Pain shot up Akio’s forearm with every step like a rusty nail jabbing into his flesh. Subject Seventeen’s hand was as good as an iron shackle around his wrist. Every time he tried to twist away, a spike of agony went straight through his bones when their grip tightened.
“Keep walking, pint-sized,” they growled.
Akio had never been so terrified in his whole life. His heart pounded in his throat. Every iota of his being was screaming that he was going to die . He was going to suffer a tragic death at the hands of this lunatic, and there was nothing he could do about it. Nobody would even miss him.
He could picture the funeral, attended by two coworkers and a hobo with nothing better to do. His tombstone would read, “ Here Lies Akio Sato - He Died as He Lived; Lame and Alone ”.
“Stop wriggling, you little worm!” they hissed, gripping the back of his collar with their other hand. “I will not hesitate to slaughter you!”
Akio forced himself to keep walking. His head was swimming and his glasses were crooked. He could feel the tension radiating off of Subject Seventeen. It was clear that they were ready to snap into action at a second’s notice.
He prayed that they would be discovered, that he would be saved. He couldn’t imagine that they would be able to get all the way out of the building without being intercepted. Hell, he couldn’t believe that Subject Seventeen’s cell had just opened up like that, without him laying a single finger on it . That was a wicked fluke.
Akio began to wonder whether it was a miracle… or something else.
“ Hey! What’re you two doing?”
A guard came up to them, his gun levelled with Subject Seventeen’s head. He was wearing full body armour, and his hand was poised over his radio.
“Hands on your head!” he growled.
The Subject squeezed the back of Akio’s neck. Their breath was hot against his ear. He could practically feel their mind racing.
“Take your hands off of Dr. Sato!” said the guard, advancing. “Hands on your head now! ”
Akio opened his mouth to warn him. Subject Seventeen’s hand jumped from his collar to clap over his mouth. Their hand was sweaty and tasted faintly of salt. He struggled against their hands, then whimpered as their fingers dug bruises into his arm and jaw.
“This is the last time!” said the guard. “ Hands on your head! ”
The Subject huffed a laugh, shifting their weight. Akio could feel their muscles coiling, preparing to pounce, all while making a show of being cavalier. “You think a loser like you is gonna stop me? I’ve been down here too long to get stopped by the likes o’ you, buster!”
The guard was less than six steps away. He took the safety off his gun.
Subject Seventeen gave Akio a shove, and his knees hit the floor. The Subject leapt over to the guard and grabbed onto him in two places. They grabbed his gun with one hand, and they crushed his radio with the other.
They crushed his radio with their bare hand.
Akio was even more afraid, if possible. He scrambled backwards and pressed himself against the wall, his hands over his ears, his eyes tight shut. His knees were too shaky for him to stand, and he was terrified of getting shot.
He could hear the sounds of the struggle. The thumping of fists on flesh, hissed curse words, muffled shouts, gasps for breath, and the sound of bodies heavily hitting the floor.
There was a gunshot, then more swearing. Akio curled into himself.
There was another gunshot.
Then silence.
He stayed motionless for a few moments. He trembled, his heart pounding in his throat. His jaw was clenched so tight he was sure he was gonna shatter his teeth.
He heard footsteps, but he couldn’t make himself look up, yet. He waited for a gentle hand on his shoulder, or a rough hand demanding that he got back on his feet.
He waited.
He considered getting to his feet and running for his life or sounding the alarm, but his body refused to obey him. His knees were still shaking, and his heart was trying to escape his chest by jumping into his throat.
He waited.
Subject Seventeen grabbed him by the back of the collar and hauled him upright.
As soon as he took in their appearance, he gasped. On their left shoulder, there was a hole through the uniform, with dark blood seeping through the fabric, staining it a sickening shade of red. Blood that wasn’t theirs flecked their clothing. They held the guard’s gun in one hand.
They jabbed the barrel towards Akio. “We can’t be far, now. Move it, unless you wanna end up like him. ”
Akio couldn’t speak. He clapped a hand over his mouth and looked over to the body on the floor.
The guard was lying in a spreading pool of blood.
He had to walk through the puddle in order to proceed to the exit. His shoes tracked the blood down the hallway.
Ryan watched that scene unfold from afar. He let out a low whistle, feeling slightly sickened by the violence he’d just witnessed.
He took another slurp from his coke. A few more taps on the keyboard disengaged the security systems up ahead. According to his map, they were nearing the exit. Ryan really wished that he could access the speaker system and tell Levitan that he was there, that he was waiting for them, that they should run, but that was on some old archaic line that he didn’t have access to.
There was another guard coming down the hall.
He put aside his coke and opened up a few files, activating the sirens in one room.
He watched the guard on screen turn his head at the sound of the sirens and quickly trot off to investigate.
Slick. He was on a roll.
He tried to grab his coke.
His fingers slipped. He tried to recover and grab it again, but it just shot out of his sweaty fingers… and upended itself over the laptop connected to the security system. The coke soaked into the keyboard. The laptop sparked. It fizzled out and the screen turned black.
Shit. Shit!
