RECLAIM

Chapter 42. Unordinary Day

Unedited.

~Laith~

And then the display blip. Four green dots were suddenly there.

All the tension in Laith chest unravels and she blow a long sighed.

"Wolf, don't just hover there!" Arden shout at comm right the next second. "Get your ass moving!"

Laith snap her attention back at the display. Shit. It won't take them long to catch up. Laith pause and ask the system to calculate a path. Holding her flight, she scans her tail. One by one, silhouettes begin to form. They here—still quite in the distance, but right behind her.

At first, the Phantoms on her tail seem in order. But almost immediately, they begin struggling. They begin bumping to things, shoving one another, their formation break apart. They still try to pursue Laith and the others, but at much slower pace. The chaos won't last forever though.

"Leg it!" says Alex, pointing ahead towards some of clustered structures. From where Laith hover, its looks like some kind of mingled, sharp metals. Its looks perilous but you can say taking that route will provide some cover.

Lait nod before resuming her flight. Zigzagging in between the metals turn out to be easy. Thanks to some computer assistance and her unit superior maneuver ability, she manages to stay ahead of her pursuers, leading them in wild chase. Or at least, she thinks she is.

People say that confidence can trip you. Laith never quite grip that piece of wisdom until a hard body slam into her mid flight. The jarring impact sends them straight into one of, thankfully, a flat surface.

"Get off me!" Laith gritted as she struggle to get free.

Shit. The Phantom got her good. He pinned her and won't budge. From this position, there's no way she can reach for her gun. On instinct, Laith opt to headbutt him instead. It didn't work. The Phantom take her hit like a champion and deliver a punch of his own. His fist connected with her jaw. It hurt like a bitch but her left hand is freed. Laith just about to reach across for her gun when someone yanked the Phantom back.

Laith stumbled forward, but manage to correct herself in time to see a different Phantom coming towards her. Sifting left at the last second, she dodged him. Laith turned to face her new opponent while simultaneously scanning for more of them. She caught a glimpse of the first Phantom squaring off with Arden and Alex. The cost is clear except for the five of them, for now.

"Better get rid of you fast. I want to escape before your buddies shows up," Laith say, palming her gun. She aim at the advancing Phantom and fire. The bullet hit his chest, dead center, yet it didn't even make him flinch. He just keeps chasing towards her. Laith gape for a second before shaking herself. She tries to elude him and firing her weapon at the same time.

"Come on." Laith shots the Phantom talon like hands since nailing his head is a feat she won't be able to make. "Go down already!" No such luck. He's just keep coming. From the corner of her eyes, she can tell that Arden is facing the same problem. Blasted. It's gotta be Cerberus. That implant somehow turned these Phantoms into mindless puppets.

Laith dodge yet another attempt to grab her. She twist, and a fist connects with her jaw. Bloody hell! Not again! Her ear rings from the impact. White light races through her visions. Next come a foot to her side, forcing her ribs to take the impact. The Phantom slams her head against something hard. Something wet trickle down her neck, and she feel dizzy. She grunted and tries to move her body away.

The Phantom burly hands wedged under Laith chin, cutting her escape short. He pressed to cut her airway. She glared at his black, blank eyes and struggle against his hold. Her lungs scream for air. Laith try to aim her gun at him, but her hands are losing power. He disarm her with ease. The Phantom wrenches Laith gun away from her and flings it. She watched it fly over her head and bounce several feet down. It finally snagged on some rusted steel, few inches away from oblivion.

Laith hear a shout, and someone tackle him.

Laith gasp for air as she dive blindly for her gun. She fumbles to grab it as the gun clatter around. The world curves around her, and she distantly hears the sound of fight. Laith spotted Carlo and Camille as they struggle against her previous opponent. She vaguely aware that Camille punch

She also caught a sight of struggling forms of Alex and Arden when her vision finally clears. Reaching for her second gun, Laith carefully made her way towards Cam and Carlo. Aim for his brain stem, a voice inside her head whisper as she contemplate whether or not she should go for the Phantom head. Laith didn't question her out her nowhere insight this time. And what do you now, as soon as she fire her gun at that spot, the Phantom finally stop moving.

With their combine effort, they're finally able to take down the second Phantom.

Laith's eyes stayed at them as they fall. There's a time when she would have felt sympathy for them. After all, it's not likely they were here at their own accord. She banished that thought from her head. It may be too late for them, but she can try to save the others. And she can't do that if they capture her.

"Guys, staring at them won't do anybody any good. We need to move," Laith finally said, her voice pitch as she swallowed the anger down. Down, where it tucked away, patiently waits its turn to come out. "Don't worry. We'll save them. And make Ranbax pay for what they did. No matter what."

Laith hid in shadows to stay alive. She has been young then. Powerless, she as can only watched so many abuses were justified. But she always watching, always trying to find a way to correct it. It seems like faith itself agrees with her the moment she stumbles upon the grand illusion of a megalomaniac. Maybe this time she can finally make a difference.

Arden tensed, his eyes gone a shade darker, fury reflected in the ice of his eyes. "You can count on that, Wolf." He bit out.

"We'll make them pay. For their sake as well. No man deserves to be treated like that," Alex said harshly out loud as he eyes never leaved the fallen Phantoms. "And for taking my sister away."

The twins just make a sound an approval and resume their flights. The rest of them follow their lead. For some strange reason, no more Phantoms able to catch up with them. Thanks to that, after what feels like forever, they finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

"We made it! We cross the border!" Carlo shouts at the top of his lungs as soon as they once again find themselves at an open space. "I can't believe it! We really outrun those pesky Phantoms!"

"Yes, we made it. But if you make a ruckus, they may be tempted to cross the border and came after us again," Camille snip at her brother yet there's no real fire in her voice. She's sounded relive more than anything.

"That's too bad," Arden drawled, his voice hard with a little dark humor undertone. "Here I'm hoping we'll be caught. At least that way, we know what to expect. Now we have no choice than to fly blind into a lawless place famous for its shady enterprises..."

Alex just grunted.

Laith smiled. Anticipation filled in her veins, warding off her uncertainly in the blink of an eye. Wherever this unexpected adventure leads them, at least she can be sure, with this band of misfits by her side, it's going to be one hell of a ride.

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"Run, little wolf, run," he said softly to the monitor the second he's watched them cross the border. "You may run and fight your own creation all you wish. But I know. You are only thing he ever loves. The last link he has to this decaying world. Lead us to him. Because without him, without the secret he kept, all will slowly die out. We will expire from our own inability, and we will find no salvation, no hope within our remaining time. Find him, or be responsible for the death and destruction of all we know."

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Well, that's it for now folks. Should I post the next book? Or maybe not? Feel free to comments.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me and this messy story. 

Love you all.

Sincerely, Kat Zhou. 

P. S. I'll be back :)

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