89 CHAPTER 88 THE ATTACK

"Can you walk?" Matt whispered. The girl only nodded as he took her uninjured hands and place them on his neck. She was still limping and sobbing quietly as they made their way through the door that they presume might be the exit. It was odd, yes, the wimp and the sob. Pinna like Ema always wear a tough look that created a barricade around them. They were not the girls to easily give in to emotion, especially in matters that could cause any average girl to cry their hearts out. The two were different and would only cry when something severe had happened, especially to someone they love.

Love? Matt bit his lips. The cloth he had used to tie the girl's wrist wound had stopped the bleeding, even though he was sure that they did little to the pain that must be going through every sphere of her being. She loves Ham. He could see it writing all over her. She had loved him for a very long time, even before they got into the academy. Maybe that's the reason she was being bossy. To drown her feelings so that Ham would not notice. Just ironic. The girl was making her feeling obvious without realizing it. Every time she tries to push the boy away, they were always coming back to each other.

"What's funny"

"Oh, nothing" Matt grunted, not realizing that he had been smiling. They rounded a bend and ahead was a staircase. The light on this side of the building was hanging perfectly on the walls. Destruction from the other rooms had not struck this place. The paintings and ceilings were still intact. Matt licked his lips as he and Pinna passed the portrait on the wall, making their way to the stair. He was not much of an artist, but he could tell from the golden streaks of the brushes that the paint would cost a fortune. It would take two years of his monthly salary for him to get such. Ham was not joking about the wealth of his parents. But for one with so much wealth and luxury, the boy had led a humble and simple life, unlike his brothers who came from a poor background but were living on things that were too high for them.

"Wait," Pinna stopped right next to the staircase. The emergency in her voice sent an icy through his skin, making the hair on them to stand, "Something is amiss,"

The hall was still empty, and they were the only ones that had walked the path for the last ten minutes. Silence also covered them as it did through the distance that stretched towards every part. What was Pinna seeing at the moment that he couldn't? Was she even thinking straight or was the injury getting to her?

"I think we should head back?" She said. Her head was already shifting from one side of the hall to the other, with panic spreading on them. The bulginess of her emerald green eyes made Matt want to cry. If Pinna was afraid, who was he? What was that saying among the people? Yes, he remembers, 'If the brave can only bark, what will happen to the teeth of the cowards? Matt shivered.

"Are you certain?" He asked, following her eyes to search the white ceilings and the body of the wall. There was nothing here that could drive panic into the bone. The comfort and the quietness could even make one rest in its abode.

"Not sure, Matt," She whispered, "Just this strange feeling in my stomach."

"Maybe it's the effect of the wound," 

"No, I think I am still sane enough to know when I am drifting to the other side of my unconscious mind." 

Matt opened his mouth to argue with her, when the door at the far end of the hallway burst open, revealing a boy no older than fifteen. His eyes were burning with a blue intensity, matching the blue jumpsuit he wore but contrasting his dark hair and the white metallic barrel that lined his hands.

"This way," Matt grunted and shouldered open the door on their right. He pushed Pinna into the room and followed her immediately, just before the electric ball came raining down towards their direction.

Their breathing was racing. Matt was leaning on the door and Pinna had found solace under the table. The room happened to be a study or some kind of library. Not a light was on it, the little they could see was coming in from the opening on the glass which Matt was leaning on.

Outside, in the hallway, the noise of the shooting had stopped and as Matt steadied his breathing, he heard the approaching footfall. It had echoed silently at first, but they became louder as the time passed by. It seemed to be going away at first, but with listening closely, he realized that the kid was making his way towards them. Standing up, Matt placed his finger on his lips, indicating that Pinna should be as quiet as anything she could think of. He leaned on the wall beside the door and waited.

It took ages, perhaps decades before the echoing footfall finally stopped on their door. Sweat walked down Matt's face. He could also hear the beating of his heart as they resounded in his ears. He was not good with hiding and seeking. But for video games and building robots, he was not good at anything. Jeff had mocked him sometime in the past that he was like a dog that hides its body but always forgets its tail. That was the truth though, every time he tries to hide, there was always something that would give him away.

"Matt," Pinna's whispered, made him shift his eyes away from the door. The girl was trying to tell him something, but whatever she was saying was lost when the door finally burst open with a heavy thud, showering rich white lights into the room. 

Matt swallowed and rubbed the sweat on his cloth. He waited however until the white barrel came into view. With all his might, he held the barrel and pushed it inwards, into the room. The boy bearing the barrel cursed, but he was too late to react. One blow on his face and he was unconscious.

"Armature." Matt hissed and picked up the Shocker gun.

"Learn how to hide Matt, you might get yourself killed one day." Pinna was saying as she crawled out of the table on the right.

"So I have been told," Matt checked the gun and nodded with satisfaction. It should have been in the yellow or green voltage level, but it was beaming with a red high voltage light. He studied the boy on the floor and grunted. The boy had tried to kill them, at least now he had a clear evidence about the fact. Shocker guns were never increased to the red voltage level, unless one was going for a kill and that could only happen if the gun was licensed. That had been the decree by the King.

"Matt, look." Matt shifted his gaze to the girl, but they followed her hands, which was pointing at some dark barge on the boy's breast pocket.

"That explains it then." Matt paused his lips with anger as he pulled out the barge. 'Secret agents' The barge reads. The emblem on it was a white gun, with red trailing down from their sides. It also had some green flowers circling it.

"Does it ring any bell?" Pinna asked after her eyes had studied him for what must have been hours.

"Glut-hunters." Matt gnashed his teeth and handed the barge to Pinna. He hated the organization. They were the ones that does the dirty works for the elites. The name secret agent was just a flag to cover what they really were into. Place the right price on the table and they would kill anyone, even their own mother. As dangerous and notorious as they were, they only work for the elites or anyone who has enough money. It was deadly to summon them if one does not have enough money to pay for a job. There were stories of people who had summoned them, but had died in the process because the price the hunters had demanded were too high. 

So they now recruit children too? Matt hissed and reverted his eyes to the gun which had beeped and had returned to a green voltage. Of course it will. The gun was sensitive, and he does not have the license to kill yet. Not with a gun though.

"Secret agent. Those that mean they were sent by the government?" 

"No Pinna. It means we are in deep shit" Matt raked his hair, "This Glut-Hunters will stop at nothing until we are dead."

"But how can that be? I mean, how can they work for the government and also work as a Glut-hunter?"

"Ah, wake up Pe, this people were founded and are funded by the government."

"So the government wants us dead. But why?"