The two ran for their lives while periodically dodging the bullets behind them. Trash can lids were not shields; if the angle was not right when blocking bullets, they could easily be pierced.
Steve had been hit twice, Natasha once, but neither of them slowed down. Natasha could even keep turning around to return fire, sending their pursuers tumbling into the filthy water one after another.
"They're using steel-core armor-piercing rounds. Who are they? Polar Bear special forces?" Steve had gotten a small Makarov pistol from Natasha and used its feeble firepower to shoot back.
The two golden bracelets on Natasha's wrists could always produce all sorts of miniature tools—Flashbangs, electric shock rounds, micro-explosives. Thanks to those things, the two of them maintained their distance from the pursuers.
"They're my former colleagues, part of Leviathan's internal security forces. They specialize in hunting down traitors like me. I barely managed to escape to the United States, but they found me in the end."
Natasha's little face was smeared with grime, yet her eyes burned with the flames of hope.
"Why did you flee to the United States? You could have gone to China. It's closer to Polar Bear, and it's very peaceful and safe there." Steve still had some doubts.
Yet she replied without hesitation, "Because this is the beacon of the free world. I want freedom. Anyway, this place is better."
That lie had been taught to her by her boss. Even the escape route had been rehearsed in advance. Steve came to Central Park for three consecutive days, sitting there from morning until dusk. Such a regular routine was far too easy to figure out.
Tricking Americans was much the same as tricking the French—just keep praising "free will," and that was enough.
Steve had no doubts about her