I sprinted after her, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
She turned her head at the sound just long enough to spot me, then she ran. I was faster, closing the distance quickly, but she suddenly veered into a building, weaving through obstacles as if they didn't exist.
Despite my physical advantage, she kept slipping away. Her parkour skills were exceptional. She moved effortlessly through the buildings, vanishing through windows and reappearing at unexpected angles. Tracking her became increasingly difficult.
I pushed myself harder, bounding across rooftops at full speed, but she never took a straight path. She zigzagged constantly, scaling walls with the help of her ice pick and changing direction every few seconds. From the way she moved, it was obvious she knew this place like the back of her hand.
I could barely keep her in sight.
So, I stopped.
I slowed my breathing and focused, shutting everything else out. I listened. Watched. Tracked.
After a while, I sensed her hiding inside a building, panting hard. She stayed perfectly still, listening. When no sound came from the rooftops, she must have thought I'd given up.
She relaxed.
That was her mistake.
I sprinted toward the building and slipped inside. I knew exactly where she was. Before she could react, I was already there.
She heard me at the last second and bolted for a window.
Too late.
I grabbed her jacket and yanked her back before she could jump. She spun instantly, her ice pick flashing toward me, but I disarmed her in one smooth motion and pulled her in close.
I locked my arm around her neck, dropping into a rear naked choke. My legs wrapped around hers, anchoring her in place.
She struggled violently.
"Let me go, you piece of shit!" She screamed, thrashing wildly.
I tightened my grip. She kicked and clawed, but there was nowhere to go. Slowly, her movements weakened. The curses faded into labored breaths.
Then she stopped fighting.
"Who the fuck are you?" She panted, struggling to breathe. "If you want something, take it. Just let me go."
Her voice shook with desperation. She was finally ready to talk.
I leaned close and spoke calmly.
"Did you come across a man named Lee," I asked, "or someone called Kenny?"
Her eyes widened for a split second.
"Fuck you!"
I tightened my grip.
"Just answer the damn question," I said coldly.
Her breathing turned ragged as the pressure increased. She was seconds from losing consciousness, so I eased off slightly, just enough to keep her awake. There was no escape. She understood that now.
"Why…" she gasped, fighting for air, "why do you want to know about them?"
"So you do know them," I said, watching her flushed face closely. "Tell me where they are."
I didn't want to be this harsh, but I didn't have a choice. She was fast, slippery, and dangerous. If I let her go, she'd vanish and with her, my last chance of finding the group. I needed answers, and I needed her contained.
She sucked in a breath. "Who are you? What do you want from them?"
"I'm one of them," I said calmly.
Her expression shifted instantly from fear to shock. She twisted her head, trying to see my face.
"Are you Max Walker?" she asked. "The one Clementine talked about?"
"Yes," I replied. "Now tell me where they are."
Relief flickered in her eyes.
"Let go of me first, you jerk," she said. "Then I'll talk."
I complied, slowly releasing the hold but staying alert. We stood facing each other. She rubbed her neck, cracking it slightly, then glared at me.
"Shit," she muttered. "You almost killed me."
I ignored the comment. "Where is the group?"
She sighed, pulled off her hood, and retrieved her ice pick from the ground.
"They're staying in a house near the church," she said, pointing in its direction. "Come on. I'll take you there—but don't ever do that again."
She shot me an angry grin and took it off.
I nodded and followed.
We moved across the rooftops, leaping from building to building. Her parkour was impressive, fluid, efficient, and effortless. Compared to her, my movements were crude: raw jumps driven by brute force. Still, I kept up easily. My physical conditioning made the difference.
That clearly annoyed her.
"Damn," she said, glancing sideways at me mid-run. "What were you before all this? Some kind of super soldier?"
At first, I was confused, and then I understood. I was wearing military camouflage gear, making it look like I'd just walked out of a training camp. Which, technically, I had.
I ignored her.
She frowned. "Not much of a talker, are you?"
She grabbed a flagpole jutting from a building and swung onto the roof. I followed, jumping straight up and landing beside her.
Her eyes widened.
"Piece of shit," she muttered. "That was about an eight-foot vertical jump. Are you actually a super soldier cooked up by the military or something?"
She was starting to believe in her own theory.
"Stop talking and lead the way," I said, irritated.
She stared at me like I was a monster wearing human skin.
My body has been changing fast. In just a few months, I'd grown nearly a foot from five-foot-one to five-eleven. That alone was insane. But the real shock was my strength. I trained constantly and ate relentlessly, yet my strength increased without visible muscle gain. Every training made me stronger, far stronger than I should have been.
From the outside, I looked like a normal teenager. But the moment people saw what I could do, they looked at me like I was a monster. It happened often in the training camp. Even when I tried to hide my strength, they were still shocked by how fast and powerful I was.
It was becoming harder to convince anyone that I was normal.
Amir had noticed too. He was the most shocked by my transformation. I brushed it off as a teenage growth spurt, but even I knew that excuse wouldn't last forever. I wondered how long it would take to reach the full potential of this Agent 47 body. I knew for a fact I wasn't anywhere near that level yet, pushing the thought aside.
I kept moving.
A few minutes later, we reached our destination.