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Chapter 6: The Chase
As the day grew on, business in Steak 'O Juicy just got better and better. When Naiomi and I first came to this restaurant, there were little people present. And now, every tables and empty seats were taken, leaving the late comers standing pathetically near the doorway, waiting for a spot.
Naiomi and I had some nice talks. Mostly about the Manotropolist, which I became disgusted with each portrayal of the City. The amount of food that we ordered were equivalent to three big men's eating amount. That was not surprising at all, for me anyway. Though, I found it irritating of people staring at me while I eat. Didn't they know that it was impolite? But I found Naiomi looking at me with the same surprised look on her face as well.
"What? You look at me as if I am lunch," I asked when I finished stuffing two large pieces of meat into my mouth. I took a long drink from a lucid cup.
Laughing nervously, she glanced around once before leaning toward me and talked in a low voice: "That's because you eat too much! Wayyyyyy to much!"
"What's wrong with the quantity of my food? I am hungry, right?"
"Well, I don't know if you are that hungry or not. But uh, you've just aroused the 'unwanted' attention..."
I frowned as I stopped and looked at the aliens around me. Sure enough, they were staring at me with mouth wide. I looked at the plates beside me. They were towering high one on the other, shaking slightly to achieve balance.
"Gee... I didn't know that I eat this much already," I mumbled sheepishly to myself.
Before she could reply, a crash came from the door. Some plebeians were screaming, others were swearing.
"This is the Proto NSA Special Forces! Everyone stop moving and hear us!" a group of men charged into the tavern with rifles in their hands. "We are currently looking for a pair of escapees. Their faces..." a blue hollow projection appeared above the heads, showing pictures of me and Naiomi, "look like this! Has anyone seen them?"
"Yeah! They are back here!" one slovenly looking man yelled behind me, pointing at me. I turned around and glared at him.
"Oh shit!" Naiomi grabbed my arm and dashed toward the back of the room, passing the counter. A few trays clattered onto the steel floor when we bumped into them.
"After them!"
Men in black armors pushed the crowd aside trying to reach us. We rammed into the door leading to the kitchen. The hatch broke away easily with two body weights slamming onto it with full power.
Metal shelves of every kind were in the chamber. Cooks were busily shouting over the roar of fire in the stoves, so they couldn't hear the commotion outside. She placed a finger onto her lips and gestured me to follow her silently. I nodded, gripping her hand tightly with my own.
A scorching flash appeared in the room. Now the chefs were yelling in confusion. One alloy booth exploded with a shower of sparks. Those bastards were shooting at us!
"This way!" Naiomi ran between the racks. I promptly tailed closely behind. Another flash came into sight. More sparks danced around the objects.
Now the innocent civilians had disappeared without a trace, but the guards were still chasing us. They knocked down everything in their haste to corner us. It was a total havoc.
She turned around a corner but I grabbed her and stopped her.
"This way!" I hissed, pointing at the rusty door in front of us.
She twisted the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked," she said. Pulling out her gun, she fired a short burst of laser into the magnetic lock pad. It sizzled a little before the red light on top of the hasp switched to green. "Now it isn't," grinning, she shoved me out into the cool back alley.
I looked at the filth on the loam that I was standing on. "Aw..." I groaned.
"Hey. Shut up and run!"
We scurry down the narrow passageway and reached the main street. Just before we turned right and ran away, another explosion sounded behind us. I peeped back, and saw columns of smoke and cement blocks raining down and skittering across the ground.
"Idiots... blocking the path themselves by having such a lousy shot," Naiomi shook her head and scolded. "Hey, why am I caring about how good they are shooting in the first place?"
I looked at her dumbly. "I don't know."
"I am just talking to myself, Jake," she rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's get back to my car. We need to go to somewhere safe."
We trailed down the sidewalk as calmly as our pounding hearts could allow us. I saw cars hovering above our heads. The strange orange light was still there. I guessed that it must be the light within the City that shined twenty-four-seven. My limbs were stiff like a stone. I kept on glancing around, searching for any possible dangers. Finally, after circling an entire block, I could see the patrol car of Naiomi's.
"Right. First thing we need to get you to do, is to get a new set of clothes," she shook her head with repugnance. "Really, these shirt and pant that you are wearing... god..."
I didn't answer. We got into the vehicle and drove away.
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"What do you mean you didn't get him?" Mak screamed into the receiver. The man on the other line mumbled something about they couldn't get him because - "Oh shut up, you moron! I want him back, alive! Do you hear me, you incompetent idiot?" More muttering that was inaudible came from the microphone. "No! I don't care if you blast the whole goddamn city away! I want Jake back! I will not accept this!" He disconnected the line abruptly.
