After Bruno gets his gear on, he takes Cole’s place, and they rotate getting ready, arming themselves and packing medical supplies and food.
I pack extra magazines for the new handgun I choose and shove them into my pockets and then throw on a vest. It’s a little too big, but it makes it easier to carry everything I need. My hands shake as I shove as much in as possible. This is it. Finally, I push the medical kit into my backpack along with extra food, hoping it doesn’t burst.
When I finish, sweat drips down my nose. I pull at the collar of my t-shirt, but the vest and backpack hold in the heat like a sauna. I examine Cole. He wears a helmet strapped under his chin with night-vision goggles mounted on top. His biceps pop out as he handles his M4, sweat rolling in slick paths down his forearms. He catches me staring at him. I see his Adam’s apple bob for a slight second before he turns his head away, sealing his lips.
My attention’s drawn back to Zeus as his ears shift directions. Cole cracks the door open barely an inch, and then we hear it. Quick thuds move in our direction, so Cole flips the lights off.
“Oh, shit,” he says. “They’ve found us.”
“Let them come,” I say, mostly to myself.
The darkness makes me feel like I’m staring into a black hole. I can’t see any shadows. I clench my gun, but I’ve got no line of sight, just darkness. My mind forms a mental checklist of everything I packed. I’m ready.
More thumping.
Zeus’s growling is constant now. He’s also pacing, ready to attack whatever is out there. But his steps are quiet, like a predator stalking prey, sneaking about undetected.
Cautious whispers echo in my ears. My feet freeze in place. I roll my stiff neck and take deep breaths. If they were friendlies, I imagine they’d want us to know who they are, and they’d be introducing themselves loudly instead of sneaking around in the darkness.
“Move out,” Cole says. “Now.”
Adrenaline rushes through my body like electricity through a live wire. My heart jumps in my chest as my pulse beats loudly in my ears. A hand pushes me forward, and I extend mine outward, connecting with Cole’s backpack.
We move out of the training room, each connected by a hand to prevent from getting lost in the labyrinth of the underground.
A crashing sound splits the highly charged silence.
My skin is on fire. We need to escape. Now.
Cole picks up the pace and turns left. My legs feel heavier under all the equipment I carry, but I do my best to keep up with him. Every second counts.
I don’t hear Zeus growling as much, so I hope that means we’re going unnoticed despite our gear rattling around. But then I see little red dots marking the walls around us, and I know the worst has happened.
“Get down!” I yell.
Cole makes a fast right turn, and I stumble behind him.
A barrage lights up the darkness. Green and red tracers zip past, shattering the quiet, and illuminating the space around us. Bullets lace the wall, sending rock fragments everywhere. Grace screams, and my ears vibrate with Cole’s M4 return fire. He bangs out three bursts and then repeats. Only he and Bruno have night-vision scopes, so they are the only ones who are able to shoot. The rest of us hobble along in the dark, trying not to get shot.
“Hurry, follow me,” Cole orders over the commotion.
I don’t know where Cole’s taking us at first. I’m too busy ducking my head and following him in the eerie lighting. It takes me back to when my parents took Keegan and me to see fireworks when we were children. I remember sitting on a blanket with my family and sharing laughs and food together. I remember my mom’s face as my dad popped open a bottle of champagne and poured her some. They clinked glasses right before the fireworks began.
Keegan was never as silent as when the first one exploded over our heads. Green, and red, and blue, and shapes of hearts and smiley faces lit the night sky. I couldn’t believe fireworks came in so many variations. My favorites were the glittery ones that descended like stars. I remember looking back at my parents as they sat together. Dad’s arm was around Mom, and they looked so happy with the light of the fireworks reflecting off their faces. But it was Keegan’s smile I loved most.
Remembering my family like that, together and happy, hits me square in the gut. I’m pulled back to now. But now, it’s not fireworks, it’s bullets spraying us.
I step through rubble. A haze of smoke and dust thickens the air, and I inhale the ashes. My nose burns with the smell of lead. As we run, I try to clear my throat, which feels as though it’s coated with paste.
Cole makes more turns. The hallways seem to narrow the farther out we go. Bruno lights the guards up from the tail end of the line, his gun steadily barking. I glance over my shoulder.