Mahingga

Chapter 29: Crash

The sound of gunshots filled the air like thunder. Dust shot up from the ground in front of Ako like water from a geyser. Squinting through the haze, he saw a full troop of Paingitan soldiers marching towards him from the other end of the courtyard.

Ako stood still, mystified by the impending doom.

"Ako! Over here!" Kita's voice pierced through the roar.

He looked around frantically without seeing her.

"There," Taiyo said, pointing to the shade of a nearby building. Kita stood crouched in the doorway, her small handgun aimed towards the approaching army. Behind her were a couple other Freedom Alliance members, firing at the Paingitan soldiers.

Ako, Taiyo, and Talino ran towards Kita without another thought. On the short run there, Ako stepped over what he recognized as Shas's dead body. A bullet whizzing by his head didn't give him the chance to hesitate. He sprinted on until he burst into the building behind Kita. Taiyo and Talino made it in behind him unscathed.

Kita slammed the door shut. "We were discovered," Kita said, her eyes burning with anger.

"They attacked the FA compound. Gerof said he barely made it out and sent us a message once he did," said one of the others.

"So, we can't go back?" Ako concluded.

Kita shook her head.

"We can still make it out," Melovi came running over to them from across the room. Ako finally got a look at the building he'd entered. It was a massive room with giant machinery lining the walls. Several aircrafts in various stages of construction stood in a row at the center of the room. A scattering of dead Pawids littered the floor.

"Two of these aircrafts are functional," Melovi said, his casual smile perking up his lips. "Well, one now. I messed up the other one."

"Great, let's go," Nolik said. His cheek was bleeding from a nasty cut. All of them started following Melovi to an aircraft.

"Wait, what about the others?" Ako asked, taking a quick look at their numbers.

Kita shook her head sadly. "Dead. Come on."

As if to make a point, a couple bullets pierced the metal door near Ako. He jumped and scrambled after the others.

Melovi was already ushering the others aboard an aircraft that stood in front of the large, open gate to the outside. A few Paingitan soldiers were running to meet them, held back only by the sporadic gunshots of the Freedom Alliance members.

"Hurry," Melovi shouted.

Ako was the last one there, just behind his brother.

Melovi hurried inside and up to the controls. "Strap in. I'm taking off whether your down or not. They've got weapons to take us out if we're not fast enough.

Ako helped his brother and Talino into their seats and showed them how to strap in. He barely got his own restraint on when Melovi took the aircraft into the air and launched forward at the same time, the aircraft nicking the top of the gate on its way out. Bullets twanged off the exterior of the aircraft like rain.

"Go faster!" Kita said.

The aircraft was still low to the ground as it glided forward, passing over a regiment of Paingitan soldiers. One look at Melovi revealed that he wasn't sure what he was doing. His eyes were a blur as his head swiveled left to right, scanning all the different controls, and his jaw was hard-set as he pressed a couple buttons and moved a lever.

With a jolt, the aircraft lurched forward, launching between two buildings and out into the open sky. For a brief moment, Ako felt like he was going to puke, but the aircraft evened out and the pressure normalized. He looked over at the others and saw that Talino wasn't so fortunate, a bit of vomit decorating his brown and blue robe.