Hacking the Sun - The Re-Remake

Chapter 17 The Woodsmen 1/2

Gun against his scalp, Dexter's feet rooted into the ground. The Azarean female loomed in the corner of his eye, a cold and calculating demeanor with no expression behind those glasses. She hadn't killed him yet, which could only mean one thing.

Despite the precarious situation, his thoughts were a loop of his last exchange with Jessica. Though it could have and probably should have been different, he was grateful.

A deafening bang accompanied a liquid sensation on his cheek. He flinched over his right shoulder, where the Azarean female collapsed. Meters away from her fallen body stood Ike, alive with a smoking barrel in his grasp.

"Run, shit-stain!" he yelled and commenced firing.

 However, the second agent had begun a sprint. Too quick, he dodged the bullet and grabbed Ike's arm like a lunging viper. He shoved him and dented the hood of a car before tossing successive body shots the eye could barely follow. Ike somehow took the brunt of them before blocking his taller opponent and punching back.

The alien swiped the bruise off his face as if it were cosmetic.

Ike rolled off the hood of the car and set some distance between them. He then assumed a fighter's stance and wasted no time advancing. Rigorous breath escaped his every jab, but nothing made contact.

The Azarean dodged like a slippery worm, swerving out of his opponent's reach, no wasted motion. Ike tired himself into the Azarean's clutch. His entire body was lifted then slammed onto the roof of another car. Broken glass hit the street, and dry cackles escaped his lips.

In control of his nerves again, Dexter scrambled and picked up the dead agent's pistol. He lifted its holographic sights to the agent. Aware, the agent left Ike's bloody face on the car hood, stole his magnum from the ground, and pulled the trigger. All in the time it took to blink.

Dexter's pistol flew out of his hand; Ike's magnum burned into flecks, and before Dexter could even register the pain, the Azarean kicked him into the car behind him. Then, an arm fell on the agent's shoulder.

Ike heaved the Azarean's collar and tossed him onto the car hood, switching places. He accompanied his next flurry of punches with loud, begrudging groans.

***

Down the highway of scattered vehicles and scared citizens, Jessica skated, at high velocity, across numerous obstacles. She moved faster than the viral signal transmitting through Babel, which quickly transformed static traffic into a vehicular tide over the superhighway. Mid-focus, Monarch's voice returned.

"Asgard is splitting off! Without a specific target to follow, they're scrambling. Now's our best window: all units, disperse and meet up at the rendezvous. M72014."

Per Monarch's observation, the Asgard airships en route had abandoned their formation, to swerve in sundry directions. Like fledgling birds in the sky, they split their attention for every off-road car carrying potential suspects, and there were many.

"Dexter!" Jessica called, breaking near the fiery wreckage. She found her friend shaken, resting against the dented car door. 

The agent was nearby, squaring off with Ike, Ike who had drawn a knife only to sweat bullets in front of his opponent. The fire in his eyes stemmed from fear.

"Jessica?" Dexter moaned. He was tiredly gawking from his sorry position, where surprise impeded his effort to rise. Jessica crouched and carefully wrapped his arm around her neck.

"We're leaving, Dex!"

"Now's your chance!" Ike shouted, and the enemy pinned him to the ground. He had no hope of escape then, no purpose aside from distraction.