Runaway

Lupus’ arms guided the injured combatants to the entrance on the side of the vehicle he piloted. For someone who had only just joined the fray, he seemed to understand the situation thoroughly and exactly how to handle it.

“Like hell we’re letting them escape after this!” Droite pushed himself up from the ground, planting his foot and pushing off the ground towards the still grounded Charlotte and Slater. He outstretched his hand as he approached, intending to stop them by any means necessary. That is, until his hand recoiled suddenly with the howl of a wounded beast. His hand, now hidden at his side, let off a trail of smoke. His eyes darted to figure out who he could blame for the bullet hole he now found in his left hand, settling on a figure cloaked in black perched atop the vehicle.

The figure remained close to the ground, keeping their eyes on Droite as they ejected a used casing from their jet black sniper rifle and readied another shot in the chamber. Droite was stopped in his tracks, with any move risking another shot. While he was stuck, a bright flash of light came from the other side of the vehicle and flew at the sniper. Before it could make contact, the figure spun around and unleashed a bullet at the oncoming dagger and neutralized it, but had let Droite free.

Reaching out in desperation, Charlotte had been inching closer to the transport the entire time the crazed man had been distracted, and was able to place a hand on a handle as she thrusted it forward with all of her might to reveal the insides of the door. She threw Slater over and onto the metal floor, and prepared to hoist herself in as well, but hesitated at the sight of Droite closing in.

“Come here, girlie!” He yelled out in desperation, spinning with a leg outstretched in hopes of connecting with Charlotte and preventing at least one of his prey from scampering off. His leg stopped just short of her face though, as the door on the opposite side of the armored vehicle flew open and let Blitz’s mace through. The chain caught his leg, twisting around it and held it in midair as the Werewolf tried balancing on one foot. Droite’s mouth opened to quip at the boy, but had his body ripped from the ground and pulled out through the other side of the transport instead, slamming into Blitz himself and bouncing alongside him on the ground until the two fell next to Maya and April.

Taking the confusion as a chance, Charlotte pulled herself up into the transport from the ground, turning her attention to her last teammate who was still on the ground, surrounded.

“Blitz! Find a way out of there so we can get going!”

The boy on the ground was covered in blood and burns, and even then, found a way to smile. The mace chain remained bound to Droite’s leg, and two chains of flame burst from Blitz’s core and bound Maya and April in the same way, causing the two to turn their heads in shock at the grounded boy.

“Get out of here! They won’t be able to catch you now!”

Charlotte’s face contorted in the horror of realization. “Blitz! Don’t be stupid!”

“I warned you, didn’t I?” He smirked as Droite’s fist landed cleanly in the center of his face.

“Let us go you brat!”

“Afraid I can’t do that, Droite.” He placed his own palm around his attacker’s fist, lifting it slowly, weakly, but confidently, from his face. “You can abuse me all you want, but you’re not laying a hand on them.”

Droite’s eyes deepened into a memory for a moment, wearing a somber expression, quickly converting it to anger.

“Shut your mouth!”

Droite making a crater below him and Blitz was the last thing Charlotte saw as Lupus turned the transport and sped as fast as he could out of the ruined city, leaving their enemies, and Blitz, behind. As she sat, still figuring out what to do next, the sniper from the roof swung themselves into the moving vehicle, closing the doors once they were inside.

“Hey! Lupus brought you along so you must have some sway with him! Tell him to turn us around right now, we can’t just leave Blitz!” Not knowing what else to do in her condition, and knowing how stubborn Lupus was, she hoped this new face, whoever it was, could help.

The masked sniper just looked off hesitantly for a moment, then rested their gaze on not Charlotte, but the boy on the floor next to her for a moment, then sized up Charlotte. Without a word, they turned and entered the front of the transport. Not long after, Lupus walked into the back. This let Charlotte assume the two had traded duties, the sniper now was driving, and Lupus had to deal with Charlotte’s pleas. Before she could repeat her previous calls, Lupus spoke to answer them.

“Charlotte, I know you’re concerned about Blitz. Let me preface by saying, we will be turning back to save him.” His body language showed a sense of calm, but in his face was a deep-buried concern. “But, we won’t be able to engage the enemy again with you and Slater like this. Please, let yourself heal.”

She looked down to the side. He’s right, we can’t do anything like this. She looked to Slater, then back to Lupus, who already had a first aid kit in hand. She grabbed it from his hands quickly before he could do anything else.

“At least let me administer it myself.” She barked out.

Lupus returned to his regular posture with a slight smile of fatherly pride.

“I never said I was going to do it, I know how you are with things like these.”

