“We will fly away from here, to a nameless planet no one knows about.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Anna questioned, their finances were rock bottom, they couldn’t afford a ticket off the planet. “We have no money.”
“Ah but that's where you’re wrong dear sister,” Will smiled through the pain his body was in. “I bought a pair of tickets a few days ago with the money I borrowed. I hid it somewhere, we just need to swing by and we can kiss this shit hole of a planet goodbye.”
“And how do you plan on moving? Your look fit to drop dead in a strong breeze.”
“Dont worry about me Anna, I’ll rest once we get out of here.”
Anna looked conflicted, her brother missing for a week now coming rushing back into her cafe bloody and beaten, telling her they had to leave the planet. She had thought a day like this might come, however
Willam stumbled back to his feet, his body aching with every move. However as the pair got ready to move many heavy footsteps could be heard outside in the corridor.
“Ssh,” he held one finger over his mouth and motioned for Anna to follow, the pair making their way behind the counter and into the kitchen area right before the door burst open. Ten armed men walked through, each holding a gun in their hand as they scanned the room for their target.
Will lead Anna by the hand, crouching their way as quietly and fast as possible towards a rear door leading to a fire escape.
“Where is the bastard?” one of the men yelled, pushing another further into the shop in annoyance, “Hurry up and find him.”
Will could see them quickly fan out and search the small shop, a pair making their way behind the counter and towards the back kitchen where he and Anna were currently hiding. There was an open gap between the island type counter he was crouched behind the glass emergency exit door, the moment they moved they’d be seen.
“We’re going to have to make a run for it,” Will turned to Anna and kept his voice as low as he could. “Keep your head down and don’t stop moving, if we get split up head straight for 342 west, building 19, there's a small alleyway if you pass by the main entrance and continue for a little, take the third door on your left, the password is our last name, Solace.”
Anna wracked her brain trying to consume all the names and locations Will had just dumped out, a tall order when combined with her ever growing nerves. Not even to mention the two armed men slowly stalking their way to their hiding spot.
“And Anna, promise me one thing.” Will turned to her, looking straight into her eyes to steeled conviction. “If I don’t make it there by evening, you take your ticket to the spaceport and leave.”
“But Will.” She exclaimed much louder than what she should have, causing her brother to clamp down over her mouth and wait a few seconds. Only letting go after he confirmed that they weren't, by some miracle, overheard. “I can’t just leave you behind.”
“Don’t worry about me Anna, I’ve come this far have I not?” He put on a brave face, trying not to show the nervousness he was feeling. “If I'm late I’ll find another way, I’ve already planned one escape. Just trust me.”
Anna was unconvinced, however she didn’t have anymore time to dwell on it, the pair of thugs mere steps away, leaving them with no choice but to make a break for the door.
“Run!” Will shot out, dropping his shoulder and bursting through the glass emergency exit door. Anna chased after him, barely making it through the door before the two men figured out what was happening and shot a few bullets into the frame.
“Boss! They're making a run for it!” one of the two men ran back to the rest of the group, waving towards the door their targets ran out through. The other made his way after them, jumping out the window and onto the narrow metal walkway that held stairs all the way to the ground.
Anna almost lost her footing as she stepped outside, being so high up the wind was powerful, and almost knocked her from her feet. However she gripped tight to a small railing that protected people from falling all the way to the street bellow, and followed after her brother, who jumped down an entire flight of stairs before grabbing the central pole and flinging himself down the next.
“Ah!” She yelled in fright as she was forced to duck down as a few stray bullets wooshed past her, impacting into the side of the building.
“Quickly Anna!” Will yelled from below, already several flights down.
“I'm trying!” She tried to speed up, however as she jumped a few flights of stairs she misjudged the distance, almost sending her tumbling over the edge, only the flimsy safety rail keeping her from certain death. She was still gaining ground on her pursuer however, she could see the man through the mesh like metal stairs three floors up.
Stolen story; please report.
There were more behind him now though, five more men emerging from the emergency exit of her cafe and chasing after them. Their remaining four members were nowhere to be seen.
“Will!” She called down to her brother, who had slowed down some to let her catch up. “I don't see four of them, they’re missing.”
“They’ll be taking the elevator,” He called back, pulling out a gun from his waistband. “We’ll take a different way down.”
