Chained - Jenlisa

The Test of Time

I scale the broken down building on the fringe of the gun fight and take direction from one of the male members of the strike team across the street on the roof of his own building. He's covering me and telling me where the shooters are that he can't get.

Slithering to the roof, I push off the shooter there and let him tumble to the ground. He lands with a thud and I move on, jumping from here to there to get to the second shooter on the other end of the roof. When I reach him I push him to the ground, too, then look down to see how Jisoo is faring. She's in the thick of things, using a huge chunk of concrete as a shield. The strike team is helping her but their shots aren't true. Squinting, I hunker down and study the scene below, trying to find a way in without getting shot, or at least not shot so many times.

"Don't just sit there," Jisoo says, her voice in my ear. "Get me out of here."

Eyes moving quickly, I find a shooter on the ground that the strike team can't get, then rear back and leap at him. I fly through the tainted air and land directly on his concrete cover, shattering it and trapping him beneath the rubble. I feel great though.

"Opening," the leader of the team shouts into my earbud, everyone's I assume, and another member runs where I am to take up my spot.

He nods at me then starts shooting. "I've got you," he says over the gunfire. "One across the street, to the left."

Shaking dust out of my hair, I find who he's talking about, then throw myself once again into a pile of rocks. This time I bruise my hip but otherwise I'm okay, and the shooter I was aiming for is stuck on a piece of rebar. I leave him there to die and look for Jisoo. She's still behind her concrete shield but the bullets whizzing past her aren't as frequent. Then, in an instant, they stop. The strike team must have finally gotten their targets.

"That was hardcore," Jisoo says as she pops up from her hiding spot to look at me. "You look like a ghost."

Smiling, I wipe off the white dust from my clothes the best I can. "It was all I could do."

The strike team jogs out into the open, some of them coming out of buildings, others leaving the safety of dusty jeeps, and they approach Jisoo and I. The leader, the woman, pats my shoulder approvingly. "You gave us the in. You did well. Thank you."

Before I can answer, Sandara's voice seeps into my ear. "The subject is on the move. Probably spooked by all the commotion."

"Let's move," the leader commands. "Hongseok. Hotwire."

One of her team members runs to the nearest jeep and gets into the driver's seat, then disappears under the steering wheel. The rest of us get into the open back and hold on to the metal skeleton, Jisoo and I hanging off the sides.

"Northeast," Jennie says as the vehicle hums to life. "He's moving quickly."

The jeep rumbles and eventually starts off, kicking up dust and rocks. I pull up my bandana to cover my mouth and nose and I hold tight as the jeep bounces around, dodging fallen pieces of buildings and bodies. The blood riding the night air tickles my nose just right and I find myself smiling, enjoying my time out.

"North," Jennie says, bringing me down. "You're close."

The team in the back of the jeep readies their weapons, using the metal skeleton of the car to help steady them.

"Up there!" Jisoo yells, pointing toward the roof of a building. The jeep swerves to reroute it's position and I squint to better see the failure. He seems human, if obviously unnaturally fast and athletic, but his proportions appear... wrong. That could just be the shadows and moonlight, though.