GOLD [Book 2 in the JESSE series] | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Two: Danger

(Hey, this is another pretty big chapter- there just didn't feel like a good place to split it up. Sorry! Also, some mild language, gore, and romance in this chapter, so if it bugs you, I'll put a warning! Love y'all :))

If all goes to plan, you should be back before he can know you were gone.

You had placed the note you scrawled for him by the door. Hopefully he would stay put instead of coming to look for you. It would be disastrous if he were to follow you.

As you step out into the brisk evening air of Detroit's streets, you pull the backpack you bought a few days prior closer to you. Despite your best efforts over the past week, Jesse's wound is beginning to show signs of infection.

You hear footsteps and duck into a nearby alleyway. You see the familiar outline of Null Sector agents, and your heart sinks. This can't be good. It takes them a while to pass by you.

After they're long gone, you slip out of the alleyway and walk down the sidewalk. You try to stay out of the streetlights and stick to the shadows. It's nearly sunrise, and you need to find the way to a pharmacy.

You stay in the shadows, managing to avoid the patrols. Your luck runs out as the sun begins to rise. A Talon patrol passes down the street you're walking on, and you have no place to hide.

"You there," you hear from the leader of the patrol, "what's your business out this early?"

"I need... feminine products. I'm out."

"This early in the morning?"

"What else would I do, sir?" You say, turning toward him, "bleed all over my brand new sheets? I don't think so. I would like to leave, please."

You simply walk, and hope that he doesn't argue with you. Luckily he doesn't. He sputters to find words, clearly embarrassed.

"That's what I thought." You mumble to yourself.

You head down the now-brightening streets of Detroit toward anything that can bring safety. You dash through alleyways and across street corners until you reach a more populated area of the city, and the sight makes your heart drop.

You see what appears to be thousands of Null Sector and Talon troops. Large armed Omnics stand guard to a large building which now bears banners with both symbols of each group. You see armed troops marching toward a crowd of civilians protesting. They're harshly shoved to the sides and back into buildings an onto the sidewalk. You turn a corner in an attempt to avoid the larger patrol as they march by.

You come to the top of a hill, and peering down, you see that large areas for shopping have been gated off. You see families enter one at a time. You realize after watching at a closer distance that they're collecting information on each of the residents. You see a few families turned away and lined up in a separate line after refusing to answer whatever they were asked.

You swear under your breath, realizing that you'll have to find a way to sneak into those areas. You duck into an alleyway as a patrol comes by, and notice that there's a small section of roof that you can climb onto using a dumpster for leverage.

You begin to scale the building with little issue, and eventually climb onto the roof. The sun is nearly cresting over the cityscape, so you have to move fast. You leap from rooftop from rooftop nimbly, trying to ignore the fall you would take if you were to trip, but you trust your legs, which function far greater than normal ones.