"Get them!"
" Go!"
Voices shouted as the flash grenade detonated. We turned, clicked repeatedly on the triggers of our rifles and sent single shots down the mouth of the alleyway as we inched backward. Figures dashed around the corners and quickly found themselves riddled with holes; they slumped to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.
Phew managed to scramble back behind cover, into safety. A rifle turned the corner once the passage was clear and riddled the alley with bullets. We threw ourselves against the wall to evade the rounds flying past us and inched further back. I bumped into Ibuki, who had stopped to line up his shot. Another click echoed, and the rifle flew out of our assailant's grip at the mouth of the alleyway.
"NOW!" Ibuki shouted.
We hurried out of our hideway, our flashlights already rising to eye level as we ran the other way. We turned the corner and had another close encounter with death.
"We can't keep relying on luck to save us!"
"I know!"
We ran, turned and tossed another flashbang to buy ourselves more time as we passed through the tight passageway and sprinted across the road into another set of buildings; we weaved through side paths and alleys. I ejected my magazine, stored it, and quickly slammed in another with trained precision.
"You have another one of those M-Seventy-Eights?"
Ibuki crouched and rummaged through his backpack before handing one to me. We set up another bunker buster with a tripwire and cracked open a smoke grenade.
"Why did we stop for that?"
"Staying ahead of them is impossible. We have to get past them while they're too busy watching their steps."
We kept our heads down and stuck to the shadows while their search parties swept through the side paths of the complex after us.
"We're lucky they're in a hurry," Ibuki whispered as another patrol passed us.
I looked out onto the street; it was fully illuminated by one of the searchlights from the upper cities.
"It won't be long before the garrison and militia sweep through here. Their seconds are counted, just like ours."
We kept our heads down and made other contraptions with smoke grenades and other explosives Ibuki had. We clung to the shadows. I was fiddling with another smoke trap when I felt Ibuki's hand on my shoulder. I stopped my fiddling and waited for him to release me from his grip. A group of four walked past us with their lights killed at the corner of my vision. I closed my eyes and held my breath as we waited for them to go past us.
"That's some shrewd thinking," Ibuki commented.
"I hate it when they're smart…" I lamented.
We trained our weapons on them and stalked after them. We ghosted silently in their wake as they avoided the passageways illuminated by searchlights. We followed them for over a minute until another earth-shattering roar was heard in the distance. The sound of a collapsing building crashing down came next. Our targets snapped around towards the sound with horrified expressions and saw us.
We ran again with the explosion still echoing across the city. Our shots rang out as we ran. We had to head further into the Lower City. We ran with our limbs growing heavier as we put more distance between them and us. Ibuki's face adopted a shade of white I could see even beneath his goggles. I slung his arm over my neck, but our initial haste slowed down to a crawl as I supported him.
"We have to do something…Otherwise, we won't make it to the Upper City." Ibuki forced out.
"Lying down and waiting for rescue is not an option…" I lamented.
Frantic shouting could be heard coming from multiple directions, I dragged us into a dead end hoping they would walk past us, but a bullet collided with the corner we were about to go around.
"Dead end… We can't go here any further."
"DON'T FIGHT RUN!" I shouted.
Ibuki looked at me with shock as I leaned him against the wall to our left and assumed position on our right. I pre-position my weapon on the opening. Moments later, an opportunistic weasel rounded the corner, gun already raised to eye level, his expression one of utter disbelief as a bullet tore through his head. Both of our weapons clicked; the drilled-in routine took over as another magazine replaced the slightly depleted one.
We waited for them to come charging down the corridor, but instead bright flashes of lights erupted again and again. There was a deafening roar and a smoke screen formed all around us. My ears rang, and it became harder to breathe while. I started to drift in and out of consciousness; my mind flickered between awareness and blackness. I heard screams cut short, then everything turned to black.