Fraction

Fraction Chapter 32 - Appetite for Survival

When the man had finished screaming, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the bullet wound. "You... you've sealed the fate... of this city..." he said as he fell down. Rosa sprayed herself with a fire extinguisher lying on the ground. She then walked up to him and took the grenade from his hand. "Actually..." she said as she juggled it, "The trigger circuit was damaged thanks to your hysterical panic attack. Malfunctioning under high heart rates has always been this grenade's one fatal flaw." The man struggled to get up. "You couldn't... possibly have known I would-" he couldn't finish his sentence due to the foot that came crashing down on his face. "I couldn't possibly have known that you would be carrying exactly this type of grenade with you?" Rosa finished his sentence for him. "True." She replied, "But who do you think you're talking to? I'm the Head of the Security Council for the World Government. The first woman to ever achieve this. Why do you think that is? It's because I'm just that good at what I do. I know about every single weapon ever made in the world. I know all their strengths and weaknesses. Currently, I have the means to counter every single combination of weapons out there. I- huh? Dead already... what a sad excuse for a man..." She felt her legs go numb. Her arms began to crumble away. "I guess this is my limit. Even with all my experimental evolutionary superiority, I suppose trying to tank an explosion of that magnitude was pushing it. This is bad... this puts me on the same boat as-" She found herself falling forward as she lost consciousness.

Edward ran, screaming hysterically as everything around him exploded. "Damn, you're lame! It's just a bazooka. It won't even put on a scratch on us." Sapphire shouted as she jumped over him. Edward tried to stop but fell forward instead, landing on her leg, tripping her and sending her into a wall. "This is a disaster... it's never gonna work out. I'm never gonna have my Perfect Army." Leo said emptily as he put down the bazooka launcher and stared at the disaster in front of him. "Rosa. You'd know what to do if you were here. Where are you ROOOSAAAAAAAA???!!!!" he yelled in despair. As if in response to his prayer, there was a loud beeping from the walls of the room. "What's that?" Edward asked as he rubbed his nose. "This pattern..." Sapphire said, "This can only-" Leo was already ahead of her. "Rosa survived... but she has been incapacitated." Edward jumped to his feet and ran to him. "Then what are we waiting for?!" he shouted as he followed him, "Bring out the helicopter!" Leo turned to him and grinned. "No need for that. We're gonna get her ourselves."

"What?"

"We're gonna run there. I've got her location on my phone."

"This isn't the time for jokes! Miss Rosa is-"

"Stable for now. We just have to get there as fast as we can."

"But-"

"No buts! Sometimes, you gotta run before you... no, wait. Wrong expression. Sapphire, stay here. We'll go get her."

Sapphire nodded and sat down in the rubble. Leo and Edward climbed up a ladder which lead back into the metallic room. As they walked out of the entrance, Leo whistled a song. "I've heard that before..." Edward said, "My dad used to sing it." Leo stopped and turned to him. "It looks like I can't teach you to run using fear. So the bazooka was a waste. Fortunately, another opportunity has presented itself. I will not use fear this time. I will make you want to run. Rosa will probably make it back here even if we don't go. But do you really want to leave her out there for three whole days?"

"No!"

"Then run. What you want is in front of you. All you have to do is run to it and take it."

"How am I supposed to get out of this place?! You expect me to climb all the way up to the surface?!"

"No. I expect you to run all the way to the surface. If you're moving fast enough, the inclination of the surface doesn't really matter."

Before Edward could complain again, Leo ran. He ran straight at the rocky inner surface of the tunnel. He did not stop when it became steeper. He just ran faster. He ran up the side of the tunnel. Up. Edward stared at him. "WELL?!" Leo shouted from the entrance, "COME ON UP!" Edward gulped and looked forward at the rocks in front of him. He was supposed to run up the side of the tunnel. "Here goes..." he said to himself as he ran towards them. He could feel the wind against his face. There wasn't any actual wind blowing in that direction. It was just the force of air molecules he was colliding against as he rushed at the rocks. Very soon, everything around him was a blur. The ground was becoming steeper. He ran faster. Smash. Face full of rock. "You're supposed run UP the rocks!" Leo shouted from above, "NOT INTO THEM!!!" Edward stepped back and looked up. "Just throw down a rope or something you jerk!" he yelled.