The Retribution Initiative

Nothing But Blue

-Lucas-

I'm going to be entirely honest. I was getting really sick of running. My legs were exhausted, every muscle sore from the amount of sprinting I'd done in the last few days. How much running was too much? Didn't people get injured from too much running? I had certainly gotten injured, but not from running. It was everything else that kept getting me in trouble.

Already, my lungs were burning. How did people run for fun? Lunatics.

I plowed through the hallways, praying that none of the Endar surgeons had decided to skip lunch. It would be just my luck to escape from the droids and run into an Endar instead. Somehow, I don't think an Endar would be fooled by my fake seizure trick.

The hallways in the building were slanted between floors, eliminating the need for stairs. I assumed it was so the rolling droids could get around more easily. It was a strange feature, but one I appreciated. It made running so much easier. My legs practically moved on their own, bare feet slapping heavily against the sloping floors. The momentum had me now, pulling me faster and faster through the halls. It was exhilarating. If I weren't focused on escaping, I might have even flung my arms out and yelled "Weeeee!"

I'm not really sure how many floors I went down, but I was panting and sweaty by the time the ground leveled out. My legs carried me into a spacious lobby. Thin window strips stretched from floor to ceiling, letting grey daylight seep in. Daylight. Daylight meant freedom. I pushed onwards, drawn irresistibly to those alluring strips of outside. Without really noticing, I pelted through the rectangular frame of a metal detector, which beeped loudly. A tall man, chatting with a blonde woman near the windows, looked up at the noise.

You have got to be kidding me.

It was the surgeon. My surgeon, the one with the scary teeth and creepy eyes. Of course he'd still be here. Why wouldn't he be here? Why couldn't things work out for me just once? Was even fate an Endar soldier determined to snuff me out? My only way out into the grey daylight was through a set of sliding doors that he stood in front of. If I had been thinking more clearly, I would have backtracked and found a place to hide. But at that point, I was working on complete desperation and impulse. My death was upon me, coming in less than hour if I didn't do something. Death, which is permanent. Lights out. No more second chances. Eternal blackness.

I had decided that, even though it pretty much sucked to be Cretian in Hayl, I much preferred it to being dead. They could take a lot of things from me, but they couldn't take away my will to live. I had gone past the fear. I was so close to death, so close to that eternity of nothing, that I couldn't be intimidated. I was a fearless rebel.

So, instead of running away from the Endars like I had been, I ran at them. I ignored the surgeon's startled shouts. Accustomed to hopeless, compliant Cretians, I think he expected me to swerve away or stop running. Instead, I lowered my head and center of gravity. My mom always said I had a thick skull. She must have been right, because when I plowed it into the Endar's uselessly-muscled stomach, you'd have thought I had shot the man. He staggered back and doubled over, clutching where his luxurious lunch was probably now making him sick. I didn't stop. I plunged through the sliding doors and out into that brilliant daylight.

The city air was stale. It hummed with the sounds of traffic and pollution. I swerved through a field of pavement and parked vehicles, briefly considering the odds of another one being unlocked. I decided against another car theft. I didn't think I'd get that lucky twice. I turned my bare feet towards the Gap instead, sprinting towards the green laser fence that bordered the water. The laser fence was lethal upon contact. But I needed to get through it somehow. The Gap was my only hope.

"Hey!" The shout came from behind, followed by a gunshot shattering the air. I ducked behind a parked car, crouching low and shuffling beneath the windows. The pavement stung my bare feet, burning at the soft skin. I'd never been barefoot outdoors before, and the discomfort was distracting.