home

search

19 - Escape

  Pain continued to wrack her body as the Overheat quickhack rushed through her. It was only the world that would freeze when using her sandy, not her body. It was a good thing to know, even if the circumstances were terrible.

  Sophie managed to struggle around a corner and into a corridor before time resumed. The world exploded in pain again, far worse than before. Her already heavily damaged body was hit by the recoil caused by using Chronos, making her feel as though she was being put through a blender. It felt as though her brain was drowning, her nerves were on fire and her bones had been shattered by a hammer.

  The girl faintly heard sounds behind her, belatedly realising her enemies were closing in. For a brief moment she thought about giving up. Maybe they would have mercy on her? She nearly lay down to accept her fate. But if I let them capture me, I’ll never see my friends again. I’ll never fall in love or achieve my goals. No. No, I can’t stop now. A pained growl forced its way out of her throat as she staggered to her feet. I’m getting out of this place even if its the last fucking thing I do!

  Frantic eyes scanned around, spotting an open window. Fluttering in the air was a thin metal cable. As boots thundered towards her, she threw herself out of the building. Her Adamantium arms caught the cable. Clearly however, the cable wasn’t able to support her weight.

  With a startled scream, she plummeted, almost going splat against the ground below. Just above the ground, the cable went taut, her shoulder almost being yanked out of its socket. As she let go, another surge of electricity pumped through her, courtesy of the runner. She stumbled as her feet hit the ground, shaking from the electrical charge. All around her, Barghest soldiers swarmed. She was briefly confused, then realised Ghost had turned off at some point. I must have blacked out earlier. She reactivated it, watching with a small, pained smirk of satisfaction as they lost track of her.

  From above, she heard a voice. “She’s right in front of you! Shoot her you fucking idiots!” It was the same bastard netrunner that had put her in this position. She stared at him, committing his face to memory. If she ever got the chance, Sophie would gladly exact her revenge. At that moment however, she had bigger issues. A wall of bullets flew towards her. She covered her face with a metal hand, drawing one of her Talons with the other.

  At the same time, she realised that she had escaped the range of the signal jamming device. The wounded girl quickly sent an order to her Quadra. She just needed to stall for time until it got closer.

  A loud explosion interrupted Sophie’s thoughts. A rocket had detonated a small distance away from the main group of Barghest soldiers. In the distance, Sophie could see a group of crazy Haitians speeding towards her location. One of them was reloading the rocket launcher, leaving no questions as to who had attacked.

  The distraction the Voodoo Boys provided gave Sophie some space as over half of Hansen’s soldiers moved to intercept them. It seemed the VDB’s had decided to take full advantage of Sophie’s presence. There were multiple trucks filled with gangers and Sophie watched as a trio of netrunners took control of a nearby minotaur, turning it on the softer targets around.

  Regrettably, around a dozen Barghest troops remained in the area. The netrunner that had been Sophie’s bane was half distracted by the attack but continued to direct his comrades to her location. It seemed the only silver lining in the situation was the fact the Voodoo Boys didn’t see her as a threat.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Sophie made a beeline for the exit, a gap in the wall Hansen’s men had been building to block off the stadium. Anyone that happened to get in her way was quickly dropped by a silent bullet, courtesy of her Talon. She felt more painful impacts across her back but continued forward. She had to get out.

  At that point, her body was running on fumes. She managed to slip straight out with little trouble, all of her enemies distracted by each other. Sophie ignored the chaos that continued to intensify behind her. She checked the location of her car, only to see it nearly 10 minutes away.

  Why the fuck did I have to take the Metro here!? Just because I didn’t want my baby to be stolen by the Voodoos. Stupid Sophie! It was easily the biggest mistake she had made and it was also the entire reason she’d gotten stuck in the combat zone. Just gotta avoid Hansen and his men for 10 minutes. Shouldn’t be too hard.

  Her thoughts seemed to betray her as an AV flew out of the stadium, heading in her direction. She groaned. Before she could be spotted, she dove into a nearby store. It was a decent place to hide from the search party. Inside, she collapsed behind the counter. Her mind was fuzzy and her body was burning up. Mentally, she tried to call Vik but the digital interface seemed to slip away from her grasp.

  She settled for forcing herself to stay awake. It felt like an eternity before she heard a familiar rumble approaching her position. Sophie grimaced as she struggled to stand up. Eventually she managed, leaning against the wall until she was outside. She slumped into the open door of her Raven, falling unconscious. The last thing she did was direct the car to Misty’s shop.

  -----------------------

  Misty was manning her shop as usual. However, her absent gaze and drumming fingers suggested her mind was occupied. Around three days ago, Sophie had vanished. Normally Misty wouldn’t have been worried, just thinking she was busy. However, after the second day, she had asked Sophie’s other friends if they knew where she was.

  It was easy to ask Vik. Apparently he hadn’t seen or heard from her for a while either. Misty then went on a short trip to Lizzie’s in order to ask Rita Wheeler. Unfortunately, the Mox bouncer also hadn’t heard from her in a while. The girl’s apartment was empty and her prized car was still in the garage.

  After the third day had passed, Misty had started thinking about hiring someone to search for her missing friend. Before she could do so however, a familiar rumble filled the air. The older girl rushed outside, finding Sophie’s Quadra as expected. Breathing a sigh of relief, she walked over to give the thief a good scolding for disappearing.

  The door of the car opened and a body flopped onto the pavement, a soft groan escaping her lips.

  “Sophie!” Misty cried as she ran to the girl’s side, picking her up. She was in terrible condition. Her whole body was covered in dirt and her clothes had been shredded. Barely any of her beautiful, pale skin was visible, caked in blood as she was. The worst part was how shallow her breath was, almost non-existent.

  “Vik! Emergency!” Misty barged into Vik’s clinic, holding her friend's broken body. The older man, about to question her, turned serious as he took in the sight of the bloodied young girl.

  “On the chair, now.” Misty did as she was told, the doctor immediately getting to work. A tense few minutes passed before Vik spoke again. “She’ll live. Truth be told, she should already be dead. Honestly I’m not sure how she’s alive. But she’s clinging to life and that’s a good sign.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “She's been shredded to pieces by gunfire. However, that’s not the main issue. She must have been hit by a netrunner, multiple times at that. Her implants have discharged a significant amount of electricity and her body shows signs of overheating.” He paused. “Beyond that? An immense force was applied to her whole body, including her internals after she had taken all that damage. There’s also signs of sleep deprivation and she hasn’t eaten for at least a day.”

  Misty nearly burst into tears. Sophie was weird and could sometimes be annoying. But she was like a little sister and Misty hated whenever she got hurt. Seeing her in such a state though, was a first and it nearly broke the older girl’s heart.

  “How long will it take for her to recover?”

  “I’ll have to put her in a coma for at least a week. Her body needs time to recover. I’ll also have to replace some of her organs. It’s a good thing we’d already gone through some of her desired chrome so I know what to put in her.”

  “I see…Take care of her, Vik. I need some air.”

  “You’re not the only one that cares about her kid. I’ll fix her up. That’s what I'm here for after all.” Misty nodded, slowly leaving the basement while Vik turned back to the small troublemaker.

  “What am I gonna do with you kid,” he muttered. He looked at her exposed back. To be more precise, the full spine replacement, an operation he certainly didn’t perform. “Always getting into mischief.”

Recommended Popular Novels