Steel Flight [Completed]

Chapter 6: Station

-Jack

Two people sat staring down at me from the branches of the hazel. One was a police officer like the others I'd seen- black uniform, some contraption holstered at the hip, club in hand. Curiously, I saw one of the black box thingies clipped to his belt. Did he have an extra? Or was it his companion's?

The other person leapt down, landing in a crouch, picked up the box with initials, and clipped it to her belt. Guess that mystery was solved. She looked to be around fourteen, with short, unnatural looking red-brown hair, and wore clothes similar to Skai's, though hers were in pristine condition and had that pressed look of new clothes that mine never did.

I turned as Skai stepped up beside me, mouth dropped open. "You!"

The girl smiled and held out her arms. "Miss me?"

The officer dropped down from his limb, almost falling from his awkward landing, but managed to keep his balance.

Skai snarled and took a step towards the girl.

I instinctively reached for my duffel, but with a sinking feeling remembered dropping it by the entrance. This might get ugly.

"I have orders to take you into custody. Come quietly and no one has to get hurt," the police officer said, eyes on Skai's balled fists.

Skai didn't seem to hear him. She and the girl seemed to be having some silent battle of wills.

"You have until I count to-"

Skai rushed at the girl. She tackled her and they went down hard.

The officer started forward to help, but I followed Skai's example and tackled him. Not that it was a great idea in my case. He was a lot taller and heavier than I was. Oops.

I bounced off of him, hitting the ground hard, but he only wobbled for a few seconds, then looked down at me in amusement. Maybe I couldn't tackle him, but I'd seen him lose his balance twice now. There were other ways to make him tumble. I sat up, wrapped my arms around his legs, and pulled.

The noise that escaped his throat as he fell was comical, but I didn't have time to laugh. Not aloud anyway. I jumped to my feet and bolted toward a nearby tree. He was bigger and stronger, but if I got there in time, it wouldn't matter.

His footsteps pounded behind me, despite the carpet of grass. Or maybe that was my heart. His labored breathing came into earshot. He was gaining.

But I was almost there...

His hand snatched at my shirt. I pushed myself harder and leapt up, grabbing the lowest branch and pulling myself up. Then I secured my fingers in the bark and climbed higher.

"You can't escape up a tree. I'll just wait down here till you come back down," the police officer said.

I reached the right branch- one where I'd be hidden from his sight, but that also had a hanging pot. Not all of the trees had them, nor all of the branches. This one contained a fiery orange flower I'd never seen before. I quietly untied it from the tree branch, aimed down at the still talking police officer, and dropped it.

It only grazed his head, but he still dropped.

I sighed in relief and wiped my forehead. One down, one to go. I looked over at the girls, but had trouble deciding who had the upper hand.

Skai barraged the girl with a flurry of punches and kicks, which the girl dodged, smiling the whole time. It looked like a fight that could go on forever. Which was a problem because who knew how soon the police officer would wake back up? We needed to get out of here.