In which we run.

Dedicated to Chae.

And at that, a miracle opened her eyes for the first time.

The girl shifted in the bed, sitting up slowly. He eyes fluttered, and she looked around, yawning. She was actually very good looking, but the boy obviously didn’t care. In seconds, he was pulling her off of the bed. The girl toppled and sat on the floor, surprised. In the other bed, the woman woke up, hand to her shaking head.

“What the…” the woman grumbled. “Who, where-“

“No time now.” the boy rushed. “I bypassed the security system, but it won’t take long before the idiots realize I got in here. Take this.” He held out one of his guns, and replaced it with a short roman sword hidden in a sheath in his boot.

“What the…” the woman started, but the boy shoved the big gun into her hands. He turned to the girl.

“Yo, gemini.” The girl didn’t respond. “Hey! Look over here!” The girl looked up surprised, frightened, and frazzled. Her hair was crazy and extremely long from sped up years of growth with no cutting. So much growing also made her very muscular, but not much shorter than the woman, who was definitely no NBA star. He pulled a sawed-off shotgun from a holster on his side and handed it to her. She took it, but not in the right way, holding it by the barrel. The boy quickly took it away from her.

“We need to go.” The boy said as he turned back to the lady. He nodded at the gun in her hands. “You know how to use that gun – um, what’s your name?” The young woman rubbed her face. “Marie. And yes, I can shoot a gun.”

“Great. It looks like the girl doesn’t know how to walk. Are you going to carry her or am I?” Marie looked at the girl for the first time. She froze.

” She’s, but that’s – that’s, me. How-“

“Now time for that right now. I’ll carry her. But I’m tellin’ you it won’t be easy. Ripped kids weigh a ton.” He bent down and picked up the girl (who looked like she was about to cry) by the stomach and then swung her onto his back. It would’ve been easier if the girl did her part.

“Alright, let’s move. There are three rules to escaping. One: run as fast as you can. Two: don’t stop until you reach the end, or the end reaches you. Three: and I’m not kidding when I say this, if someone starts chasing us, shoot ’em. The people in this base do real bad things, and I mean real bad. Justice is due, as some say, so don’t be afraid to deal it out. But ideally, we won’t have to kill anyone, so run fast. Got all that?”

Marie hung her head processing all the information she had seen and heard. Dozens of questions came and went like swooping pelicans. “Is he good? If so, can a kid get me out of here? Where is here? And who the beep is she?” If all of this can get me home, she thought, then I’ll do it. She raised her afro-ed head and nodded slowly.

“Great. Now run.” At that, the renegades became as wind, jumping over bodies, dodging pillars. They raced through the big doors the boy came in through, entering a dimly lit hall. They ran through sharp corners and up countless flights of stairs. They ran past many rooms much like the one they were just in. Marie looked in one and saw rows upon rows of sleeping men with mechanical faces. Marie yelped and kept running.

After about five minutes of running, Marie was getting very tired. The boy, who had introduced himself as Hunter while running, looked a little weary himself. Eventually they came to a large doorway, and Hunter stopped abruptly. He sneakily peaked his head through the doorway, and swung back out of sight.

“Dang.” Hunter spat. “Dangdangdangdangdangdangdangdang!”

“What? What’s wr-“

“Darn!” Hissed Hunter in a loud whisper.

“Dude, just tell me what’s wrong!” Marie loud-whispered back.

“Guards. A lot of guards.” He replied. Marie put her face in her hand.