Alieya looked closely at the man before her as he watched and re-watched the video recordings on her camera. Foxtrot-5 finally agreed to her proposal. He agreed to search for the mutated beast but under the condition that all the critical decisions will be made by him. If he decided that their life is in danger, they could stop. There will be no rush.
If they spend a long time wandering and didn't find the beast, they could abandon the mission. That was some of the things they have agreed upon.
"By the way, what's your real name? Foxtrot-5 is too long and it's obviously not your real name." She asked.
"Just call me Fox. The guys back in the prison call me that." He answered, his attention still on the camera.
"You just shortened your identity tag. You're not a convict anymore." She reminded him.
"Yes, You bought my freedom. Technically, I'm now your prisoner. Just call me Fox." He repeated, not bothering to look at her.
"Fine, If you insist." She said and waved her hand casually.
They had been sitting motionless across each other for more than one hour already. The sun had already sunk into the horizon and it's already dark outside. Only then Alieya thought about their current condition. She was in a room with a man. Sooner or later they would have to rest for the night and sleep.
'Should I rent another room for him? No, he might run away. I guess it would be Okey to sleep in the same room with him. After all, he and I will be together in this mission from now on.' She was once again talking to herself in her mind.
The room was just around 4 meters by 6. There is one bed on the side, a table and two chairs by the window. Asking him to sleep on the floor doesn't seem right. The bed was large enough for both of them.
Alieya's face started to warm up as all kinds of things crossed her mind.
"What's the matter, do you feel unwell?" She heard Fox said, breaking her train of thoughts.
"No, I'm fine. I guess I'm just too tired." She answered hurriedly.
"Right. You can go and take the bed. I will be sleeping in this seat." He said.
Alieya was about to say something when they heard a loud crashing sound outside. Then a distinct sound of gunshot followed.
She quickly run to the door and opened it a couple centimeters wide.
There were group of men wearing masks outside. They were armed with handguns, kicking the doors open one after the other.
"What was it? Someone fighting on the lobby?" Fox asked, returning the camera inside her bag.
"There are men outside, I think they are looking for us. They have guns." She said, slamming the door shut and locking it in a single fluid motion.
"That can't be right. Maybe they are looking for someone else. We just got here." He said, sounding anxious.
"Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Alieya raised her eyebrows as she grabbed her bag from the table.
"Let me take a quick peek." He said and headed for the door.
Fox was a couple steps away when they heard a loud banging on the opposite side of the door. Someone just kicked it.
"I saw the woman inside. They are here!" One of the men shouted.
"It's locked!"
"Then blast the whole room with them." They heard someone shouted from the outside.
Fox instantly dived to the corner, pulling Alieya down with him.
"Quickly, cover your ears." He snapped at her. He kicked the table, slamming it against the door with a loud thud.
In that moment, The door was turned into shower of wood splinters as it was pounded by gunfire. He squinted his eyes, trying too look through the thick dust, flying splinters and broken furniture. He wrapped Alieya in a tight embrace and rolled to the corner of the room, away from the line of fire.
The gunfire only lasted less than a minute but is was enough to turn their room into a mess of torn fabrics and shattered walls. Some of the wooden floorboards were ripped and the bed was riddled with bullet holes. The door was torn apart, with a wide gaping hole in the center. It was a wonder that it was still closed.
Fox scanned the the surrounding when everything went silent. He can still hear the sound of running boots outside their room. There was still shooting outside. He has no time to waste.
He did a quick check up on Alieya, The tears were flowing endlessly on her eyes but she was not moving or making any sound. She was overwhelmed by the raw violence of what she just experienced.
When he didn't saw any blood on her, he quickly stood up and dragged the bed across the floor. He then blocked the door with it.
Someone slammed at their door again, trying to break it open. When they failed, Fox saw a small cube fell and burst into a fireball when it hit the floor.
He quickly removed his shirt and wrapped it around Alieya. He dashed away from the fire and headed to the window.
The light bulb was already shattered and their room was already dark but with the flame spreading, Fox felt like he was inside a big, bright oven.
Alieya was still not responding to him so he just swept her off her feet and carry her to the window edge.
"We're going to jump. If you can hear me, hold on tight." He said.
Their room was located on the second level of the building. It was a good thing that there was a tall grass directly bellow their window. He didn't feel any pain when he jumped down.
He landed smoothly and quickly dashed forward. He could still hear the sound of shooting.
'These men are killing everyone.' He thought darkly as he sprinted away from the area. He was about a hundred meters away when he paused to catch his breath.
He slowly dropped Alieya in the soft grass and checked around if they were followed.
"Hey, are you back with me now?" He gave her another light shake in the shoulder.
"Are we- Are we going to die?" She managed to say. She was gripping his arms so tight that her fingernails were digging into his skin.
"No, We are going to escape from here." Fox said in a serious voice.
Alieya stared blankly at him for a few seconds before nodding. She then clumsily wiped the tears off her face.
"Your face is bleeding." She said in unsteady voice.
"This is just a scratch. Stay close to me and remove your shoes. We have to walk as quietly as possible from here on." He said, giving her a light pat in the head.
