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Idris shakes his head. “We’ll still have to go to the laboratories to destroy everything.”
“Right.” I let out a sigh. “So we’re attacking the laboratories first.”
Chance nods. “We’ll split into two groups. In case one group is stopped, the other can still get in. Hopefully.”
“We’re eight people.” I glance at everyone. “Who’s coming with Chance, Raze, and me?”
“I will,” Mom answers quickly. She locks eyes with me. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“You’re with me, Kenzo,” Idris says.
Kenzo doesn’t look happy about being split from my mom, but he nods.
“And me?” Dawn asks.
All eyes turn to her. Idris stares long and hard at the woman he seems to love, then he says, “You have no training.”
“I can fire a gun.” She lifts her chin. “You’re not leaving me in this house. You wanted me to come along, and I kept up with you all the way here.”
“True,” he murmurs. “Stay by my side.”
A smile spreads over Dawn’s face.
“Okay,” Chance says to get everyone’s attention. “My group will scale the building and enter from the fire escape on the roof.”
“Fucker,” Idris mumbles. “That leaves us with the sewage drains.”
“Gross,” Dawn whispers. “On second thought, I’ll go with Chance and Jai.”
Idris lets out an amused chuckle, “Not happening, baby.”
“Shoot.” She smiles widely, and I can only assume it’s because he called her baby.
“First thing first,” I say. “Everyone needs to change into virtuous clothing, so we don’t stand out.” I look at Kenzo, Idris, and Chance. Skater will fit into my dad’s clothes, but I’m not so sure about the other three men.
“There’s no fucking way I’m wearing that shit,” Idris mutters.
“I second that,” Kenzo backs him.
I look at Chance, and he shakes his head, then says, “The women can change into the clothes. We’ll stick with our combat gear.”
“I’ll check outside to make sure it’s safe to leave,” Idris mentions as I take the women upstairs to give them some of my old clothes.
When we’re all dressed and ready for the mission, we gather by the backdoor.
“We’re leaving in groups of two,” Chance says. “Jai and me, then Raze and Rachel, then Idris and Dawn, followed by Kenzo and Skater. Keep a couple of yards between us, so we don’t attract attention as a group.”
“It’s the middle of the night, so there won’t be many people outside,” I mention. “Mostly enforcers. Keep in mind they’re probably only following orders like the rest of the citizens.” I lock eyes with Idris. “Not everyone’s the enemy here.”
“Yeah-yeah,” he mutters. “But if someone pulls a weapon on me, they’re dead.”
“Let’s do this,” Chance orders.
I follow him out of the house, and we stick to the shadows as much as possible as we sneak down the street.
“It’s going to be an hour’s walk,” I whisper.
“Then we better start running.”
I glance over my shoulder to see if the others are behind us and only manage to make out a shadow here and there. Increasing my pace, I start to jog, staying behind Chance as we move through the streets.
When we reach the highway that stretches between the neighborhood and the heart of the ecocity, we leave the main road for the fields on either side of it, so we’re not out in the open.
I’m out of breath when we finally reach the first side street of the ecocity.
We wait for Raze and my mom to catch up with us, then Chance says, “Careful of the surveillance cameras.”
Cautiously, we sneak through the streets. Most of the buildings have lights on.
“Can’t we jump from rooftop to rooftop?” I ask.
“No. Some are too far apart,” Chance answers. “Besides the sewage drain, the only other way into the laboratories is from the roof. Unless we walk through the front door, and that’s not happening.”
“Right.” I take a deep breath, constantly glancing around me.
We hear a vehicle’s engine and quickly find a place to hide behind one of the many big plastic bins used for trash collection.
“I hope Idris’ team is doing okay,” I whisper.
With a view of the street from the alley we’re in, we watch as an official vehicle drives by.
As soon as it’s safe to move out of our hiding spot, Chance orders, “Let’s go.”
We finally make it to the building, and I’m surprised at how plain it looks compared to the haven. Honestly, I never even noticed it before.
But maybe that’s the idea. If it doesn’t stand out, people won’t notice it.
We stop at a safe distance and survey the building. There are two guards loitering out back, neither looking fully awake.
“Are we taking them out?” I ask.
“Not if we can help it,” Chance answers. “If one of the guards from inside checks in on them and they don’t report, then it will give away our element of surprise.”
I point to the side of the building. “So we have to scale that wall without them seeing us?”
