EXODUS Entry 1

Chapter One

I’ve been in this situation exactly 56 times and I almost always forget to duck. As I hit the

ground, the bullets whiz overhead and smash into the brick wall behind me. There’s nothing like a shower of rubble landing on your head to make you thankful that you’re still alive. But I still have a long way to go.

I peek around the corner and I see the two gunmen. But I only have 1 bullet left.

My only hope is to cause a distraction. And if they’re as tense as I am, they’re going to jump at the slightest sound. I take a fallen brick, and launch it to the opposite side. With no way of knowing if my distraction worked or not, I get on my feet and run as fast as I can.

You might think running away would be the best option. But these two guys have been chasing me for far too long. I have to end this. So I run right toward them.

As soon as I can see them I can tell my distraction worked. Both of them looked to the wrong side and realized I was coming just a little too late. I shoot the closest gunman, drop my gun, and dive for his before the second gunman realizes what’s happening, I’ve already put him down too. I take a moment to catch my breath, but I can’t waste too much time here. I wish I could say these two were the only bad guys around, but truth be told, I’m in the middle of a war zone.

I lost the rest of my platoon over an hour ago, but I still have to complete the mission. All that stands between me and rescuing the President’s daughter is three war torn blocks of enemies and the fortress she is being held in. With no time to waste, I get moving again.

I make it past one block undisturbed, but I get the feeling that everything is too quiet. Where are the rest of the soldiers? I take one more step and realize why there is nobody around. The faint click underneath my feet tells me I have just stepped on a land mine. This stretch of road is unmanned because it’s full of booby traps. I move my foot ever so slightly and read the marking on the landmine.

It’s an older model, so I know once I step off the trigger I’ll have 3 seconds before it explodes. It’s also fairly small, really only designed to blow your leg off. When I hear some more soldiers coming from around the corner, I know I only have one choice. I used to be the fastest kid in school, and I’m hoping my speed hasn’t left me. I take three short breaths and attempt to calm myself down. Then I run as fast as I can. Before it explodes behind me, I can tell I’ve already set off another one, so stopping now is not an option. The explosion comes and I’m almost knocked to my feet.

But that would bring this mission to be a very quick end and I can’t have that. I regain my balance and keep running as it seems like the entire world behind me erupts in explosions, as one mine after another is set off. About halfway through the block, I start doubting if I can outrun the flames. But it’s not like I can turn back, so I keep my eyes focused on the next intersection which should be free of mines.

My legs feel like they’re pumping acid and I think I’m screaming in pain but the only noise I hear I my ears is a loud ringing from the explosions around.

I think I can make it.

I reach the end of the block and I dive to my left and curl up into a small ball against the brick wall. Thankfully this street has to land mines and in a few seconds the world quiets, as the explosions have stopped. I take a couple of seconds before I look back down the street I just ran. The street is barely recognizable anymore. It seems much further than I realized.

Note to self: next time, try to find another way around.

I think parts of my back are singed but I don’t have time to check. Knowing this

pain won’t last very much longer, I walk back onto the street defensively, ready for anything that may come my way.

I’ve already had soldiers, and now booby traps. So I’m not sure what’s ahead of me. Even though I’ve done this before, I haven’t made it as far very often. And usually it changes a little bit. So I have no idea what to expect.

I hear it before I see it. From around the corner in front of me, I hear slow heavy footsteps. Whatever it is, I know it’s not a soldier, because it’s heavy enough to make the ground shake just a little bit with every step it takes. I glance around me to see what protection I have. Halfway down the block, there is a ladder hanging that connects to a firescape that connects to the roof of this three story building. I also see a partially open manhole cover that would drop me into the sewers. The other side of the street is just one solid brick wall.

So it seems my options are stand my ground, or I can choose to go up or down. I decide to wait to see what turns around the corner before I make my decision. A quick check of the magazine of the gun I picked up from the fallen guard shows I only have half of my bullets

left. That should be enough, but then again I don’t know what’s coming.

And then I see it.

It looks similar to the pictures I saw in school of a Bull. But if memory serves, Bulls did not get this big, nor did they have 6 inch claws. It turned its giant head towards me and snorted loudly. It’s thick matted fur bristled in the air as it exhaled through it’s nose. It’s claws dig into the pavement, as it looks like it’s about to charge. Even from this distance, I can tell that it stands about as tall as I do. Whatever this creature is, It looks bad. And very, very mad.

I run toward it as fast as I can, still not able to decide if I should go up or down. As soon as I move, it does too. I raise my gun up and empty the clip and watch in horror as the bullets sink into it’s thick flesh, but does nothing to slow it down. The gun falls uselessly

behind me as I run even faster than I did before.

If I go down, I may be able to escape it for now, but i’ll have no way of killing it. If I go up…

I jump as high as I can and reach the second bottom rung. I lift my feet up just in time and the giant bull roars underneath me. As I keep climbing, it comes to a stop and looks at me with pure vengeance, upset that its prey evaded him.

By the time I reach the first floor, I feel pretty good. But that feeling faded rather quickly as the bull sank it’s claws into the brick wall and started to climb up after me. Thankfully it’s not as fast as I am, So I get to the roof before it does.