She nodded her head once again. She understood.
Fox slowly guided her farther from the place. The moonless night was working best for them, hiding them in the darkness.
He could still hear the sound of gunfire from time to time and the voices of men shouting .The sound started to fade in the distance as they slowly moved farther away.
"I know a safe place not far from here. We can rest there until morning. There is also a free flowing stream there so you could clean up." He said after an hour of walking. He pointed his finger ahead.
Alieya looked at where he was pointing soundlessly. She was afraid that tears might leak from her eyes again if she tried to speak. Everything happened so quickly for her. If she was alone on that room at that time, she would be dead right now. She wasn't able to react to anything and only froze in fear. She took few deep breath to calm her racing heart. She has to be stronger than this if she want to survive.
They stopped on a place which Alieya recognized. It's a wreck of an aircraft. Most of its frame was already buried by the thick foliage and moss but she can still make out its appearance. It was the kind of aircraft that was used on the last global war 25 years ago. It's a relic of the ugly past.
She was guided by Fox to the remainder of its cargo bay where she would be sleeping.
"Did you sustain any injuries? Any pain?" He asked again as she sat on the flat surface. That would be her bed for the night.
"No, I'-I'm just afraid." she said in a small voice. She was unable to look on his face.
"We are already far away. They will not find this place." His voice was full of assurance.
"How did you find this place? Have you been here before?" She said as she hugged her own knees.
"I already knew this place for a long time. It's safe here."
"Don't leave me, Okey?" She pleaded. She can feel her face burning in embarrassment. She was thankful that it was so dark in this place that she can barely make out his figure. He could not see her clearly as well.
"I will be right here at the entrance, just scream on the top of your lungs if there's a problem." he said.
Alieya curled herself on the cold surface and closed her eyes. She focused all her thoughts on restraining back her tears until she finally fell asleep.
----------
Jagen was pacing back and fort outside the burning hotel. He was furious.
It was supposed to be an easy job. They planned to disguise themselves as travelling merchants and rent a few rooms. From there, they would sneak from room to room and try to locate their target as quietly as possible. They passed on the front desk easily. The keys to the rooms they just rented was already on his hands too.
Everything was going smoothly until one of the hotel employees noticed a bloodstain on their boots. It was the blood they got from the prison.
He could still made up an acceptable excuse for such standard inquiry but one of his men pulled out his gun and shot the person on the head.
Jagen flared in anger at that moment but tried to get the things back on his control. He ordered all the hotel employees to gather on one room and locked them inside.
He did not know that there was a peace-sentry outpost nearby and the guards there heard the gunshot. He had no choice but to exchange fire with the sentry guards stationed there.
His firepower was instantly cut in half as he needed to hold off the sentry guards while he also need to locate his target.
After the dust settled, all seven sentry guards and three of his men were dead. Around 20 civilians and hotel guests died. Yet his target managed to escape.
"Arrrgh!" He shouted in frustration and kicked the piece of broken wood near his feet.
His men were all standing nervously in front of him, waiting for his orders.
The tracker in his group was standing on the center. His knees were shaking in fear.
"So, they just disappeared?" Jagen asked in dark tone.
"They jumped from the window and landed on the grass over there." His tracker answered carefully, pointing at the disturbed patch of grass on the side.
"And then, where did they go?" Jagen asked.
"It seemed that he was carrying the woman with him because I only saw one set of footprints headed on that direction. Then the tracks disappeared when they reached the road." The tracker answered slowly.
"So, that's it? We lost him? Remember that he is only one man. He has no military training and he's unarmed. He also has a girl in tow. How hard would it be to get him?!" Jagen said slowly, his voice was rising at every word.
He was fuming in anger when he felt a sudden vibration on his side pocket. He reached for his phone.
"How are things at your end? Do you have him?" The voice asked as he placed the phone on his ears.
"Not yet, I came across a little complication. But everything is going smoothly now. I can deliver his head to you before the deadline" He answered quickly. It was the client that was calling.
"A little complication you say?" The voice said in a mocking voice.
"Yes, I am certain that I can capture Foxtrot-5 before sun set tomorrow."
"I don't need to hear promises. I will double your payment. Hire more people and get more guns if you need to. I want results."
The client then hung up the call before Jagen could say anything else.
He tried to calm himself up after putting his phone back in his pocket. The client's deadline was tomorrow midnight, and it's almost dawn already. He lost some of his men and already messed up the area. He need to get some result soon. He has less than 24 hours left.
"Let's move out of here. Erase all our traces in this area. You know the drill." He ordered his men before taking one last look around.
He ordered his men to reload and rearm themselves before the sun rises in the morning. He also made a quick recruitment for new shooters to replenish his lost men. The client paid him a large amount of money and he knew failure will not be acceptable.
He know this kind of clients. They will not hesitate to spend money but if the mercenary failed to accomplish the job, they will suffer pain worse that death.
"I will comb the entire forest tomorrow if I have to." Jagen declared to himself.
He took another look at the photograph of his target.
"Foxtrot-5, You are proving yourself to be very hard to catch. Let's try your luck again tomorrow." He said before crumpling the photograph in his fist.