#23

The explosion is not alone, and suddenly, the medbay is collapsing. The clone pod breaks open and its inhabitant falls out onto the floor—abruptly, it's eyes snap open, and it starts screaming and flailing uncontrollably, jerking around like a broken marionette, slipping around in the fluids. You screams at the sight of this, but Klaus pulls You up and you start running.

You turns around just as the ceiling caves in. The cyborg doctor is killed instantly...which must be a mercy for him.

You gets aboard the elevator, but Klaus points to a panel in the ceiling. He punches it out, revealing a ladder leading up the shaft. The two of you begin to climb just as rubble slices through the cable. In the walls, fluid-pipes breach and begin leaking everywhere. Above, even more bursts rock the entire tube. This place is going down, and fast.

You's about two-thirds up the way of the shaft when You starts to smell burning meat. Zorro City, with all its fucked-up buildings, is on fire; it must be being bombed. But why? And by who?

If they're using a certain type of fuel, an older type, that'll catch on fire, creating more explosions. This place could be a time bomb.

Just above You, suddenly, You hears confirmation of that concept. Stone shards fly out and sprinkle liberally down towards You; however, at the top of the shaft, You sees a vision of a flash of flames. A pipe must have been opened up—now its contents have been turned into a flamethrower. You looks for another alternative as the chambers below You collapse.

You's scared, but Klaus isn't. He's doing what You's doing, and he's making more headway: he finds another panel, like the one from the roof of the elevator car, and kicks it open. It leads into a steel vent—if another fire breaks out, it'll cook You alive, but it's Your only chance. Klaus jumps and pulls himself in, and You follows suit. You shouts at him to move, but he's already going pretty quick for a fat old man. You hopes the metal will support his weight, but such thoughts tend to jinx things in situations like this. The vent suddenly collapses, and the two of you fall down into a room.

You barely gets time to assess the situation. Three Fennecs are suddenly standing around You, and then let out cries of surprise. But as they do so, they're drawing guns. You whips out Your spear and, without thinking at all, pikes one of them. Klaus seizes one by the arm and whips him like a ragdoll against the floor, cracking the tiles...and the man's spine. The other tries to tackle You but Your knife sinks into his throat.

You gets up real quick, trying to block out Your murders from Your mind. This section looks a lot more modern, and is something like an office. There's a computer nearby, but it was smashed in the scuffle. There is a door leading outward, and You can hear a number of men running past it. Above Your head, You hears a voice over a loudspeaker.

“Alert...the city is under attack. Head to the hangars for immediate evacuation. Repeat...Zorro City is being attacked, assailant identity...unknown...”

It seems to be being handled by a computer. The voice is a mechanized female sound. There are two things You knows now: there is a hangar You can escape from; and the Fennecs don't know who is attacking them either.

Overhead, You hears screams and what appears to be the sound of gunfire. Machine guns are blitzing the city.

Can those...buildings up above...feel pain? Are they the ones who are screaming now?

It doesn't matter. You opens the door and begins to follow the squad of identical gangsters. They don't seem to notice You, and half of them aren't even armed. You hopes they're headed to the hangar, which would make sense. Sure enough, they go through an automatic door into a large space—there's a metallic roof, a disc of sorts, extended over what must be the airstrip, but it's almost gone. Flaming rubble and corpses are everywhere. One of the planes has been destroyed, but no one seems to care. One large passenger jet—the first You's ever seen in Your life—is docked and appears to be okay. Everyone is getting aboard, but You can't much climb onto it and expect to not get shot.

You and Klaus break away from the rest of the squad, hiding behind some supply crates. One of the crates is open, and inside are a couple of large guns—Tommy guns, though You doesn't know that. Klaus takes two, and then uses one to gesture towards a part of the plane separate from the others. It seems to be a luggage area; two gang members are loading some crates onto it. You decides to make a break for it; below the sounds of the fires, the bombings, and the intercom, and the general chaos of the survivors trying to escape, they won't notice either of you. The boxes are being placed on a portable conveyor belt, which You shimmies up onto. You hides behind a crate, and Klaus does likewise; and soon, you're in the cramped, dark cargo bay, unseen by everyone.

Now it's just a matter of waiting. And that waiting seems to take forever; for the explosions are louder in here, and so are the screams.

Eventually, however, the bay door seals for good; and moments later, the plane shakes and begins to go forward. You and Klaus struggle to hold onto something, but since there are so many boxes, You couldn't go flying around if You tried. You's safe, for now.

The plane takes off into an uncertain future. Though it's not like the future's been certain at all, through any of this.