Escape

Katsu slowly turned around at me, the look on his face clearly saying that he didn't believe me.

"Number 103 you say? Good joke. Sometimes you don't find these fuckers even in tougher missions."

"Just look at that guy over there. Try to act normal."

He did just as I had suggested. His expression changed faster than the wearther. He barely managed to keep his composure.

"Since it's a high number we're dealing with, something important must be going on. We should follow him."

"Didn't you say to run away?"

"As dangerous as it might be, we have to."

I started sweating. I told myself just how nice it is to be a rookie and have some fucked up shit like this happen to you. Well, all I could do was try not to die.

"Then let's go. Just... let's try to get back alive."

"You got it."

Both of us went after that guy, trying to keep our distance. Being able to see where he was going was enough for us. We kept walking, both of us feeling uneasy, just knowing that you're following a killing machine is enough to make someone shit their pants.

After the longest 10 minutes of our lifes, and what felt like kilometers of walking, we were finally on to something. Our culprit reached his destination, or so we thought. He went into a building, then came out with a small package. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Katsu, are you sure they are doing something? It feels like we're doing all of this for nothing."

"I have a feeling that we better keep pursuing him."

I was really tired of walking. For another few minutes we had to walk around. Right when my patience was about to run out, Katsu told me to stop. It seemed that our shady character decided to go on an alley, one of those where people who don't want to get robbed don't pass.

"Katsu, we should stop. I'm pretty sure he knows we're following him. Why else would he go on such a road?"

"Most of the time, these guys tend to have hidden entries in such places."

"Buuuut, it could also be a trap. Do you think it's worth risking our asses for this thing?"

"Alive or dead, someone has to fight back this organisation."

Somehow I felt that even Katsu would back down, but his sense of duty told him to do this anyway. Seeing how brave he was, I felt like an useless piece of shit. Time liberators, fighting for a great cause. I have to help.

"Fine, but if it gets too bad, we retreat."

"You got it."

Both of us slowly stepped into the dark alley. We had our guns ready, in case I was right. Step, step, one more step. My heart started beating so damn fast that it almost left my body. My heavy breath combined with almost shaking out of fear made me feel like I'd pass out any second. Katsu didn't seem that different, but he was able to control himself better.

"Well well well, look at what we have here."

A mysterious voice spoke from the shadows. At that moment I felt it, a cold shiver crawling on my back, like death was breathing in the back of my head. Katsu was the first one of us to speak.

"Get out, NOW!"

"Heh... it's always funny to see my prey act all cocky and that. Just wait until I'm done with you."

The man came out. His presence alone was enough to make me piss my pants. Katsu seemed to be holding on better than me. The man was holding the box in his hand. My eyes were fixed on it, and he seemed to notice.

"You think this is something of value, you're right, I'll tell you this."

"But what is it?"

"Well, what do two dead men need to know this for?"

He smirked. It was the creepiest smirk I had ever seen in my entire life. He was enjoying this.

"How can you be so sure you'll kill us?"

Katsu stared right into his eyes.

"I can see it in your eyes...Fear..."

Fear...he wasn't wrong, but what was I so afraid of? Him? Death? Pain? My mind was blank at that point. Out of pure reflex, maybe just to try and make the fear go away, or to prove myself that I'm not a coward, I took out my gun and shot at him. I happened to hit him in the arm, the arm he was holding the box with. It fell right at Katsu's feet. He quickly grabbed it then shouted at me.

"AKIRA, RUN!"

I'll be damned if I lie, but that was the fastest I had ever ran in my entire life. It seemed that the dude deserved his number. It took him no longer than 2 seconds to take his gun out and start shooting us. Perhaps he was still somehow shocked from what I had done, because his aim was off. We dodged most of the bullets, but one managed to hit Katsu in his lower back.

"I'm ok, just keep running. We're almost out of here."

Behind us was that man, running after us. He didn't care if civilians got involved. We barely left the alley, and the first thing Katsu did was to run into a taxi.

"Akira, hurry up!"

I jumped inside, as bullets kept coming after us. The driver didn't even have time to react when he heard Katsu shout at him.

"Drive as fast as you can if you want to live!"

I could hear that bastard screaming from behind us.

"I WILL FUCKING SKIN YOU ALIVE! HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!?"

A few minutes later and we were somewhere close to the base, or so was I told by Katsu. After all, first time I got there I was kind of kidnapped.

"We're safe. Thanks, Akira. If you didn't shoot, we might have gotten kiled right there. My only guess is that he's used to his victims being afraid of him and not acting. You not doing this must have shocked him a little, enough for us to get away. I owe you my life, twice now."

"For now let's get you patched up so you don't die on me."

"It's not that much of a wound."

"I got a feeling that you might pass out any minute now."