body to look at me.
I didn't turn around to look at her, focusing on the ever-growing traffic ahead of us.
"We need to get to the Skyway and get the hell away from here, I... I need sometime to think this through…" I muttered as something caught my eye.
It was a home electronics store, but what warranted my attention was the shop display in the window. There were several large television screens, each of them were broadcasting some fickle news channel. A woman dressed in formal attire was speaking, her voice cutting through the uniform hum of the various engines around us.
"This just in, Police have issued a manhunt for two individuals, suspected to be responsible for the attack on Wheaten Laboratories." The reporter said calmly, before two images appeared on the television screens.
They were images of Holo and myself.
I felt a chill of horror rack my body as the reporter continued.
"Kraft Lawrence and an unidentified female were sighted during and after the attack, Police urge that these criminals are highly dangerous and should not be approached. Any information on these two should be reported directly to your local authorities." The reporter stated, as the two images of us remained on the screens.
"Lawrence… we need to go." Holo said sternly, scanning behind us as people began looking in our direction.
Without another word, I revved the bike and sped off through the traffic once again, as I headed straight for the Skyway, an array of conflicting emotions inside me. The exit to the Skyway and out of the sector was no more than a street away. But just then Holo picked up on something.
"Stop!" Holo called, causing me to hit the break at the suddenness of her warning. The bike came to a screeching halt, nearly causing an accident with a passing car in the process.
"What? What is it?!" I snapped.
"Go down that alley." She ordered, pointing to a narrow passage just to the right of us.
I went to question her, but she spoke before I could utter a sound.
"Just do it!" She barked and I obeyed begrudgingly.
'If we get caught because of her…' I grumbled in my head, as I turned the bike down the alley and Holo nimbly disembarked from the vehicle.
"Holo! What are you doing!?" I exclaimed before the wolf in question turned around to silently shush me. She gestured to follow, before she lightly jogged down the alley, taking care to avoid making any noise.
I followed her path, pondering what the wolf was up to, I saw her near the alley's exit and hugged the left wall. She quickly peeked around the corner before ducking back, biting her lip with concern.
"Holo?" I asked, approaching her as she made a ridiculous gesture, indicating for me to look around the corner. We both leaned around, doing our best to keep to the shadows of the alley.
The exit to the Skyway wasn't too far from where we were standing, no more than fifty meters. However, the Skyway had been blockaded with multiple vehicles from the LAPD. Heavily armed S.W.A.T teams were stationed on point of the blockade, keeping displeased commuters at bay. An officer dressed in blue spoke into a microphone before it blared out over a loudspeaker.
"Civilian access to the Skyway has been denied until further notice, this is done for your protection. Thank you for your cooperation." The stern voice droned out across the gathering crowd, as people made sure not to get too close to the armed S.W.A.T teams.
"Shit!" I hissed under my breath. "They blocked it off!"
I scanned the blockade of vehicles looking for a weak spot or a way to get around the blockade, but was unable to find one.
"What do you mean you lost them?!" An angry voice shouted, coming from over by the blockade.
I searched for the source of the voice, to see a man with dark violet hair, slicked backed with gel and was dressed in a tanned long coat. He was by one of the police vehicles, speaking into some kind of communication device. He let out a sharp aggravated growl.
"I don't care about your excuses! Contact central, tell them we need a sweep team ASAP!" The man shouted into the device, as a lean looking figure with a pale complexion approached the man from behind. As the figure got closer, I managed to get a better look at… her. She was a young woman, no older than twenty-three. She had deep mahogany hair, done up in two shoulder length pigtails and wore an impressive grey skin-tight tactical suit. It looked far more advanced than anything I'd ever seen before.
The man turned to see the woman, and his complexion immediately paled as he fumbled with the device. The woman began speaking to him, but due to the distance between us I couldn't hear what was being said. As far as I could tell, the woman looked rather bored, as the man was wiping the sweat from his brow.
I heard the rustling of Holo's hood, as the wolf focused her crimson gaze upon the two conversing. "What are they saying?" I asked now gazing at the wolf.
"Shhhh!" She hissed, before refocusing on the man and woman.
The woman continued to talk and the man suddenly looked offended. He raised his voice, just enough for me to hear.
"With all due respect Agent Chloe, Lawrence is mine to apprehend! I'll be the one bringing this bastard to justice. You needn't concern yourself with this matter!" He growled with wild arm gestures, as the woman stared at him blankly.
'Agent…' I repeated in my head. 'No…She couldn't be…Could she?' I thought, concern marring my face.
The woman simply presented the man with a tablet of some kind. The man swiped it off from the woman known as Chloe and his angry expression fell, a look of shock replacing his once contorted features. He looked at Chloe disbelieving, as she said a few final words to him before turning on her heel and walking away. The man stared blankly ahead, the tablet dropping from his numb fingers. He steadied himself on a nearby police car, raising his hand to his mouth, evidently in a state of shock.
"What… what just happened?" I asked as Holo ducked back into the alley.
I followed.
"Hans Remerio… that man… he was coordinating those men to hunt us down." Holo explained frankly, heading towards the bike.
"Why did he look so shaken up?" I queried, beginning to piece things together.
Holo stopped and turned to face me. "I'm not sure entirely… but apparently he had just been Blacklisted… whatever that means." She mused, before heading back over to the bike.
I felt a pang of sympathy for the man, realizing what it meant. I couldn't help but turn and stare down the empty alley as Holo walked on ahead.
"Besides, it's not important. I've just found us a way out of Sector Nineteen." The wolf grinned smugly.
I rose a brow at her statement. "What? How?"
Holo closed her eyes as if to remember something. "According to that woman, there's a scarcely used route to get to the adjacent sector… someplace on Jackal Boulevard." Holo explained calmly as my gaze lit up in realization.
"You mean… she meant, that bypass?" I asked in surprise.
Holo cocked her head. "I suppose, I do not know of such a thing myself." She muttered flatly.
I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Well… a couple of people went missing in that bypass a few months back… some started saying that the place was cursed…" I explained, as I watched Holo's expression change to a look of exasperation.
"It's probably nothing though." I chuckled nervously before getting back onto the bike and zoomed out of the alleyway, heading for Jackal Boulevard.
The sound of sirens echoed from close by, we were hardly in the clear yet…