*WHAM*

Burst the doors open with a commotion, further spooking the approaching party as Sam split down the middle, preventing Revenant from getting any open shots.

THAT’S HER!!

He quickly popped out from behind the pillar, pistol in both hands and down at his side, keeping a narrow profile as he ran between the rows of cars separating him from his catch. Eyes darting between the obstacles around him and Sam, he finally caught sight of a good point for interception.

“KYAHH!”

Screamed the crowd from earlier just split seconds before more pistol fire rang out, sending echoes throughout the garage complex. Hearing small caliber fire ricocheting off glass and metal not too far from him, Revenant reluctantly delayed his move, electing to duck and reassess the situation.

“Sam! Run!” a girl’s voice shouted out as he tried to figure out her identity.

Sam immediately recognized Kerry’s voice, sending a fresh burst of life into her near-deflated calves and quads. Kerry! I’ve got to reach the car! She just got past the fourth row of parked vehicles, finally spotting Kerry’s car. There! Yes! But an ear-splitting cracking sound had her fall to the ground in both panic and disoriented loss of balance. With a thud and a groan and a new shot of pain from her shoulder and hip she rolled over to look under the car next to her. She then saw a rapidly approaching set of feet headed right for her.

Get up! Shit shit get up! She coached to herself in desperation, struggling to find the strength to get her feet underneath her. As her hands fought to provide her quivering body balance, she felt the vibrations and heard once more the squeals of a rapidly approaching vehicle akin to what she heard from the bathroom earlier. Dancing reflections and cast shadows whirled around before the sound of running feet turned to a slipping slide. Did he stop?! Who is that?!

The car then screeched to a halt just between her location and the approaching man. Already in a squatting position, she put her hands up to the window of the car, slowly pulling herself up to see what was transpiring. Her attempt was cut short by another round whizzing by, cracking the glass of the window behind her as she dropped once more to the ground. This time, however, more shots rang out, popping into concrete across from her row, almost as if it were aimed at her assailant.

This prompted another sudden acceleration of the car as it drove past Revenant, turned the corners, and spun itself back for Sam’s location. Sam had her bag strap hung up this time on the rearview mirror of the car behind her, giving way to a newfound struggle to stand up properly. By now, tears of fear and desperation had already made her way down her face, and the instant she finally freed herself from the entanglement she stumbled her way forward and out into the open lane. The car from earlier, however, was now coming to another screeching halt just inches from her.

“Sam! Get in!” the man’s voice called out.

Even though the tone seemed a mix of both anger and sincerity, she no longer had the psychological capability to make anymore last-second rational decisions. The passenger door was flung open as she rolled in awkwardly, pulling her feet in before scrambling to shut the door amidst the car’s sudden acceleration.

“What the ever-living fuck did you do in Dhaka, Sam!?” the man continued as she struggled to sit upright in her seat, fighting the seatbelt all at the same time. By the time she clicked it in, as hard as it was with the swinging maneuvers around turns and parking traffic by her escape driver on his way out, she finally got a chance to look at her savior. The twists hanging down over his eyes, the latest-trend fade, the peculiar sloping of his nose... she had seen it too many times before in pictures.

…

“Devin? Devin Yanga!?”

“Answer my question, damn it!” he furiously persisted, keeping eyes on what was ahead and around each corner.

“Devin, why are you here?! The airwaves are dead- how did you know-!”

“Last time I ask you this question before I kick your ass to the curb!” he snarled back, finally reaching the exit, pulling a sideways slide just past the edge of the stopping arm that came within inches of colliding with his windshield. Whipping the steering wheel the other direction, recovering his angle of exit back onto the service street, he now had a second to look her in the eyes. “Well!?”

Sam was already half petrified from not just the previous events but also his insanely skilled exit that had her thinking they’d crash and die. But then again, after what he said sank in, she couldn’t believe this was the same Devin Kerry had talked about. “But this makes no sense!”

The car came to yet again another screeching halt, head almost bashing into the glove compartment in front of her, then back into the headrest with a thud. “Wait!” she shrieked, finally understanding his seriousness, trying to catch her breath.

The honking horns of cars both from behind and passing around them didn’t faze him, continuing his death glare. “What! Did you do! In Dhaka! To piss off Revenant of all people!”

Sam’s face stiffened in confusion upon hearing that name. Revenant?! Who!?

“Damn it all,” Devin conceded after seeing she didn’t know what was what after all, unable to toss her out as threatened. He casually pressed the accelerator, weaving his way back into the flow of traffic.

Who? What is going on!? Through these thoughts, she caught notice how dizzy she had been, now focusing on steadying her breathing. The now settling comfort that she was at least in relative safety allowed her to do as such.

“Ugh,” he huffed in sudden, heightened distress and frustration. “Sam, where was Kerry just now?”

“She,” Sam paused to recollect her voice appearing behind the mess, encouraging her escape. “She was probably the one shooting those last shots, knowing her,” she unintentionally laughed through her nose, still in disbelief she walked away mostly unscathed. That WAS her shooting, right? Guilt for leaving her behind almost snatched her by the stomach, but hearing Devin join her in the same nasal chuckle had her look back at him. “You think so?”

