Free Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius Garcia Page B

time to shoot at our pursuers. Our enhanced genetics are definitely
an advantage as we create distance between the outsiders and us. Most of them
have slowed to a walk up the stairs while 80 and I continue at a jogging pace.
    “Go as fast as you want. Eventually the stairs
will end and we will catch up,” Petros screams up to
us.
    We reach the top of the stairs and push through
to the roof. “He’s right you know,” I say.
    “Don’t worry about that. Help me find something
to block the door.” 80 searches around the roof.
    The dragonfly hovers by my head and I look
around at the skyline. We must be around forty floors up. To the north I make
out the smoke from the party and behind it the pyramid. In the other direction
I can spot hints of the compound. I wonder how Rene is doing. Has he been told
that I snuck out? What will he do to 80, knowing that he put me in danger?
    Gunfire snaps me back to the current situation.
I turn to see 80 shooting at the base of a giant exhaust vent. He waves me
over. “Help me push this in front of the door.”
    I run to his side and see that he shot off the
rusted parts around the bolts that held the vent down. We push the vent
together and get it in front of the door as the first outsider attempts to push
it open. We have bought ourselves some time, but not much.
    “What now?” I realize that I should have been
the one with the plan. That’s what I have been training for. Grant would be
disappointed in me, but I also understand that to 80 it’s just instinct.
    “We wait.” 80 looks off
towards the compound.
    “For what?” I ask.
    “That.” He points to a craft that is coming out
of the field to the compound. I can’t quite make it out but I know I have never
seen it before.
    More outsiders have reached the door and are
slowly pushing the vent out of the way. 80 and I lean against the vent but I
know that we won’t be able to hold them all off for too much longer.
    The dragonfly takes off to the edge of the
building. The craft that approaches us resembles the dragonfly but with
smaller, stationary wings. Each wing and the tail have a glowing green circle
that seems to be the source for its power and ability to fly. It reaches the
building and hovers right next to the dragonfly. The side door opens and I see
Grant standing inside.
    “Run!” Grant yells.
    We take off towards the flying craft. Behind us
we hear the vent scrape as the door gets pushed open. Bullets fly by us and hit
the ground at our feet. Suddenly I feel a painful sting on my right arm and I
fall to the ground. I look up to see 80 jump onto the
craft.
    “Atom! Get up!” he screams.
    I do but I can’t run towards him because he and
Grant are firing at the outsiders. There are definitely more than there were before.
The outsiders turn their fire towards the craft causing it to back away. I use
the opportunity to run towards the other side of the building. A few outsiders
spot me and fire; I duck and dodge as best as I can. In front of me the craft
is making its way back to the building.
    My body seems to have taken over because,
instead of slowing down as I reach the edge of the roof, I’m speeding up. I
need to make the leap from this building into the moving aircraft. My speed and
timing need to be perfect because if I miss, I’m dead. As I charge forward I
push the fear back and jump off the edge. Nothing is in front of me and for a
moment I feel that I have made a mistake. Before my body starts its descent,
the craft pulls up in the path I anticipated and I hit the ledge of the side
door. 80 and Grant grab my arms and pull me in as the craft heads back to the
compound.
    Grant closes the side door and heads for the
front of the aircraft.
    “I’m sorry,” I cry out before he disappears. I
look at 80. “Why did you leave me back on the ground?”
    He smiles. “I went back to the party because I
had seen them eating something. I wanted to get us some. They were calling it
chicken.”
    I remember