Kyle West - Evolution

Before they could do us any harm, Makara aimed her gun and fired. The two men ducked into an alleyway. They stayed out of sight as we ran past the alley. They must not have had guns, but they would surely go find people who did.

“Here!” Julian said.

He threw open a door to one of the buildings as more men came from the alley behind us. We rushed inside, slamming the door. Samuel locked it, then placed a nearby chair under the handle. We all rushed up the wooden steps behind Julian.

“Where are we going?” I shouted.

“We have to take a bit of a detour. You have to trust me.”

“This is the second time you’ve said that.”

“Save your breath for the jump!” Julian said.

The jump?

Five landings later, Julian opened a final door. We were on the flat rooftop of the tallest building in town. Around us in the night were the shapes of other buildings, most slanted and decrepit from time and lack of maintenance. On the street below, several men were battering down the door of our building with a large piece of wood they had found somewhere. The door fell.

“Why are they so set on coming after us?” I asked.

“Catching five escaped slaves is a huge payout,” Julian said.

“But we’re not slaves.”

“Even if you’re not, they don’t know that, do they?”

I didn’t have an answer for him as Julian bounded ahead. He was fast. Far faster than Makara, Samuel, or anyone I had ever seen for that matter. Not even looking down, he sailed through the air with a mighty leap. We all ran forward, watching him fall onto the next building across the alley, about a story down. He tucked and rolled upon landing, standing without injury to himself. He looked up, motioning us on.

“I hope this is the only time we have to do this,” Makara said.

She backed up, sprinted, and then jumped. Several men in the alley below spied her, shooting upward several times. I could hear shouts from the stairwell from the men running up behind us. There wasn’t much time left.

Samuel and I jumped in tandem. I had done this enough times by now to be used to it. Upon landing on the next building, instead of letting my knees take the brunt of the impact, I rolled forward to distribute the force of the fall evenly. It still hurt, shocking my senses, but I stood on steady legs, shaking off the impact.

“Good,” Julian said. “That was the hard part. The rest is fairly easy.”

We ran, jumping from building to building. The buildings were of even height, so making the jumps wasn’t too difficult. Behind us, our pursuers were beginning to make their first jump.

Julian was so quick. His lean, muscular body and long legs were built for speed. My lungs burned for air just trying to keep up with him. If I hadn’t been working out, I’d have long been left in the dust.

The palisade wall approached in the distance. A couple guards stood on its ramparts, looking toward the city, drawn by the noise. Upon seeing us, they began to fire with their rifles. Julian ducked behind some crates, where we ran to join him. I slid on the flat rooftop, sliding right beside him. The men chasing us from behind were fewer, now, but they would be on us within a minute.

“Where is this storm drain?” Samuel asked.

“It’s between this building and the wall.” Julian paused. “It was how I almost escaped, two years ago.”

“And you were caught,” Makara said.

“Only because it decided to randomly rain. You try escaping through a storm drain when it starts to pour and see how it works out. I’m lucky to even be alive. The drain leads to the river. Once we’re there, we can escape into the forest.”

We all looked at each other. It was a gamble, but we really had no other choice. We had to trust that Julian knew what he was doing. He had certainly kept us alive so far.

But now, stuck behind these crates, we were pinned between the guards on the wall and our pursuers behind us. The guards on the wall would shoot as soon as we left cover. But the men chasing us were only two buildings behind now, and would surely kill us as soon as we were in range.

“There is a ladder on the side of the building,” Julian said. “If we move these crates, we can have cover while we head over there. Once down the ladder, the building itself will be our cover.”

We rushed to do what Julian said. We each scooted a crate. Bullets fired, and those that would have hit us struck the crates harmlessly. The danger increased as the men from behind caught up and began to fire their own guns. A few bullets riddled the crates on our side. A bullet ricocheted off the rooftop just inches from my foot.

But by this time, we had made it to the ladder. Julian latched onto the metal, sliding down and gritting his teeth from the pain it caused his hands. Samuel went next, followed by Makara. Once I slid down the side of the building, we were all out of our pursuers’ line of sights.

The metal and chipped paint burned and cut into my hands. I tried not to let the pain slow me down. The pursuing men were now on top of the ladder, aiming their guns down. I hopped off just as they started shooting, rolling away into the dark alley. I ran after the others, who were already disappearing around the corner.

Upon circling the corner, I nearly ran into all three of them. They stood at the side of the street, staring at a metal grate covering the opening of the storm drain.

“It’s gone,” Julian said. “They’ve closed it off!”

The first of the men were rounded the corner, while two men from the ramparts of the wall above aimed their rifles down.

There was nothing more we could do. It was over. We had been captured.

The men surrounded us, pointing their guns. They did not say anything as one of them stepped forward.

That was when a repetitive thrum sounded in the sky. A blinding light shined down on all of us. The men cried out in alarm. Quickly, the light pointed away from us, and shined on the men. A second floodlight came on, shining on the men on the walls. They held hands up to their eyes.

“Ashton!” I said.

He couldn’t lift us out of here — by the time he let the ladder down, the men would have long recovered from their shock. We had to find another way.

Makara dashed for the gate, knifing a man in the throat as she passed. As the man fell, we followed. The men were yelling, and by the time we vacated the scene, Gilgamesh remained in hover mode. Its twin turrets opened up, raining lead on the street behind us. The men ran for cover.

Now that was the distraction we needed. The gate wasn’t far, and we found ourselves in front of it in under a minute. It was completely shut.

“We have to go inside the gatehouse and open it,” Julian said.

“How do we do that?” Samuel asked.

“I don’t know, we’ll figure it out.”

Julian threw open the gatehouse door, which led to a narrow set of wooden steps. We circled around until we reached the top. To our left, an open archway led to the ramparts, where two guards stood transfixed, watching the Gilgamesh . Since they were not even looking our way, Samuel put his hand on a giant wheel, which connected to a giant link of chains. He gave the wheel a heave. Not able to do it himself, we all joined him.

The loud cranking sound shook the guards out of their stupor. They aimed their rifles, but not before I shot one in the chest. He fell off the rampart toward the dirt street below. The other one, deciding not to take his chances against the four of us, jumped right off the rampart rather than get shot.

Below us, the large wooden gates groaned as they opened. Everyone stopped turning the wheel, and ran back down the stairs. We burst on the street, turned the corner, and ran out of the barely opened gate and into the night.