Chapter 36
Synn
Seven long days have crawled by, and I finally am free of the stitches.
I'm standing under the hot spray of my shower, and damn... it never felt so good.
I know everyone is waiting for me, but I can’t help but take a couple extra minutes for myself.
The Doctor told me to be very careful not to hurt my chest, and I’ll try my hardest not to. But I also know I’m not being left behind.
I get out and get dressed in all black, and leave the room to join the others.
I’m ready to take this motherfucking Retreat down.
Hunter
We're all congregated in the kitchen with the entirety of the available ZYGOS team, even the techies.
Jax stands at the front of the room, hands clasped behind his back, as seems to be his habit when he has something serious to discuss.
“Attention, everyone. We are here to plan the riskiest venture we’ve taken on yet: emptying The Retreat.
” Murmurs and shocked sounds reverberate around the large room.
Jax continues. “The Six—have you reached out to your contacts yet?”
Synn steps up. “Yes, but no one is willing to step up.”
“Dammit, we need the help, but we’ll have to make do. Now, we need to divide the property into sections, which will be checked by each team. Harris, about how many staff members are there?”
I shake my head. “Not completely sure. I estimate at least twenty, perhaps more.” I'm counting the teachers, the masks, the orderlies, and the secret hospital staff.
“Alright. I’m assigning a team of my guys to handle the employees. The goal is containment, but killing is on the table if there’s no other choice,” Jax says seriously with a furrowed brow.
Pretty Girl's hand shoots up into the air. “I want the masks. Me, Sam, and Cynthia. We deserve this. Plus, we know The Morgue area the best.”
Jax purses his lips. “I will allow it, but you’ll have a ton of backup.”
Pretty Girl nods, with a glint in her eye.
Shit. I don’t want my sister anywhere near this shitshow. I'm concerned it will set her therapy back, but at the same time, I know if I object, I’ll be shot down.
“I want Synn and Frost on the team to cover the dorms. Students are more likely to respond to them. Harris, you will be on the team for the medical building, as well as the secret hospital. Razor, Ghost, Trikk, Bryan, Valley, and Purge, you will all be on a team that will split the rest of the property—the admin and P.E. buildings, the cafeteria, and the courtyards. My guys will have every entrance covered to every building, and I’ll have snipers up, and men in the forest as well. ” Jax goes on.
I whistle under my breath. This is enormous.
“Each team will have a minimum of twenty people. This should be sufficient to empty the place. The police will herd the patients in two groups—one for those who can go home, and one for those who need a hospital, or even jail. There will be a mass of vehicles waiting to get you all out safely.” Jax taps his thigh.
“You will all be armed well. We will plan this for nighttime; the cover of the darkness should aid us.”
We continue to discuss it all. One of the hackers went back to the computer room and is printing out maps for us, as well as lists of team members.
Heated debates spring up about who goes in what team, and I drift, my head swimming with the amount of information consumed.
It's late afternoon, so we have hours before this thing kicks off.
Sam
I'm chomping at the bit to get those innocent students out of that hellhole.
It's finally night, and time to do this thing.
I know I have to keep a close eye on Em; the girl has a one-track mind when it comes to the masks.
We've already been told who will be on each team. Mine has some of the best of ZYGOS—Maverick, Tyler, and Blade. Plus, countless others watching all our backs.
Em is dancing in place, squeezing her fists open and closed.
I nudge her gently. “Anchor yourself, Em. Focus on the objective.”
She nods, but frowns. “Yeah, Sam, I know.”
Before I know it, we’re all ushered to our vehicles. There's hardly any left once everyone is piled inside. It looks so strange to see most of the vehicles occupied.
We already know where we’re going. Jax has us with Harris's team, who will open the tunnel for us.
It seems like no time passes before we’re staring at the front of The Retreat. It's odd that there's no one coming out to investigate.
My mind whirs with what the students are getting up to.
Once everyone is out and in their groups, we split ways.
My team follows Harris inside the medical building, and he leads us to the secret tunnel into the hospital. He points me, Em, and Cynthia to the left, where the tunnel looks like it’s closed off.
“It’s a trick. If you push on the wall, you’ll get through, straight to The Morgue.”
My brows climb my brow. Interesting.
I take Em’s hand, and along with Cynthia and our team, we move towards The Morgue.
Phoenyxx
My heart beats fast, adrenaline pushing me onward.
Cynthia walks at my side. The three of us as one unit.
We are walking death.
