​"What the hell was that?" I cried out and by using the shock, I managing to pull myself away from Isa's death lock.
Once freed, I ran over to the patio and looked down...

Chaos ruled below, people were running in all directions and into one another like headless chickens. Several individuals with tools in hand were smashing and breaking into the store front. Despite all the chaos a uniform chant erupted from the mass:

"DEPORT!"

"ALL ELEMENTALS!"

"DEPORT ALL ELEMENTALS!"

"Anti-Elementalists." Isa's lips curved into disgust as she set down her back pack, unzipped it, and began unpacking something.

"Where's the security?" I instinctively looked behind my shoulders at the security check and it seemed all the guards were busying barking commands into their walkie talkies.

"Forget about them, they're not soldiers. They're just fresh meat like you."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! If the security can't even handle them, then why are you..."

"Be quiet." One look in her eye made my blood ran cold. "Those who wish to sit around and do nothing, have no rights to complain." She said as if finished assembling whatever it was then stood up.

I could not hide the surprise on my face.

"M4A1 Carbine, type Assault rifle, Capacity of magazine 30, weight 3.6 kg, full length 839mm, 5.56×45mm Caliber, range 400-600 meters. Do you have any more questions fresh meat?"

"No sir..." I said as my eyes stayed glued to the gun. But when Isa held the gun in her hand it was almost as if she was cradling a baby.

"We're going to be trapped at this rate, we need to get out of here quick...Here take this." She said taking out another object from her backpack and placing it into my open hand.

"Go for the fire exit now! I will explain how to use it on the way." She said as she took off. I quickly stuffed the grenade into my pocket and chased after her. As we ran towards the fire escape she began to explain between breathes:

"What I gave you is a dummy grenade used during my training."

We barged through the fire escape door.

"On the outside it looks like a regular M57 grenade, but on the inside it contains a slight concoction mix of the Carolina Reaper..."

We continued to race down the stairs.

"When you use it make sure you pull off the pin and throw it at least 10 meters away from yourself. There is a safety feature installed in case of a 'misfire'..."

When we landed at parking level 1(B1), I was already soaked with sweat, but Isa didn't seemed tired the least to me and it made me wonder if she had a 'stop' function built in to begin with.

"The grenade itself does not explode instantly upon impact, there is about a 3-7 second time gap. During that time gap, whatever you do, do not turn around, unless you want to become blind meat. Do you understand?" she turned and shot me a quick look, daring me to challenge her warning.

I don't want to die yet...

I whimpered inside my head.

"Yes-"

"Get in the car!" she stopped at our car and quickly hopped into the driver seat.

"Yes—yes sir!" I finished as I climbed into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt.

​Isa with clenched teeth, slammed on the gas hard as she did an immediate drift to avoid hitting the parallel parked car. After a quick adjustment, she resumed the same violent pressure on the gas as we buzzed our way down through the parking lot and towards the exit.

"Urban level threat detected, initiating lockdown, all citizens please stay inside and wait for rescue. Repeat, Urban level threat detected, initiating lockdown, all citizens please stay inside and wait for rescue..."

100ft ahead of us was a steel blind closing down upon the exit, fast.

"The exit! It's closing! We're not going to make it!" My screams protested, but somehow that only made Isa more determined to charge it.

"NOOO!!!!!!" I was screaming my head off and potentially wetting my pants. But honestly I couldn't care less under that situation. There were no brakes, no nothing. All I could do was close my eyes and embrace myself for impact. There was a crashing noise, next thing I know, I was already passed out.

***

​"Can you hear me fresh meat?"

​Voices...

"Get up you lazy meat, we got work to do."

A blurred image...

"Agh! If you don't wake up now, I will make you run 50 laps of bunny hop with twice the weight!"

Isa.

I slowly got up, the harsh words, the cruel image, I can't be wrong.

"Can you still walk fresh meat?"

"Yeah..."I replied weakly. "How long was I out for sir?"

"3 minutes. We can't waste more time here, they could be here any moment."

"Yes sir..." I replied with a feeble voice. Most of my body was still paralyzed from the impact, so when I tried to get up with one hand, I failed miserably and landed back on my bum. Despite all the aching protest of my muscles I tried to stretch them out by rotating my arm, but even that sent a million jolts of pain across my body. There was tears in my eyes as I blinked from the pain. And there from the muddled windows of my soul, I saw a figure towering above me, then bending over and extending a hand towards me.