Damn it. What kind of fools had he raised? If he didn't get Unit One back soon, the President would know about his plans, Mak thought angrily. He tried to allay his sepulchral mind. No. He must act now!
Pressing a button on his oak-made table, a screen was revealed on the wall in front of him as the medium sized, lustrous panel slowly sliding away. An image of a young soldier appeared. He gave a salute to his superior.
"Good day, sir. What can I do for you?"
"Send out all the Agents and spread them upon the whole City," he commanded. Flickering the ball pen with his fingers, he sighed. "Find Unit One as soon as possible."
"But..." the officer hesitated, "But that would mean taking back the spies on the Lunar Colony!"
"So? Are you now bold enough to question me?"
"No, sir, but I think -"
"Shut your A-hole and get to freaking work!" Mak erupted. The soldier on the screen flinched. "I will not have you mothers worming around like a bunch of stupid ass that don't know how to follow a simple order!" He smashed the control buttons in a rage and the monitor went blank.
Geezes! Bunch of dimwits!
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"That would be seventy-two credits," the sales clerk said cheerfully.
Grumbling at how much money she had spent, Naiomi let the man scanned her credit belt on her left wrist. She gave a sidelong glance at me and said: "You owe me big time." I could only smile.
Walking around in the store with my new outfit, I was pretty satisfied. Though, I was still not used to the tight, black leather clothes and heavy overcoat, which was also black. I surmised that I liked black. Yeah. That must be it.
"Come on. We are out of here," she walked toward the door.
Before we could head toward our car that was parked outside, I could hear a faint whistling sound. The noise got louder as whatever the object that was flying came closer. Suddenly, Naiomi's police car was detonated with a thunderous bang. The light-blue shock wave of the blast curved toward us, slamming us back into the novelty shop and threw us into the display cases behind us. The windowpanes shattered into billions of tiny pieces, cutting my face and my hands. I covered Naiomi with my body and used the overcoat as a shield for our eyes.
Pedestrians scattered in all directions, as once again, the troops that were after us came into view.
"Why won't these guys ever give up!" Naiomi threw back her long black hair and cursed loudly.
Aside, the clerk whimpered: "Oh god have mercy on me! I still have two wives, seven kids and two unborn children to take care of!" He knelt on the smooth wooden floor and prayed.
Both of us gave him a queer look. I saw one of the enemies pointing at us, and then he lifted his gun and fired at us. I got up immediately and pulled Naiomi with me. The spot where we just were was fried and started to burn. Black smoke slowly filled the room.
"Let's head out to the back, again," she nodded toward the small hallway on the right.
"NO! No," I disapproved the idea. "They will be waiting for us. Last time we did it once, remember? And my guess is that these people are smart. They wouldn't fall for the same trick twice."
She placed her hands at her hips. "So? What do you propose?"
I pondered for a while. Another shot of laser narrowly missed me and hit a pile of attires. I pointed at the can of propane gas. "Grab that and bring it here." I gripped her gun and fired off a few shots of my own. Surprisingly, the weapon had little recoil. Looked like my knowledge of present warfare was out of date. But most importantly was to make those men to run for cover, giving us more time for our little mischievous plan. Which they just did.
"What? You are going to blow this place up?" she gave me this: don't-bullshit-me look.
"You got a better idea?"
"Nooooooo! Not my storeeee!" the poor man begged. "Please, don't blow up my store!"
I laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. The police department will repay for the damage that we've done."
"As long as I still have my salary," Naiomi gave me a death gaze. She dragged the canister to the back of the room.
I fired one last shot before I joined her behind a cabinet. "Right, give me this. When the barrel rolls toward the center of the room, shoot at it, make it explode. But before that, shoot out that window over there on the side. We can get out from there."
She nodded. "Okay..." The glass burst outward as the projectile crashed into the fragile material.
I rolled the propane away from us. I seized Naiomi's arm instantly and began to run. The store manager followed us closely, crying for mercy. She kept absolutely quiescent on her trigger finger while she trained her gun sight at the keg of flammable gas.
Just before we jumped out, she fired.
The whole place blew up in one tremendous blast. We literally 'flew' across the two-lane pavement and landed on the other side of the street, into yet another mass of waste. A white, searing ball of fire gradually rose up and swallowed up the building. I could hear the screams of burning soldiers in the construction. They couldn't escape. I knew they couldn't. They were all inside when the explosion happened.
I sneered. It was fun to hear those humans shrieking in agony. I could have just laughed right on the spot, but Naiomi was beside me. It was a good thing that she didn't see my expression. After all, I didn't want her to know that I intended to destroy the human race. I didn't want her to feel afraid...
~End Chapter 6~
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