The Program [COMPLETED]

Chapter Fifty-Four

Aiden and Rania hurled down the street, the city scenery a blur as they ran. They had at least a twenty second head start on Maddox and the Other Worlders, but their time gap was rapidly decreasing. Rania and Aiden wouldn't be able to run like this for long, and their energy would eventually leave them.

From behind them, Aiden heard the familiar click of a gun. His heart stopped.

"This way!" he shouted to Rania. They skidded around a sharp corner just as gunfire sprayed in their direction, missing them narrowly.

They continued to bound down the alleyway, Aiden returning fire, his assault rifle aimed precariously at the enemy soldiers. He hit two Other Worlders in the chest and they collapsed, but Maddox remained relentless in his pursuit. Aiden had seen the fire in his eyes. The former Programmer would not let them escape, under any circumstances.

Maddox wanted blood.

Now that Aiden was recovering from the shock, things started to fall into place for him. Of course, Eden and Maddox would have turned to the Other Worlders. Once Xylem had exiled them from the Program, what else were they to do? Just like Eskium, they had a bone to pick with Xylem and his antics, and now that he was dead, the only thing standing in their way was the Program itself. That, and Aiden's comrades who had ridiculed and thwarted him time and time again.

"Run, Aiden, run!" taunted Maddox, who laughed triumphantly. His voice was shrill and sinister as it echoed down the alleyway. "Where will you go, Programmer scum?"

Aiden sprinted down the street, Rania right on his heels, and reached for a grenade. He removed the pin and threw it in Maddox's direction, never slowing his pace. He heard gunshots aimed in their direction, but with a terrible realization, he knew exactly where they would make contact; and it wasn't anywhere near his body.

Aiden grunted as he and Rania were thrown forwards into the dirty street, hitting the earth hard. The grenade had exploded a few yards behind them, heat searing across Aiden's face from the blast. He tasted blood in his mouth, but promptly ignored it. He heard the remaining Other Worlders and Maddox get thrown onto the ground a decent length away from them, but without pausing to see if they were alive, Aiden grabbed Rania's hand, pulled her to her feet and took off at a run once again. They twisted and turned through alleyways, Aiden's heart thudding rapidly in his chest. His lungs were beginning to burn from lack of oxygen, and his legs felt weak.

"In here!" Rania suddenly urged in a hushed voice. Aiden glanced at where she gestured, and without a second thought, followed her into what seemed to be an abandoned building. He ducked through a broken window and entered the deserted structure, which seemed to be cracked and in disrepair, likely from the airstrike that General Xylem had ordered during Aiden and his comrades' first mission in Abree City. It looked as though it hadn't been occupied in a while, and Aiden and Rania kept to the shadows, not daring to move out of fear that Maddox might hear them.

Soon enough, they heard footsteps thudding towards their structure.

"Commander Isaias, the area is clear," one Eskium soldier reported, saluting. "They must have headed somewhere else, to meet with their associates who detonated the smoke grenades and flash bangs in the square."

Maddox swore loudly, and Aiden could hear something that sounded like a glass bottle being shattered. "Orion will kill me if we don't capture them. We won't let them get away. We'll head back to the square and regroup, form new patrols and find Aiden and his pathetic friends. Where are the civilians?"

There was a pause, which Aiden assumed was the hesitation of the Other Worlders to deliver the news.

"Well?" Maddox demanded.