Subject 0017

Chapter Five.

Layla watched as Zaiden pivoted slightly, in order to roughly calculate the distance that he had created between them and the offended officers that were now chasing after them. He seemed to acknowledge that he could only just see their silhouettes, and turned back to face his new partner. Taking a hold of her right hand in his left, he sighed.

"C'mon Layla, one last run for a while."

Not giving her time to respond to the statement, the young rebel sprinted, his companion following him without a choice. She knew that both their lives depended on this run, so she didn't bother to question his decisions like she had done before. What was it that Zaiden had said to her earlier on? Escape now, think later. Layla couldn't fault his statement considering their current predicament; it was practically now or never. Understanding this, she held his hand tighter, allowing her to run faster now that she had a proper grip on him.

Zaiden lead their little team of two towards the exterior of Ashmount's south wing. Once his gaze landed on a minuscule charcoal coloured box, his pace slowed and he turned to face Layla. Her face adorned the expression of confusion once more, so he answered the obvious question that was plaguing her mind before she even got a chance to ask it.

"I have to shut down the power to the gates so we can get out of here." He paused. Looking directly into her moss green eyes, Zaiden tried to convey the importance of his next instruction to Crimson Girl.

"I need you to distract our friends over there." he glanced over at the menacing men that were slowly gaining on the pair, before looking back at Layla once more. "Do you think you can do that?" Layla's eyes wandered down, catching sight of their hands that were still linked. Glancing back up into Zaiden's eyes, she nodded.

"If that's what it takes to be free then I'll do it, but what do you think will distract them from you?"

Zaiden smirked at her in a way that made her nervous about what he was going to suggest. "Are you forgetting your powers Layla? Show them why you were too dangerous to be a part of society; make them run." The male could see his co-workers from his peripheral vision, but still he chose to focus on the girl in front of him. Realising what he was implying to her, a smile grew on her face; Boy-man was definitely onto something.

"Okay. I'll meet you back here in about five minutes?"

"Perfect." He paused before whispering, knowing that the officers were now in hearing range. "Now go. " With one final smile and a sly wink, he turned and ran towards the box that he had set his eyes on earlier.

Layla's smile grew even bigger with the amount of hope that Zaiden had given her. If they pulled this off, they would both be free from this place, and she couldn't wait. Swiftly turning to face her opponents, Layla counted three bodies before lifting her own off the ground and soaring through the sky. Ensuring that she was out of their reach, she gave a taunting smile to the officers, and spoke a simple few words that she knew would rile them up even more

"Catch me if you can fools."

She sped up and soared straight, making sure to keep track of her movements. Studying the people below her, Layla noticed that only two of the officers were following her, meaning that the last one must have gone after Zaiden. Shit. There's nothing she could do about that now, except occupy the others as far away from him as possible. She hoped Boy-man would be okay; she needed him to escape after all. With this in mind, she paid more attention on where she was levitating, whilst trying her best to ignore the insults that were being thrown at her from below.

Zaiden closed on the box that he knew all too well as the source of the power supply in this disaster of a prison. Taking his employees coin out of his pocket, the tanned boy pushed the front button down like he had done so many times before. The familiar hologram popped up, indicating that his bosses weren't smart enough to disable his coin by now. He started to manoeuvre the object in his unique pattern when he was thrown to the tarmac ground from his left side. The blow shocked him for a few seconds, making every one of his thoughts disoriented.