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“Brand! Offner! Head north and report back. Miller and Hester—south towards that last blast.”
“On it.”
Each pair heads off in the given direction. As they disappear into the surge of panicking people, Eckhart holds his hand up to his ear and listens intently. He scans the area, taking everything in as he listens.
Several police officers try to organize people, telling them not to panic. It’s not working. The police officers look as confused as everyone else. There’s another blast close to our right. From the alley between buildings, a man runs into the street. His clothing is on fire, and he screams as he burns. One of the police officers runs toward him, but they disappear behind a car, and I can’t see what’s happening. The building on the far side of the alley suddenly collapses into rubble, sending bricks and glass everywhere.
“Oh my God!”
“Air or ground? Well, figure it out!” Eckhart turns to the last remaining member of his security team. “Keep contact with both groups. I want to get Ms. Savinski out of the way.”
“What’s happening?” My voice is shaking as I speak. I look up into the air, not sure what I’m hoping to find. “Are we under attack?”
My question is ignored.
“We’re headed in there,” Eckhart says as he points to a wide staircase leading down inside one of the buildings.
“You taking her underground?”
“You see a better option?”
“No, sir.”
“Come with me,” Eckhart orders as he turns me around and directs me to the long staircase heading down below the main floor of a shopping center. There are signs all around, but he whisks me away too fast to read them. The stairs lead down into darkness, and my chest tightens.
“Where are we going?”
He doesn’t answer—just urges me forward. He stays behind me and to my right as we head down the stairs against a sea of people heading up. When we reach the bottom, the lights are flickering, and a train is stopped next to a concrete platform.
“I don’t think the trains are running,” I start to say, but my words are interrupted by the loudest explosion yet. I’m thrown forward, and I feel Eckhart’s arm around my waist as he stops me from landing head first on the concrete.
“Move!” he orders as soon as I’m upright.
I have no idea where he’s taking me, and I can’t think straight. The explosion still rings in my ears, and my feet are cramping up in my heels. I can’t make sense out of anything that is happening and can only follow unwittingly as Eckhart brings me to the edge of the platform in front of the train and jumps down to the tracks.
“Come on!” he orders as he reaches for my hands. “Don’t think! Just do what I tell you!”
I glance over my shoulder once, hesitating.
“Move!” he screams.
My hands are shaking so badly, I can hardly hold on as I crouch down and sit on the edge of the platform. Eckhart takes my hands to help me down. His skin is warm and his grip is sure, but it doesn’t comfort me. For a moment, I consider getting caught in the explosions behind me might be better than being touched by this man I don’t know at all.
I tense, my muscles frozen. Suddenly, all I can see is the stained, metal ceiling of a van, and tears burn my eyes. I can hear Eckhart speaking softly to me, but it takes a minute to hear what he’s saying.
“Come on, Hannah,” Eckhart says quietly. “You can do it. I’ve got to get you somewhere safe.”
“Safe?” I echo.
“Come on now.”
I swallow once and push myself off the ledge with my heels against the concrete. I land steadily next to the track, and the ground crunches under my heels. Eckhart releases my hands immediately.
“There you go,” Eckhart says. “Just head that way, and don’t get close to the center rail.”
I balance on the slender walkway that goes into the subway tunnel. Eckhart keeps close to me as we go deeper into the passage. I hear more explosions, but they’re muted. Dust falls all around us as the ceiling shakes.
“It’s going to collapse!”
