Chapter 54
A deafening boom echoes through the bunker. The overhead lights flicker, briefly plunging the room into darkness, only to flicker back on a second later.
“What the hell was that?” Mako says, and everyone springs to action, grabbing their weapons.
The walls creak, dust floating down from the ceiling as if it might collapse at any second.
“That didn’t come from inside,” Declan says, his tone sharp.
“Check the security feed.”
Teriq and Adrienne fly out of the room. I hurry after them to the main control station where the surveillance room is located. Others are already there, studying the blinking screens that monitor everything above us.
“There’s too much smoke,” the man at the workstation says.
I peer at the screen. He’s right. It’s too unclear. But there are flashes of movement. Dark figures darting across the ground. The clarity is shit.
“We’ve got company,” Declan says grimly.
Teriq scans the cameras. He clicks a few buttons, and a map flickers to life on the holoscreen.
“This is the civilian shaft,” the mission lead says. “We can’t get out the way we came in, but we can get out here. There’s another escape hatch behind the medical bay.”
My stomach twists as I remember that Poppy is there.
Shit.
“I’ll go to medical,” I offer. “I’ll help Fiona with the civilians.”
Teriq nods and begins barking out orders. “Mako, you’re with Darlington. Declan, Orin, and Karra, you’re with me and Ade.”
We hear another explosion, and it feels like a shock wave goes right beneath our feet.
“They blew the main hatch,” someone reports.
“Fuck,” Adrienne growls.
“Go,” Teriq orders, and everyone takes off.
Mako and I race down the bunker corridors while the distant sounds of explosions rumble behind us. “Why are they only going for the main hatch?” he demands.
“Maybe they don’t know the location of the others,” I call back, but I’m confused, too.
If this is Silver Block, their intel is usually spot-on.
They wouldn’t go into a mission half-cocked and only cover one entrance.
But whether it’s an error or intentional, I’m going to treat it as the former and try to capitalize on it.
Emergency sirens suddenly blare to life. I don’t know if someone turned them on or if they automatically trigger, but that deafening sound is enough to activate anyone’s anxiety. The wailing shriek sets my teeth on edge and rattles every nerve ending. Fuck, that’s loud.
The lights drop in and out overhead as we run.
I push forward, gripping my rifle. Mako matches my pace.
I’m in fairly good shape, but smoke is beginning to waft toward us and my lungs strain as we sprint to the other end of the bunker.
We’re nearly there when the lights flicker again, engulfing the corridor in darkness.
They snap back on, but the fluorescent bulbs are humming, buzzing, as if they might explode at any second.
I hear shouts filtering in through the walls. Screams. I hope the dormitory is being evacuated. I hope everybody makes it to the civilian shaft.
I breathe in dust and smoke, jerking at another explosion that sounds too close for my comfort. When we reach the medical bay, the sirens mingle with civilian voices and the thudding footfalls of people rushing by. We encounter another field operative, who raises his rifle as we race toward him.
“We’re here to help with the civilians,” I tell the older man.
Relief floods his face. “The escape hatch is down here,” he says, then shouts at a group of young women. “Go! Move,” he orders before glancing at me. “There’s a carport at the edge of the woods. At least three trucks.”
I nod. “I’ll help Fiona with the evac.”
The room has lost power except for the emergency lights, so all I see is a greenish glow that flashes off Fiona’s face through the darkness.
She keeps everyone calm amid the chaos, firmly directing civilians out of the medical bay.
She’s trying to help the elderly gentleman off the bed, shouting for Poppy to bring her a wheelchair.
“Wren,” Fiona shouts, for once looking happy to see me.
The room is filling up with smoke. They must have blown up something inside the bunker. The haze is traveling through the halls now, carrying the acrid stench of burning.
I hear gunfire, far away from me, but enough of a concern that I check in with Adrienne.
“Adrienne, are you taking fire?”
She doesn’t respond, and I fear that might answer the question.
“You need to get Poppy out of here,” Fiona says urgently.
I catch a glimpse of Poppy through the smoke thickening the air. “Declan said there’s another exit hatch through here?”
Fiona nods. “Get everyone there. I need to help Noel.”
“Mako and I have it covered,” I say, nodding at the big guy who’s ushering civilians out of the room.
“Poppy can’t be here. Get her out now before it’s too late.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Poppy protests, arriving in time to overhear that. She’s pushing a wheelchair.
“I’ve got him,” Fiona says, reaching for Noel. “Go to the hatch now. If the bunker has been breached, there isn’t much time.”
