Vagabonds

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Convergence

Eliza and Aquila exploded out of the stairwell just as Tori and Tero burst into the hallway. And Eliza had to bite her tongue to stop the manic laughter that threatened to bubble out of her. The hallway was utter chaos, flashing with unstable lights, echoing with the clatter of gunfire. Bodies were scattered everywhere, twitching, sparking. Otto was slumped against one wall, defended by Joe and Daisy who were barely holding their own against a swarm of armed guards.

Tori's eyes found Eliza's face, flashed to the handful of vials in Eliza's hand, then to the syringe in the other. The booster, stolen from Amile's lab.

Tori's lips twitched up, the dawn of a smile breaking over her terror.

And then she went down, tackled by a woman in uniform.

"Come on!" Eliza shouted, dragging Aquila into the fray.

It was like wading through a raging river, like being a rock in a tumbler. Heavy bodies crashed into her. The flash of the lights made her dizzy. Even more disorienting was the peppering sound of weapons. The punches. The cries of pain and fear and rage.

"JOE!" Eliza screamed, elbowing bodies aside. Her fingers were ripped out of Aquila's hand and she swung around, trying to find him. Instead, she saw Joe. Met his gaze.

Joe exhaled.

And fainted.

"NO!"

Eliza plunged through the thicket of legs, ducking the fists and heavy gun handles as they flew at her head. She slid up next to her friend, shaking his shoulder as Daisy threw spiny fists above them, defending an unconscious Otto.

"Joe, Joe wake up," Eliza said, slapping his face with one hand as the other fumbled with vials. Her shaking fingers weren't enough to hold them and they slipped, rolling around her, their clinking almost inaudible over the cacophony. "Shit!" One crunched beneath a heavy boot, another disappeared into the corner, glittering distantly. But Eliza managed to grab one, jam the syringe into the soft tip.

"Eliza, look out!"

But she hardly heard Tori's scream, hardly noticed as Daisy was thrown aside by a strong hand. All her attention was on the syringe, on the tiny bit of fluid that could stop the damage burning through Joe's body.

She slammed the needle into his thigh and pressed down the plunger at the exact same moment that a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Remember me?"

The voice from the bridge was enough to make nausea roll through her, but she didn't have time to react as a supernaturally strong hand dragged her upright by the back of her neck. She glimpsed a dragon tattoo curling up one bare forearm. Eliza snarled and kicked, but it was no use. She couldn't find purchase, couldn't get her feet under her.

Something cold and hard dug into her belly.

"EVERYONE FREEZE OR I SHOOT!"

The deep voice boomed through the hall, echoing louder than any gunshot.

All eyes fell on Eliza and the tattooed solder and the black gun burrowing into her side.

"Let me go," Eliza spat, struggling to swing free. But the man had everyone's attention now. He pulled her in tight, wrapping a hard forearm around her neck. And Eliza felt like she was back on that bridge, back under the stars on that fateful night when she'd met Aquila. Only this time, the man was ready for her, pinning her arms by her sides, holding her aloft so that only her toes could scrape the broken floor.

Aquila looked ready to kill him, but everyone had stopped moving.

To Eliza, it felt like the world was holding its breath.