Chapter 283 - 283 A Chaotic Time

283 A Chaotic Time

It felt like two seconds rather than eight hours because the moment I regained consciousness, my body jerked as if someone was shaking me.

“Wake up!” I heard someone shout, which I slowly opened my eyes, still feeling my body race me around.

My vision began to clear up, as I saw the face of Brie, shaking me like some maraca. “What?!” I shouted, coming off very harsh.

“I think the TSA is here,” she said. “Come, quickly!” She jumped off of me, as I threw off the sheets and landed on my feet on the wooden floor. The bed was right by the door, so it didn’t take long to walk outside.

Brie steadily moved through the hall that presented other rooms. The ground was white with white pillars glued and pasted on it. There were two others like this, one of them being the lobby.

“Okay, where is this—”

“Down!” she shouted, immediately ducking down to a crouching form. She took out her binoculars from her back pocket, placing them in her eyes before she moved it and handed it to me, who was behind her.

“Look towards the roof of the lobby,” she said, pointing to that spot.

I guided my eyes towards the reddish-brown roof, where there was a man in dark red clothing, with these black binoculars that displayed where his position was.

.....

“See him?” she asked. I nodded. “I believe so. Do you need me to take him out?”

“Well, I mean, why not—I think he’s moving,” she said, which I saw first—being that I had the binoculars. “Yeah, he’s changing his position,” I said, keeping my eyes on him.

He reached for something on his back, I believe, which he then mounted onto the roof, cocking something back before—oh, no.

“He has a sniper!” I shouted in a hushed voice, but a bullet was already released from his weapon. It hit the pillar nearby me, as pieces sprayed from the wound.

I dropped down, taking cover behind a wooden box that was nearest to me on the right. “Brie, you good?!” I shouted, looking from behind me.

She was behind the pillar next to the wounded one, which she gave a quick thumbs up. That was a relief. “Okay, how are we gonna take him out?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I genuinely don’t know,” she said. I could hear her deep breaths of fear and panic, before she gulped and added, “Listen, go to Hans, wake him up, and tell him that someone is here. I’ll try and stop this sniper, alright?”

“Uh—if you say,” I said, a bit anxious. She peeked out and nodded, before we both darted from our positions, to which I ran towards our room.

I could hear shots hit the ground beside me, which only spiked my anxiety. I rushed towards our room and dashed inside, slamming the door at the same time.

“Hans!” I shouted. “We’re being attacked!”

“Wait, what?!” I could hear, but the voice sounded more croaky than ever. After a series of thumping, Hans exited his room and out the door, holding the same small gun he used to shoot those assassins.

He looked a bit tired but more importantly, scared. His eyes started to drift towards the window, where he could see the sniper still shooting, and a few bullets pierced through the glass of the window and hit the wall behind us. I quickly shut the window.

“It’s a sniper,” I said. “Brie is handling him. We need to get out of this building and to safety!” I could see Hans had turned pale. I grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him to the door.

“Wait,” he said, pulling away. He reached into his pocket and shuffled around for a moment before he finally revealed a magazine, loading it into his weapon. “Alright, let’s go,” Hans said, determination now etched on his face.

We made our way out of the room, crouching low to avoid the sniper’s line of sight. As we carefully navigated the hallway, I couldn’t help but worry about Brie. She was brave, but the situation was undoubtedly dangerous.

Suddenly, we heard a loud crash, followed by the sound of glass shattering. My heart raced, fearing the worst for Brie. I turned to Hans, who looked equally worried.

“We need to find another way out,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady.

Hans nodded, his eyes scanning the area for an alternate route. He pointed towards a door on the other side of the hall. “There’s a stairwell over there. We can use it to get to the ground floor and find a way out.”

We cautiously made our way to the door, keeping as low as possible to avoid being seen. As we approached the stairwell, the sound of gunshots rang out again, this time accompanied by a scream.

My heart dropped, fearing it might be Brie. But before I could even process the thought, Hans grabbed my arm and pulled me into the stairwell, shutting the door behind us.

As we descended the stairs, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. What if we couldn’t make it out in time? What if Brie was injured, or worse?

We reached the ground floor, and Hans led me to a back exit. As we stepped outside, we found ourselves in a narrow alleyway, the building providing us with some cover from the sniper.

“We need to find Brie,” I said, my voice shaking with concern.

Hans nodded, his eyes scanning the surrounding area for any sign of her. “We’ll find her. But first, we need to make sure the sniper doesn’t have a clear shot at us. Come on, let’s move.”

The two of us stood in the shadowy alley, our breaths ragged and hearts pounding. The air was thick with tension and the faint scent of dampness from the recent rain. A chill wind whispered through the narrow passage, its icy fingers brushing against our skin and causing goosebumps to rise. The full moon played hide-and-seek with the clouds, casting eerie, dancing shadows on the wet cobblestones beneath our feet.

The crumbling brick walls on either side of the alley seemed to close in on us, as if they were ancient, silent witnesses to the danger that lurked nearby. The rusted fire escapes above groaned under the weight of years of disuse, casting menacing, twisted shadows that seemed to take on a life of their own. Every sound, from the distant howl of a dog to the drip of water from a broken gutter, heightened our senses and fueled our anxiety.

Far off, the faint wail of sirens pierced the night, mingling with the distant hum of traffic. It was a stark reminder that beyond this claustrophobic corridor, the city continued with its usual cacophony, blissfully unaware of the sinister events unfolding in its dark underbelly.

As we slowly inched our way through the alley, the buildings around us seemed to become more decrepit, their windows boarded up and doors sealed shut. It was as if the city had abandoned this place, leaving it to rot and decay, much like the secrets that were buried within its depths.

As we moved forward, the darkness seemed to grow thicker, swallowing up any semblance of safety we may have felt. Our footsteps echoed softly, the sound reverberating through the alley, a constant reminder that we were trespassing into the unknown. With every step, the sense of foreboding grew stronger, wrapping its icy tendrils around our hearts and tightening its grip.

In this haunting and oppressive atmosphere, we knew we had to keep moving, to find a way out of this labyrinth of shadows and secrets. For we were now part of a deadly game, and our survival depended on our ability to navigate the treacherous landscape that stretched out before us.

I looked around nervously, the darkness closing in on us like a thick, inky curtain. My heart raced as I worried about Brie and our own safety. But then, a faint glimmer of light peeked through a gap, catching my attention. “Hey, Brie might be over there!” I exclaimed, a surge of hope lifting my spirits.

I stepped out of the alleyway and spotted the sniper perched on the roof of the building’s lobby section. “Uh-oh,” I muttered under my breath, quickly ducking behind the wall for cover.

“He’s up there,” I whispered to Hans, who cautiously peeked around the corner before darting to the other side of the wall. “So, where’s Brie?” he asked, concern etched on his face. I tried to get a better look, but suddenly, a bright flash of light streaked towards us as if a bolt had just been fired.

Brie! That had to be her!

With adrenaline surging through my veins, I sprinted forward, my eyes fixed on the roof above. Spotting a large crate nearby, I leaped onto it and hoisted myself up, hands gripping the edge of the roof.

“Connor!” Hans called out, his voice filled with a mix of worry and urgency.