Conniveo

Chapter 23: Efficacy

"Kana! KANA!!"

I found myself screaming as Kana slumped to the ground. The last twenty seconds had been...intense. I would never have thought that Kana was as incredible as she had just showed herself to be. When she stood there with a gazillion pexes flying around her and looking like a sandstorm, I was forced to see her in a different light. She wasn't just a pretty face with a killer bod and the sciencey way of talking. She was also insanely powerful. She had just faced a massive vehicle and military guys with the calm of a Buddhist monk. I couldn't help but stare with admiration. The mixture of both features in the same person was both crazy and sexy. I always had a thing for femme fatales.

My mind raced through the recent events as I ran towards her unconscious body. When she unlocked the door for us earlier, I honestly could not recognize her. I could blame it on the partial darkness and the shock of seeing Chloe, but honestly it was the sight of her that threw me off. She was dressed in a similar catsuit as Chloe's, but without the utility belt. Her hair was shorter- about chin length and it showed off her neck beautifully. I had thought that Chloe brought some other girl from whatever transdimensional jail-breaking clubhouse she came from, but when she hugged me, I knew it was her. Her scent was a signature; I could get high on the smell of her alone. It was a tornado of emotions inside - Happiness, surprise, relief, fascination, tension...and lust. I was torn at the time - I loved how she felt in my arms but I was also concerned for her own safety. I had made her sick enough to be considered a bioterrorist. Then Koli went Lara Croft on us with the flash grenade thing and everything happened so fast. I had relished those few seconds of Kana's hand in mine. It just felt...right.

"Kana, Kana, wake up!" I held her off the ground and shook her. She was unresponsive. I felt pain in my chest as I continued to shake her, begging her to wake up. In the midst of everything happening around me, I was only partially aware of what I was saying. The smoldering hovercraft lay about three hundred feet from us, a wreck of metal and plastic giving off the sickly smell of an electrical fire. I heard a faint groan and looked down. Kana was still unconscious, but her chest was rising and falling. I felt a bit of relief that she was still alive, but I wondered if she was ever going to wake up. When she had zapped the huge machine, I saw something in her eyes. Like she had broken, or pushed herself over the edge. I felt a surge of guilt; she did not have to do any of this on my account. She had risked her life, health and safety for me. The Security guys had recognized her, which meant that she was now possibly a fugitive. I did not know if I would ever go so far for her. I wasn't exactly an altruistic person.

"Eugene, you have to carry her. Reinforcements are coming, and we have to go."

Chloe's voice was something of loud whisper. She ran past me towards the wrecked hovercraft and I heard shots fired from her gun. Apparently, some of the men had survived the crash. I stared on at her and began to wonder: who exactly was she? Who told her to break me out? How was she in both our dimensions? How did she even know I was here? Even my own mother who lived with me had no idea where I was. Was she really related to Irene? And if she was, did Irene also know about this dimension? Chloe began to move forward, checking through the rifle scope for the reinforcements that were supposed to be coming. I bottled in my questions and carried Kana in my arms, laying her head against my right shoulder. She wasn't really heavy, but she wasn't light either. I walked behind Chloe and Greg, trying to keep up with their speed, but also trying not to move too clumsily and drop Kana. We walked around the prison's fence, in the direction of the blinking locator on Chloe's tracking device. Greg raised his hand to motion for us to stop.

"What is it?" Chloe asked, still whispering.
"I thought I heard something"
"What did it sound like?"
"Like a beep. I know it's not from your tracker so I'm wondering where it's coming from."