Infiltrating Harmony

Infiltrating Harmony Part 5

Strangely, the three jacked vocations looked both ways before crossing the street to deliver my inevitable doom. I admired their dedication to put safety first.

I took off down the sidewalk, my fish tie flapping in the wind. I only looked back once, to see them dodging cars in order to catch up to me.

The fact was, when it came to running, my lean, tall body type would beat there's any day. But if they caught me, I would be no match for their huge, metallic bodies, and I would be undoubtedly be squished like a bug.

I ran as fast as I could past people, whose heads slowly turned to give me a quick confused look before I dodged them. Suddenly, behind me I started to hear the heavy, fast metallic footsteps that I recognized from my recent Bounty Officer days as a vocation running.

They were close behind me.

I turned onto another street, and started to pick up the pace. Under any other circumstance, I would be passed out from exhaustion by now. But because of survival instincts, I was still sprinting. Funny how that works.

I decided that my best bet was to find a nearby alleyway, and double back on myself. Maybe I could go back and talk to Berlin some more. She was fun to talk to.

Suddenly, I ran past an alleyway, and I had to do sort of a whole body double take. I entered the alleyway and started towards the other side, praying that my plan had worked.

As my eyes stayed on the other end of the alleyway, a dark figure stepped into view, blocking the exit.

"Uh oh," I said out loud, and turned around to run back the other direction. Another vocation was standing there.

My next genius plan came upon me suddenly. I would jump for the fire escape, climb up the building, and escape by rooftop.

I jumped for the black metal ladder, and almost pulled myself up before I felt strong, metallic hands wrap around my ankles. I hung on to the ladder for dear life, but these types of vocations were built for work that required only physical exertion. They were much, much stronger than I was.

I was torn from the ladder, and I landed on my legs hard. I crumpled under my own weight, and found myself on my back.

I went to sit against the wall, but the vocation to my left wasn't having it. He punched me across the face. On impact, I felt my whole head rattle. I was lucky that that punch alone hadn't killed me. This was going to be a long day.

Warm blood started to trickle from my mouth, and I had to concentrate harder than I ever had to stay conscious, but I managed it.

"Who are you guys?" I asked.

The vocation who had put a dent in my skull said, "I think you know... dirty Bounty Officer."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not the man you're looking for," I said.

"Then why'd you run?" Inquired the other vocation. He pulled a pipe out from what seemed like a compartment in his back, and started to smack it against the palm of his hand impatiently.

I tried to get up again, but the vocation with the pipe brought it down on the wall right next to my head, causing my ear to ring violently. It was enough for me to get the message.

My eyes crept to the skies, and I noticed another vocation, this one woman, standing on the top of the roof from which I was trying to escape. They really had thought of everything.

She jumped down from the roof and landed with grace in the alleyway. She walked over to next to me, and knelt down.

"The boss wanted us to send you a message," she whispered.