No Name

Chapter 2 - II

It was a bad day, even by Holly Wren's standards. She hated holding cells. Holly wrapped her long red hair around her fingers, the way she always did when she was nervous. She had been so close to escaping with the artefact. So close. But, Dexter Griffin's forces had caught her on her way back to the citadel. The pay check of a lifetime. Selling the artefact to the highest bidder would have made her millions of credits, if not billions. She had barely been surprised when she had found herself encircled by rifle wielding trigger happy soldiers. But, Dexter Griffin's forces? You had to be kidding. Holly had run into him before, even trusted him at one point. But now, being captured by him meant far worse things than her being stripped of her precious artefact. For the millionth time, Holly re-adjusted her perch on the hard bed, so different than the one in her apartment at the citadel.

"Holly Wren?" She jumped, the clear but quiet voice startling her out of her stupor. Outside the thick bars of her cell stood a boy about her age. She could see nothing of him apart from the dark goggles he wore over his eyes, any other features hidden by the close cut hood he wore, and the scarf that covered his mouth. He was dressed in traveling clothes, in dark colours, but she could make out the various weapons that adorned the sleek pack he wore, and the holsters at both hips. "Yes?" Holly said, keeping a guarded expression. If anything, Holly was a good judge of people, and it slightly disturbed her that she could see nothing of the boy's features, or his eyes. It made her uncomfortable, and she began to unwarp the lock of hair from her hand. "Right." The boy said. He moved to her cell and pulled a set of lock picks from a small pouch that was strapped across his chest. In a matter of seconds, there was a tiny click, and he swung the door open a fraction, checking for any sound the hinges would make when he opened it further. Satisfied, he pulled it open, and gestured to her. Holly, having no choice, crept out of the cell, her tall lithe form illuminated in the bright light of the corridor. "Follow me. Make no noise, and do as I do." The boy said. Holly nodded. If this guy was her chance of escape, she could deal with keeping quiet. "Wait!" she hissed at him. He sighed. "What was rule number two?" he said. She ignored his jibe, and quickly continued. "We have to get to my pack! It has the artefact inside!" Holly explained. "It's in the lockup by the entrance to the cells, I think." Holly finished, giving the boy a pleading look. Then, without another word, he continued up the stairs. Holly sure as hell wished that was a yes.