I'm not familiar with the portion of The Morgue we walk into. Looking around, all I see are hallways. I start down one, seeing cells.
Patients are in every single one—men and women. The ZYGOS guys silently go down the row, picking the locks.
The first cell opens, and a guy stands on shaky feet. He’s young, likely close to my age. “Who are you?”
“We’re here to rescue you all,” I answer. “We’re getting you the fuck out of here.”
The man scoots out quickly, and we empty each cell efficiently. The freed students stay behind us, guarded by our team.
We go around a corner, spotting even more cells. I had no idea there were so many prisoners.
Letting them out, we get to the stairs. A few of the ZYGOS guys hang back with the patients, and the rest of us go up to the next level.
Now, this one I know. The torture rooms; how lovely.
We cautiously make our way down, peering into every room to be sure it’s clear.
Going to another set of stairs, we start to ascend, when we hear voices coming from above us.
My blood boils, and I taste it. Them. The masks. I feel the bloodlust come over me, and I shudder in delight.
Sam looks right at me, seeing it. “Control it, Em. Please.”
I bite my lip and nod but charge up the stairs like a bull seeing a red flag.
The three of us burst out the door first, and Jester tips his head back and laughs. “Look who came to play. 3, 6, and 11.”
Cynthia beelines for him, clutching a large butcher knife in her fist.
Sam goes for Horns, and I smile maliciously as I close in on Skull. Choosing to use my blade, I palm it, hiding it from view.
The sound of fighting reaches my ears, but I’m lasered in on this fucking piece of shit Skull.
“You are a psychotic rapist, and for that, you will die,” I sass.
“You can try,” Skull scoffs.
“Where is your leader, huh? Conveniently missing?” My grin is so malicious, there’s no mistaking it’s meaning.
“You bitch! What did you do to him?” Skull bellows.
I just keep the smile pasted on my face, waiting for him to get close enough. “What do you think?”
He gets in front of me, reaching out to clasp my throat in his fist. Still smiling, I bring my arm up holding the razor-sharp blade and try to slash it across his neck.
Before I can connect, the asshole blocks my arm, tossing me to the floor, still holding onto my throat. He knocks my blade to the side, adding his second hand to my neck, squeezing the life out of me. He is straddling me, snarling.
I start to see stars, the blackness closing in on me. I attempt to beat him off with my fists, and buck him off, but he holds firm. Panic takes hold of me, my eyes wide with fear.
From one blink to the next, Skull’s hands fall away from my throat. I gasp and wheeze, sucking in lungful's of oxygen.
A hand reaches to help me up. A grinning Cynthia stands there, looking very proud of herself.
Looking at Skull, my jaw drops. His throat is gaping open, and I’m bathing in showers of red before he realizes what just happened. Cynthia grabs my hand again, and we dance in his blood together, my head thrown back in bliss.
He crumples to the ground, and I snatch off his mask. I crouch in front of him, desperate to see the life fade from his eyes. A grunt of satisfaction leaves me as I watch his eyes go blank.
I hear a war cry from Cynthia; who managed to dart away without me noticing, and turn to see Jester hit the ground, the knife sticking out of the top of his skull.
“Damn, girl,” I whistle. “That is brutally beautiful.”
Cynthia grins with bloody teeth. She must have bitten the guy at some point.
Together, we turn to Sam, who’s still trading insults with Horns. The speed the words leave Sam’s mouth is impressive.
I call out, “Sam, just end it!”
As soon as the words pass my lips, he grabs Horns by the neck with both hands, squeezing tight.
Horns’s eyes bulge out of his skull, and I admit, the level of strength my Golden-Eyed Boy is displaying is making me hot.
Horns's body collapses, and Sam follows him to the floor, snatching off his mask. He kicks the dead body a couple of times before I whistle to get his attention.
Sam gets up off the floor with a nod. He comes to stand next to me, Cynthia on my other side.
The ZYGOS guys behind us are muttering, but I hold my head up as we walk away, to find the rest of the patients.
We manage to clear three more cell blocks before reaching the end.
Satisfied we got them all, we descend back down to where the rest are waiting.
Maverick says, “Damn, so many.”
That's an understatement. There must be at least forty patients.
We brief the rest of the team, then guide everyone back through the tunnel. We pile back into the medical building, where Hunter is already waiting, but with no other students.
“No one else?” I ask him, just to be sure.
“Not one. Jax’s guys rounded up the staff before we arrived.” Hunter gives me a soft smile after seeing all the students trailing behind us.