It was one of those quiet afternoons that felt like the calm before something big. The kind of stillness that makes you uncomfortable if you sit with it too long. I had just stepped out to dump the trash. Sunlight pressed on my skin, warm and unwelcome. My mind was still weighed down by the chaos of the past week, Steven in hiding, Ife missing, my mother barely smiling anymore.
Then I saw her.
Standing across the street, arms folded, eyes locked on me like she'd been waiting there all day. Ay? My mind staggered for a moment. Ayomide?
She smiled like we were still in school. Like we hadn't grown up and gotten hunted. I hadn't seen her since... well, since the night everything turned upside down. She looked exactly the same, eyes unreadable, voice silent, posture calm. Too calm.
"Ay?" I blinked. "What... how... what are you doing here?"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she walked towards me like it was the most casual thing in the world.
"You really don't know how to text back," she said. "You're worse than a ghost."
"You found my house," I replied, stunned. "I never even told you where I stay."
"I have my ways."
That answer didn't help my nerves. I should've asked more questions, but my mind was caught between caution and curiosity. Ay always had this strange pull, a mysterious charm I couldn't explain, and right now, I needed someone familiar. Even if she made no damn sense.
"Come in," I muttered, stepping aside.
Inside, we talked or tried to. It felt off. Like catching up with someone you weren't sure was on your side. I served her a drink. She barely touched it.
She sat on the arm of my chair, eyes darting across the room like she was mapping an escape route. Then, out of nowhere, she said, "So… the Zenith Depot attack. Crazy night, right? Can't imagine who'd be stupid enough to help someone like that escape."
My heart skipped, but I didn't flinch. I just shrugged, pretending I didn't notice the way her eyes lingered on me.
"People do crazy things when they're scared," I replied, watching her reaction.
She smirked but quickly changed the subject, asking about work, my mom, my dog that died five years ago, anything to keep the air light. But her fingers wouldn't stop twitching. Her leg bounced. Her gaze kept flicking to the window.
Then it came, a ping from her wrist communicator.
She read it, and her whole vibe changed.
Ay shot up, spilling what was left of her drink. "We need to leave. Now."
"What?" I stood too, heart racing. "Why?"
She grabbed my wrist. "No time. Liam, trust me. We can't stay here. Not even five more minutes."
"Ay, you're scaring me. What is going on?"
She paused, looked at me, and I saw it the panic under her calm. "I overheard something last night," she said, low and quick. "My mom was on a call. A council security head confirmed names and locations, of those who helped the escapee. You're on the list, Liam. They're coming for you."
I froze. I wanted to believe she was lying, maybe trying to spook me into leaving for some weird test. But I'd seen the way security had been tightening. I'd seen the flickers of our faces on the street holograms.
I backed away from her. "No, no. Not now. I can't. I need to think. I need to"
BOOM!
The door blasted inward.
But the room was empty.
Ay had seen it coming. We'd already slipped out the back window, darting through the alley behind my house, my breath heavy in my throat, heart screaming inside my chest.
I didn't look back.
We landed hard behind the house, gravel biting into my palms as we hit the alley. I barely had time to catch my breath before Ayomide grabbed my arm and pulled me forward.
"Run."
I didn't ask questions.
My legs moved on their own, thudding against the pavement as the echo of boots filled the air behind us. The enforcers weren't wasting time, they wanted a spectacle. Drones buzzed overhead. Somewhere in the distance, I heard someone shouting my name.
My name.
This was real.
Ay moved like she was part shadow, part storm. Her steps made no sound. She slipped around corners, jumped fences, ducked low through narrow gaps like she'd done this a hundred times before. It was unnatural, and for a second, watching her run, a chill swept through me.
I remembered the bounty hunter from the night Habeeb was chased, how fast, how calculated he was. Ayomide moved just like that. Like she'd been trained for it. Or born for it.
Still, I didn't stop. Couldn't.
My breath was ragged. My ribs burned. I almost tripped trying to climb over a pile of abandoned crates, but Ay caught me mid-stumble without even breaking stride.
"You okay?" she asked.
I nodded, but truthfully, I wasn't. My legs were jelly. My mind was everywhere.
