The New International Sealab

Roleplay Library
41

The speed with which Elana had responded to him and then jumped into action had caught Maksym slightly off guard and left him in pursuit. It was a less than ideal turn of events. Charging recklessly ahead like that as if she had something to prove, she was going to get herself hurt, and they already had enough casualties as it was.

“Elana, wait!” was all he could manage to blurt out fruitlessly as she took off and forced him to follow in tow. It didn’t take long for his worries to be confirmed when he caught up to her just in time to see Mason let loose with a spray of bullets at her feet while coercing Laura to help him leave with the box. Amidst all this chaos he managed to automatically identify and opportunity, and took advantage of Mason’s brief preoccupation with the others to train his own pistol on him.

“Let he go!” was the first thing to shout that came to mind. His voice’s confidence masked the worries he was actually feeling. It was impossible for him not to notice that all he managed to do was get them into yet another standoff which would probably end as poorly as the last one had. “Take the box if you absolutely have to but she stays here!”

42

Upon being fired at, Elana jumped backwards and yelped. She managed to watch the last bullet ricochet off the floor, but the one before that was not as lucky. Two of the bullets managed to penetrate the floor, and the soft grinding was definitely an indication of the change of pressure around the wounds. The intense pressure from the water outside would no doubt shoot into the docking bay. It was only a matter of time before such an event would transpire.

But Elana, with her hands moving over herself to see if she was shot, couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Once again, she froze up, unable to really speak. It was a difficult adjustment. Back in her training and among scientists, they would listen to her. It must have been different for those who had more of a militarized way of life. The one with the weapon spoke, and everyone listened. There wasn’t much else to it.

She looked up at Maksym, but did not know what to say. She could join him in his conviction, but her fears strangled her vocal cords and severed her will. All she could do was look at the menacing man and pray he didn’t increase his resolve to shoot them all.