Freerunner

Chapter 23

I sprinted away from Alex's window as fast as I could. I didn't want to look back. It was too painful. However, I still wasn't thinking properly enough to do anything just yet. I skidded to a halt in the South-West corner of the base. With my feet planted into the ground, I finally swallowed the lump in my throat. I'd never had anyone look at me like that. There'd been anger, disgust, even exasperation. Never had anyone looked at me with an expression that said they'd lost complete faith in me. I could hear soldiers ransacking buildings, turning the place upside down in pursuit of their runaway prisoners. I thought hard. Prince and Dante would most likely be searching the offices again. Gabriel and Elijah would be getting their hands on supplies. I figured it would be safest to find Gabriel but I really wanted to see Dante. In the midst of my decision making, someone clapped a hand on my shoulder. I spun and brought my leg up to kick the person in the face. They caught it deftly, not looking particularly impressed. It was Gabriel.

"What the hell are you standing around for?" He snapped. His shoulder seemed to have stopped bleeding but it looked horrendous. I swallowed and tried not to stare at it. Elijah had a backpack slung over one shoulder, looking on in confusion. "I'm sorry," I stammered. Gabriel looked as if he was going to yell at me but then changed his mind. "Don't worry about it. Come on, they'll find us if we don't move." He and Elijah made to run but I found myself rooted to the ground. "Wait!" I shrieked, going to grab his shoulder but then having second thoughts. Gabriel flared up again and for a split second I thought he might hit me. "For goodness sake, pull yourself together woman!" He screamed. Seeing my petrified expression, he forced himself to stay calm once more. "At least wait until we're somewhere a bit safer, we'll be caught way too easily here. Now come on," he said firmly, seizing my wrist. "We won't let you get hurt." Gabriel dragged me behind him, heading towards the convent. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see soldiers yelling and running towards us. A few of them stopped and aimed whilst others completely ignored us. They must've been going after Prince. In the midst of my stupidly-timed thinking, the guards opened fire. I froze dumbly but Gabriel was prepared for any signs of paralysis. He jerked me forward, almost tearing my arm out of its socket. I yelled out but no one noticed. There was too much surrounding noise that even if someone did hear my cry, they wouldn't know where it came from. Something pushed me to move faster. I went to look back but Gabriel tugged on my arm again and I knew that I just had to keep running. We dodged the oncoming bullets and barrelled into the convent. Elijah slammed the door shut whist Gabriel started moving the tables to barricade the windows. Hopelessly, I fell to the floor.

"Rose I swear, if you don't snap out of it right now, I will hand you off to the soldiers myself! What is wrong with you, standing around like that? You almost got us killed!" Yelled Gabriel, throwing a chair to Elijah to block the door. I shook my head, my mouth trembling as I spoke. "I'm sorry," I gulped. "I'm just so scared, I mean-". Before I could finish my sentence, Gabriel leapt over to me, picked me up and shoved me against the wall. "This isn't the time to be scared! The minute you stop to hesitate is the minute you get shot! You're lucky you had us with you back there. If I wasn't pulling you along and Drifter wasn't pushing you, you would've died right there." My entire body started to tremor. With a disgusted sigh, Gabriel let go and I dropped to the floor. His shoulder was looking worse than before. Dark red patches stained his singlet and I could see the mutilated flesh where the bullet had pierced his skin. His disgruntled attitude wasn't unfounded.

I heard footsteps trampling the grounds outside and people banging on the door. "They're surrounding the building," I squeaked, curling up into a ball. Gabriel clenched his fists then unfurled them. "We'd better get moving soon then. You done being a sook yet?" I opened my mouth to retort but words failed me. I was far too terrified to even move. Elijah cleared his throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him jerk his head briefly in my direction. However, I'd pissed off Gabriel far too many times today for him to show me any more sympathy. "Get her up," he snapped. "We can't waste any more time here." I heard a quiet sigh and felt a heavy hand clap on my shoulder. I turned and looked up at Elijah who was smiling encouragingly at me. He looked exhausted with his cracked skin and dark circles under his eyes. There were tears in his clothing from when he fell out of the tower and where bullets had torn through the material. Still somehow he was still smiling. Seeing both of them bearing battle scars halfway through this mess, I looked down at myself. There was barely a scratch on my body. The only red mark on me was where Gabriel had held my arm and dragged me to safety. Finally, I understood. "Gabriel?" I said as quietly as I could but loud enough so he could hear me over the noise. He turned with an exasperated smile. "Oh, are you done panicking now?" He said sarcastically. I decided to be quick. "Thank you for looking after me," I said, feeling like the tiniest kid in the world. "But I want to help this time. Please, tell me what I should do." I was putting what little pride I had left under Gabriel's vindication, hoping he'd take me seriously. I flinched as he opened his mouth, looking to say something to embarrass me but Elijah shook his head. Gabriel glared then sighed. "Fine. You know all that annoying stuff like fear and the worry you'll hurt someone?" I stared. "Well, kind of." I replied uncertainly.