For A Star To Fall

Chapter 28: Where the Sun Don't Shine

Chapter 28

Emyle hid the Glock behind her back. She did not want the guards panicking at the sight of a dangerous weapon in the hands of a teenage girl. The only advantage they had was surprise, and that was running out fast. They needed the guards to hesitate--the way the previous one had when he encountered Jordan.  

There were four this time, looking like they had been in the process of leaving the control room. One of them was talking as they left the control room. "Something's messing up our controls, man. I'm telling you now, there's something fishy about this business. The cameras are completely wiped out." 

"Nah, I bet one of the experiments went wrong again, just interfered with our signals," another one replied confidently, just as they turned when the elevator opened and their gazes immediately fixed themselves on Emyle and Jordan. "Get them!" one of them shouted. Such an overly used line, she thought. It was remarkably cheesy and incredibly inelegant when used before a fight. On command, all four of them moved forward. Emyle and Jordan darted out of the elevator side by side, with her keeping the gun tucked slightly behind her all the while. It was not her aim to kill. She simply needed to make sure that they were out of the way for as long as possible and carry it out as quietly as possible too. The best way to do this was to knock them out. 

She came in with a jab before they could launch any attack against them. The closest one dodged, ducking away from her and another guard took his chances with her. He swerved in and made a grab for her shoulders. Twisting out of the way, she dropped her Glock and shoved her shoulder into his abdomen. With a grunt of pain, the guard persevered and grabbed at her arms. This time, she was too slow in her dodging and he got a grip on her upper right arm. Emyle gritted her teeth and attempted to spin away from him and rip her arm out of his grasp. But the guard was stronger than her and much bigger too. He laughed and Emyle could hear the sneer that was evident in the sound. "You've got to be stronger than that to beat me, girl," he said snidely, locking her arms in his grip and twisting them behind her. 

Hearing her breath start to come in short pants, Emyle forced herself to relax and stop struggling. There would be no use if her opponent was bigger and stronger than her and she could not afford to waste her energy. She looked around. Jordan was still struggling in the grasp of two guards. The boy never gave up, she knew, and it was a good thing, but not necessarily always. "Let's tell Dr. Valin," the shorter of the two holding Jordan down said, and used his free hand to pull a radio out of his belt. "He gave express orders to report any sign of unauthorised kids around here. Told us to keep our eyes open."

"No." The biggest and burliest of them objected in a tone of finality. He was simply standing there, one hand resting on the holster of his gun. This one was clearly the leader among the group, from the haughty way he carried himself and refused to help the other three out. Foolish, Emyle decided. A good leader would be willing to get his hands dirty to show his subordinates that he was a good person and worth following and enforcing the respect they would hold towards him. The shorter guard nodded in deference and lowered the radio. The leader gestured at Emyle and Jordan with a careless flick of his hand, saying, "These two are only children. We can take care of this ourselves and escort them back to the rooms. Come on, boys, move your lazy arses."

"But-" The shorter man was silenced by a sharp glare from the leader, causing him to back off, tucking the radio back into his belt.  With a grunt and a nod from the man, the other three guards began to push Emyle and Jordan down the corridor on the right. Emyle knew that they would take a left at the end and then a right after that to reach the corridor where they had started out. But that information was unneeded and redundant. They needed to escape these four men and carry out the plan, or there would be no other chance. Dr. Valin was intelligent, and that meant he would learn from his mistakes. He would make sure that there would be no second chance for Emyle if they failed the first time.