Number Two brooded beside him as the car carried them through streets eerily empty in the mid morning sun. Other then electrics tractors trundling between damaged cameras they encountered no one. His restless fingers drummed the back of the driver's seat. Casey would be facing a dragnet. Armed men beating the brush until she bolted. There would be more men barring escape to the mountains. She would not surrender peaceably. Number Two would most certainly get what he was after. For his part it seemed he could do little but observe this hellish nightmare. He felt the unseen bars of his cage most acutely.
He watched the trees flash by. The denseness of the woods made hiding easy and searching difficult. The hunters were relying on the girl panicking and breaking cover. If Casey kept her head she might be missed. She may even have a chance to make a break and get clear, provided they had something more interesting to chase. He would have to oblige.
As the car turned down the loop road to the hospital he lunged forward and got an arm round the driver's neck. The car swerved madly as they struggled. Number Two was wide eyed clutching his seat with both hands. The car swung towards the trees. With his free hand six wrestled the wheel past the thrashing body, fighting the car back on the road. The driver clawed frantically at his arm as he bore down, crushing the man's throat, cutting off the his air. The hands went limp, falling away and the body became a heavy weight. Six flung him aside and yanked the parking brake The car lurched stop and he leaped out and into the trees. Behind him he heard Two shout after him in near panic. He was too great a prize to be ignored. He had until Number Two passed the word then all resources would be focused on him. Once the alarm went out he only need evade them long enough to give Casey an opening. He started moving towards the hospital.
The huge trees pressed in close, their heavy foliage blotting out the sun, casting the world in deep, cool shadow. All round him men moved through the thick growth as yet unaware they had fresh quary. Not so far off, Rover complained. He melted against a tree trunk. It would be sicked on him soon. He should like to delay the encounter as long as possible.
Sound pricked his ear. Someone was approaching. Making a good deal of noise. Stealth was not the aim. He ducked into a thicket of ferns, crouching low. The man passed close by. Six listened until the sounds of his foot steps grew distant and quiet closed in again. The search party was moving on. Closing the net round Casey's last reported location.
Something caught his eye. The edge of a bag shoved under the brush. Casey had been here or perhaps still was. He listened. No sound betrayed her. And yet he had a sense he wasn't alone. He sank back into the shadows to wait. She was in a hurry. She didn't make him wait long. The branches of a tree rustled. Clever girl. He kept quiet as she shimmied down the trunk and landed lightly.
He was glad to see she hadn't squandered her time in the store. She now wore shoes. Her chances of survival had gone up considerably. In the dimness he could see the white of her eyes as she glanced round. She seemed half wild already. She came for the bag, crouching low and moving softly. As she reached for it he stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her outstretched arm. She jerked back in shear terror, shock preventing her from recognizing him.
"Casey." He said quietly.
At the sound of his voice she relaxed, relief almost buckling her knees. He caught her, keeping her on her feet. She was near spent. The look she gave him was that of a damsel being saved from the jaws of a dragon. Neither of them could be so fortunate. He released her.
"There isn't much time." He said in the same hushed voice. "Very soon all those men are going to be headed back this way." New fear showed in her eyes. He listened to the quiet of the woods. This reprieve couldn't last. Time was against them. "They will be after me. I will try to keep them busy for as long as I can."
It was a heartless thing he was about to do but there nothing else for it. For her it was the probability of death weighed against its certainty.
"Go back to the Village," he said softly. "It's nearly unguarded. You will be able to get through easily enough. Don't stop for anything. Get to the mountains as quickly as you can." He caught her eye. "And Casey, the guards are armed. If you give them any trouble at all, they have orders to shoot you."
Casey wilted under his words. This was no rescue.
"Find shelter. Stay put." He said. "You are to give up on any foolish notions of assassinating Number Two. Is that understood?"
At this her eyes dropped. She would have no part of good sense. The madness of revenge was all that was left to her. If she found a way, she would try.
"Keep you head down for 48 hours." He put a firm hand on her shoulder, making her listen. "You'll do that for me?"
Her eyes came up to meet his. Her pale face was angry. She wanted to defy him, yet reluctantly she nodded.
"Good girl." He removed his hand. "Do you have some way to signal?"
"I have a mirror." She said in a tight whisper.
"Don't bother signaling ships or planes. Anything that comes within range will likely belong to them. Just keep out of sight. "
She was trembling now. Courage was failing her. The hardships that wrecked her physical body were doing far more damage to her spirit. She began to doubt herself. If it took hold, she was done for.
"This is no time to go to pieces, Casey." He got her to look at him again. "You do that, you might as well put an end to it here."
Her lips moved but no words came. She was drifting close to the edge.
He pulled her back with another question. "You know Morse Code?"
Only a nod.
This time the hand he laid on her was gentle, steadying. "If I can work out an escape, I'll signal."
