CLOUD NINE

Chapter 46

Another loud explosion followed the first.
Shaking with anger, Jurian grabbed Fletcher's collar aggressively, "What the hell did you do, you wimp?"

One of the shiny buttons of his expensive coat came off and clattered to the floor, shattering into shards of black glass.

"Oh no! A tracker," Alizeh wailed, taking up a little round piece of instrument that was blinking in a dull red now.

"Bastard," Jurian let go his collar and drew out his gun. Next, he tore off his mask deliberately. Without a warning, he aimed at Fletcher's skull and shot him at point-blank.

A glob of blood splattered on Jurian's chest and the floor. Alizeh didn't even hear herself scream when Jurian fired two more bullets. The President's bullet-riddled head lolled back, lifeless and the ghastly sight made Alizeh nauseous. She tried to grab anything for support as her head reeled.

She removed her own mask, hyperventilating.

"Alizeh, not now. We have to get out of here," if Jurian had felt the impact of killing someone, it didn't show on his face. His lips were drawn into a thin line. He meant business.

Another sound above their head, followed by the swift sound of footsteps alerted them to the real threat. They were surrounded by the presidential guard. Swift, agile and deadly, they were the bane of the cloud civilisation. And these men were hunting them.

All the fear and the numbness evaporated as Alizeh sprang up to her feet. Her survival instinct kicked in.

"Can't we teleport?" Jurian grabbed her hand.

She looked at her watch for a brief second and shook her head, "Too little battery left. We'd get lost into infinity."

"Then how?"

"Window," Alizeh pointed urgently as they rushed to the farthest corner from the door.

The window was high up and the walls were smooth and without any cracks. Nobody could climb it without at least a rope tied on the sill.

"Quick, get up," Jurian picked her up easily, and hoisted her on his shoulder.
She got up with her feet on his shoulders.

"Too high," she screamed. Loud sounds of something heavy hitting iron reverberated through the room. The shuffling of feet were nearer. There was only the solid iron door between the guards and them.

"On my head, quick."

Alizeh tried to haul herself up further by stepping on his head. She was amazed at how much weight his body could handle. She was by no means petite or athletic. But the window was still high. She stretched out on tiptoes and Jurian did the same.

"Got it," Alizeh felt the smooth ledge beneath her fingers. Her hands screamed for mercy as she tried to haul up her entire body with her hands. Her head came into view of the sunlight outside.

Crack!

A bullet whizzed past her head, almost drilling her skull. She shrieked and let go as they both tumbled to the ground. A blinding pain shot through her face as she realized that the bullet had grazed her cheek. She pressed her cheeks and stared at her bloodied hands in horror.

"Oh no! You've been hit," Jurian's voice was pure panic.

"I'm okay, it's just a surface wound," she flinched as it stung.

The groaning of the drill echoed through the room. In a few minutes, they would be swarmed.

"I'll fight them. You escape through the door," Jurian offered, "I was built for this situation."

"I'm not leaving you anywhere. Those men would try to take us captive rather than kill us. That's what they always try to do. Extract information from our brains. They would just overpower you and take you away," Alizeh argued.

"So do you have a better plan?"

And the men tumbled into the room, swinging their guns. So many things happened together in a flash.

Alizeh whipped out her detonator remote. Jurian tried to lunge at the guards. Alizeh held him back at the split second that it took for her to press the button.  The impact of the blast knocked them off their feet as the room erupted in flames around them. The dead president and the guards, all disappeared behind a curtain of fire, and so did the door. Screams filled the room with the smell of burning flesh as all of the men in the room started being gutted alive.

Alizeh watched in horror as chunks of concrete collapsed on the door. A fresh wave of fire washed over it. The fire came centripetally, consuming structures on the periphery first. They were at the centre of the impenetrable ring of fire. The computers hissed and crackled as the fire destroyed all the evidence. Jurian had wrapped his arms around her, in an attempt to shield her from the fire.

"You're not fireproof, Jurian," she cried,
"I'm sorry. I didn't know any other way and now we..."

"Shh," he said softly, his eyes glowing orange, as the colours of the inferno reflected in his eyes. "You did what was needed. Maybe we were destined to die this way."

"No, there must be some way," Alizeh was hysterical now.

"There isn't any. Admit it, Alizeh. This fire will be the end of us."

A loud sound followed as a portion of the ceiling collapsed at the edge of the room. Black smoke erupted, filling the room.