by SM Olivier
“Lima Charlie,” another male voice retorted.
“Let’s go,” Troy called out as he opened the door leading to the roof. “Everyone is to return safely tonight,” he said fiercely.
Be safe, please, I bade silently to Jaxson, Jace, Remy, and Noah as they headed to their respective helicopters. It was too loud to communicate to them aloud, and I didn’t feel like yelling at their retreating backs.
You too, they all replied back.
Love you, Jaxson said to me alone as he turned and winked at me. The lights on the roof was like a halo around his head.
Ditto. I smiled back as I kissed my finger tips and extended my hand back out.
He pretended to catch it and placed it on his own lips.
Drake and Troy leaped into the helicopter first and started to help the rest of us up. I took a seat next to the door. The adrenaline was now in full effect. All residual tiredness was gone. My knees bounced up and down in anticipation, and I had to resist the urge to bite my nails—a habit I had broken myself of when I was fourteen or fifteen years old.
One other female was on my team. She was from the Illinois community. She gave me a nervous smile as she took the seat across from me.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
I had trained with her this past week, but I hadn’t been extremely social due to the pressure I had been feeling with my family, grades, and relationships. Plus, training had been so ramped up I had only seen her more in passing. She seemed like she was a few years older than me and was pretty in a girl-next-door way.
“Hi,” I replied back as I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “What did you do before coming here?” I asked hoping to get her mind off our mission.
“I was going to school for elementary education,” she responded back giving me a grateful smile.
“What grade would you like to teach?” I inquired, wanting to keep communicating with her.
“Third or fourth grade,” she replied. “I don’t have to teach them to read. They know how to tie their own shoes. They’re more independent but not too independent that they think they know it all. Boy and girl craziness hasn’t set in yet either.”
I laughed. “My sister and brother are in the second grade. I think my sister harbors crushes now and again, but my brother still thinks girls have cooties.”
She laughed as well. “Are they the children that sit with you at breakfast and dinner?”
“Yes,” I replied back.
“April didn’t give us the exact specifics to everything, but she did tell us that some of our previous beliefs of the gifted are incorrect. Those children and teens that are around you often, are all your siblings?” she asked hesitantly like she still couldn’t believe it.
“Most of them,” I answered. “On base, I have three brothers and a sister.” She didn’t need to know that Ella was technically my cousin.
She looked over at Troy and Drake who had taken seats on either side of me. She looked like she wanted to continue the conversation and but was unsure of how to proceed without offending me.
“My connections.” I smiled in understanding as her eyes widened. “All of them.”
One of the other Illinois community members swore softly beside her. “You’re lying. That’s not possible.”
“I assure you,” Troy chuckled softly as he linked his fingers through mine. “She’s not. We are connected.”
“Show us,” another guy from the Illinois team insisted.
Troy raised an eyebrow at him before the girl gently punched the other guy in the arm. “That’s so rude and you know that. Not everyone carries marks that are easily visible.”
“I have a feeling by the end of this mission you’ll have no doubt the truth in their words,” Gavin stated as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
He had the right idea. We had little over an hour before we got to our destination, plenty enough time to take a nap.
When we landed, I was surprised how unassuming the government labs looked. There was no fencing around the tall glass building. In fact, it looked more like a prestigious office building than a lab. The only thing tipping it off to its importance were the men seen walking the perimeter and the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere.
I noticed the temperature difference immediately. There was a mild nip in the air, but it wasn’t the cold I had become accustomed to.
“They’re already here,” Herman stated gravely the moment our feet hit the ground, bringing me out of my reflections.
“Negative,” one of the techies stated immediately. “We’re looking at the cameras right now and we don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Where is our point of contact?” Troy asked suspiciously.
“He’s in his office,” one of the techies responded.
“I thought he was supposed to meet us out here,” Jace insisted.
“We’ll call him and notify him of your arrival,” the female techie said with doubt lingering in her voice.
“They’re already here,” Herman insisted again, his eyes were wild with fear. I knew he was remembering his time with Horatio, and the idea of being near anyone associated with him filled him with dread. “I can feel them. There is at least…fifteen of them.”
Mr. Moore, Paul, and Will had been hesitant to allow him to accompany us, but Herman wasn’t going to be deterred. He wanted to face his enemy head on instead of cowering before them. He contended that he wasn’t going to take his imprisonment ‘lying down.’
“Is it possible that they already breached the building?” Remy asked as we approached the edge of the tree line that hid us from being detected as of yet.
“Let’s check,” Troy stated. “Mullins, I need you to transform and approach with caution. Report back with your findings.”
“I’ll go, too,” Gavin stated.
“No,” Troy shook his head with a frown. “We need you to mimic the healers today. I don’t want you exhausting yourself, just in case.”
Gavin frowned but nodded. He was a good soldier. He wouldn’t question orders in a time like this.
“I’ll be right back,” Mullins insisted as he transformed into a dog and loped off.
“Do you think when he’s a dog he’s more susceptible to fleas?” Jaxson joked.
“Will he need a flea bath as a dog or a human?” Noah joined in.
A few people tittered with nervous laughter.
“Jaxson, Noah,” Jace warned.
Jaxson shrugged with a carefree smile. “You handle yourself your way, and I’ll handle myself mine.”
“Kids,” Terrance shook his head in exasperation, although laughter danced in his eyes.
