Immediately after I was pulled out of the room, I found myself faced with a group of twelve Ghost agents, all dressed in nicely pressed suits. Only the best to capture me, I guess.
“What do you think,” Smith asked over the buzz of the alarms. “You take half and I take half?”
I chuckled darkly. “Oh please. I can handle more than that.”
“Is that a challenge, Janie.”
“Only if you can keep up.”
The other agents made the first move and lunged at us, lions pouncing on their prey. Smith and I spun into action. I pulled up the hand that Smith had shoved something into and was glad to see that my assumption was correct when I pointed the handgun at a pair of assailants. With four easy shots, they were on the ground clutching their knees.
I ran full on into the chaos and jumped as high as I could go, grabbing one of the taller agents in a headlock and flipping him using the force of my weight. I used the heel of my foot to kick his head and he was knocked out cold. I chanced a glance over at Smith and saw he had two on the ground, but was surrounded by three others.
“Looks like I have to try harder,” I murmured under my breath.
I heard more than saw my next targets approaching from either side of me, running at full speed. I smiled and jumped again, watching in amusement as the two immediately butted heads and fell in a small heap on the floor.
I landed gracefully next to them and twirled my arm around so my gun was pointed at the temple of the attacker trying to sneak up behind me. He was probably the largest of all. His head could pass for a boulder and a large scar drew itself up from his chin to his left ear. His chapped lips grinned down at me as I took a moment to observe him.
“You won’t kill me, Company Cutie,” he stated, his voice low and threatening.
I gave him a smirk in return. “Well you’re right about the killing.”
I moved the gun down and shot…just shy of his crotch.
He yelped and fell to the floor in a pitiful state. I shook my head and laughed. “Next time I won’t miss.”
He continued to cry on the floor as I turned back to see Smith finishing off his group. He looked around and frowned in disappointment.
“You win,” he sighed.
“Is this really the best that Ghost can do,” I asked? However, before he could answer, the sound of more people drowned the halls.
“Come on,” he yelled, grabbing my hand and dragging me over to the wall. He kneeled in front of an air vent and pulled a pocket knife out of his jacket. He began to unscrew the grill. I looked around anxiously, seeing the shadows of the top agents starting to make their way out of the fog and hearing the cries of the guard not far off.
I groaned in impatience and pushed Smith out of the way. With my gun, I shot at each of the screws. It fell with a clatter and I started to squirm my way into the vent, thanking the architect that made these vents wide. Smith wasn’t far behind me.
We crawled in silence. Our breath echoed around us, only occasionally interrupted by directions from Smith. After awhile, we were still winding through the tunnels and a thought came to me.
“Why does this whole escape plan feel too easy?”
“No idea,” he whispered. “Maybe we’re just that good.”
“No, that’s not it.”
I paused for a moment and listened carefully. Long forgotten advice from one of my Company instructors suddenly rushed to mind.
“Jane, is there a reason why we’ve stopped.”
“If it’s too easy, something’s wrong,” I whispered.
“What?”
A loud groan of metal giving way pressed against my ears. I braced myself just in time for the vent beneath me to open up. We started to free fall into the large hanger from before, an army of agents waiting for us below. Without hesitation, I grabbed on to the first thing that I could: one of the training ropes. Unfortunately, Smith wasn’t so lucky.
I watched in horror as he kept falling, finally being caught in a net in the crowd. The idea that they might not want us dead had me shudder at the thought of what they would still want us for.
My rope began to sway as the guards started to climb their way up and knock me off. I looked down in panic, trying to climb higher, but I hit the ceiling after only a few feet. I swung myself up onto the beams that held the ceiling in place and thrust my hands out on either side to keep balance. Once I was steady, I walked as if on a tightrope, attempting to get as far away from the agents as possible and bought myself time to look for a way out.
“There’s another vent! An old fan! It’s not far from-” I heard Smith trying to yell out to me before being muffled by those surrounding him, but I didn’t dare look down. Instead, I glanced behind me to see the very vent. I took a deep, calming breath and began to make my way over, following the maze of beams to my destination. In the corner of my eye, I could see the guards hot on my trail.
I could just about touch the blades of the fan when I heard the ring of a gunshot. I gasped in shock and immediately felt the pain in my left thigh. Gently, I pressed my hand against the wound and brought it back to see blood coating my hand.
Behind me I heard the laughter of the agent I had shot in the thigh earlier.
“Next time, I won’t miss,” he said, repeating the words I said not long before.
I leaned against the entrance to my escape, trying to block the pain when I heard it. It sounded almost like…chanting
“She was trained like one of us. She defied her fate. An assassin, she might be. She’s no killer, she’s top rate. Jane Doe of Company. She chooses her path. Look to her and you’ll see, you’re no agent of death’s wrath.”
The chant repeated…and it slowly grew louder. I chanced a look down and saw the younger trainees clapping and singing along. Everyone else in the room stood in shock, including me, not knowing what was going on.
I…inspire them? I thought. Cautiously, I stood and nodded my head to the crowd. Not really knowing what else to do. I glanced around and saw that the guards were distracted by the actions of the students and I smirked.
They gave me an escape. I looked up at the still, rusted blades of the fan, obviously aged from lack of use. I glanced in and saw the drop of the air shaft. Giggling, I jumped and only looked back up when I heard the cheers from the hanger. I fell for what felt like only a few seconds and when I looked up, I was glad to see a lack of guards.
I started to jog through what looked to be an old sewer and hummed the chant in my head as I thought about the events that just happened.
Jane Doe of Company. She chooses her path. Look to her and you’ll see, you’re no agent of death’s wrath.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Eckerd chapter.