Steven. Ife. What if they got caught too? What if my mom came home and saw the damage? What if she…
"Liam, focus," Ay snapped. "Left here."
I followed.
We ducked into a tunnel beneath an old broken bridge. The hum of tech behind us faded for a moment, giving my heart just enough time to thud louder than my footsteps.
"How are you so calm?" I panted.
She didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
She was the only reason I was still breathing.
And deep down, I knew… this was just the beginning.
We must've run half the length of the district. My legs were giving out when Ay skidded to a stop beside a rusted-out car under a collapsed billboard. I was about to ask if we were switching hiding spots, but before I could catch my breath, she yanked the door open and slid under the dashboard.
"What are you doing?" I wheezed.
"Borrowing it," she muttered, focused, fingers moving like she knew exactly what wires to pull. A spark. A low hum.
The engine roared to life.
"What the hell, Ay"
"Get in."
We didn't have time for a debate. I jumped in, slammed the door, and held on. She jerked the car into gear, and we took off, tires screeching as we merged into the back road. Behind us, shouts. Sirens.
I looked in the side mirror.
Enforcer cruisers.
Four.
Five.
Fast.
"Don't panic," she said, eyes sharp, swerving past the old district wall. "They're slower in tight spaces."
I didn't respond. I couldn't.
Then, I saw it.
A car.
Not an enforcer vehicle. Not even marked. Sleek. Black. With a matte finish that shimmered under the fading light like liquid metal. It moved… differently. Smooth. Effortless. Like it wasn't chasing us, just watching.
"That car…" I said, pointing. "I've seen it before. It was at the supermarket. Parked across the road. It's been following me."
Ay glanced at the rearview. "I see it."
"Friend or foe?"
She didn't answer.
The car didn't try to overtake the enforcers. It stayed behind them. Distant. Watching. Waiting.
It sent a shiver through me.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"I was hoping you'd tell me," Ay replied, swerving again as bullets pinged off the side.
Whatever game we'd been pulled into… more players were on the board than I thought.
And someone, someone in that strange car, was very interested in how it all played out.
Ay's foot slammed the accelerator. The engine howled as we tore through the outer district. Debris blurred past us, buildings became smears, and the road was just a heartbeat away from cracking under the pressure.
Behind us, chaos.
The enforcers were gaining relentless machines in black steel cruisers, red sirens screaming through the night. One rammed into our rear bumper, jolting the car violently.
Shots fired.
Sparks flew as bullets scraped metal. Ay jerked the wheel, swerving us into a narrow bypass, barely wide enough for one car. One of the enforcer vehicles tried to follow but clipped a dumpster, flipping and bursting into flames.
"That's one!" Ay shouted, breath sharp but steady.
Another enforcer tried cutting us off ahead. Ay didn't flinch. She spun the car into a tight drift, brushing past the side of the cruiser. The enforcer clipped a light pole and crashed into a wall.
Two down.
But the rest?
Still coming.
They swarmed like hounds, pressing in from all sides. A drone dipped low overhead, spotlight flooding us like daylight.
Then it happened.
We hit a pothole. A massive one.
The car bounced.
Lifted.
Time slowed.
An enforcer rammed us from behind mid-air.
The vehicle flipped.
Once.
Twice.
The world spun in a violent blur of glass, metal, and pain. We hit the ground roof-first. Then silence.
Ears ringing.
Vision blurry.
I coughed, trying to move but the seatbelt held me in like a noose. Through the shattered window, I saw boots.
Black boots.
Drones circled above. Enforcer rifles aimed. Vehicles boxed us in. One officer shouted a command.
"Target acquired! Hands where I can see...!"
Then the sky went dark.
BOOM.
Smoke exploded from the alley.
A thick, blinding fog swallowed everything. Drones flickered, whined, and fell from the sky like stones. Sparks burst from enforcer gauntlets. Their tech died in their hands.
Chaos erupted.
I felt arms around me firm, gloved. A masked figure pulled me from the wreckage. I tried to speak, but a cloth pressed against my nose. A hiss.
Everything went numb.
My vision tunneled.
Ay…
Where was Ay?
I caught a final glimpse of her through the smoke, standing far on the other side of the wreckage, eyes locked on mine before she vanished into the mist like a ghost.
Darkness.