“What do you mean-” Anna reached Will, but before she could question his intentions he fired three shots into a large floor to ceiling window, the glass shattering instantly, not designed to resist such assault.
“Come on!” Will took her hand and ran through the breach, the offices within were thrown into uproar.
“What!?”
“He has a gun!”
The workers scattered, ducking for cover or hiding under their desks. A blaring alarm rang out through the building, automated systems detecting the shattering window alongside one of the workers hitting a panic button.
None stepped up to stop them however as the pair rushed through the office and out into the out into a wide open balcony overlooking the building's large internal atrium. Will kept his hand around Anna’s wrist, pulling her into an elevator and hitting the button for ground floor.
“Ha ha.” Anna panted as the pair enjoyed this quick respite. “Who are those guys anyways? And why do you have a gun!?”
“One at a time,” Willam said, leaning against the elevator wall. “First those bastards are from the White Skulls, it’s where I borrowed the money from. And the second a group of them jumped me after uni one day, I got the gun from them.”
Anna looked at him sceptically, “Since when did you know how to fight? Let alone fight someone with a gun and take it for yourself.”
“Hey,” Will faked anguish at her words, clutching at his chest. “Have some faith in me.”
“You're an idiot.”
The elevator dinged, and the pair walked out into a busy and crazed scene. Reports of gunfire had turned the civilians into a paniced mob, all rushing out of the various exits of the building. Armed security guards walked about, trying to calm the crowd to no avail.
“This way,” Will led the pair away from the main crowd, in his bloodied state they’d surely held up for questioning, and if the White Skulls caught up they had no reservations about shooting him in front of a crowd.
Instead he cut through an upper class fashion salon, the store empty as customers and staff alike already fleeing for safety. Will led them to the back, before roughly stripping his tattered rags and dressing himself in the first pair of clothes his hands could grab.
Anna, to his embarrassment, had to help him with this. The various wounds across his body made it hard for him to move.
“Here, put this on.” He chucked a large coat to his sister, a size too big but they didn’t have time to worry about it, before putting on a similar coat himself. While the long dark trench coats didn't have hoods, their tall collars helped hide their face some. They walked back out looking like a pair of rich students, Anna even snatching a handbag on the way out to help solidify the look.
“What now?” She asked in a low voice as they mingled with the crowd pushing their way out into the street.
“Just act cool and follow the crowd, we’ll cross over into the university campus and get a air cab from there.”
Outside was just as chaotic as the inside, various police cars touching down around the building before armoured officers rushed inside to calm the situation. Just as the duo were about to cross over the skybridge into the university, Will spotted two of the white skulls standing guard at the end, hands tucked into their jackets hiding their guns from unwanted attention.
“This way,” he veered off, instead walking down a staircase to the side leading down to a busy sidewalk. While he didn’t think they’d recognise him that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have some sort of scanners looking for his face. The dark shades the pair were wearing could easily be some kind of surveillance tool.
This new direction wasn't better than the last however, the police having set up checkpoints on the streets in both directions, large handheld scanners sweeping across the managed crowd they were slowly filtering through. His face would have surely been caught by surveillance cameras inside the building so trying to sneak through would only get the pair arrested.
“What do we do Will?” Anna asked worriedly.
“I'm not sure,” he admitted, as the pair tucked themselves into a small inlet in the building's large face. “I think it might be best to go back up, try our luck getting past those skulls.”
“But if they catch us they kill us,” she said back. “At least if we go through the police we will just get arrested, the only thing wrong we did was firing the gun, we were running for our lives. Surely they’d understand that?”
“You don't understand the police like I do, this country is corrupt to its very bones.” Will sighed as he leaned back against the wall. “I went to the police once because of our situation and they kicked me out saying I should handle it myself. The very next day the White Skulls somehow found out and jumped me after school, saying I shouldn’t have tried to snitch.”
“It could’ve just been a coincidence?” Anna posed, though not really believing her words.
“Sure it could have. But I don't want to take any chances.” He was worried, the crowds had already begun to thin out, if they stayed here any longer they could very well be spotted. “We’ll take the top route, they’re looking for me not you, so we'll stagger our exit. You go first and I’ll follow a little ways behind, just keep calm and keep walking, don't look back.”
“But Will,” she started to complain.
He gave her a little nudge in encouragement. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”