ECHO [Rewritten - NaNoWriMo '16]

Chapter 21: War

17 March 2016

Manhattan, New York

Wren

The coffee machine beeped loudly. The smell of fresh coffee filled the hotel room. I glanced over at Howl who was reading – was that a dictionary? – on the couch. "Hey, do you want coffee?"

"Do you have some toes over there to snack on with it?" Howl called.

I glared at him. "No."

"Eh, then no." he flipped to the next page.

Aurora nipped at my arm. I handed her an apple as I poured the coffee into the cup. For probably the hundredth time, I wondered where Echo was. It was then that the door slammed open. It startled me so bad I sloshed coffee from the cup. Aurora pricked her ears as Paiute came running through the open door and promptly jumped onto her back. Her ears went flat against her skull and Howl stood up straight.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Howl's response was tossing me a gun. I looked up at him. "ALDAR found us."

Aurora grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me backwards as a flash bomb exploded. I stumbled, suddenly blind and deaf. Aurora still had a hold of my shirt and was dragging me backwards, away from danger. But I made sure to keep a tight hold on my gun. It seemed as if the entire world was in a daze. I began to hear dully and see blurred shapes. And then Howl was in front of me, covered in blood.

He grabbed my arm tightly; I could feel his talons digging into my skin through my shirt. He leaned in close, "You trust me, right?"

I nodded numbly. He picked me up by the waist and placed my on Aurora's back before climbing on behind me. "Hold on to her mane." Once I did, he reached around me to grab his own fistfuls of hair. Aurora sat back on her hind legs and bolted. We entered the hallway and she skidded to a halt. There were agents and animals blocking both exits. Aurora backed up hurriedly, just as a round of gunfire sounded. Howl kicked the door shut with one foot. The mare spun to face the opposite direction, stepping on a dead man's head.

There was no way out. Except...the windows. I looked over my shoulder at Howl. His blue eyes were a brick wall of concentration, his eyes flicked to me. "You ready?"

I nodded, then raised my gun and fired. Once. Twice. Three times. Aurora feet thundered against the floor and then she leaped. The glass shattered all around us, catching the light, and glittering. Aurora's black coat shined in the sunlight, her mane tickled our faces. Paiute was puffed like a blowfish, his claws embedded in the mare's skin.

We were flying.

My blood roared in my ears, my knuckles were white from gripping Aurora's mane so hard. For just a moment it seemed as though the entire world went silent. And then it was ripped apart as a bullet sliced through my shoulder. I fell forward from the force and the startling pain. Only Howl's arms around me kept me upright. The bullet passed through me and grazed Aurora's cheek. She flinched, and suddenly our graceful fall was broken. The wind was howling, there was the sound of people screaming; the thunder of gunshots, and the ground was rapidly coming close.

We hit the ground hard. Aurora landed on her left shoulder and if it hadn't been for Howl yanking me up, my leg would've been caught underneath her. Howl, Paiute, and I skidded across the pavement, our skin getting torn against the rough surface. A trail of blood escaped from my shoulder.