Retreating back towards the vehicle’s front, Lupus took a seat on a bench off to the side. Charlotte, meanwhile, was spraying herself and Slater down with healing enzymes and wrapping the both of them in bandages. Once she felt they were both adequately treated, she picked up Slater onto her back and sat him down across from Lupus, taking a seat next to him after.

“I take it you have more to tell us?” Charlotte broke the silence.

“Yes, and that ‘us’ part is important.” Lupus looked to the still comatose Slater. “I need him to be awake for this too.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Charlotte’s hand slipped into the back of Slater’s shirt, generating ice on her palm as he did so. With a jolt, Slater’s eyes broke from their slumber and he jumped up, clawing at his back. Then, remembering the damage he had taken as it returned to him all at once, sunk back into his seat with a wince. Noticing the downtrodden nature of the dark interior, Slater had a lot of questions immediately.

“Huh, what’s going on? Why is Lupus here? Where’s—“

“He used himself as bait, we’re planning how we’re going to rescue him now.” Charlotte chimed in, not wanting Slater’s questions to get out of hand. Slater, looking for something more reassuring, turned to Lupus. His head turned down.

“That boy is a fighter, and, before we go rescue him, I want you two to know exactly what he’s dealt with, and who exactly you’re on a team with. But before that,” Lupus turned to the front again, opening a door to the front. Slater and Charlotte heard a very loud suggestion to “turn on the autopilot” from Lupus, where he welcomed the sniper back into the room with them. “Slater, as you carried out your mission earlier today, I took it upon myself to learn more about you to see how I could accommodate you in any way. This led me to meeting your sister in the hospital, who had recently awoken.”

“She’s awake?!” His voice bursted out, but Charlotte put out an arm to prevent his body from bursting forward as well. Noticing Lupus’ desire to continue, he sat back and opened the floor.

“She told me many things about your struggles and goals in getting here, and that gave me an idea. I thought when we pick you three up, that I’d introduce you to an old friend of mine. So, me and her met at Remiel’s base outside No Man’s Land and drove this fine vehicle here when we received your signal. Fortunately, we got a model capable of jumping the river!” Lupus gave a reserved, gentlemanly laugh, turning to his friend. She just stared back through the visor of her mask. “Ah! Yes, I haven’t even introduced you yet.” Lupus stood up next to the sniper woman, moving a hand to drive the attention to her.

The sniper reached her gloved hands around her mask, slipping it off her head along with her hood, revealing silky, black hair and glossy, dark skin.

“I’ll handle this.” Her voice silenced Lupus before he could say her name, and it was when he heard her voice that Slater flinched. He knew it from somewhere before.

“Wait, you’re—!”

She approached Slater, outstretching a hand and giving a wholehearted smile built off a long forgotten bond.

“Eastern States Jackal Squadron Sniper Specialist, Cora Walker, at your service. Been a while, hasn’t it, Slater?”

“Cora?!” Slater lurched forward in exhilaration, jumping to his feet and giving his old friend a hug. “You’re alive! Thank God!”

Charlotte noticed in Slater a warmth and excitement she wasn’t used to from him. If anything, it made her happy to see a chance reunion. Especially under these circumstances. She smiled as she probed a bit more.

“You two know each other?”

“Yep, me and Slater go way back. Me, him, his sis, and his bro were practically inseparable.” Cora explained, now being released from Slater’s embrace. “I thought maybe one day he’d come over here, but never expected he’d join the military like me. Although, Can’t say I’m too thrilled to hear about Lillian…” Her face turned somber.

“It’s alright, now that we’ve made it here and found you, once she heals we can all be together again. Well, once we find Elio…”

“Still missing, huh? Can’t say I’ve made any headway here either, unfortunately.”

The two shared mournful looks with each other as the vessel had a melancholy air seep in for a few silent moments, until Lupus clapping his hands together brought everyone’s attention.

“Now that introductions are settled, Cora, will you do the honors of explaining to them Blitz’s circumstances? You’d know better than I.”

Blitz’s teammates turned to Cora.

“You know Blitz?!” They shouted in unison.

“Sure I do, but it’s a long story.” Cora looked around, spying a spot where Lupus had sat, taking the empty spot on the bench. “You guys heard of the VIP scandal that shut down immigration?”

The two sat down again themselves, nodding along.

“Well, four years ago, when I was looking for a way out of the West, I got a job working for a big shot through some of my dad’s connections. Specifically, I helped out in serving the guy’s son.” She stopped, remembering back to her days cleaning up after a stranger her age, before leaning forward with a scowl as the aftermath rushed back to her. “That son was Blitz, and he was the VIP that caused everything to go up in flames.”