The safe was open. More precisely, covered up. This bad cow, because of her self-confidence, did not slam the door. Well, what would
you
do in my place? Right! The same as me.
Finally taking the mask from the table and putting it on myself, I rushed to the safe at full speed, which was given out by my four limbs. Looking into it, I immediately saw what I was looking for — a plump folder called "Three Cherry trees". Besides her, there were three other folders, some kind of tin box and seven bundles of money. There was no time to check what I was stealing, and there was no point now, so I quickly stuffed the papers into my backpack and thought for a moment. And with a thought: "Why not?" — he threw money there as well.
And now I had the most interesting thing — to get out of the building. The sounds of the battle were growing all the time, moving deeper. In the symphony of pistol shots, the famous product of Count Kalashnikov and even something offensive and explosive as percussionists were wedged in. Most likely — an analogue of "RGD-5", judging by the sound. The exit from the office leads to the office, which, in turn, opens into a considerable room filled with boxes and some bales. In the office, by the way, the windows are armor-piercing, I don't know why.
A fleeting glance through the doorway shows that there is no one in the next room. Crouching down, I run along the wall to the exit. I carefully look out and observe a picture of a fierce battle. The mouse, and it seems to be him, is rushing like a drill at three bandits who are pouring automatic bursts at him at point-blank range. Seryoga, with his knife in his hands, dances in the company of some men, while trying not to fall under the pistol shots of other gopnik who took refuge not far from the machine gunners. A real warrior. I am sure that he is a Veteran, which means that, like a Mouse, he can withstand automatic bursts, but still tries to avoid hits. Even then I knew what the "armor of the spirit" was and how it differs from fighters of different ranks. About the Virtuoso I then neither boom-boom. Thanks to Shin's father, I had a rough idea of what the same Veterans, as well as two junior and two senior ranks, were capable of. And still it was wild for me to see this with my own eyes. After all, even in my home world, at the peak of my powers, being officially the most dangerous fighter on Earth, I would not have survived a shot in the head. And here some... civilian is rushing against three "kalash", and at least henna to him.
Well, let's not talk about sad things. Isiatama, along with an unnamed partner, was spinning in the crowd of opponents, disabling one or the other. But Akemi and the Chinese were not visible, but they could be heard. I couldn't tell right off the bat, but there were gunshots somewhere in the back of the building... and yes, explosions too.
So, first you need to decide how to leave. The windows here, though unarmored, are too high for me. To get to the emergency exit, you will have to pass by the crowd of fighting people and remain unnoticed by the shooters, who are literally two meters from the door to the corridor. And, of course, the main exit. The way there is relatively clear, but it is somewhere there that Akemi is fighting now. And that's where I have to go. Maybe I'll meet my aunt and the psycho, or maybe I won't. But I'm unlikely to be able to get to the emergency exit. So — go ahead, on the wall, on the wall.
About halfway to the exit, a screaming body was thrown out of the tangle of fighting people. Hitting the boxes behind which I was at that moment, it crashed into the wall next to me. The broken arms, legs and, judging by the appearance, the spine made me want to finish off the still living sufferer. Fleeting. In the end, they will do it without me. And when I was at the very door, I was almost knocked down by another body, literally demolishing the doors. Having frozen for a moment, I turned around and managed to see how the Russian was launching another flyer in my direction. After waiting for the body to dock with the wall and showing the middle finger to the live catapult, he dived into the doorway and drove at full speed towards the main exit.
Hallway. Door. Hallway. Turn. Another turn. Door. Another office. Door. Fork, to the right. Another door. Fork. Shot.
A somersault over his shoulder, a U-turn in the direction from which the shot was fired.
"That... freak! What kind of night is this?"
Ten meters away from me was the same psycho, the leader of the rapidly decreasing flyers. And in his hands he had a seventeenth Glock aimed at me. One of the products that copy the analogue of my world right down to the screw. And now this excellent pistol was in the hands of a man, judging by his face, who was in the last stage of rabies. And the chela got not weakly. The right cheek is scratched in blood, the left sleeve is torn off, the right pant leg is held on a pair of threads, the left thigh is covered in blood. In general, he fought a lot.
Behind me, twenty meters away from me, are the doors to the hall. And there are a couple of corridors to other parts of the building, a closed front door and the main thing I need is ordinary, non—armored windows. In front of me, ten meters away, is a man with a gun and a thirst for blood. And my previous speed and strength are somewhere in the "someday there will be" area. Eh, let's remember the old days, let's forget the pendulum. Yes, not simple, but with a step back.
