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I press harder on the wounds, trying to keep the blood inside his body, but there’s so much of it.
“Tell Astrid—” He coughs, splattering me with blood.
“She already knows. She loves you too. She knows this isn’t your fault. None of it was. I just need you to hold on a little longer.”
“’S okay. It’s enough.” His breath stutters in his chest for a second before his hand falls from my face. He pulls something black from his pocket, the size of a matchbox, and slips it into my hand. The tracking device.
I shove it into my pocket and press my lips to his forehead.
“Thank you.”
His eyes close, and one final breath slips through his lips before nothing. I dip my head and sob. He thanked me for shooting him. He knew he couldn’t live with himself if he had shot me, but how can he expect me to live with what I’ve done? I throw my head back and scream. I let all my grief and sorrow erupt from me like a volcano.
It’s only when the siren chirps once more that I snap out of it. Emma didn’t say anything about the siren going off again. I don’t know why it would. Everyone is locked down. Nobody can get out—
“Someone’s trying to get in.” I grab the gun and stand, slipping in James’s blood before righting myself. Carefully, I maneuver around the bodies on the floor and take the stairs, gripping the handrail so I don’t fall, and make my way up from the basement level to the ground floor. I crack open the door and peek out. When I find the coast clear, I run towards the lobby and the emergency exit—metal panels covering the main doors.
With the siren already blaring, I don’t have to worry about setting it off myself. Praying that I’m right and it works, I type in the code and push the door. When it opens and the alarm shuts off, I let out a sob of relief and pull the door closed behind me, my knees buckling.
I grab the wall for support, freezing when I hear voices. I press myself against the bricks and edge closer to the front of the building as I try to make out what is being said.
Suddenly, I hear a voice I recognize and freeze.
“Get out of my way.”
The Boss Man.
“We’re in, sir. The system has been deactivated.”
“You want to tell me why it took so long?” the Boss Man snaps as I try to breathe as quietly as possible.
“The override code was changed. I’ve had to reset the whole system to get us in.”
Nope that would be me, but him taking credit works in my favor.
“What? By whom?”
“I don’t know, but we can figure that out later. The reset will have opened all interior doors too. If the intruder was locked inside, they’re now free along with everyone else.”
“Find them,” Boss Man orders, and I back away, darting down the alley, using the dumpster for cover.
Once I’m in no danger of being spotted, I take off, running for the cover of trees about a quarter of a mile from the building. My body is still fighting off the effects of the drugs, my head is throbbing from where James hit me, and shock is making my body shake uncontrollably. But I don’t give up, even when I have to stop to throw up. Even when I trip and fall, ripping my pants and the skin on my hands to shreds, I get back up, and I keep moving, feeling twigs tangle in my hair and branches whip across my face.
Eventually, I stumble upon a children’s playground. I look down at myself and know that I can’t walk through there looking like this. It’s quiet, but I can easily make out three or four families.
No, I’ll stick to the tree line and make my way around. I move on autopilot. My only focus is getting to the children. I have to make Emma and James’s sacrifices worth it. I feel more tears flow down my cheeks, making the cuts on my face from the branches sting, but I ignore it.
Pulling out the slip of paper from my pocket that Emma slipped into my hand earlier, I memorize the address, repeating it over and over in case I lose the paper, as I stumble along and push forward.
I don’t know how long I walk, but it feels like hours, though I know it can’t have been more than thirty minutes. The safe houses are kept close to the main site for a reason. If the Division is compromised and we have to abandon ship, they’d want to be able to get to the children as quickly as possible. My only hope is that they haven’t yet. Protocols dictate that they need to clear the building and eliminate any threat first. They’ll also want to make sure it’s not a trap, where they will lead the attacker to the children. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for.
When I spot the house in the distance, I drop to my knees and weep with relief. I’ve never been so glad that I know the area well, or all this would have been for nothing. Getting to my feet, I half run, half stumble to the house. As soon as I reach it, I bang my fists against the door over and over until someone answers. A guard opens the door with a gun in his hand. Recognition flares in his eyes before his gaze drops to my bloody hospital gown.
“The building has been compromised. We’re under attack,” I tell him, seeing Lara move up behind him.
“What’s going on?” she asks, her eyes widening when she gets a good look at me.
“Miss, go back inside and round up the children. Be prepared for an evac.” He steps outside and looks around to see if I was followed.
