UNMASKED

#18

Eli had to admit, this plan sucked.

Which, to be fair, was true for most of his plans. Plotting just wasn't his forte. Not that he would ever admit that, especially not to Matthew and especially not when he was already looking at Eli like he was disappointed and concerned. A weird combination, but Eli had seen worse.

So yeah, Eli's plans weren't the best, but neither were Matthew's. Probably why they took all of four steps before they were being shot at. Eli was just glad the guys after them had such shitty aim. He was also glad at the haphazard stacking of the shipping containers that provided them with enough cover to make it a good distance without dying a horrible—and frankly, stupid—death.

It was still hell trying to make it out alive, especially with bullets whizzing by and striking the containers around them. That was honestly enough to throw anyone off and Eli wasn't sure how Matthew did that kind of crap on a regular basis. Still, Eli liked to think he was doing pretty well, all things considered. After all, it wasn't like he regularly ran around beating up random criminals with no regards to his safety. With that in mind, Eli couldn't help but feel proud of himself for managing to not die so far.

Now, if only his leg could have cooperated, Eli might have been happier. Already there were small stabs of pain that, fortunately, did little to slow Eli down. There was something to be said for being shot at being the perfect motivation to run like hell, despite all the discomfort it could cause. Still, all of the jumping from one stack of containers to the next wasn't doing him any favors.

Apparently, it was bad enough that Matthew noticed. Eli didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. He still allowed himself to be pulled aside.

"We need to get down," Matthew said as they paused behind a container to catch their breath and gather their bearings. Eli could hear men shouting, but no more bullets came near them so he assumed they'd managed to lose their pursuers.

"Great plan, know how to do it without getting shot and dying a horrible, sorta embarrassing death?" He did the best he could to not be too snarky, but his aching leg wasn't helping his mood. Matthew didn't seem to mind. Probably because he could tell Eli was in pain.

"I can draw them away while you head down." There was a hopeful tone to his voice that suggested he knew what Eli would think of that particular suggestion.

"Ha, how about no?" Eli was almost amused by Matthew's attempt to be a heroic, self-sacrificing idiot. Almost.

"Then we just do the best we can to not get shot and you get ready to use my brand new smoke bombs." Eli snickered at how sulky Matthew still was about the whole smoke bomb thing. Not the most appropriate thing to do when they could die, but still.

"Sounds like a terrible plan. Let's go for it," Matthew let out a sigh at Eli's lack of faith.

"Your mother's going to skin me alive," Matthew muttered. Eli actually felt a bit sorry for him. He still grinned. "Let's go."

Matthew led the way, moving carefully and doing his best to stick to whatever cover they could get as they approached the edge of the row of containers they were on. They were standing on a fairly high stack. High enough that Eli just knew that he would absolutely die if he tried to drop from that height. Matthew seemed to think the same if the uncertain way he looked at the drop, then at Eli, was anything to go by. Eli almost felt insulted by his lack of faith until he remembered his own lack of faith in himself.

Fortunately, Matthew found a better spot. One where there were more containers stacked in differing levels, making the drop—or several drops, now—considerably more doable for Eli. Matthew dropped down first, barely making a sound like the freaking ninja he was, and helped Eli down until they just had one more drop to get to the ground. Honestly, Eli was feeling pretty proud of how far they'd gotten without dying.