“Mom,” Poppy pleads. Terror widens her eyes.
“Darlington,” a voice crackles over my comm. “Command’s coming in hot. There’s a Silver Block unit already down the main hatch.”
Gunfire explodes in my ears, and for a second I think we’re being shot at until I realize it’s coming from Teriq’s comm.
“Down!” I hear him shout, as I try to make sense of the commotion. Finally, his sharp voice addresses me again. “Mako, Darlington, get the civilians out and into the trucks. Expect heavy fire.”
“How did they find us?” Fiona demands as she helps the old man into the wheelchair.
“No idea,” I reply. “But they’re here now and we need to move.”
“Mom—” Poppy starts, but Fiona cuts her off.
“Wren,” the healer orders. “Please. Get her out. I’ll be right behind you.”
I hesitate. Then I shake my head. “No. You’re coming with us. I’m not leaving anyone behind.”
Fiona searches the smoke. “There could be more people who need help.”
“Poppy needs you.”
It’s her turn to hesitate. She looks at her daughter, and her frustration fades into resignation. “All right. Let’s go.”
I’m filled with relief as we run out of the medical bay together, Fiona pushing the wheelchair. At the end of the corridor, we find Mako helping people up the ladder of the civilian hatch. I hope it opens directly into that carport with the escape vehicles; otherwise we’re in trouble.
“Go,” Mako shouts to the next person. He’s relieved to see me.
“They don’t seem to know about this exit,” he reports.
“Teriq’s watching the cameras, and the entire west section right above us is clear.
There’ll be some ground fire the moment people start coming up, but we still have a window right now.
Teriq says to get as many people out as we can. ”
“What about everyone at the main hatch?”
Mako gives a grim look. “They’re under a full-on assault. We can’t help them.”
One by one, we urge civilians up the ladder. Fiona helps Noel out of his wheelchair, and the elderly man sways on his feet. He’s so frail. I don’t know what he was in the medical bay for, but whatever it is has him wheezing for air.
The man scrutinizes the ladder. “I can’t make it up there.”
“I got you, brother,” Mako says, reaching for the older man. “Get on my back.”
“You can’t carry me,” Noel protests.
Mako won’t hear any arguments. He hurries up the ladder with the old man clinging to his broad shoulders. He must pass Noel off to someone at the top, because a moment later, he’s scrambling down the rungs, his boots thudding against the floor.
The entire bunker seems to be shaking. I can practically see the walls vibrating. Dust fills the air, the sound of gunfire growing louder, reverberating off the walls. We’ve just helped one of the last remaining civilians up the ladder when Teriq reports again.
“Enemy’s closing in on you. Get out now.”
Footsteps pound in the distance, sending a jolt of fear through me. As thick smoke clouds my vision, I tighten my grip on my gun.
“Poppy, go,” I order.
The teenager barely gets her foot on the first rung when gunshots explode from the end of the hall. On pure instinct, I dive to the side, grabbing Poppy’s arm and thrusting her behind me to shield her. Fiona dives to the other side of the hall, disappearing from my view.
Command’s here.
Fuck.
“Stay down,” I yell at Poppy as bullets whiz over our heads.
I raise my rifle and fire back, the shots in such close proximity making my ears ring. When a shadow jumps toward us, adrenaline shrieks through my veins and I nearly blow his head off, luckily recognizing Mako’s enormous shoulders at the last second.
“Cover me,” I shout to him. “I need to get Poppy out of here.”
“Got you,” he yells back, then unleashes an entire clip at the soldiers attempting to advance at the far end of the corridor. I’m starting to see them more clearly. The navy-blue uniforms. Gleaming black steel of their weapons.
As Mako provides cover fire, I pull Poppy to her feet and throw her toward the ladder. “Go!”
“I won’t leave Mom!” she says stubbornly.
“I’ll get her. Just go, Poppy.”
Once she’s halfway up the ladder, I race over to help Mako, who’s still taking fire from the figures at the end of the hall.
He’s managed to hold them off, but they’re moving again, in formation.
I fire and one of the Silver Block soldiers collapses.
So does my heart for a moment, as a thought occurs to me.
What if Cross is here?
No.
He can’t be.
Cross is the captain of Silver Block. He wouldn’t be in this hallway, just another boot on the ground. If anything, he’s calling shots somewhere above this bunker.
The other soldiers keep coming. Mako takes one out, then another.
“Fiona,” I shout toward the general vicinity I saw her take cover in, but if she answers, I don’t hear her over the gunfire.