The Girl With Metal Claws

Breaking In

ISIS

"You have your powers back now but we've run out of time already," Garry said, loading his gun with bullets. His hands were shaking and he couldn't get it right.

"I'll show you how to use it on the way," Meredith murmured, not meeting anyone's eyes.

Fred walked up to Garry and he held his hand. He looked into his eyes and gave him a supportive glance.

"You don't need to worry, okay? I'm here," Fred made an almost attempt to smile as he took the bullets from Garry's hands and reloaded them on his own.

"Okay," Garry muttered, embarrassed.

Even if Garry was buff and about the same height as Fred, he needed to be taken care of. And Fred was rarely that considerate to anyone but him. And it felt different and warm.

"I don't understand what's up with Elliott. How can he run off like he would manage it all alone? He didn't say a word," Jack said, frustrated. Such behaviour was not too surprising coming from Elliott but Isis had noticed how distant he looked.

"Something's up with him," George said, limping to the far end of the building and staring outside the window. They were still inside the same building Jack, Isis and Elliott had found Nish and Meraki in.

"I don't know what it is but he took the right decision," Meredith said. She could feel the vibrations but she wasn't capable of seeing the future.

Everyone fell silent for a few moments.

"What's next, boss?" Fred asked George. He rubbed his palms together and pointed his finger out of the window. Everyone came up behind George to see what their next move was.

Isis's mouth dropped open when she saw him pointing at the most important building of the Spring Market, the Town Hall.

"Wait-", Meraki gasped.

"We're breaking into the Town Hall," George declared.

~

Isis stood with the others, a few blocks away from the Town Hall. The Squads had been summoned to take control of the situation but Isis realised that weapons couldn't kill already dead people.

The squads were guarding the town hall with extra security because of its importance in Wellspring. All the crucial decisions of the city were taken in the Town Hall.

"There's tight security. We have to distract them somehow," Jack said, looking for any other openings.

"We'll split up in different groups and spread out. Even if one group gets caught, the other group could still be at it. Just remember, we have to do this," George said with a grim expression on his face.

"What do we have to do?" Fred asked, letting him take the wheel. In crucial matters like that, they let George do all the thinking because he was the senior.

"Whatever I'll tell you now will be our plan A but it has high chances of failing," George said, looking cautious.

"We have a plan B, right?" Meraki asked, leaning against the wall while listening.

"We do but I can't tell you that," he shook his head. Then, he took a long drag of the cigarette he was smoking and crushed it under his shoes. "Just whenever we need to execute plan B, I'll signal you and you all have to obey. The rest is up to me."

His words made Isis shudder. She twitched, feeling a slight pain on her eye scar. After that day, her eye scar had turned white. It ran down from her forehead to her eye bag but it wasn't too deep and she didn't need an eye patch anymore.

After that, George explained plan A and divided the group. Meraki and Nish were given the job to distract the guards, Meredith and George were supervising from outside because they weren't too physically capable to break in. Fred and Garry were asked to break into the building from the back door while Isis and Jack would enter the building through the Town Hall terrace.

~

Being careful of the guards, Isis, Jack and Meredith had climbed up the nearest building to the town hall. From the terrace, the town hall's terrace could be seen. The buildings were closely knit.

"Jumping that far isn't possible," Isis said, looking at the distance between the two buildings. They were on the fourth floor.

"I can jump but with this," Jack smiled softly, taking out a harness from his bag and holding it up. The harness rope had hooks of both sides and bigger hook clips. "I'll jump over to that terrace once I receive the signal, then you'll follow."

Isis nodded, knowing she didn't have much choice.

"Remember to look inside you, you have something that others don't have, right?" Meredith said with a provoking glance. She was talking about the powers Isis had received from her.

Isis watched as Jack tied up the rope around his waist and secured it. But it would all be meaningless if he could step on the other end. He had to jump from that roof to the next. After that, they waited patiently for the signal.