He frantically wiped it off, but it was too late. It had crashed, and it wasn’t coming back. The laptop connected to the security cameras was still operational, but they could no longer connect to the alarms or disengage the sensors that would alert the guards to their escape attempt.
Levitan was on their own, and all Ryan could do was watch and cross his fingers.
Levitan thought that this was going rather well, thank you very much. They kept a firm hold on the twerp who was guiding them out of here. Worst came to worst, he’d be a great human shield, but then they’d be lost in this facility.
They’d never had the best sense of direction.
“J-just up these stairs,” the scientist said. “Y-you’re gonna let me go, right?”
“Haven’t decided,” they said thoughtfully. “The more smoothly this goes, the less inclined I’ll be to break your neck. How does that sound?”
The kid swallowed. Levitan thought that his name was Sato. The guard called them that. They didn’t really care. Not important.
They were standing before an enormous metal door. The lock system looked very complicated, and the door was bolted up tight. It seemed like Levitan’s luck had run out, since it didn’t miraculously swing open like their cell door.
“Open it up.” Levitan jabbed the muzzle of the gun between Sato’s shoulderblades.
“Okay, okay! Whatever you say!” With shaking hands, he took out his access card and swiped it through the reader. It blinked green and a panel opened up. He had to enter the PIN.
Levitan whirled around when they heard footsteps. Heavy boots thumped on the floor just down the hallway, and they were approaching fast.
Levitan’s heart began to race. They’d come so far, no way were they gonna get caught now! They prodded Sato’s spine with the gun.
“ Hurry or I’ll blow your brains out! ” they hissed.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He mumbled something else in Japanese and he finished entering the PIN with sweat-slicked fingers.
The door opened. The footsteps were getting louder.
Levitan was officially operating on instinct. They slammed their side into the heavy door to open it fully. It swung and banged against the wall.
Not a smart move. The bang echoed around the facility, almost as loud as the gunshots had. Loud noises weren’t out of place around here, but at that second, a siren began to go off. Seems like the guard’s body was noticed.
Footsteps approached even faster.
“ Subject Seventeen’s escaped! ” cried a voice from far away.
“Oh, shit! We’re so fucked! ”
Run.
Levitan bolted up the stairs, fingers locked into Sato’s arm. The sirens were everywhere, the red lights flashing blindingly in their eyes.
Levitan burst into the lab, with Sato in tow. It was dark, aside from a few blinking lights on the computers. The light of the streetlamps shone in through the windows. It was the first light that Levitan had seen in years that wasn’t harsh and fluorescent. The smell of chemicals assaulted their nostrils, but if they had anything to say about it, they wouldn’t have to deal with that stench ever again.
“ Let me go! ” Sato screeched, trying to yank his arm out of their grip.
“Sorry, buddy, ” they snarled, grabbing his shirt collar. “I plan to make good on my promise.”
Sato’s eyes were wide in terror.
“ Besides, ” they drawled as the footsteps and shouts drew nearer. “At this point, you’re either gonna get shot by them, fired from this place for “letting” me escape, arrested for conspiracy, or killed by me! Your options aren’t lookin’ good, pal. If you play your cards right and act smart, I might be a tad more merciful than your so-called employers .”
“ They’re up here! ”
“Shit,” muttered Levitan.
Akio took a deep breath to call for help, but Levitan covered his mouth again, almost crushing his jaw with their fingers.
Someone dared to stick their head into the room. At the sound of footsteps, Levitan whipped around and fired their gun, planting a bullet square between their eyes.
Sato gave a shriek and covered his head.
“Move it, kid!” Levitan grabbed his collar and they ran for the front door.
“ They’re upstairs! Call reinforcement! ”
Levitan burst their way through the door into the lobby, almost knocking it off its hinges. The automatic doors required access cards to get in or out, but before Sato could grab his, Levitan had raised an arm over their face and smashed bodily through the glass doors with him in tow. He slipped on the broken glass and barely regained his footing. He could hear shouts behind him, and he desperately tried to get out of Levitan’s grip.
“ What do you want from me? ” he cried.
They shot him a glare over their shoulder as they ran from the building. “ Information, not to mention a punchin’ bag.”
He whimpered. He had cuts on his arms and his cheeks from the glass.
They stopped when they heard the beeping of a car horn and whooping cheers. Levitan stopped dead in shock.
There was a grey station wagon parked out front. Whoever was driving revved the engine.
Levitan’s face split into a huge grin. They still held firmly onto his wrist as they jogged over to the car, hopping over what seemed to be an unconscious police officer while they were at it.
“Need a lift?”
Levitan watched Sato’s eyes widen when he saw the culprit behind the steering wheel. A gawky teenager with black hair, freckles, and a chipped tooth grinned back at the two of them. It had been years, and he sure had changed, but Levitan knew exactly who this was.
“You sunnovagun,” said Levitan, still sporting their silly grin. “Is it really you?”
“Yep,” said Ryan. “It’s really me.” He gave Sato a once-over. “Who’s this loser?”
Levitan considered a few possibilities about what to do next while Dr. Sato floundered with his answer. After a few seconds of mulling the matter over, Levitan grabbed the back of his neck and smacked his head against the car.
Sato was knocked unconscious.
