GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (49 page)

‘Aaghssh!’
Francesca cried out
in pain as blood began to run warmly down her right cheek
. The assassin’s bullets had still not
found
their
mark and
struck
right and left
of Francesca,
sparking as
they exploded against the wall
!
Francesca put her hand onto her cheek and vaulted herself bodily over Massimo’s lifeless corpse
.
She s
printed madly along the dark passage and on into the darkness just as the assailant came round
the
bend!

There was only darkness to see and
,
without
a clear shot, the
killer
tried
to aim guided only by the sound of
running
footsteps
.

Thwipp
...
Thwipp..
.
Thwipp
.

             
Streaks of light whizzed past
Francesca’s
body
,
left and then right
,
and it was only by a sheer miracle that she dodged or stumbled out of the firing line
.
Deadly bits of stonework also sparked off the walls and around her as she fled up into the blackness of the complex of corridors beyond.
Even
though
Francesca could
have turned to
see her assailant,
she
never stood long enough to look back
.
I
nstead
, she
ran crazily
into the darkness and around a
nother
bend ahead.
She was lucky as another bend went off on a right fork passage and somehow narrowly missed
colliding with
the stone wall
.

**********

In the meantime
,
Francesca’s
assailant had just come around the first bend and noted the dead man
.
H
e had been easy, clinical work.
The gun fired again several times
as she
shot
in the direction of the next victim!
Massimo’s torch beam was
shining directly into the killer’s cold eyes
,
making accurate shooting impossible
.
The girl was escaping!

A
few minutes later there was no sound along the tunnels
—
not a scream or a footstep
.

S
he
had been
here only moments ago
!
Massimo’s lifeless eyes looked at the killer
as
the
woman
stepped over him.
Cursing
quietly,
the killer grabbed the head torch
that
s
at
on top of the computer tower
,
quickly scanning it and walking forward
,
wildly fanning the light across the passageway
.
The beam showed two tunnels
,
both
going in opposite directions
.

**********

Francesca knew
that
she
would be
pursued
,
and followed a right bend in the passageway
, which
curv
ed
in a long decent. She began to slow down, her mind quickly sobering
and forcing her panicked body
to a stumbling walk
,
for fear of
hurting herself
in the
utter
darkness.
Francesca knew that she had panicked
and
run away blindly...
.
She
was very lucky to be alive!

Unexpectedly
,
she tripped on the uneven
and
crumbly floor
,
land
ing
heav
il
y on her knee. Feeling her jeans tear as her knee scraped the floor
,
the
pain of
friction
assailed her
a moment later
. The sensation was
something she had not felt since
she was a little girl and had
run away uncontrollably in a thunderstorm
and
fall
e
n and hurt herself on the ground.
Th
e
image
of herself
as a
frightened
girl came flashing back
,
as did the pain.
Her grandmother had come to her rescue
then—
who will rescue me now?
Francesca was alone and afraid.

I hope that bastard goes the wrong way or at least find
s
it difficult to follow me here!
Who is that person
?
She
smell
ed
the air
, finding
it was clear
.
W
hy is she trying to kill me?
Francesca
began to feel her way along the wall of the passage again
,
getting to her feet
slowly,
her right hand probing the grainy wall
next to her
and
her
left arm outstretched in front for protection
.
W
ith the coordination of a drunk, the girl staggered warily, moving
as
best she could while trying not to smack her head
on
anything
,
especially the low ceiling wall.
Hidden dangers were everywhere!

Little by little
,
Francesca moved
further and further away from her assailant.
Darkness had been her ally,
at first, but
darkness now threatened to tip her sanity
.
T
he
blackness
completely engulfed and enclosed her mind, strangling and numbing her senses.
The only sounds
she could hear
were her own.
Gently feeling and patting her way along the dry
,
rough walls,
Francesca’s
footsteps crunch
ed
loudly
and
her breath
s came shallow
.
Like a blind person without a walking stick, arms outstretched
,
she moved through the
catacombs
.

After some
time
had passed,
Francesca stopped to listen
.
She heard breathing
and tensed
...
and then realised the breathing
was her own!
Her heart began pumping adrenalin quickly
through
her aching body
.
W
here
am I? Where am I
going?
Straining her ears and eyes for any sign or sound of pursuit
, she tried to hold her panic at bay.
There was nothing.
Was it coincidence then
—had
the killer stopped
walking at the exact same moment
?

**********

Standing alone next to the inside passage divide of the rock where both passages forked, the killer switched off the dead man
’
s headlamp, listening carefully in the darkness and concentrating, like
Francesca
,
waiting carefully for any sound
.
S
he experienced her first
moment of indecision, waiting there in complete silence, conscious that with every minute
that passed
the girl would be getting further away
.
The girl would raise the alarm!

The murderer
knew that
tourists
would
be in the church above and
suspected that
the technician
would run to the church.
I
t
was
quite close and once there
she would have the safety of the crowds
.

She is getting away.

She must
b
e stopped
—s
he knows far too much.