On one side was the town hall and on the other was the main street of the Spring Market. Inside the nearest alley, Meraki, Isis was planning on how to distract the guards while George was with Fred and Garry, strengthening their part of the job.

After a while, suddenly, dark smoke started rising from a nearby small building. It didn't take a minute for the house to burst into flames. The three of them flinched at how high the flames were and the ruckus was created because of it.

"Meraki?" Isis gasped, not expecting such a sight.

"Jesus, they went out of their way. They're harming private property," Meredith spoke up, gasping in panic. Isis and Jack stared at the flames and watched the soldiers rush towards the flames.

"What does that mean?" Jack asked.

"They're violating others properties, either way, they'll go down bad for it," horrified, Meredith turned away from the burning building. "You fools, what did you do?"

They stood silent for a moment, recollecting their thoughts. Isis looked back at it and realised the flames were so high, they also threatened to burn the buildings around it.

"But it's still a signal right?" Isis said, looking back and forth at Jack and Meredith. "We should stick to the plan because the damage has already been done."

No one said a word but they nodded in agreement. It all depended on them now.

Jack moved back, preparing himself for the long jump. Isis walked to him and checked the security of the rope along his waist herself.

"Thanks," he whispered and she moved on to tie the other end of the rope on the pole of the terrace they were in. Jack was supposed to reach jump to the town hall terrace and tie the other end so Isis could cross.

Jack took a deep breath and back off for a run-up and then let it out by sprinting as fast as he could. He reached the edge of the terrace and leapt up the railing. Then, he pressed against the edge of the railing and jumped off the terrace onto the town hall.

Suddenly, the rope around him faltered and Isis noticed he couldn't go too far with the weight of the harness starting to pull him down. They panicked and tightly held onto the rope tied on the pole.

Jack somehow managed to step on the boundary of the town hall terrace but immediately lost his footing. Failing to balance himself, Jack fell out of the terrace and started falling from the fourth floored building.

"Jack!" Meredith yelled out, horrified. Isis's eyes went wide watching Jack fall with a blank expression on his face.

She lost control over herself and jumped up the railing of the terrace she was his. She felt her eyes glow and the scar on her eye deepen. Her hand shot out by itself and her mouth opened as she yelled out a single word.

"Freeze!" She growled. Immediately, everything went still. The rattling of the harness on Jack's body sounded and when Isis snapped back to herself, she saw Jack floating a few feet above the ground. The harness rope was too long and if not for Isis's powers, Jack would've crashed to the floor.

Isis found herself panting and gasping hard. Jack stared up at her with utter shock.

"Get up," Isis said.

Jack got hold of himself from the shock and started trying to push himself towards the wall of the town hall. Once his back touched the wall while he was still floating, he got hold of the edges and started climbing up the building. He kept climbing till he reached and got hold of the railing of the town hall terrace.

Then, he climbed up and quickly tied the other end of the rope for Isis. Once the rope was secured, Meredith put a comforting hand on her shoulder and helped her tie the hook clip for rope gliding that they had. She helped her climb up the ledge and carefully slide away to the town hall terrace as smooth as she could.

Soon, she safely reached the other side and the harness rope was withdrawn.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"You okay?" Isis asked back.

Both of them nodded at each other, waved at Meredith and headed in. They were said the town hall was already evacuated but they still needed to look out for a few guards. Cautiously, they climbed down the stairs and Jack signalled Fred and Garry on his phone.

The interiors of the town hall looked like a maze with long corridors and tall doors. Isis could hear faint footsteps from one side to another.

"They've managed to enter.. we've to go to the second floor," Jack said, staring at his phone. Isis looked at him in shock and realised most of the footsteps were coming from the second floor itself.

"What do we have there?" Isis asked with her eyes planted on the staircase that led them down.

"It's George's plan and it's bizarre but we have no choice," Jack said, running a hand through his long slicked-back hair. His face looked like he dreaded to tell her the plan they were following. He finally looked over to her.

"We have to steal legal statement papers," Jack said.