Rebels

Ch. 22

Jack tried to walk at a steady pace with confidence as he made his way through the palace. He had found himself wandering down a brightly lit hallway, with a white tiled floor and golden lights hung on the side of the wall. Every few yards, a window sat in the left wall, causing Jack to feel as if he had been spotted every time he passed it, though he hadn't.

He noticed a familiar-looking guard standing a few feet away, his back pressed against the right wall of the hallway. He was holding a gun, and looking straight forward, as if he had not even noticed Jack. Of course, the guard had, for Jack's shoes made a fairly loud noise within each step he took.

Jack reached the guard, clearing his throat. The guard finally took notice of him, stiffening his back. "Can I help you?" He said in a monotonous voice.

Jack took a deep breath. From within the communicator, Lyla asked what was going on. Jack uttered 'a guard' under his breath before smiling back at the officer. "Yes actually, I am here to visit a friend."

"What is his name?" The officer immediately questioned.

Jack was about to reply, until he suddenly caught a flaw in the officer's question. "I don't believe I specified that my friend was a boy."

The guard cocked his gun, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He glanced behind Jack at the monitor which hung on the wall. "I know."

Jack's heart began to beat faster. Without thinking, he swung his fist at the guard's jaw. The officer stumbled backwards, dropping his weapon to the floor. Jack grabbed it and now aimed it at the guard, who was still recovering from the sudden blow.

Jack smirked, "You're a new guy, aren't you?" Jack had recognized this man from the footage he had observed with Luca just a week before.

The guard spit blood from his mouth to the floor, staining the tile with red. "No. I just know who's staring back at me from that monitor."

This confused Jack, and he shifted nervously from one foot to the other. "You wouldn't happen to go by the name of Tom, would you?"

The man somewhat smiled despite his open lip. "As a matter of fact, I do. I also know that Ms. Lyla is staring back at me through that monitor, despite her dumb brother."

Jack took the butt of the gun he held and slammed it against Tom's head so hard that Jack heard the sound of impact. Tom was instantly knocked unconscious as he fell backward into his own blood on the tile.

"Stop him!" A man suddenly shouted from behind Jack.

Jack turned and found multiple guards he recognized from the entrance of the palace doors. He began to run straight ahead through the hallway, his shoes slipping against the tile. Jack ran around the corner to find the hallway empty. He didn't think twice about it as he ran, scanning the area for somewhere to hide. "What do I do?" He shouted nervously into his communicator.

"Luca says that there should be a room coming up on your right! We can't see inside of this room so you have to be careful!" Lyla warned.

Jack spotted two pillars from the right side of the hallway supporting a small awning, and beneath it was an opening to the room. There was no door, and Jack immediately ran into the room. He found a large, round table which sat in the center, and white banners lining the wall of the room. He ran over to the banners and slipped behind them, the white shade covering him.

He listened for footsteps to enter the room, but none did. He heard the frustrated men pass the room in a swift move, and before he knew it, Jack was alone.

"Did they see you?" Lyla asked through the communicator.

Jack swallowed down his shaking nerves. "I don't think so." He said whispered, in case anyone was in listening range.

"Did they see you?"

"No." Jack responded. "And tell Luca that the jerk is taken care of."

"What?" Lyla asked, confused.

Jack stepped out from behind the banner. "Nothing." He responded. He noticed there was a large, black door in the wall opposite of the entrance of the room. There was a small keypad just next to it, and Jack cursed under his breath. "Can Luca hack into a keypad?"

"What room are you in?" Lyla asked, and Jack looked around him at his surroundings. "Looks like some sort of conference room."

There was a slight ringing in Jack's ear, and he winced. Then, Luca spoke, "I see you. There's a monitor in this room. It was harder to get into. I'm working on the lock right now. And Jack," there was a slight pause as Luca chose his words, "I owe you one."

Jack began to smile when a sudden pain shot through his leg. Almost immediately his leg gave out beneath him, and he found himself collapsed on the floor. He looked out in front of him and saw there was a single guard, and he had fired his gun.

Jack scrambled behind the conference table in the center of the room, wincing at the pain in his leg.

"Jack, bud, what happened? You still okay?"

Jack couldn't respond. Not then. He didn't know where the guard was. Jack risked a glance down at his leg, and found it wasn't a bullet that had hit him, but rather, a needle. He quickly pulled it out and threw it on the ground. He tried not to think of what was in the needle as he peered up around the table. The guard was slowly walking around the right side of the table, nearing Jack, who inched quickly around the table.

Jack spotted his gun a few feet away, from where he had dropped it when he entered the room. He reached out, grabbing the gun and turning around, only to be face to face with the guard.

The guard smirked, "Found you."

Jack took no hesitation and fired the gun, it's own needle imbedding into the guard's chest. Enraged, the guard cocked his gun, but Jack slammed his good leg into the man's kneecap. The guard instinctively dropped his gun, which Jack fired on the guard again. Another needle embedded into the guard's chest, and Jack hulled himself up, using the conference table. He suddenly felt dizzy, but managed to get in a hard punch in the guard's face, finishing him off.

Jack used the conference table to steady him, though he still felt dizzy. "Luca, did you get the code?" Jack asked, though his words sounded odd in his ears.

"It's 03K17F. Jack I wasn't able to see through the monitor when I was hacking into the keypad. What happened?"

Jack stumbled over to the keypad and typed in the first few numbers until his leg that the needle had punctured suddenly lost its feeling. Jack blinked multiple times, not sure of what was happening. "I got shot." His words slurred. He typed in the next part of the code slowly, hearing a beep ring in his ears. The door unhitched, and it suddenly felt all too heavy for Jack to pull. His mind became fuzzy, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground once again. In the back of his mind, someone was shouting for him to get up, but his mind shut down all too early.