A few minutes ago,
Zadie jumped from the window, landing on the balcony below her while she began to run along the edges of the walls, hundreds of bullets whizzing past her as she jumped to the nearest building to her.
She clicked her tongue, squeezing herself into another room to try and regain her composure.
There is more than I counted. She thought. Gritting her teeth. How do I get out of here? Will I be able to make it out?
"There is no such thing as failure." She remembered Issac's father saying. "You either succeed or you die. Nothing more and nothing less. Remember that."
"But ... what if I don't know what to do?"
"The human mind is incredible, Zadie. You will be able to overcome anything if you can just calm down and assess your situation."
Coming back to the present, Zadie took in a deep breath and forced her body to try and relax.
Best to either go by the roof or by road. She looked around her at the room. I will be faster with the roof but it is riskier.
Pulling out a chain hidden under her clothes, she looked at the orb very similar to Haiti's though the inside is green smoke and pulled it out, clasping it in her hands.
"I will have to take that if I want to make it in time to bring Haiti back." With renewed vigour, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the HDD. "You better be worth this."
Throwing the orb on the ground, she stepped on it, letting the smoke spread all around the room just as the doors burst open.
They began coughing as unexpected smoke blocked their vision and Zadie managed to escape them easily, making it to the hallway as people were coming out of their rooms at the commotion.
Frowning, she grabbed a cloth from a random person and used that to cover her face from their view.
As she ran, a stray bullet fired at a child making her stop in her tracks as she picked him up and jumped out of the way.
The people that gathered began to scream and run in all directions as she placed the kid down.
A woman ran to them, picking the boy up while she blended into the crowd of people running out of the building, only, she took the stairs to the roof.
Before she left, she saw the boy staring up at her with wide eyes, wonder written all over them.
Don't admire me, kid. She thought, passing the numerous people running down the stairs in a panic, many not sure of what is happening and just followed the crowd.
__________________
It took a while but she was able to get to the roof without a hitch, pulling the cloth from her face to breathe as the bullets began to shoot at her once again.
Sighing with annoyance, she began to run, the doors of the roof opening as two ordinary-looking people rushed at her.
Making sure the HDD is safe in her pocket, she held it tight and jumped from that roof to the next, meeting with one of the shooters, trying to load their gun.
One kick to his face and he was out. Taking the gun, she hid behind a wall and fired at the two running after her, one managed to duck behind a wall but the other was not so lucky.
Carrying the gun in her hands, she began to make her way to the other buildings, taking each one out as her ammo ran out and her legs grew weary.
The pain on her shoulder throbbed and her sides hurt but she could not stop. It seemed that the number of people pursuing her had increased with every building she passed.
This city needs to reduce the number of buildings, damn.
Some were even running after her from the ground. They have stopped shooting at her for the time being and are only running behind her, some following from the other buildings opposite to the ones she ran on.
How long have I been running? Ten minutes? Twenty? It feels a lot longer. I need to stop for a second.
Stopping at the side of another abandoned building, she jumped off the balcony, grabbing onto the railings and ran into the window, breaking it in the process.
Just before she jumped, a bullet shot into her side, almost making her miss the railings to the room she is in now, groaning in pain.
Why are they so persistent for an HDD anyway? She thought, trying to pick herself from the ground while her legs throbbed.
I can't keep running forever. She burst out of the unfinished room into the partially built building covered with trash, empty wine bottles and just random packets littered around.
Ducking inside a room, she closed the door, falling to the ground as her back rested on the wall. The room looks like a storage closet with rotting buckets of water and clothes.
The throbbing on her shoulder got worse as she took her sweatshirt out and examined the searing wound with specks of dried blood all around it.
Adrenaline wearing off, the bullet, and other, wounds on her side and leg began to hurt.
The lead might be poisoned, I need to take them out. She thought, about to make an attempt to remove the bullets but with no tools, she could not dig far enough into the wound before almost blacking out.
Resting her head onto the wall, she sighed out in frustration. Taking the gun strapped to her back, she pulled out the magazine, checking the bullets.
Knights SR-25 rifle. She remarked. Will this be enough to take them all out? How many were there again?
Four behind me, but I can't tell the number of people in the other buildings. They are going to surround this building in no time. Persistent bas***ds.
Zadie tried to stand up but her leg gave way, making her fall to her knees once again.
She pulled up her pants, revealing two mechanical legs attached below her knee. A blue liquid could be seen moving around admits the machines, metal and many other interlocking gears that allowed her to move with ease.
The pain on the stump of her leg came back as she attempted to try and massage the hurt away.
It hurts. Damnit.
___________
"It hurts! It hurts!" She heard herself screaming in pain while writhing on an operation table.
"How indebted are you to me, Zadie?" The man standing over her asked, holding a bloodied saw in one hand. "After everything I have done for you? I thought you were grateful to me."
"I am! I am. Iam." She panicked, looking up at the man she admired so much growing up.
"Then try to bear this small thing without making too much noise." He said, bringing the saw down again as the girl screamed even louder, pleas and begs falling to deaf ears.
__________
It took a while to get used to the pain of walking but she had to keep trying to build strength in her legs, no break.
"This is to make you stronger than anything in the world." The man would say softly. "One day you will thank me."
Zadie scoffed, the pain still evident on her leg as the skin around it turned a deep red. This does make her faster and stronger than the average human but … if overused, it can cause more problems than help.
Well, whatever. She thought, pulling a dagger out of her side and shoved it into the machine, knocking something out. You have your use, Issac and I have mine. Though that might end today.
Feeling strength come back to her legs, she finally stood up as bullets came bursting into the room. The door was not strong enough to stop anything.
Zadie kicked the wall to the right of her down, showing another room that she ran to take cover in when the second round of bullets came in.
In the room, she noticed even more rotting cleaning supplies, the smell even worse in this room as compared to the other one.
What kind of awful layout is this building? No wonder it never finished.
Holding the gun in one hand and making sure that the HDD is still there and intact with the other. She took off her shoes carefully and planted her mechanical toes into the ground, closing her eyes.
The vibrations on the ground show more than fifty people outside the other door still shooting at the room she was previously in.
Looking further as her feet implanted even deeper into the building, she could make out ten jeeps outside the building with even more people ready.
"Cease fire!" One man shouted as the shooting finally stopped.
"All or nothing." She remembered the man saying as her eyes flew open. Taking her feet out of the ground, she looked at her gun, and took in a deep breath.
"All or nothing," Zadie whispered, bursting out of the door, shoulder throbbing even more.