So. Jerk your head to the left, step to the right, shoot. Slightly pull with the right hand, a barely noticeable movement with the right knee, a step to the left, a shot. Shoulder movement to the right, another step to the left, a shot. Swinging the pendulum is not just swinging the body back and forth, it is reading the opponent, his motor skills and the surrounding space. Perfect control of your body. The pendulum is, if I may say so, bodily hypnosis. You don't just know where the enemy will shoot, you yourself actually shoot with his hands. Movement of the right foot, right hand, slightly bend the left leg, step to the right, shot. Shot. Shot.
Bang-a-bang
. A forty-four-caliber shot from behind my back blows off part of the skull and the body of an already ex-psycho.
— Finally. He made me run. — Akemi, get her. Well, who else. "And you keep surprising me, kid. This is the first time I've seen this. It was like you knew where he was going to shoot. — Come on, figs, in this world, don't they swing a pendulum? — Will you teach me?
I don't even know what to answer here.
— Come on, don't get too tight. Let's go finish off the rest and calmly discuss everything.
Well, what the hell! Or is it my fate to perish this night? This... mare was standing in the aisle, blocking the only exit at the moment. There's nowhere to run back... actually. And she won't.
— Okay, buddy, give up. There's nowhere for you to run. My guys have probably finished and are coming here. So turning is not the way out, but I'm ahead. Yes, I won't even shoot, so I'll catch it. I have the rank of a Veteran, have you heard about this? She asked with a grin.
M-yes, business…
"You won't?" — I twisted my neck, cracking my vertebrae. — Well, catch it.
I started to step back for a run-up. Stopping in front of the door, he bent his knees slightly and spread his arms, ready to take off. A moment or two, and I shoulder open the door, rushing back into the depths of the building. Why back? Well, how do you imagine a child passing by a Veteran? It's unreal. Even if by some miracle I manage to get around her, I stupidly will not be able to escape from her, Akemi will catch me in five meters. And so there is a chance that she just won't chase me — I'm running into the hands of her guys.
After running almost the entire corridor located behind the door, I was convinced that I was right: the woman had just entered the corridor. Pushing the door in front of me, I found myself on the landing. Jumping two steps at a time, I went up to the second floor. With the help of a shocker, which I already had in my hand, I opened the nearest door, since the locks in the building were mostly identical. I was lucky, there was an air duct grille in the first office. And since there was no secrecy in my plan, I simply tore out this grate, I had enough strength for that. Instantly screwed into the duct pipe, I, like a worm, headed into the depths of the building. And after five minutes I could be sure that no one would get me out of here in the near future. The size of the pipes will not allow.
The plan was simple — to get to the nearest ventilation outlet leading outside. The exits themselves ended with screws, which I might have stopped, but I would not have been able to get between them. But my pursuers are unlikely to be sure of this. Considering the distance between the screws, it's really not so clear. I checked everything at the Wrapper at home and I know that I'll get stuck, but Akemi doesn't know that. So I had to get to the external ventilation and use the crowbar that I always carried with me to stop the screws. Then lie down in the depths of the pipes for a couple of days and wait until the excitement subsides and everything calms down. After that, at night, calmly get back out and get out of the empty building. There was only one problem right now—finding that damn exit. I have not worked out such a plan, and I have not memorized the duct system of this building. And I didn't really know.
And it turned out! Except for a couple of nuances.
Firstly, it took me three hours to get to the outlet I needed from the duct. Three hours of crawling in such a gut! Let me remind you once again, in a previous life I was a Destroyer. Not a spy and a scout, like a Shadow, not a killer, like an Eraser, after all. And even if not an ordinary, but still a banal fighter. And such movement in such a place is new to me. A couple of times I even realized how claustrophobic patients feel. In general, a very unpleasant three hours.
Secondly, the expectation. After I blocked the screws, I crawled away, took a bottle of water out of my backpack, and put the backpack under my head, stretched out in the pipe and prepared to wait a couple of days. However, either Akemi or her fellows had a good eye, or they were just so stubborn, but only on the fifth night crowds of people left the building, and I was able to get out of there. And I'll tell you: it wasn't easy. Four days without food is a lot for an adult. And the bottle of water volume was only zero thirty-three.