Does It Matter

25

The floorboards creaked ominously above their heads, while people continued to run about the house, searching for the hideaways.
Then there was the lighter set of boots that halted just before the door, after running from the house. "Where the fuck are they?!" A melodious voice yelled, a slight growl entering the end of her sentence.
There was silence as her answer and she growled a frustrated yell as a loud impact was made on the boards, and dust rained down in a denser shower.
Wu Xie saw the dust fall and attempted to hold his breath, only to inhale a large lungful of the pollutant. New mission, changing course, don't cough don't breathe don't think don't cough omg you fucking idiot...
"Achoo." He stifled the already tiny sneeze, ridiculously embarrassed of how he sounded like hello kitty when he sneezed.
He looked to the side and saw his companion looking at him with an expression that could be described as somewhere between annoyed and amused. So this guy can make expressions.
  "What?" He mimed silently at the other, annoyed and embarrassed.
Zhang Qiling smirked the tiniest, yet somehow most infuriating quirk of the lips, and turned away, placing a finger to his lips in an indication of silence.
Wu Xie resisted the urge to argue and refocused on what was happening above. It had gone silent after he sneezed, and he could now only assume that they had heard him. Damnit now we have to run again or get shot.
The silence was almost deafening as both the hunters and the prey waited for the first move to be made. It was agonizing to sit still in anticipation. I'm done with this.
With determination, Wu Xie relinquished any hope of staying hidden, he drew the pistol from his waistband, and aimed it straight up to where he had last heard the woman's voice. Zhang Qiling saw his actions in his peripheral and gave him a curious glance, then widened his eyes at the rash gesture he was about to take.
Doe brown eyes focused on the little beams of light making their way through the cracks in the boards, and zeroed in on the shadowed area, got you.
The shot sliced through the heavy silence, smashing a hole in the porch and making a satisfying impact in flesh. A screech went up, and chaos ensued seconds later.
Wu Xie smirked and rolled out from the small space, glad to be rid of the claustrophobic area. He didn't stop to see if the other was following him, he instinctively knew that he would at this point.
As soon as he was out he leapt to a standing position, adrenaline taking over his motions as he shot another bullet into the antagonizing bitch with a glint in his eyes, satisfied that she would not be able to give chase as she fell over with two lodged in her side and left leg.
She glared venomously in his direction, a string of disbelief in her eyes. "What the fuck are you waiting for?! Capture him now!!"
She screamed at her crew, and Wu Xie saw with amusement that the item she had thrown was her gun. What an imbecile.
"Go ahead and try, what a fucking dumbass crew, are you meant to be mercs? Or were you just sent here to get you all out of the way while the real ones get stuff done?" He grinned in a spiteful attempt at antagonizing the trespassers who just destroyed his home. He just wanted to go to bed already but they had probably tossed his bed to ruins along with everything else.
"Go bother somebody else already, why is it always me." He muttered to himself as he suddenly turned and ran, ignoring the pain shooting through his still healing body.
He stumbled as he bolted into the street and turned a sharp left, in the direction of the train station.
Or so his attackers would believe, if they had never lived here then they wouldn't know that if you went a few miles further, and off on the small dirt road to the side, then you would end up at a river, where Wu Xie had often gone fishing as a child, and still kept a boat by the bank.
The only issue with his plan so far was the fact that with the unpleasant state of his leg, he would not be able to walk, let alone run, to that point. Leaving him with only one option,

Make Qiling carry him.

Just kidding. No, he would have to snatch a car or motorbike somewhere.  He ran past a familiar house and chuckled to himself as he saw the bike parked right outside the walkway, perfect.

                      Pangzi's pov

Pangzi was enjoying a quiet evening, polishing a nice white jade he had come across in a tomb a few months ago, admiring his skill in aquiring the precious piece. He finished his ministrations and held the stone to the window to admire it more in the sun. Beautiful.

He grinned before his gaze suddenly caught on a figure on the street in front of his house, making a mad dash to...  somewhere. Looking to the direction the figure came from, a troop of about fifteen men could be seen giving chase. The figure faltered for a second before suddenly changing course and running right for the expensive motorcycle he had just bought last week. "Eh.. Eeehhh!!!!" Pangzi dashed to the door, throwing it open with a bellow:
"Leave my bike out of it!!!"
From this distance he could now see who it was that had now somehow hotwired his bike, and he knew that he would never see it in one piece again if it left his front yard. He should have known who it was. Who else would be running from a mob mid afternoon.

"Revenge for throwing rocks through my window!" Wu Xie yelled as suddenly another man a little taller than him jumped on behind him and the two took off with his property.
"Wu Xieeeee!!!!!!" Pangzi yelled after him, already mourning the loss.

"Damn it!"
"Boss is going to kill us if he gets away."
"Quick get a car!"
Pangzi turned his gaze to the group running around haphazardly like chickens without heads, frantic over the loss of their prey.
He sighed in resignation, he had heard there were stages to grief, he could not remember most, but he knew the first three off the top of his head: shock, denial... and anger.

"So, " he began, catching their attention with a loud and yet calm tome that belide his underlying intentions. "You all are the reason my baby was stolen." He kept a blank face as he slowly drew a grenade from his pocket, and the men's faces blanched.