East

Chapter 16

Sora saw the men approaching, firing as they ran. Almost without thinking, she pointed her gun in their direction and squeezed the trigger. One round just to get the feel, then another three. She was surprised at how clinically she was thinking. Perhaps Rae-Won was having a calming effect on her after she had watched his cool actions under duress. The men stopped shooting and retreated in to cover. She fired another shot in their direction for good measure.

She was conscious of Rae-Won yelling for her to get in the truck. 

But wouldn't that leave them too exposed to make their escape? They should leave without her, she thought. She was scared, but didn't it make more sense to divide the people chasing them?

"Go!" she yelled. "Go. I'll call you. Help Ye-Jin."

She moved away from the truck to help Rae-Won make his decision, firing to keep the men in cover more than having any hope of hitting anything. The truck backed in to the street and accelerated away to the south, leaving her behind.

The men were firing after the truck. Firing back at them, she ran out of their line of sight, under Gate Seven and in to the market. Soon she was among people, but she kept moving until she felt that she was among people that didn't know what had been going on. The gun was now hidden in her jacket pocket.

Turn, she remembered, keep turning. Don't move in a straight line.

This was easier to say than to do. She wanted to put distance between her and any guns that might be following. Should she go to ground now and hope that they would run past her? No, better to have more distance so that the size of their search area would be increased.

Sora had slowed to a fast walk, blending in with the people.

Almost immediately it was time to make another decision as she reached the first intersection. Left, right, or continue on? To her right she could see the top of a bus over the heads of the crowd as it drove by what must obviously be a way out. Left would take her north and away from the immediate exit and deeper in to the market. If she did neither she would have to make the same decision very soon at another junction.

Sora remembered that Rae-Won had seen NIS agents at the south of the market. She decided that she'd had enough of feeling like she was trapped in a box and turned to the right toward the way out. 

Just before she got to the road she carefully surveyed the street ahead. Surely if they were nearby and they had been told which way she had run, they would be watching the exit? Sora couldn't see anyone that looked like a threat. She was filled with an overwhelming desire to get out of the area. Not a panic, just a strong desire.

But then, to her left, she saw two men moving in her direction. They were still a couple of hundred meters away, but they looked like they were on a mission rather than just looking for a good deal on pork.

A motorcycle pulled in to the side of the road directly in front of her, a delivery box fastened to the rear. A boy jumped off and dropped his helmet on the seat. Moving to the box, he unfastened the lid and pulled out a large envelope. He let the lid drop back in to place and jogging past her, entered a store. Sora did not need to be told that this was a golden opportunity and moved immediately. When she had some vendor kiosks between her and the agents, she quickened her pace, making sure the pack was secure on her back. Grabbing the helmet and slipping her head inside, she put the bike in first gear and accelerated away down the bus lane, merging with the main flow at the first opportunity. Sora was no stranger to riding on two wheels and she threaded her way through the cars and trucks, paying close attention to any busses that got too close.

Amazingly, even though she had just stolen a vehicle, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

But what would Rae-Won do now? What would her uncle expect her to do? And how was Ye-Jin? Some of the weight came back.