Arcane Sequence: 1994: Never Stop Running... (WLW)

Part Two: Chapter Sixteen: Islamorada Island, Florida, December 1998

This chapter contains dark themes.

Berry opened the small door with caution, keeping herself barricaded along the outside wall as she peeked down the minuscule tunnels. After making sure the area was clear, she spotted three tunnels, one of which led downward and held the faint echo of rushed footsteps and grunts. After going inside the small room, she made her way into the tunnel, checked around its corner for any threat and immediately met one whom she knew by name. Saul stepped around the side of the tunnel and into the small room, pulling a knife from his side and slashing it upward.

Using her rifle to take the brunt of the attack, Berry lifted it overhead and felt for her Smith & Wesson, only just recalling that her holster was in pieces and barely hanging onto her shoulder. Just as she registered where her gun dangled, Berry felt Saul pull back and gazed up at him. He flipped his knife over in his hand and thrust it toward her face, forcing her to jerk her head back to avoid its blade. Using the butt of her gun, she first hit his gut, then spun around and hit the back of his head as he fell forward.

Saul hit the ground and began chuckling before too long, rising rather lethargically to his feet. He still stood in front of the tunnel as he turned to face her. "You've gotten better, Berry. Seems you didn't waste your time apart from your family." Saul rubbed his belly as he fixed a set of brass knuckles to his free hand and readied both in front of himself.

With a raised eyebrow, Berry lifted her assault rifle, recalling there to be around twelve bullets left inside. "What makes you so certain I won't just gun you down. You killed my uncle, you bastard."

"Exactly, so shouldn't my death be more personal than just a simple shot to the head." Saul stood up straight and dropped his fists. It was a big mistake. "There's no fun in--"

BAM!! Berry fired a single shot into his chest and kicked him there right after for good measure. Saul released cries of anguish as he fell back into the tunnel and grasped at the shirt along his chest as blood oozed its way between his fingers. He stared up at her in shock, blinking a few times as she drew nearer, but never got down to his level.

Raising the gun and aiming it at his head, Berry shook her own as she felt a snarl along her lips. "You think I have time for you? You aren't worth more than the two bullets it will take to put you down for good. One in the chest," Berry winked at him and he raised his hand in defense, but she wasn't about to entertain this man a moment longer. "And one in the head."

Upon her last word as Saul yelled in indignant rage, Berry pulled the trigger and moved on. Just as she said, he wasn't worth the wasted time. Not a traitor to the badge, the city he'd pledged to protect...and the fellow officers he'd schemed to murder along the way.

She hurriedly journeyed as fast as her legs would carry her down the narrow tunnel, feeling the pressure build a bit the further she drew to a light at the end. It could have been from what she must do to obtain her love's freedom. It could have been the fact that she was traveling closer to sea level. Either way, she used the force as momentum to journey further until she met that glimmer at the end of the passageway. Once she arrived and realized the light shone under a door, she kicked it open and clung to the side of the tunnel.

A shot fired her way, followed by another and another until the person posted there had emptied their clip. Taking the opportunity as she realized she had but one clip left in her magazine, Berry whipped around the tunnel wall and fired two shots into a man standing nearby. One hit his leg, but the other missed its mark. As he toppled around the shrubbery he hid behind, Berry focused her rifle on his head and fired one more shot. Upon him falling still, she ran at top speeds onto a beach that led to several docks on the north flank of the property.