OUR PROGRESSION THROUGH the city seemed painfully slow compared to the nights I had run with Triven. There were many more of us this time and not every member of the guard was as agile or as fast as I would have liked. Mouse stayed at my side as I had instructed, only leaving it when we came to gaps between buildings that were too big for her to span. At these rare moments Triven would gather her in his arms and flawlessly make the leap with her held close to his chest. My heart stopped every time they jumped, only restarting when their feet were once again on solid ground.
It took us nearly an hour to reach the outskirts of the city. The massive base of the wall loomed high above the streets. As a reminder of its power, of our separation from their world, a bird slammed into the invisible shield towering above us. I could feel a collective jump from the group as the air crackled and the incinerated carcass fell to the streets. Only Mouse and I stood steady.
Gazing at the city below us, I mentally slapped myself. How many times had I stood on this exact rooftop? How many times had I passed right by the one thing I wanted most and never knew it was there? I should have known it would be here, of all places. It made the most sense.
I looked to Mouse for direction. “It’s by the warehouse isn’t it?”
She nodded, pointing to a dark shack of a building not ten feet from the Ravagers’ food warehouse.
It all made sense now. The place I had first seen Mouse was not far from here and what better place to hide a passageway than one that is already guarded. I had always been so distracted by the food that I had never thought to look for more. Even now as we stood atop the skyline, three Ravager guards passed below on their rounds. No wonder those guards inside had always been so careless about their patrol of the food. It was never the food they were protecting.
Triven spoke first. “Team two will cover us from the rooftops. We will have to enter from street level. Veyron, take Mouse—”
Mouse tugged on his shirt interrupting him, shaking her head. She held out her hand and pressed her other index finger to it like a keypad.
Triven closed his eyes in exasperation. “There’s a code isn’t there?”
She nodded.
“And I’m guessing you’re not going to tell us.” I glowered at her, but she wasn’t intimidated. Mouse signed together again then, folded her arms defiantly and shook her head. I wanted to hit something.
Triven opened his mouth to argue but I silenced him. “There’s no time to waste arguing about it. Veyron, Arden and Willets will come with us. Once Mouse lets us in the tunnel you will get her back to safety. You two will cover us from above.”
I pointed to Rowan and Baxter. I had seen what each of them was capable of with a gun. If they were acting as snipers from the rooftops, our chances were significantly better.
“Shoot anything that isn’t us.” Archer barked before they took off across the rooftops.
Triven’s glare was cold when I finally met his eyes. I knew he disagreed with me and if anything happened to Mouse he would never forgive me. In truth, I would never forgive myself either. He hoisted her up on his back and began to climb over the edge of the building into the dark alley below.
I brushed against Veyron and Willets as we moved toward the building’s edge too. “I don’t care if you have to knock her out or if she fights the whole way back. But once that door is opened, get Mouse the hell out of here.”
I didn’t wait for their response. Instead, I hurtled myself over the side of the building. My hands instinctively fell to the drainpipe I knew was there. Shoving off with my feet I twisted and caught the windowsill on the opposing building. In two more bounds I had passed Mouse and Triven and landed silently on the pavement with my gun drawn.
The streets were empty aside from the three guards outside of the warehouse and us. We were lucky they were lightly staffed tonight. I kept my eyes trained on the guards as I heard the feet falling in line behind me. After about a minute, I had counted all nine sets of boots as they reached the ground. There was a familiar sound of gun metal sliding from holsters. We were ready. I held my hand back; the tiny fingers I was reaching for were instantly in mine. I squeezed, reminding Mouse to stay with me. She squeezed back. We waited in the shadows for what felt like hours, but surely it was only minutes.
As soon as the guards began their loop, we slithered from our spot. It would be two minutes before they returned to the front of the building. I began counting off the seconds in my head. It only took fifty-four seconds to cross the open space. By sixty-three seconds we were all carefully hidden in the shadows of the buildings again. Mouse tried to pull ahead, but I tugged her back to my side. Triven nodded once at us. I could barely see the sheen of his eyes in the darkness. Keeping his gun raised, he moved in the direction of the building that looked more like a shack from this vantage point. My heartbeat pulsed in my ears as he disappeared through the warped doorway. The pulsing grew louder until he reappeared again. He reached his hand out for Mouse. I pushed her into his waiting arms and spun back to the alley, keeping my eyes alert for any movement as I backed through the doorway after them. The room was tiny, hardly larger than the bunker we shared. I motioned for the others to wait; there was barely room for the three of us. Supports had fallen, dangling precariously from the ceiling and bricks lay in pieces on the floor. What might have once been wood floors, now looked more like dirt. I held my breath; fearful that if I moved too much the whole thing might collapse around us.
