"Huh!" Theodore was stunned by Matthew's recklessness, but he too didn't want to think much. He was sure that trying to go out of the factory using any of the exits on the ground floor would most likely lead to their deaths and that the window that Matthew was heading for was their safest bet at the moment.
"Damn it!" Theodore exclaimed as he too followed behind Matthew as fast as he could.
In about 7 seconds, Matthew had successfully crossed the sky bridge in one piece and the closer he got to the window, the more excited he felt. Without wasting a second, the moment he reached the window, he jumped through it.
Feeling the cold breeze whip at his cheeks, Matthew could have sworn that it was the breeze of a free man. His fall to the almost dry muddy ground was short.
Thud!
Matthew fell and rolled on the muddy ground due to the inertia that came from his run. Following behind him was Theodore who also fell and rolled ungracefully on the muddy ground. Their clothes were riddled with mud and sweat, but they didn't even notice as their lives and safety were their immediate focus at the moment.
The two of them felt their legs go numb, but they didn't have the pleasure of staying there to wallow in their discomfort.
Thanks to the adrenaline that was already pumping in their body, they were able to force themselves to get up and jug to the gate of the steel factory but as they got closer, they heard voices and gunshots other side of the metal fence.
Matthew and Theodore immediately lay on the ground, hoping that a bullet wouldn't find them. They quickly crawled back to the place where they landed and began assessing their options.
"The safest way out is through the stream. Can you swim?" Theodore asked.
"What? Yeah, I can but-" Matthew started but was interrupted by Theodore.
"Good, let's go. There's no time to waste. They definitely saw us and if they didn't, the mud has our footprints." Theodore hinted before mustering energy and sprinting towards the stream, leaving Matthew behind.
"Fuck! Won't the water destroy the blueprints?" He said to himself, feeling dejected and unwilling to escape through the stream, but he too agreed that it was the safest way out. "Ugh, my money." He grumbled greedily as he followed behind Theodore.
The thought of looking for a secretive area to bury the blueprints did cross his mind, but he didn't like the idea of that. 'If I can't benefit from the blueprints, then no one else will.' Matthew thought, comforting himself.
Theodore stopped by the wet grassy beach of the stream. He had heard that the stream was deep, covering a few meters, but had never gone into it. This would be his first time, and it was the same for Matthew.
"They found the corpse of some of the steel millers here a while back, let's try not to be a part of that statistic," Theodore said as he quickly headed for the water, and Matthew went with him.
"Bloody Hell, the water is freezing cold," Matthew complained, shivering in the water as they dragged their bodies to the deeper parts of the stream. Soon they began stroking, swimming away to safety as the darkness of the night covered their figures from whomever was looking for them.
After an uncertain minutes, they emerged from the stream on the side of town, on an artificial shore made of stones. Above the shore was a sloppy road that led into other pathways. They were far away from the steel factory and closer to residential areas.
This part of town didn't have any source of light. The clouds in the sky snatched the little light that they received from the moon. All they were left with was the light they could see through people's windows, albeit how weak they were, it was enough to give them a sense of direction.
Matthew and Theodore came out of the water shivering like a fawn that was just learning how to walk. Matthew put his hands in his shirt, checking the condition of the blueprints.
'Nice, they're actually waterproof. It was the right decision to not bury it in the ground.' He thought happily to himself. The idea of fleeing the city by the morning made him forget that he was feeling cold at the moment.
Seeing what Matthew did, Theodore thought that he was putting his hands in his shirt because of the cold so he thought nothing much of it.
"This should be far enough, right?" Theodore forced the words out of his mouth.
"It better be, I need to get warmed up," Matthew replied. "Achoo! Oh my, I really need to get warmed up before I catch a cold." He added.
"Same here… Matthew, have you thought about how we're going to explain our absence if it's noticed?" Theodore asked. After all, they had clocked in for the night shift, and while some people might not survive the shootout, those that did, he wondered if they were going to do anything to them.
"Hell, no. I'm never going back to that shithole of a place. The thought of facing Massey… you know what, forget about it, I'm going to another city. I'll depart in the morning." Matthew mentioned as he mustered the strength to walk up the sloppy road.
Theodore followed behind him.
'Hmm, fleeing the city is not a bad idea. If I stay here, the possibility of coming in contact with those cultists will be high. Who's to say that they wouldn't kill me on sight?' Theodore also entertained the thought of fleeing the city, but not as early as Matthew planned his.
A normal person wouldn't react the way Theodore is reacting to all of this, perhaps it's because his life had always been one unfortunate circumstance to another that he accepted this easily.
The two of them walked for a while, they reached roads that had street lamps, making them feel a bit safer than when they were walking in the darkness. The streets were empty though, most people were already asleep by this time and those that weren't were either doing something illegal or preventing others from doing something illegal.
Despite the bare state of the streets, they felt safer.
Matthew paused and looked back, "Hey, why are you following me?" He questioned, frowning at Theodore.
"I'm not — achoo! My place is at West Brook."
"Huh? Really? You are not a creep or something like that? Or are you scared of walking back to your place alone?" Matthew found that hard to believe. He knew his neighbors and West Brook wasn't a large part of Araya, it was one of the destitute areas in the city.
Not many people lived there.
And even the neighbors that he didn't know, he was aware of their looks, he took pride in being able to remember people's faces.
Theodore paused and looked at Matthew as if he was crazy. Hugging his thin frame tighter, Theodore sighed and walked past Matthew, unable to deal with his questions.
His fingers and toes were freezing.
"Matthew, for your own good, I don't think you should tell anyone about what happened tonight, even if you flee the city." Theodore advised.
"I know that already, I'm not stupid."
With Theodore taking the lead, Matthew followed behind, waiting to see if Theodore was bluffing about staying in west brook.
'He's not changing direction. Does he truly live in the West brook?' Matthew wondered, finding it odd that he couldn't remember coming across Theodore before today.
After walking for almost half an hour, the two of them stopped in front of a building.
"This is my place."
"This is where I stay."
The two of them said at the same time…
"You have got to be pulling my legs." Theodore exclaimed, amused at this coincidence.
"Stole the words right out my mouth." Matthew muttered as he eyed Theodore. he walked up to the doors of the apartment and twisted the knob.
Click!
The door refused to open.
Click! Click! Click!
Matthew continued to turn the knob, refusing to accept that it was locked. "Lilly!" He called out angrily...