“Shit, that’s Kerry Melancon,” he nodded before shaking his head in a mix of emotions. “Damn, I love that woman. I wish I had half her combat skills.”

Scary that someone like this guy could say that, but then again, I remember Dhaka…

“You know, she’s probably one turn away from being hot on my trail. Shit, that makes me glad it was you that rolled out in front of me and not her.”

Now THAT is suspicious. “Hey, who is Revenant?”

“Right, right,” he mumbled as his voice trailed back into a more serious tone. “Revenant went AWOL on us this afternoon. Makes perfect sense I saw him just this far,” he said with his thumb and forefinger near pinching, “from killing you himself. I knew he had a reason to disappear and that was you? Fucking amazing. I wish I knew what you did to piss him off that much.”

“Devin, I realize I just met you, and you just met me,” she started with more capability of coherent thought, piecing something together that she couldn’t ignore. “But I realized too that you never answered my question. I don’t know who Revenant is, but why were you there?” She saw the hesitation coming from him as she persisted. “Airwaves had been dead. No one could’ve called you. Your arrival like a knight in shining armor- no pun intended, was far too well timed.”

She now caught sight of the town around her not quite as glitzy as it had been. Storefronts and apartments became more and more aged along with the increasing frequency of foot traffic. Turning back to Devin, she awaited his response impatiently.

“You know, you got no right to interrogate me. I saved your ass.” As he pulled up to a red light, he reached over to her with an open hand. “Your phone,” he demanded, looking to see if she had a watch on, but saw only two bare wrists.

“Why!?”

“We are about to leave the umbrella. Give it to me- it’s for both of our own good.”

The dark of the streets nearby along with the eerie tone he was now using had her not willing to take her chances. It made too much sense not to. He did, after all, save her from that near-life-taking predicament. “Here,” she reluctantly handed it to him after fishing it from her bag. He then proceeded to hold it outside his open window and gave it a gentle toss in front of the car. The light turned green as quick as her eyes widened in shock, accelerating and proceeding to run right over it, crushing it with a wince-inducing crunch.

“Devin- what the hell!?”

“How the fuck you think they found you so easily? They aren’t about to find us that same exact way. Look, you’re about to lay low for a real good, long time, OK?”

Arms went up this time. “Devin! I get it! You saved me and all, but this is absurd! Don’t I get any basic explanation of what is going on!?”

“Look!” he fussed back but kept his eyes on the road. “Let’s try this again, because this could answer a lot of questions in itself. Who did you kill in Dhaka?”

The assumption struck her as strongly offensive. “What?! I didn’t kill anyone! You’d have to ask Kerry that, or Andre, or Sebastian!”

“I didn’t see one of the hottest heads in the world go after her, damn it, he was after you!” All hints of courtesy were going out the window as quickly as the surroundings outside had turned seedier. “Who did you kill?!”

She now felt the pressure to come up with something as she sensed the danger coming from outside, bringing back the same familiar fears and insecurities she had on her first trip into the heart of Bogota. Her right hand found itself subconsciously slipping toward the grip handle of the door, taking firm grip. “Sebastian killed a few on his way to save me, and he only mentioned someone he got info from being from… where was it… oh yeah, Nanning. Nanning, China.”

“Shit, everyone lately is from Nanning. That’s not it,” he quickly dismissed. “I am talking about you, though, Sam. Think!”

“But I didn’t even get a chance to!” she fussed before remembering the one and only time she felt her hands tremble after the horror that rushes in after escaping the jaws of defeat with her own strength. It was a rare occasion; in fact, it was the only such experience she had, unable to ever forget it. The inexplicable urge she felt pulling back the controls, hearing and feeling the spine-jarring explosive armor panel releases, and the pulling of the trigger that sent her attacker running. If it weren’t for that, her eventual collapse would fall at his feet, not to the open arms of Sebastian.

…

“I tagged one, but he ran off. I didn’t kill him, just… won that one battle.”

“Who did you tag?”

…

That was the one word she struggled to utter, feeling as if it were a forbidden word in this given situation. But why?

“It was one of the Cloaks.”

Devin’s reaction was either disproportionately melodramatic, or worse, it was of sincere vexation. “Oh, shit, that was you,” he spoke through the following disbelief. “Damn it, Sam, that was you?!”

Back came the confusion even stronger, coupled with newfound intrigue. “What was me?!”

…

“Devin, what did I do!?”

“You were the one that fucking killed Requiem! Holy shit,” he laughed out the rest of his disbelief and aggravation.

Sam’s brow quickly crumpled up in suspicion. “Are you kidding me?!” The continued chuckle further unsettled her. She knew Devin had only been stationed in Manila since way back. She was convinced there could be no way he would know that much about who was who in Dhaka regardless of what stories Kerry could have told. The fact he was sitting there rattling off specific names was the last straw.

I’m going to say it! Fuck it! I’m saying it!

“You’re Underground, aren’t you?!”

.

.

.

Devin doesn’t seem very angered by the accusation, and that scares me.