Chapter Text
Jack sifted through medication as Smoke kept watch, checking labels and chucking useless orange bottles over her shoulder. As evidenced by the pharmacy's shattered glass and raided shelves, finding anything on Redheart's list would be a long shot. Jack sighed, scooping a pack of anti-nausea medication into her pack- it had to be good for something.
As it always did when she was away from the other Apples, her skin itched with nervous energy. She opened her mouth to tell Smoke it was time to move on.
Jack was interrupted by the sound of something whizzing through the air and then Smoke cursing as he crumpled to his knees. "Get cover!" Jack yelled as she ducked behind the counter, drawing her pistol.
Smoke scrambled for his own gun, which had dropped and skidded across the floor. He cringed as a bullet narrowly missed his arm. "Get back!" Jack yelled again, growing more frantic. Although she still didn't quite trust the ex-convict, it didn't mean she wanted him to die.
Smoke gave up on the gun, rolling behind a shelf just in time to avoid another gunshot. He clutched his thigh, blood seeping through his pants and staining his skin.
Jack took a shaky breath, trying to collect her thoughts. "What the fuck?"
Smoke pulled a string of bandages from his bag, wincing as he tied them into a makeshift tourniquet. "It's some kind of ranged weapon," He grunted.
Jack shook her head. "Here, take this." She peaked over the counter before tossing Smoke her pistol, which he caught with a look of surprise. Jack ducked back down, though she doubted the sniper could reach her at the back of the store. "You're better with it than I am anyways." She explained. "Try to keep him distracted while I sneak out the back."
"Wait." Smoke's eyes flashed with a brief panic. "There's probably two more in the chamber. Wait until he reloads." Smoke threw a box of meds up in the air and it was pieced by a bullet mid-flight. Smoke cursed again. "You better be fucking fast." He threw another box, but this time, the sniper didn't take the bait. He winced, either from the lack of progress or the pain in his leg. "Okay. One more." He scanned their surroundings for something else he could use, and Jack followed his lead.
There was nothing but old medication and dust. They were trapped. Jack's head spun. Maybe she could use her lasso to knock over one of the shelves- the sharp sound of a silenced gunshot cut through her thoughts, followed by the load crash of a window breaking. Without hesitation, Jack made a break for the back door.
Just as she slammed the door behind her, another gunshot thudded into the wood.
Jack moved from building to building, sprinting through the small gaps in cover. When the street turned, she used it to cross to the other side. Jack carefully made her way towards the buildings across from the pharmacy, using the second story of a shop to try to spot her target.
When she peeked out the window, she saw them- directly across from her in the window of another second-story building, a one-story building between them. A bulky earth pony blocked part of Jack's view, but behind him in the shadows was the silhouette of a pony with a long weapon propped against the street-facing windowsill.
Jack pulled her lasso from her pack, targeting a drainpipe on the side of the other building. Her heart beat in her chest as she began to swing the rope, a reassuring rhythm.
Jack jumped out of the window, throwing her lasso in midair to loop around the pipe. She swung herself through the other window, crashing into the earth pony and knocking him out cold with a blow to the skull. The pony with the rifle swung it towards her, but before they could fire, Jack leaped over the bullet and pinned them to the ground. The other pony struggled against her, but as soon as Jack saw their face, she froze in disbelief, her simmering anger smothered by the ice in her veins. "Rarity?"