Uncharted: A Thief's Legacy

Chapter VII - Outrun, Outlast

Sam's eyes went wide, and he dragged Nathan farther into the room, out of the line of sight through the doorway. Nathan dropped his hand from Sam's face.

"Do we take them?" Sam asked, his voice barely audible.

"Or the window." Nathan nodded towards it behind Sam.

"I can't fight."

"But if we got a gun." They both stopped talking, because there were definitely footsteps in the house's entryway.

"If there's more than three or four then we don't stand a chance." Nathan whispered as fast as he could.

"Window?"

"Window." They tiptoed hastily to it and slid it open, making more noise than they wanted to.

"You first," Nathan said, and Sam hopped onto the windowsill, twisted and flipped his legs over, and dropped the couple of feet to the ground. Just as he dropped, Nathan heard the floor creak just outside the bedroom and he made a split-second decision. Moving quickly, he flattened himself along the wall that the door was on (he was already standing against it) and slid along it towards the door. He barely got into position before a person, heavily armored and armed with a rifle, stepped through.

Nathan was slower than he once was, but still quick enough. The person didn't have time to react before Nathan had grabbed him from behind and gave one quick jerk. He heard the crack and they dropped like a stone in front of him. He didn't have time to process it; instinctually he scooped up the rifle and with a swiftness he hadn't had in twenty years, he got to the window and launched himself out.

"You've still got it, little brother," Sam whispered, grinning.

"Ah, it's just like riding a bike," Nathan responded, trying to catch his breath. However, he didn't have time. A shout rang out from inside the house; someone had found the body, and in seconds they would notice the open window. The brothers ducked below the window's level and ran along the edge of the house towards the road, careful to stay out of sight from inside.

The fence between Sam's house and the neighbors was not the sturdiest-looking thing in the world and most of the way towards the street, a post had rotted out and several boards had fallen off. Nathan motioned to it and they slipped through. Now using the fence as cover, they could get closer to the road and get a decent look at the front of the house.

A rusty black panel van sat parked on the street in front of Sam's house. From their hiding spot they couldn't see anyone in the front seats, but the windows were dark enough that they couldn't tell for sure.

"Probably a rental," Sam muttered. Nathan almost laughed but managed to only nod.

Another armed man burst out of the front door and two more followed.