The hurried footsteps belonged to security with their guns out, pointed straight at their backs.

Aino ducked behind a couch; Eien pulled Nurse Dagmar on the opposite side with him behind some shrubbery, flipping over another nearby couch.

“Come out with your hands up!” one of the guards screamed, his voice rough like sand on gravel. Eien glanced over at Aino, already holding her throwing club in one hand and the small gun in the other. He also had automatically pulled out his gun, the safety already off and his finger close to the trigger.

He let go of Nurse Dagmar’s arm. Her eyes were filled with terror, hands trembling, sweating and teary. She obviously was hoping this was not going to happen. Too late. He cursed Aino’s impatience. She should have just waited. Maybe they could have left quietly like the nurse seemed to have wanted.

“It’ll be okay,” he said to the nurse, motioning her to stay down. He glanced over back at Aino.

The guards were still stepping slowly closer to their position, but they hadn’t fired yet. The atrium was long, but the guards were getting closer. There must have been at least twenty of them. Why weren’t they shooting? They must want to take them alive, if possible.

“Surrender with your hands up!” the guard repeated. Eien felt the coldness in the back of his head, like he dunked the back of his head directly into a bucket of ice water. He touched the back of his head with his free hand and turned his eyes back to Aino.

He felt air moving around him; the sweat on his skin disappeared, leaving goosebumps.

“Shit.” He thrust Nurse Dagmar flat to the floor, aimed his gun, and shot.

One down.

Duck.

Two down.

Duck.

Hit arm.

Duck.

Gotta move.

Eien glanced behind him at a doorway, the crevice of which was deep enough to hide in. He pulled Nurse Dagmar to her feet and shoved her into the door. It was better if she was out of the line of fire.

“Down!” he screamed. He looked back at Aino.

She had shot a couple of them, but instead of holding her position, she suddenly threw her club at one, nailing him in the face with a sick crack. He toppled backwards, dead on contact. She leapt over the couch, holding her gun tightly. The bullets whizzed past her.

Were they even trying to aim?

The bullets weren’t touching her.

Instead, her foot connected with the nearest one’s head and promptly knocked him out, spittle flying in the air as his neck cracked.

The guards split between her and Eien. The ones by her had to stop shooting or they would risk hitting each other, opting to pull out the batons at their sides.

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He managed to hit a couple more in the leg, blood seeping through their pants as they crumbled with grunts of pain. A blossom of red flowed from someone’s head as his bullet connected with their eye socket. Their bullets ended up whizzing by his head.

Why did they keep coming without trying to avoid his bullets? What kind of training did they have? He would be running to find cover. Split up and try to fire from two sides. With Aino in direct contact, it wouldn’t be difficult to flank him.

He looked at the exit. No one was coming. Would others come? They had to move quickly.

Aino hit one over the side of the head with her club, his skull fracturing, face deforming with the force of the hit. She shot another one in the head, point blank.

There were still two coming after Eien. He shot at them. Had to reload.

Hit one. The one that was left seemed to gain some kind of intelligence and ducked behind a chair, popping out to pepper Eien with bullets.

Eien shifted his position to get better coverage.

Aino had already disposed of five of the guards personally. There were about seven left who were aiming at her as she danced around them, avoiding blows and hitting hard. Something funny was happening though.

The guards around her were slowing down. Some were groaning in pain despite not having been hit. One of them collapsed. He ignored it and focused on trying to get the guard behind the chair.

Shots.

Wait.

Wait.

Shoot.

Hit.

The guard’s head flung backwards, disappearing behind the chair. He didn’t return fire.

Eien looked back over at Aino.

She had four guards left.

He looked back at Nurse Dagmar.

She was trembling severely, her hands clasped together, her lips moving silently, crumbled to the floor.

“Hey, ma’am,” he said. She stared at him, breathing rapidly.

“I gotta help her. Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute. Just keep your head down.” She blinked at him. He knew the signs of shock. She wasn’t going to move.

He ran out again, making for the couch Aino had been behind.

He aimed carefully, wanting to avoid hitting Aino. Too fast.

She was fast.

She was always so fast. Sure, she was not nearly as strong as he was, but she knew how to move and how to hit just the right spot.

He’d done this before, though.

Shoot.

Hit.

Three guards left.

One of them dropped to the floor suddenly. Aino made a movement with her hands towards one of them, and he staggered backwards, hair and clothes blowing back. The other one Eien shot in the chest, his armor repelling the bullet. He staggered.

Aino kicked him in the head.

The last one, though.

The last one.

He heard her whisper strange things, strange words, strangeness. The guard was grabbing at his throat, eyes wide in terror. His veins started to bulge through his skin. Blood dribbled from his eyeballs, his ears, his mouth, his nose. He collapsed to his knees, planting his face on the floor.

Then his head exploded in a mess of brains, blood, and skin, spattering across the floor where he lay. Eien felt saliva leave his mouth.

Aino moved her hands again, and a shower of blood spurted up from the heads of the guards, popping like grease on a fire. Pop, pop, pop.

The atrium was bathed in crimson. White with swirling, spattered red, leaking from the neck stumps of the fallen guards.

Eien realized he was holding his breath, and he started to gulp in air. He’d seen the aftermath of it before, but he realized he hadn’t actually seen her do this before.

Aino clipped her throwing club back on her and ran back to her pack, swiping it up and motioning to him. She wasn’t going to bother raiding the bodies.

Eien grabbed Nurse Dagmar and dragged her with them out through the front door. She was slow and stumbling. Too slow.

It was dark, and that took Eien by surprise. From inside the atrium, it seemed like the windows were streaming in sunlight, lit warmly and welcomingly. Outside the foul smell of rot combined with a deep earthy smell assaulted his nostrils. His eyes adjusted to the low light levels emitted by standing lamp posts, bringing low level buildings into view with wide black windows and closed doors.

There were some people milling, walking, or sitting, but they paid no direct attention to them. Aino kept a brisk pace, neglecting to run.

The sky?

Where was the sky?

Oh.

They were underground.