531

Safe

DaQi took a deep breath and tried to steady himself to move. He didn't know where Sandus and Fulmer had gone, but there were definitely more people coming with that alarm still blaring overhead. He switched his heat sensing augmentation on - or whatever it was - and looked into the building. "We need to go now," he said to Chan Yi. "They're coming up the stairs."

"You can see that?" the AI asked him.

"I have augmentations. Or I don't know what it is anymore. But yes, I can see their heat signatures."

"You can see that mine is different, right?" Chan Yi asked.

"Yeah."

"Then make sure you don't shoot me."

DaQi snorted at that, but Chan Yi smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. This felt familiar like nothing else in his life did.

Chan Yi looked over the wall they were hiding behind. "They took cover in the garden. Go now."

They ran to the bridge of the small stream that meandered across the rooftop. DaQi could see Fulmer and Sandus's heat signatures hidden in the garden. "He's got to have something waiting for us," DaQi said under his breath as they made it to the other side.

They passed a swimming pond before they made it to the other side where the chute was located. There was an opening for a stairwell and they descended quickly to get to the chute. There was a metal cover on the landing. DaQi went to grab it, but gunfire rang out and he threw himself behind the half-wall that offered the only protection.

"Looks like they did come prepared," Chan Yi said.

"If we don't do something, they're going to catch us."

Chan Yi looked at him but he was frowning and there was something sad in the set of his lips and eyes. "You really don't remember." A second later he shook his head and turned so that he was facing the shooter. "They don't want us dead, which means they're not going to take a headshot. If anything happens to me, get me to Atieno Obuo. She'll know what to do."

"What are you going to do?"

Chan Yi smiled at him, then grabbed him by the back of the neck. He pulled DaQi close and pressed their lips together. DaQi was too surprised to do anything about it. When Chan Yi let go and leaned back he was still smiling. "I'm going to save you this time."

Then Chan Yi ran to the chute cover. Gunfire rained down, but he didn't stop. When he reached the chute cover he pulled it back. It screeched open, but DaQi watched as a bullet ripped through Chan Yi's hand. He pulled it back, but another struck his shoulder with enough impact to spin him off balance.

"Yi!" He darted forward and pulled the man back under cover. He reached for the zipper of his black hoodie to try to see the damage but Chan Yi pushed his hands away.

"All metal, remember? They didn't hit anything important. Except my damn gun. She's gonna be so pissed. Get ready to jump. I'll take out the lights here so it'll take them a minute to adjust and give you a chance to get down. I'll be right behind you. You know the schematics, right?"

"Three chutes to the third floor, then stairs all the way down."

"Right. When we get to the third floor, we go in and assess where they are."

"That's starting to sound like a plan, Yi," DaQi said.

Chan Yi smiled. "You were always the planner, Two. I'm more the throw myself into trouble kind."

"Yeah, I can see that." He pressed his hand to Chan Yi's shoulder and he watched the other man wince.

"Metal, but it still hurts," Chan Yi reminded him.