And my reward is a fully loaded gun, waiting on the ledge for me. I lean over the side, shocked to see how close it is to me. I hold the trigger down and bullets rain down upon it. It roars in anger and looses its footing, but still holds onto the wall. I see giant drops of blood falling down so I know I have to be hurting it. But I run out of bullets but

it’s still coming.

Hoping that there are more guns in the building, I run toward the door marked “stairs”. As

I burst through the door, I see the creature has climbed on to the roof and wasted no time coming after me. I’m about 1 ½ flights down before it crashes through the doorway above me.

I can’t help but to take a second to sigh in exasperation. What will it take to slow this thing down?

I realize if I don’t get out of this stairwell soon it’ll catch up to me. So I exit on the second floor.

The hallway seems abnormally long but it’s probably only because I’m stressed and tired. I get to the first door and thankfully it’s unlocked. I close I quietly behind me and hope that the beast doesn’t know where I am. There’s a door to my right that I assume leads to the adjoining room. I back up to the window to see if I have an escape route there. There’s not fire escape, but the tall fence leading into the fortress next door gives me an idea.

If only I could get to the roof again.

I hear the beastly bull slowly padding down the hall and even in the room I can hear its large nose sniffing for me. The hallway seems too tight for it and I can see the walls crack as it’s forcing its way through the hallway. The cracks stop at the door and I can see his shadow from the hall. The loud sniffing continues. But then a moment later, it continues down the hallway. I slowly creep back to the door and wait until I think it’s about 2 doors down.

Hoping that the tight hallways will buy me some time, I open the door and run back to the stairwell. A quick glance behind shows the entire hallway taken up by its massive thickly matted behind. It stops and roars in frustration as it realized I’m behind him now.

The walls may as well be made of paper as it rears its head and crashes through the room. He quickly has made enough room for itself to turn around, taking out a huge chunk of the wall with it. I run back to the roof, hoping my idea will work.

Once I reach the open air again, I’m surprised to see dark clouds have rolled in and it is raining hard. As if this wasn’t hard enough, it’s now throwing a storm at me. But I’m so close now that it’s going to take a lot more than rain to stop me.

But that large spiked fence maybe enough to do just that.

From my vantage point, I can see the top of the tree I’m aiming for and I rush towards it. As I expected, the beast had emerged back onto the roof in close pursuit. I’m pretty sure I can make the jump, but I’m hoping the beast can’t. Only one way to find out…

I reach the edge of the building and I leap foreword my arms already outstretched, ready to grab a hold of the thick branch on the other side of the spiked fence. I clear the fence with mere inches and lose my breath as I slam into the branch. But it’s not over yet.

The giant bull leaps in the air after me.

It bellows a victorious roar as it comes inches to snapping at my legs. But it doesn’t clear the fence. The sound that comes as it impales itself on the fence right behind me almost makes me feel bad for the beast. But as it dies, I remind myself it tried to kill me first.

I slowly climb down the tree, as every muscle in my body aches for comfort. Even though I want to quit, I can’t now. I’m too close. Now that I’ve cleared the fence, I’m standing in front of the fortress.

Having never made it this far, I expected the fortress to be more intimidating than it actually was. Instead, it was a small single story building that looked like it only housed a single room. As I approached the front door, I keep a watchful eye out for more booby traps, but nothing happens. I hate that I don’t have a weapon, but I’m hoping I’ll figure something out inside.

All the pain has faded and all I’m left with is a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach as I slowly open the door. Not very many people have made it this far, but I try to push that from my mind as I step into the building.

As I thought, it’s just one large room. And in the center I see the president’s daughter strapped to a chair. Behind her, stands a ridiculously tall man with bulging muscles that don’t seem to fit the clothes he’s wearing. His face is covered in a thick beard and I can barely see his mouth as he laughs deeply.

To my left, within an arms reach I see a gun conveniently placed on a table. It all seems too easy. But I have to remind myself that it’s not over yet. I grab the gun, but before I can raise it, the man has stopped laughing and has pressed his gun to the temple of the daughter. He stares me up and down with his dark eyes that almost seem black.

I remember my mission: Kill the enemy, get the girl, get out.

But I can’t seem to bring myself to raise the gun.

“Erroll Redd, I’m surprised you’ve made it this far my young friend.”

He knows my name? Of course he knows my name. Everyone here knows my name. I can’t let that distract me.

“I think you’re the youngest that’s ever made it this far. You’re what—15?”

Kill the enemy. No where in my mission does it suggest I should talk to him. But I have to buy myself more time.

“I’m 16.” I stand defiantly, but even I knew how silly those words sounded coming out of my mouth. Like there’s anyway this guy is intimidated by me. I’m only 5’8” and kind of scrawny for my age. And I’m still young enough that my face can barely produce any hair. I must look like a baby to this guy.

Kill the enemy, get the girl, get out.

The bad guy laughs and glances down to the president’s daughter. “I see why you want to rescue her, hoping for your first kiss?”

“I have a girlfriend…” As soon as those words left my mouth, I wish I hadn’t said them. I

sounded whiny and childish.

Stop talking, just finish the mission. Kill the enemy.

The man nodded with understanding. “Then you do not need her.”

What happened next made time feel like it slowed down and I wasn’t fast enough to stop it. Before I could even raise the gun, he had shot her. Even if I could kill him now, my mission is already a failure.

I feebly raise the gun toward him but I already see the flash of his gun and a burning pain slams into my chest.

I have failed this mission.

Again.