Merciless

8: First Encounter

When they had gotten downstairs, they realised they only had one car. It was decided that Metis, Akita, Apollo and Doberman would take it, while Nemesis and Erebus agreed to flag down a taxi. The car disappeared around the corner, and Erebus heaved a sigh. He pulled out a cigarette, offering one to Nemesis. The offer was tempting given all that had happened, but she refused it in favour of one of the cherry sweets she carried around. They stood silent for a moment as she tried to decide where the best place to find a taxi would be at this time of night. Her thinking was interrupted by a sharp elbow to the ribs from Erebus. She spun around to yell at him, but stopped. He was looking up at the windows of the flat they had just come out of, and she immediately saw why.

There was a shadow moving around inside. They both took out their handguns as they walked back inside and began climbing the stairs. Outside the door, they took a side each. Nemesis counted to three with her fingers before slamming the door open. They aimed their guns out, but were too late. The intruder was already jumping out the same window he had used before. Without hesitating, Nemesis leaped out the window after him, barely landing without breaking a bone. Erebus followed behind her as they chased after the shadowed figure in front of them.

Nemesis could feel her pulse racing as she sprinted through the poorly lit, empty streets of the industrial district. She gripped her handguns tightly, keeping her eyes focused on the target ahead. Erebus attempted a couple of shots while running, but missed both.

" Just keep following him! Don't waste ammo!" She ordered. He muttered something, but did as she said. They trailed him almost half way across the district, and Nemesis was starting to run out of stamina. She was glad no one was out walking, otherwise they would have lost him ages ago.

He took a sharp turn onto a dead end street. Nemesis grinned, finally about to find out who this guy was. Suddenly, the man pulled out some kind of gun. She prepared to dodge his shots, but instead of shooting at them, he shot it straight up in the air. She realised too late that it wasn't a gun, but a grapple. It latched onto the roof of the building at the end of the street and before she could stop him he was sailing upwards. She fired at him as he went, but didn't land a single hit before he disappeared over the roof. They halted to a stop.

" Shit!" She shouted.

" Don't waste ammo." Erebus mimicked her. She punched his arm, making him wince.

" Shut up. We need to catch him." She scolded, turning around and power-walking back to the other end of the street. He hurried after her.

" How? He just flew over a fucking building!"

" There's a construction site on the other side of that building. My guess is he's waiting for us there." She rounded the corner while checking how much firepower she had on her. She counted two handguns, a knife, and three smoke grenades. The rest of her weapons had been in the back of the car.

" Why would he wait for us when he just ran away?" Erebus frowned.

" He saw us from the window. He waited for us to go upstairs before he escaped, and he was taking the main streets while running from us instead of the back roads where he could have lost us much easier. Plus he waited until that street to use his grapple, but he could have used it as soon as we started chasing him. He was deliberately leading us here. What weapons have you got on you?" She explained. She took out her phone as he counted the things he had on him.

" My handguns, my shotgun, my knife and two flash bangs. Who are you calling?" He asked, but she held her hand up as the call was picked up.

" Let me guess, you can't find a taxi that'll let Erebus in it?" Metis chuckled as soon as she answered the phone.