“It should be here.”
“Well, where is it?” The girl asked. He knocked the wall, and heard a faint echo from the other side of it.
“It’s here. We have to go through half meter of concrete first.”
“What?”
“Well… What the hell did you expect? It’s the only vulnerable spot on this whole goddamned fortress. Makes only sense that they hid it like this.”
“But how are we going to… Stop!”
He quirked an annoyed eyebrow at her when she grabbed his wrist.
“Unless you have a power drill I have to use my claws,” he pointed out the obvious.
“But what if you loose too much blood before we get through?”
“Jesus Christ… I’m not about to camp out down here and wait that my healing kicks in again. Longer we wait the more time it gives for the clean-up team to find us!” He shouted, shrugged her hands off and let his claws rip forth, plunging them in to concrete.
Few moments later he was swaying on his feet on a pile of blood smeared rubble, staring in to opening that was just wide enough for the girl to fit through. He had sheathed his claws and was tearing in to the wall with his hands, trying to dislodge large slab of stone that sat stubbornly on his way. He kicked the slab and slouched backwards, flicking off strands of hair that hung over his forehead and tickled his eyes. He was covered to sweat and dust from head to toe. Small breeze coming from the open shaft in front of him made him shiver as it slid over his skin, drying off droplets of sweat that had broken through the mask of concrete dust.
“Climb in. I’ll follow you as soon as I fit through,” he grunted after clearing his throat. The girl stared at the bent steel rods sticking out from the wall. He had cut them as short as he could. He still needed them for leverage when he pried off the lower part of the wall that stood on his way.
“No.”
“No?”
“I’ll wait for you.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Suit yourself…”
He grabbed the wall again and cursed when the concrete started to give away under his fingers, crumbling to a dust. He wasn’t getting anywhere like this. He leaned against the slab that kept rocking back and forth, but refused to fall down and craned his neck. He could see only darkness. But he could hear the sound of rotors somewhere up ahead and realized that the girl had been right to wait for him. He’d have to take the lead when they started to climb towards the freedom. There were rotors and nets he’d have to cut through.
He kicked the slab once more, then slid against the opposite wall, sliding down until he felt the cool floor under his buttocks. He combed his fingers through his matted and tangled hair, letting out a frustrated growl.
“What if I climbed in and pushed from that side while you pull from this side?” The girl asked. He shook his head.
“If it coils back for some reason, you’d be squashed like a fucking bug under it. I didn’t drag you all the way through that hell just to let you drop dead now.”
“I could tell you everything I remember before we try it.”
“As tempting as it sounds, no. We made a deal. I get you out of here, and you give me what I need. It’s not just memories I’m after. I need you to show me how to deal with things. I’m quite sure that the appropriate way to react when something happens isn’t to flash my claws and cut up anybody within my range.”
“It’s worked pretty well down here, but as far as I recall, it’s not a good idea up there…” She chuckled.
“Yeah. That’s why I need you…” He grunted, pushing himself up again, eyeing the wall menacingly.
He unsheathed his claws, grimacing for the amount of blood that gushed through the slits they made and sliced them cleanly through the slab, cutting it half from the middle, and fell on his knees in front of it, claws screeching back in. He leaned forward, resting his face against his palms, and tried to ward off the dizziness and shooting stars that had blurred his field of vision.
He heard the girl scramble past him. Stone creaking against steel. Rubble was moving, falling on his knees and bouncing off.
“Help me…” He opened his eyes and lunged forward, grabbing the side of the slab when the girl had gotten it bent as far as her strength allowed. He pulled it for the last stretches, and suddenly the steel gave away, letting the stone fall, and the hole on the wall got considerable wider. At the same time they could hear the soft ping of an elevator from the distance, followed by doors opening and hushed whispers. He could see her eyes widening. He raised a finger over his lips to indicate that it was important to stay quiet. She nodded. He rose from the rubble slowly.
“I’ll go and take care of them. Can’t go in that shaft now. We’ll be sitting ducks if they start shooting at us in there…” He whispered, his lips nearly grazing her earlobe. Again she nodded. He turned to leave when her hand landed on his forearm. He turned to look at her. There was a question in her eyes. He felt his lips curl to a something that reminded a smile.
“Wait for me.”
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