Erika rushed up to her room to get the rest of her weapons, Her long black coat dusting her ankles. She may have past Luke on the staircase, but she was so focused on her mission she didn't notice, that's just the way she was. Once she was out on the street the cold air brushed against her face and she drew her guns for the sprint towards her target.
When she came upon the street that the building was located on she paused in an alley and waited for her breathing to slow. Erika peered around the corner to survey the building from this side. The Brewer's shop was about two blocks down from her position so she walked across the street, as if she was on an errand, and ducked into the next alley so she could go around the back. The building behind the brewery looked pretty broken down so she climbed in through a missing window. As she ascended the stairs, she noted the occasional person taking refuge in the cold stairwell. She climbed to the roof and walked towards the side facing Granato's building. She didn't see any guards on the roof. The gap between the buildings was small, but she didn't want to risk jumping. She went back in the stairwell and down two flights to a refuse pile that had old pipes and boards. She didn't have time for anything fancy so she grabbed a board and lugged it up the stairs to the roof. She slid it across so that it joined the roofs and, not trusting it's strength too much, she quickly and lightly sprinted across it. She didn't want to risk the stairwell but her quarry would most likely be on the second floor, two floors down. Finding a downspout suitable, she shimmied down to the second floor. The gothic architecture gave her a nice ledge to teeter upon. While holding onto a gargoyle to prevent falling, she kicked the rotting bottom casing of the double hung window in, as just breaking the glass is too messy and obvious. After it fell to the floor with a ‘klunk’ and a shattering of glass, she paused and listened. Somebody was coming so she edged herself around the corner of the building. She could hear one man talking to another.
“It looks like it just fell off.� He said puzzled as he looked out of the now open window. “What a crappy building.� He said as he toed the broken stained glass.
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll have somebody clean it up later.� The other said as she could hear their heavy boots walking away. She waited on the ledge for another ten minutes to make sure that they were back to their normal routine. Erika then stuck her head in the window and listened. Nobody moving. She slowly crept into the window, carefully setting a noiseless foot upon the floor, avoiding the glass. She went to the doorway and paused to listen again. Nothing. She moved to the streetward side of the building, where Granato’s office was supposedly occupying. She froze, she could hear two men talking in the next room, one was scribbling noisily on paper. Laying flat against the wall she peeked around the corner into the room. Granato, whom she recognized from the picture, was at a desk closer to the door, writing something. At a table deeper in the room was a guard playing solitary. The guard had his back to her, and Granato, his side. She pulled the gun with the suppressor, and quickly lined up the shot, squeezing the trigger. *CLICK!* nothing. The Granato turned to the sound.
“d**nit.� Erika cursed as she pulled her twin guns, shooting the startled man twice, hitting him in the chest and then the head. The guard dashed up his sword from the table besides him and began to charge, but was quickly felled by two shots to the chest. She went out to the stairwell, and looked down to the first floor just at three guards looked up. “d**n!� She cursed at the fact that they saw her face as she ran up the stairs to the roof. Erika sprinted back across the board, and kicked it down into the alley. A guard came out on the roof and she shot him a cocky smile. He then pulled his crossbow and in a flash, loaded a bolt, aimed, and fired. Erika ducked as it whizzed past her head, removing the smile from her face she shot back hitting him in the upper leg, and bolted down the stairs of the other building. She heard a commotion down below and looked over the railing. Two guards had made their way into the building and were starting to ascend the stairs, tossing beggars out of their way as they went. She ducked into a room, closing the creaky door behind her and pushed open the warped window with much effort. Climbing out onto the third story ledge, she looked down to see a guard, dressed the same as all the others, running towards, and then into Granato’s shop. She crept over to a similar downspout as the one she previously climbed down, and made quick work of it. She jumped off the last five feet, and as soon as she hit the ground another guard came around the corner. Startling each other the guard swung his heavy sword just as Erika ducked, the sword hitting the side of the building with bone crushing power. Erika dashed across the street into an alley. She could hear the guard yelling to the others as he ran after her. “S***!� She cursed herself again for trying to make quick work of this job. The two guards pursued relentlessly as she cut around corners and bolted down side streets. She started to cut back to confuse them and ended up in an alley behind them, but they were running away from her too fast to waste bullets on. She traced her way back, trying to decide where to leave their broken trail and head back to the base. As Erika stepped out of the alley onto the street she saw the other two guards, whom she thought were left behind, on the other side of the road. As soon as they saw her one pointed.
“That’s her!� and they broke into a run as Erika sprinted up the street.
“I’m done for!� She cursed to herself again as the guards behind her kept yelling, trying to attract the attention of their separated companions while pursuing. She saw the bloody corpse of a man across the street just as she turned the corner and caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see him, but only in time for everything to go black.
He could hear her approach, breathing heavily, the men behind her yelling and making as much noise as possible. They didn’t worry about catching the attention of the people of the city, nobody would miss one less person on the streets. Her heavy steps came closer. As she turned the corner he swung the 2X4, cracking it against the side of her head. The force knocked her sideways into the snowy street. The woman didn’t move as the snow by her head was slowly dyed crimson. “Good job men.� The guard said to the others as he dropped the 2X4. “If you guys wouldn’t have made so much noise, I wouldn’t have been able to head her off.� One man bent over and checked her pulse.
“She’s not dead yet. What’ll we do with herâ€â€ÂI think she’s waking up.â€? He said as he stepped back
Everything was dark, shooting pain ran throughout her head as the sounds of men talkin above her reverberated through her skull. She opened her eyes but everything was blurry and confusing as four large figures stood above her. She put her hand up to her wracking head and felt the blood. ‘This is it’ she thought, they’re going to kill me, just then one of them gave her a swift kick in the ribs, jolting her sight back painfully. She closed her eyes, doubling up in pain. She curled up in the snow around the gun she found she’d been laying on. It’s her only chance, but she’d only be able to take out one before the others would kill her. She hid it under her shirt, maybe she could use it later. Another swift kick sent her screaming in pain.
