The Raven Conspiracy

Chapter 21 - The Escape

Chapter 21 – The Escape

The door burst open. Kairo stormed in, holding his gun ready. He was breathing heavily, as if he’d just run a marathon. His gun was held ready and he pointed it around the room, searching for foes.

“Good, you’re here and safe. Come with me. We have to get out of here.”

He held out his free hand and pulled me closer, so that I was protected by him. I could see the tension in him as he kicked the door open again, glanced both ways down the corridor before bolting to the right – the opposite direction to where Art’s cell was. He moved quickly, dragging me behind him.

“What’s happening?” I gasped. Athletic was something I was not.

“Quiet.”

A thunder of footfalls crashed towards us. He pushed me into a doorway before pressing himself into the niche next to me as what looked like an army rushed past in the direction we came. Some of the soldiers – dressed in the colours of the Parliament – glanced at us but took little notice when they saw Kairo. I paled when I saw the array of weapons – machine guns, grenades and knives strapped to belts, and even what looked like a missile launcher.

I whispered a swear word, my eyes wide.

“We’re under attack, by the way. Thought I’d let you know. It’s the same people who came with Art,” Kairo whispered back to me. We darted out of the doorway and took a sharp turn to the left instead of heading to the stairs.

“What’s this way? I don’t want to be trapped underground!” My voice rose to a hysterical pitch. I was hyper-aware of the metres and metres of earth separating us from the surface. If that missile launcher was used, I wanted to be well out of the way of any building collapses.

“I know where I’m going – we’re not going to be trapped!”

The corridor branched. We headed to the right, still running at full speed. Disembodied screams and crashes travelled through the space. To my relief, we came across an elevator. Kairo thumbed the up button, leaning against the doors and keeping his gun trained on the entrance to the small foyer. I spotted a wheelchair-only sign, but squashed out the guilt with my fear. The elevator would be able to fit a wheelchair along with us.

After a couple of agonizing seconds, the doors beeped and slid open to reveal a balaclava-clad thug grappling with a Parliament man in a black suit. The struggle lasted a few seconds before, in a blink of an eye, the intruder disappeared in a puff of smoke. A few fragments of balaclava material fluttered in the small space.

“Get in quickly, detective,” said the man, straightening his suit and tie. “You saw nothing.”

“Yes, sir. Did you say something?”

The man nodded his approval at Kairo’s nonchalance and pretended that we weren’t there anymore. My body suddenly shook uncontrollably. I wiped my sweaty palms on my shirt and tried to stop my teeth from chattering. I could feel my heart pounding like a drummer at a rock concert. A wave of dizziness hit. “What is this?” I thought dully. Kairo noticed my stagger and squeezed my shoulder.

“It’s the adrenaline,” he said. “Your body’s not used to it?”

I shook my head and held onto his arm for support. He disentangled his arm and, surprisingly, put it around my shoulders. The shudders and dizziness reduced, but – I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or not – my heart rate seemed to increase.

“I’ve never been in anything so scary before.”

“Not even on a rollercoaster?”

“No, not even a rollercoaster.”