chapter 10

Behind me, two more guys suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the worst part was they both looked identical to the guy on the floor – same height, same size, same face, even their clothes were identical except for minor details. While anyone else might have been confused or surprised, I knew exactly where I was and what was possible.

"Clones," was the first thought that popped into my head.

"Fuck!" I bolted, getting up and running as fast as I could. 

This was not what I signed up for. 

Glancing back, I saw them following me. 

"Shit, no, no, no!" I ran as fast as I could, throwing anything I could find in the alleys—bins, boxes, anything—to slow them down. 

But my escape was cut short by a wrong turn, and I ended up in a dead-end. 

"Fuck," I cursed, out of breath, as I turned to go back, but before I could, the two guys emerged from the corner.

"Shit," I muttered as I stopped in my tracks.

They slowly closed in on me, leaving me no gaps to escape.

Carefully, with no sudden movements, I began to retreat backward, but soon hit the wall behind me. 

Damn me, my stupid luck, and my stupid plan. Why the hell does this always have to happen to me? I thought today was going to be another great day.

My breathing got heavier as they got closer and closer. 

You could hear my heavy breaths, and my heart as it pounded loudly in my chest. 

I raised my arms and got ready for the brawl. 

There was little to no chance of me winning because even one of them was already hard to take down, making it next to impossible to take on two of them and escape. But I sure as hell wasn't going out without a fight.

"You want me? Come and get me!" I snarled defiantly.

But then, my luck took a sudden and unexpected turn. 

"Thrum" – a car, a real car engulfed in flames, dropped from the sky and landed right between me and my attackers about to jump on me. 

It was so sudden that it stunned me and even my attackers. 

"Huh," I muttered in disbelief, momentarily frozen as I gazed up at the sky, half-expecting to see more cars raining down. 

However, I quickly snapped out of my daze.

I didn't have time to think about that right now. 

No, the car was the only thing between me and two guys who wanted God knows what from me, and I had a gut feeling that this car was not going to be a big problem for them.

Seizing the second chance I had been granted, I wasted no time. 

I quickly clambered onto one of the fire escapes of the building nearby.

I climbed up onto the roof of the building as fast as my legs could carry me. Once I reached the rooftop, I could see smoke billowing from a street nearby, but I couldn't see exactly what was happening as it was obscured by other buildings. 

My best guess was some sort of fight, you know, the usual hero shit. However, I couldn't afford to stay long and find out. I had my own problems to deal with.

So, without hesitation, I quickly made my escape, heading towards the exit before I got cornered again.

I got into the building and ran down the stairs, but I soon started hearing the sounds of someone coming up when I reached the second floor.

It looks like they were not dumb.

I clearly couldn't continue down and couldn't go back up either, so I took another way. I went straight. 

I broke down the first door I came across. Luckily, it looked like no one was home. 

I went towards the nearest window to check the height, and after determining I would survive, I moved back to get some distance and ran through it. 

It was the second window I went through after coming into this world. I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing.

I did a roll on my landing, but it still hurt like hell. I had no time to stop, so I sucked it up and started sprinting at full speed, trying to make sure no one was able to follow me. 

I made it back to my apartment, but I did not find peace. Instead, the more I thought, the more worried I became, my mind in a constant loop of worry.

I started to pack my clothes, the cash I had, and anything I would need. 

After I was done, I quickly abandoned the place and did not look back.

The men who attacked me likely didn't know where I lived, or else why would they risk following me in public? It would have been much safer to attack me while I was asleep or unguarded in my home. 

This was good news; my cover wasn't completely blown yet, which was good. It gave me time, but it would not remain like that forever.

I still couldn't be sure, but they were probably connected to my origin, the place that I had escaped from the first night I arrived in this world, and they definitely wanted me back. 

Another thing I could not be sure of was what fate I would suffer if I got caught. Would I be put in a cage, dissected for study, or mind-wiped and used as someone's dog? Whatever it was, I was in no hurry to find out.

There was also the problem of where to run to now. 

If they followed me here, it meant that just moving to another state was not enough and would only delay capture. 

I needed a better, more permanent solution, like making the people after me disappear, but this was not possible for me. The next best thing I could think of was moving to another country, to a remote location as far as I could. But that would require planning and a lot of money. 

So, my best option for now was a motel.

I rented a room, but I couldn't sleep that night, afraid of something happening. And, for a week, I decided not to leave my room for extra measure. 

I became comfortable and foolish, letting the money I made get to my head, and it ended up costing me. 

Dearly.

(Meanwhile in an office on the other side of the country)

"Sir, I have the report," the secretary informed the man as she entered the office.

"C-5 was intercepted by his predecessors, but it looks like he managed to subdue C-4 and escape due to outside interference," she continued.

"Interesting." the man replied, his back turned to her as he stood behind the desk facing the windows.

"Push back his retrieval. I have something else in mind for him instead," he instructed.

"Yes, sir," the secretary acknowledged.

"He may still be of some use," the man muttered to himself.