Evasive flight

Traffic had been stopped by two vehicles that had turned sideways to block both lanes. Dark figures I couldn't make out were behind our cars. Our van. Using the vehicles for cover while they unloaded real munitions.


More blood on this already bloodstained field.


I took flight, straight up. The Wretch absorbed one shot. If there were others, I didn't hear or see any sign of it.


I was coming straight back down, and if I had any say in things, it'd be their blood that would be shed on this field, not more of ours.

***

The gunfire continued below me, and if there were any shots that passed through the air as they took aim at me, I didn't hear them. There was the noise of the wind rushing through and around the Wretch, faintly different from when it was brushing my skin and touching my ears. A distortion, a whistle.


A plank in each hand, I raised my arms to my face, burying almost all of it in my arms, the crook of the elbows at my nose and mouth, the planks out and in line with my body. I let the Wretch drop as I disappeared into the cloud cover and against the wind.


Cold, and worse because it was a moist cold.

***

I shifted my grip on the planks, and then I let them fall. Immediately, I flew horizontally, skimming the cloud line, still feeling the cold press in on me as if from every direction, grabbing at my body and reaching toward the bone. My speed, moisture, wind and cold all compounded one another, and the snow that blew around me collected and bound to the surface.


I dove. They came into view as I came down, what looked to be civilians or improvised soldiers in dark clothes, with what looked like used body armor. Two people with masks, standing off to one side. Not people I recognized.


One plank fell into the ditch. Another struck the pavement and broke. The plummeting objects made heads turn, which was my intent. The black of my costume had collected a frosting of white that made it a little less obvious.


Anger sharpened my focus. I didn't use my aura as I landed, knee and one foot on the ground, hands helping to add some spring to the impact and reduce the noise.


It wasn't enough to keep some of the people from seeing me. That was where the sharper focus counted. Two in front of me, one off to the left, two off to the right.


The lone guy to my left that had noticed me turned to his friend, who was leaning over the back of one vehicle, shooting.


My target.

- Polarize 10.13