Mouse had moved into the corner of the room. Ducking under a huge fallen beam, she disappeared for a moment. I moved to follow her, but Triven’s arm flung out stopping me.
Before I could push him away there was a series of mechanical tones and the brick wall beside us hissed open. My heart began to pound. It was here the whole time. A gust of stale air pushed against my skin.
Triven moved towards the opening but I stood frozen.
I was reminded that my parents had lost their lives to get me out and now I was intentionally going back in. A heavy sense of foreboding gripped me.
Something soft brushed against my arm and I snapped back to life. My fingers closed over her shoulders just as Mouse darted for the opening. She struggled, kicking with more power than I thought possible as I lifted her from the ground. I moved towards the door dragging her with me.
Willets moved into the doorframe just as we emerged, nodding once. “All clear. Make sure-”
Whatever he was going to say I would never know, for the moment I moved to hand over Mouse, his head snapped sideways as his blood sprayed my face. The life drained from his eyes as his body crumbled to the ground.
Screams erupted, dispersed with gunfire as chaos broke out around us.
I jerked back inside just as a bullet exploded the brick next to my head. I could barely feel the tiny projectiles as they struck my face. Mouse had gone limp in my arms. At first, I feared she had been shot but her racing heartbeat told me it was merely fear. I twisted just as Triven’s body collided with mine. I pushed Mouse into his arms and began shoving on his chest.
“Go! GO!” I screamed, pointing at the tunnel. Something flashed across his eyes before he turned and plummeted into the darkness.
There was more screaming from outside. I watched as the only two people I cared about disappeared and then turned to help those dying outside. I had only gotten a step outside the building before another bullet narrowly missed my head. I dove and rolled to my knees. The scene was full-blown pandemonium. Someone ran past me screaming something, but I couldn’t hear him over the rain of bullets. His perfectly manicured blonde hair was streaked with blood. Bodies were strewn in the alley. There were ones clad in leather that I didn’t recognize, but there was one trembling boy clutching his side that made my stomach lurch. Arden had been shot. His lips were terrifyingly white as he gasped for air. I jumped sideways firing at the rooftops as another bullet whizzed past my ear. Archer was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a Ravager, while our snipers fired wildly at the ro
ofs above us. Veyron was hunched over clutching her chest as she fired on the oncoming Tribesmen. While she was obviously in pain I could see no blood. I wordlessly said a prayer of thanks that I had insisted on her wearing the body armor. Maddox was smashing in the faces of anyone stupid enough to come within striking distance. I jumped to my feet and began firing rounds into the advancing crowd of Tribesmen.
We were outnumbered, but they were falling faster. Suddenly the fire from above ceased and when it began again it was the advancing Ravagers that began to fall. Rowan and Baxter had taken down the other snipers and were now protecting us from above.
Maybe we had a chance.
But even as the thought crossed my mind, a fire exploded in my right arm. I screamed, my body spasming as the bullet pierced my skin. The world tilted as I staggered sideways, the gun falling from my numb fingertips.
A new thought crossed my mind. If we couldn’t fight, then I had to get them into the tunnel.
I lunged forward aiming for the injured Arden, but was knocked backwards by what felt like a brick wall.
Huge arms closed around me as I struggled to free myself.
“There’s no time!” Maddox’s gruff voice shouted into my ear.
I screamed something back at him. Most likely a string of profanities, but his grip was too strong for me. Plowing forward like a freight train he forced me back into the shack. His hand clamped painfully over my bullet wound and he threw me into the open passageway. My hands and face slammed to the dirt floor as I yelled in protest. I raised my head just in time to see his hulking outline as Maddox yanked the door shut behind us. The mechanical click of the bolts sounded like a death sentence.