"We don't have time for you to fuss around fresh meat." Isa voice was stern, but her eyes were full with sympathy. For a second I thought I was seeing double and this was Isa's good twin. But quickly setting aside my grain of disbelief I took her hand and she hauled me to my feet, which almost caused me to trip over myself.

"The car is busted; A small applause for Ayre's defense system."

I honestly couldn't tell with she was actually being sarcastic or praising Ayre's defense system. Either way the car is busted as I look to Isa for further instructions.

"So what do we do now sir?"

"Use your own head dumb meat."

But aren't you the one who told me to obey and not question?

"It's very likely there are still riots in the street. Being trapped inside here is not an option either. Our best chance is if we make it out of here and head for less densely populated areas. Any questions fresh meat?"

"No sir."

"Good." She began to walk away.

"Sir," I quickly caught up to her. "Where are we going?"

"Here." She said, then without warning she fired several shots at the air ventilator panel and then ripped it off with ease the next moment.

"All air ventilators lead to somewhere outside. The AI on your arm, it can create a 3D layout map of the mall's air ventilators right?"

"My name is Rin!" she protested loudly; her Kaomoji looked equally displeased.

(｀□′)╯┴┴

"I did not ask for your name, I asked whether you can do it or not." Isa voice was as hard and heavy as lead, which seemed to crush whatever protest Rin previously had.

"Yes...but you need to reach a higher floor first, the reception down here is bad."

"Understood. Stay behind me fresh meat, and you AI."

Rin and I both of us gulped.

"Update me with a real time map of the air ventilation system to my smart watch as soon as it is available."

"Yes sir!" Rin's hologram saluted.

As I watched Isa climb and disappear into the ventilation system above, I couldn't help but think: curses.

"You're falling behind too much, get moving you lazy meat!" Isa voice came down from above.

"Sir I am trying! I keep on getting stuck!" My complaint was just another desperate echo in this steel maze. The only light I had was the flashlight on my left hand's palm. Whenever I put the hand down or grabbed something I was as good as blind. And having light but unable to see annoyed me on a whole new level.

"Once we get back to training, I will keep in mind to add more dexterity exercises fresh meat."

"Yes sir..."

Curses.

"There is an exit 50 meters straight ahead around this corner! I am sending the data to you right now sir." Rin's voice popped up.

"Good, about time to get out of this rat tunnel..." Isa sneered making a turn with me following.

Light...

Just like Rin said, 50 meters ahead was the exit. Even though Isa's body was blocking most of the light, I could still see it haloing her. I couldn't wait to get out and judging from the speed Isa was crawling, I would say she couldn't agree more. As we approached the exit, I could clearly see now that this air vent lead to somewhere on the streets.

"Stop." Isa commanded.

I stopped.

After about a good 10 seconds of breathing in and breathing out air, Isa began to roll onto her back. Then she proceeded to curl into a ball displaying incredible agility. Throughout the whole process I had trouble believing what I was seeing. After she got into her final position; lying on her back legs resting against the vent. Isa then pulled her legs back like a slingshot and kicked. The sound of a metal clang was followed by metal crunching as Isa kicked away the panel and slipped outside in one smooth motion. Thankful that I could finally get out, I crawled out as quickly as possible. Once outside, I flipped over onto my back like a fish on shore trying to catch my breath.

"Now is not the time to sleep you lazy meat! Look there." She pointed her chin; I turned my head and looked.

All the cars on the street were abandoned in a neat mess, and several blocks down the street feral screams of rampage and anger could still be heard:

"DEPORT!"

"ALL ELEMENTALS!"

I sat up quickly feeling a cold sweat trickling down my back.

"Looks like the traffic is stuck, we have to travel on foot..." Isa's voice sounded distant. "On your feat! Unless you want to become dead meat." Isa voice cracked like a whip.

And like the obedient puppy I am to his master, I quickly got onto my feet and dusted myself off several times.

"We will head in the opposite direction, and don't stop running unless I tell you. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

We began to run.

Q: What would you do if you got caught up in a riot?