5 Chaos

[An explosion has been reported in the Meel district. The government is securing the areas, please be as calm as possible.]

The silence in the cafe and the peaceful discussion between Sarah and Ryan was interrupted by this broadcast message which kept repeating itself over. Ryan began surveying his surroundings for safe spots and escape routes in case of an emergency. It was then.

BOOM.

An explosion rocked the street the cafe was located at. The shockwave slammed into Sarah and Ryan, who was momentarily surprised. However, he soon stabilized himself and negated the shockwave. The shop on the opposite side of the street had exploded into smithereens.

Ryan turned around and said urgently.

"We need to get cover right now!" He beckoned the frozen Sarah who was shocked and fear was visible from her eyes.

They carefully crawled behind the table which Ryan had toppled over in haste to create a cover for himself. Once they were frontally shielded by the table, they dragged it until they were able to make their way into the inner room of the cafe. The panicking owner of the cafe had already run away.

Ryan looked around and found the back door for workers and opened it, calling Sarah to leave first. Sarah was still stunned in fear from the explosion that happened right in front of them.

He saw that Sarah was stunned and not thinking straight so he stopped and faced her and tried to say in a gentle but firm manner.

"Sarah, we are in trouble. Now is not the time to speculate but to ensure that we remain safe. We aren't aware of what the situation is, so it is best that we try to move to a safer location. So I'll guide you to someplace safe, you have to follow me. Is that ok?"

'Convincing the civilian is the first step to helping them move away from danger.' Ryan thought.

Sarah almost teared up when she remembered the sudden explosion and the splatter of blood, gore, and scream that followed. She hurriedly nodded.

They left through the back door and Ryan took out his phone to take a look at the map. After a minute he beckoned Sarah to follow and they rapidly left using the adjoining street creeping from the sides. As they proceeded, Ryan suddenly noticed a pink laser suddenly shine and hit a location a few blocks away. Sarah saw that too and immediately realized what that meant. She reflexively shrieked.

However, Ryan's hand sealed her open mouth and clamped her shut. He took her into a forced embrace to shield her and threw the both of them onto the ground behind a wall. He shook his head warning her not to make a sound, while an explosion blinded her sight. A few seconds later she realized that they were completely unharmed, she didn't even feel any shockwave nor did the overpowering sound of an explosion smash her eardrums unlike the previous one.

Ryan took his hand off her face and then beckoned her to follow which she did blindly.

'What happened? Why didn't I feel the explosion?' She kept thinking about what had just passed.

Meanwhile, Ryan received a call. When he saw who it was he picked up without hesitation.

"Candie." he said.

"Kid, you seem to be at one of the crisis points, I will delegate a mission now."

"Candie, wait. I cannot execute a mission right now. My hands are full escorting a high priority civilian to safety."

"A high priority civilian? Who are we talking about here?"

"...Sarah Riley" Ryan said while looking at Sarah who looked back at him with a bizarre expression.

"F%$#, the Riley household scion? Wait a moment."

Ryan and Sarah shared a silent moment as he quietly waited for the phone, while she was getting more and more freaked out.

"Kid, you have been assigned a new mission. Escort miss Riley to the pinpointed safe location and proceed to guard her until we provide further notice."

"Copy."

He then turned towards Sarah again.

"I will escort you and protect you until this incident is resolved. Don't be afraid, just follow me."

Sarah just nodded. Her eyes were teary, she had never been in a life and death situation like this before. She was the protected jewel of the Riley family and this entire incident has left her stunned.

Following the GPS location and Ryan's careful scouting and leading, both reached the outskirts of the Meel district which was the epicenter of these explosions. On their way, they heard many explosions and people were running around in panic and chaos, but Ryan firmly lead the way, pacifying Sarah and ensuring no harm befell her.

They reached the safe house mentioned by Candie and using the mission information, Ryan successfully went in with Sarah. Following the instructions, they went to the underground bunker, took the secret railway and reached the city headquarters within an hour. During the journey in the underground train, the two of them did not talk at all.

Ryan was constantly looking out for any dangers, while Sarah had a lot to digest and think about. Just what in the world happened? Why were explosions taking place in the city? Who exactly is Ryan? She then remembered how Ryan had shielded her from the explosion instinctively and felt warm from inside.

The two of them finally reached the government headquarters of the city. Ryan specified his clearance and mission and the two were led to a safe area within the headquarters to rest and recuperate. Ryan still remained vigilant and on guard, making sure nothing untoward happens, while Sarah finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Ryan then received a call from Candie again.

"Kid. Good job. You did well today. We will take it from here."

"Candie, what is going on all over the city?"

Ryan could hear a sigh over the phone.

"You should have already guessed by now kid. It is a terror attack."

"Is it just Meel district?"

"Yup. Anyway, you did good on the escort mission. Take time and rest."