The Hope Of Our Destiny

Chapter 12

Ryan

A/N: This is how the market looks like

(Please note that we don't own this picture)

9:48 Hours

2033-3-24

Location: Los Angeles

Objective: Find and bring back Emma Anderson

          Emily finishes talking to the old vendor, and turns around to talk to me.

          "Ready to go?" she asks me.

          "Yup," I say. 

          I want to get out of this place as fast as possible. This market gives me the creeps and seems so uncivilized. However, Emily seems so calm when talking to the old man. She doesn't seem like the person who would associate himself with shady people. I keep this to myself. I mean, how well do I really know Emily?

          We start to exit the black market and group of teenage boys walk up to us. Just by looking at them, I can see that they aren't good people. Instinctively, I am on alert. Emily must have sensed this too. We pick up the pace so we can get out of here as quickly as possible. Before we could get far, they cut us off.

          "Hey gorgeous. Where are you going in such a hurry?" One of the boys says in a slow voice. 

          He pushes back his blond hair, trying to show off. He was surrounded by a couple of men. The boy was clearly the leader of this group. Emily's face turns beet red.

          "None of your business you jerk. Now get out of here before I punch your stupid face." Emily responds.

          "Ooo. Girl's got claws," another boy says. He was a tall burly man, that had dark ombre hair.

          "Hey, back off. Or else it won't be pretty." I say pushing Emily behind me. My hands curl into fists, getting ready to pounce.

          "You gonna do something about it tough guy? Who are you? Her boyfriend or something?" the first boy says shoving me back a couple of steps. Emily's face contracts in anger. I try to settle my own anger. I can't let it get the better of me.

          "Leave him alone! Your problem is with me," she yells at the group of boys.

          "No, Emily it's fine. I'll handle them. They offended both me and you," I say towards her, before turning back to them.

          "Oh, so you're her protector now. Let's see if tough guy can protect her," the boy says as he tries to touch Emily. Before Emily can push his hand away, my hand flies out like a whip, and I catch his wrist. I twist his wrist hard, and he falls to the floor, writhing in pain.

          Another guy comes at me. I punch him in the face. He stumbles back, clearly surprised. Emily looks at me in shock, her eyes wide. I look back at her. Suddenly, her eyes look past me and at the guy behind me. I turn around and see the him point a gun at me.

          "Oh, tough guy not too tough anymore," he smirks at me.

          I slowly slip my hand behind my back. I've had so much practice trying to disarm a person with a gun. My hand curls around the hilt of the knife tucked under my shirt. Before either of us could do anything, a knife strikes the man in his hand. He drops the gun and holds his hand in pain. 

          I spin around to see Emily with her left arm still outstretched her whole face set in concentration and anger. She was nothing like the shy bubbly girl that I knew. I was amazed. How could someone throw a knife that precise? Only someone with training could do that. One question ran through my mind. Who is Emily?

          "Now, if you want the same thing to happen to you, I suggest you guys better run off," Emily says coldly, with another knife in her hand. 

          They back up, clearly not wanting a taste of her vengeance. I look at her with new eyes. It was like Emily was a new person. She could have easily excelled at CITAL.

          We walked out of the black market and continued our short walk back to the bunker. We walked in utter silence, only the sound of scrunching leaves could be heard. I glanced at Emily. She looked really upset. Her face still red from the incident. Before I could ask her if she was ok, she raised her eyes to look at me.

         "That was really amazing what you did back there. Thank you," Emily says gratefully. I see a whole world in her eyes, waiting to be discovered. For some reason, I want to be that person who discovers it.

          "No problem. You were amazing too. How did you learn to throw a knife like that?" I ask.

          "Uh, I don't really know. It must have been adrenaline I guess," she says rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. 

          I've seen enough people lie to see that she was hiding something. She looks very uncomfortable and angry so I decide to leave her alone. Soon enough I can see the bunker through a small clearing. Emily pulls out a key from her pocket, and jams it into the lock. She gives it a hard yank and throws the door open.

          I close the door behind us. Emily takes a deep breath clearly happy to be in a safe spot. She pulls out the medicine bottle from her backpack. She hands it to me with her small soft hands.

         "I'm a bit worried about your wound infecting. You should take two of these every morning for about a week. It's just a precaution. There's a lot of dust and dirt in these areas." she says in a quiet voice.

          "Thanks," Emily smiles, but her smile doesn't extend to her eyes. She tried to walk away, but I grab her wrist. She flinched by the sudden contact, and I immediately dropped her hand.

          "Hey. Are you sure that you're ok?" 

          Something else is bothering her. It couldn't have just been about what happened. Before she could lie to me again I add, "I don't mean physically." She doesn't even try to argue. Her head hangs, her hair shadowing her eyes. I hear a sniffle, and she suddenly bolts for her room.