Even as he said it he felt the stab of his conscious. Faults hope was cruel. And he had no way of knowing if he offered anything more. When she glanced up he saw that hope reflected in her haunted eyes. He insisted on giving it to her. Or was it perhaps to himself? He should learn to leave well enough along.
He fetched up her forgotten bag, heavy with stolen goods. It would be a taxing burden over rough terrain. He handed it to her. Watched as she hefted its weight.
"I'll buy you as much time as I can." He said. "Make the most of it."
She wouldn't meet his eyes. "I'm sorry." Her voice shattered.
"Don't be." His own voice was too harsh. "You've nothing to do with this. Now go."
She went, fading into the trees like a frail ghost.
Six rubbed his face wearily. It was still peaceful. That was do for a change. He resumed moving in the direction of the hospital, listening for the searchers. A sound, much too close for comfort, sent him back into the shadows. A guard came his way, trying to be stealthy. He moved like a man uncertain of his action, yet committed to it. If he kept on his course his intuition would be rewarded.
Six let him pass and fell in behind as silently as the shadow of a tree. He could take a out a lone man quietly enough. He closed the distance, moving swiftly as he dared. The woods was beginning to open up. Movement was becoming easier and also more dangerous. A glow of white shown through the trees, stopping him cold. He nearly froze under the terrible mechanical howl. Was it onto him already? It bounded closer, the trees slowing its charge. Six faded back, daring not to breath. It moved past him, alive with an electrical hum, like a hornets nest. Relief was powerful. It took him a moment to gather himself and press on. He'd lost precious time. The guard up ahead was lost from sight.
The trees gave way to a clearing and he saw the guard, back to him, gun drawn. Beyond him was Casey, the bag slung over her shoulder. She stood facing the guard. He commanded her to drop the bag and raise her hands. She didn't move. Her face was stiff. Fear mixed with determination. She was going to run.
Six stepped into the open and she saw him. For a brief moment their eyes met. Nothing in her face gave him away. Slowly she let the bag slip from her shoulder. Her hands raised in surrender.
He approached softly. A shout or a shot would bring more men and the fight would be finished. He grabbed the guard from behind, his left arm going around the man's neck while his right hand clamped over the hand with the gun. Casey eyes were on the gun almost as if she were transfixed. She wanted it.
He grappled with the man, locking his arm round his throat. A well placed elbow caught him in the stomach breaking his hold. He was still tender. There would be nothing tidy about this. He kept hold of the hand with the gun crushing it as he gave the man a hard jab just below the ribs. His opponent doubled over and he kneed him in the face. The body jerked, then sagged and the gun slipped. He was too slow to grab it.
Casey was on it with a savage lunge. Then up and out of reach before the guard's body hit the ground. She didn't point it at Six as she backed up to retrieve her bag, but her feral eyes never left his.
Nothing would stop her from making a try for Number Two's life now.
"We made a deal." Six reminded her coldly.
In a dull voice she said, "48 hours."
She was keeping a careful eye on him as she hoisted the bag. He considered his chances of disarming her. They had become such good friends during these brief unpleasant encounters. In all likelihood she would shoot him before she surrendered her prize.
Rover howled commanding his attention. It came from the trees, bounding towards them. A white horror filling the air with its disorienting electronic noise. Casey faced it in obvious confusion. As it slowed, the sound intensified. He could not tell just yet which one of them it was after. Experimentally he moved away from Casey, edging towards the trees. It rolled to match his position. He was the target.
"You can go. Casey," he said. "It won't harm you."
She started, then stopped. Looked back at him. Fighting with that dangerous loyalty.
"Go!' he yelled.
Now frightened, she obeyed. She fled towards the Village, leaving him along with Rover.
It pushed close, threatening, its energy making his skin crawl. From the trees came the sound of many people moving towards him. He would rather face men then this technological abomination. He ran. It came at him. The effects of its paralyzing whistling eating into his brain. Sapping his will. The sanctuary of the trees was close. He forced himself on. Rover hit him from behind. A thousand angry points of pain drove him to the ground. He regained his feet and stumbled forward, his mind vague. It was on him again, a cacophony of sound setting his nerves on fire. As it touched him the trees closed in around him. He plunged into them, crawling blindly into the dark coolness of leaves.
The musty smell of damp earth came to him. There were excited voices all round. Heavy feet stomping through the underbrush. He lay still, remembering. A sense of place and time returned and with it, purpose. He was still dreamy, his body seemed an awkward weight he wasn't eager to manage. If he could get his feet under him, he could run. Though probably not very well nor very far. He only need to keep their attention for a bit longer.
Pressed down under the foliage it was hard to tell exactly where the men were. He could only hope he didn't pop up right into someones waiting arms. He gathered himself, feeling unsteady. The world tipped just turning his head. Not too promising a start. He closed his eyes, took a long deep breath and sprang up. They were everywhere. He ran, plunging clumsily through the brush. Madness pursued him.