Her rescuer made his way up the stairs, keeping an ear out for guards. As they moved out onto the small floor space of the guardhouse, she spotted her bag in a blue crate with a large padlock on it. The boy gave it a quick look, sizing it up. Then, he quickly crossed the room and began to pick the lock. A guard chose his moment to peek around the corner of the door. The boy, seemingly distracted by the lock, was unaware of the guard's presence. The guard raised his rifle, and Holly quickly took cover behind a secretary's desk, currently vacant. The guard had missed her. She opened her mouth to cry out in warning, but then the boy shot a leg out and spun on his foot, whipping the guard off balance. His rifle fell towards the floor, but his hand snaked out and deftly caught it, keeping it from making a noisy impact against the floor. The guard groaned, and slowly began to get to his feet, but the boy smacked him over the head with the rifle and the guard dropped into unconsciousness. "Would a heads up have killed you?!" he said with a slight hint of frustration in his voice. Holly shrugged. The boy threw her the large grey pack, and Holly quickly unzipped it and rifled through its contents, then relaxing as her hand closed around the smooth spherical shape of the artefact. Dexter had no idea her trip had been successful, largely due down to lazy soldiers. Holly quickly fished out her beloved revolver. The gun itself was an artefact, and when she clicked back the hammer of the colt.45, bullets materialised in the chambers with a strange little popping noise. The well-worn wooden handle felt good against her hand. It felt like having an old friend back. "Okay, listen up." The boy said, checking the door for the one-millionth time. "We have about a two minute window to clear the compound. Follow me, stick close, and don't shoot at anyone unless they shoot at you. "What am I, five?" Holly replied, rolling her eyes. "It is very possible that the tower guard is going to see us, but the only practical way out is the front gate, so we're risking it." His quietly sophisticated speech annoyed her. Far too flowery for a bounty hunter, or assassin. Whatever this guy was. "On my mark, we run." "Mark." and he then promptly hurled himself from the door, Holly quickly following him, her pulse racing. He tore ahead like an Olympic sprinter, running for the safety of some large green tents that seemed to contain various jeeps and trucks. Then, a shot came from above, and a bullet sliced through the air next to Holly's head. Brilliant. She raised her revolver, and fired, but it was a nearly impossible shot. The boy ahead, noticing the threat, quickly unslung his rifle, and while running, shot the guard from his post. Holly was dumbstruck. A shot like that, at full sprint, with a bad angle? What the hell was she aiming at?! They reached the tents, and very suddenly, a high pitched klaxon alarm began to ring out all over the complex. "I suppose you have a backup plan?" Holly asked as she slid to a stop beside him. "That was the backup plan." he said thoughtfully. "What was plan A?" Holly asked. "Plan A was explosives." He said, and popped the cap on a detonator that was very suddenly in his hand. "What the-" Holly began in shock, then the second batch of jeeps on the other side of the complex exploded. The single C4 explosive had been enough. Enough to ignite the barrels of fuel and oil, and the very same stuff that resided in the jeep's full tanks. The resulting explosion threw several jeeps into the air, the burnt out chassis flying like burning meteors from the sky, raining down on the wall and base, causing a general atmosphere of havoc and chaos. "I really didn't want to have to do that." The boy muttered. The large orange fireball began to dissipate, and Holly's vision and hearing returned (mostly) to normal. "Would a heads up have killed you?!" Holly said, clutching her ears in pain. Not answering, He ran from the cover of the tents, and they slowly made their way to one of the many gaps in the wall. One of the jeeps had punctured it, and had rolled out into the gently sloping hillside the base was perched on, it's dejected and drooping chassis now blackened. The old pine forest stretched out over the landscape lightly frosted with snow. Holly shivered, suddenly realising how cold the night air was, shuffling as close to the burning jeep as she could as they passed it. The disgruntled and confused soldiers were still trying to get their bearings. She estimated a full two hours before anything resembling a search party could be assembled. When they realised they were gone of course. The tower guard had been the only witness, and the klaxon had only been set off because someone had heard shots. For all they knew, they were about to be attacked by an opposing force. "So" Holly said quietly as they approached the tree line. "What's your name?" she started out lamely. "Matt." "Matt what?" "Texer." "Are you that bounty hunter-" Holly asked, but he cut her off. "Yeah." Matt Texer was somewhat of a legend in the citadel. Holly considered the short exchange carefully. "Is this a rescue?" He gave no answer.

Matt walked through the trees, making good headway through the snow, Holly trailing behind him. So, his reputation preceded him. He hated that. The less the target knew about him, the better. Stockholm syndrome was an annoying side effect in Matt's line of work. "Geoffrey!" Matt called. Holly looked at him like he was crazy; searching the small clearing for the person he was calling. But it was no person he was calling to. Very suddenly, Geoffrey entered the clearing. Geoffrey was Matt's companion. He had rescued the young wolf pup just after the collapse. They had sort of grown up together. He softly padded towards Matt, his silver grey pelt gleaming majestically in the moonlight, framing his strong powerful hind legs and muscled body. Holly watched on, slightly terrified as Matt absently scratched the massive wolf behind the ears. "How are you doing?" he asked Holly, maintaining a sense of professionalism. "I'm fine." She said, keeping a wary eye on Geoffrey. "Make sure you keep warm. Outer ring is cold this time of year." Holly glared at him. "I know." Matt clicked his fingers, and Geoffrey leapt into the bushes to scout ahead, creeping through the bushes like a ghost, invisible against the moonlit snow.