“Do you think his favorite position is doggy style?” Noah asked with deep contemplation.
One of the other girls from the Illinois team giggled. “It is!” she covered her mouth.
“Eww, TMI,” another female gave a mock shudder before she gave a cunning look to another girl. “Is it with you, too?”
The other girl glared at her before muttering, “Grow up.”
“Your POC is not responding,” the female techie chirped in our ears. “We also believe that the camera feed we’re looking at is not real time.”
“We need to go in,” Remy said grimly.
“Alpha team will take the entrance closest to the labs,” Troy stated. “Alpha team, to me.”
“Bravo team will take care of the perimeter first,” Terrance stated. “Bravo team, spread out and lay cover for Alpha, Charlie, and Delta team.”
“We’ll take the front entrance,” Remy stated.
Mullins returned and transformed back into his human form. “Those are gifted on the roof top. They’re on the lookout for us, they’re expecting us. They were sent to retrieve something in the labs but are unable to find it as of yet.”
“If those are gifted up there, we can’t directly approach the building. We’ll need to figure out a way to neutralize the guards up top,” Troy said as he rubbed his chin in thought.
>
“I can scale the wall and try to take them out one by one,” a man from the Illinois team said.
“Drake, Sierra, and I can send our best marksman,” Sam said tentatively, referring to Yaris, Ford, and Dawn up. “Drake can get the shield on them, and I’ll push them up with Sierra’s help.”
“That’s breaking up the teams,” one of the Illinois guys stated.
“The teams were set up with us arriving before Horatio’s people got here,” Terrance pointed out. “Just as long as each team lead has accountability for each of their men−”
“Or women,” Dawn interjected.
Terrance gave her an exasperated look. “−Or women when the mission is complete, then we make sure we have each of our original team members.”
“I’ll create a diversion to capture their attention,” Troy added. “I’ll set those dumpsters on fire in the back, and when they go to investigate it, you guys start breaching the other side.”
“Do you think they’ll fall for it?” Jace asked dubiously.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Troy said with a shrug.
“I’ve never had to cloak a group that big, but I can try,” the girl I spoke with on the helicopter stated.
“Let’s try it.” Jace nodded satisfied.
I shook my head. “I don’t think we should do that. I can try to compel them from here. It’s less risk of anyone being seen.”
“That’s a considerable distance,” one of the guys from the Illinois team said doubtfully.
Most of the people who knew me started to laugh or smile. Their confidence in me helped. “How many on the roof?” I asked Herman and the guy who had the ability to see far distances.
“Five,” they both said simultaneously.
I closed my eyes and imagined the five people on the roof. I focused all my energy on honing in on them. From this distance, I couldn’t see them but I began to feel them. Drop any and all weapons onto the ground. I forced out.
Being so far away, I could barely see their silhouettes in the early morning hours, but I could see items being dropped of the roof as they fell under the lights mounted on the building. A faint resounding clatter confirmed the weapons striking the ground.
If asked, give your friends the all clear, nothings amiss. You see none of us. I compelled them further. I wanted to make sure they were unable to do anything to warn the others. I felt some of them try to resist me, but they were powerless, too.
“We’re safe from the eyes on the roof,” I said confidently.
“HQ,” Troy spoke quietly into his comms. “Do you have eyes on the roof top?”
“Standby,” one of the techies said immediately. He came back within seconds. “There are no eyes up there.”
“I’ll go check,” the man who had the ability to climb any surface stated as he looked at Remy, his team lead.
“Go ahead,” Remy nodded.
The slight man took of at a run and we were made to wait in anticipation once more. The cold night air was seeping into my core. My toes, fingers, and face began to feel numb.
It felt like it was hours before he finally returned, but when he did he was smiling. “They are oblivious. I even sat down next to one of them for a moment. He looked directly at me but he couldn’t even see me. What did you do?” He looked at me in awe.
I gave him a crooked smile. “I told them, if asked, to report that they see no activity and I told them that they couldn’t see us.”
“Let’s go,” Troy urged. “Back to our teams. Bravo team, continue watching the perimeter. Charlie team, breach the front entrance. Delta team, the side entrance. Alpha team, we need to get to the labs and get their fast.”
We all took off at a run across the wide expanse of lawn. The ground was frosted over predicting the coming winter. I could feel the ground crunch under my boots. I followed after Troy, noticing that some of the Illinois team was already gasping for air. They hadn’t physically trained as we had. We had already noticed their weakness in this area.
Knowing Will and Paul, Paul probably insisted that they sit out, while Will demanded that they accompany us. They could be a liability to us, but this mission could also stress the importance of their training and cause. We would have to trust their natural abilities and their instincts.
“There are two of them posted outside the door,” Herman stated at the back of our team. He was still weak by his ordeal but he had heart.
“There are two incapacitated behind the desk,” one of the Illinois team guys stated as he peered into the building. His eyes were capable of seeing pass the brick, insulation, and studs.
I imagined the two men positioned by the door. I felt their thoughts. I felt their evil intent. Come out with your hands up, I commanded them.
Moments later, two men came out, hands up, eyes wide as the saw us.
Handcuff your right hands to each other, I compelled them, noticing that they both donned on the security guard’s uniforms but they had kept their weapons. It was clear that they weren’t weapons issued to security guards; government facility or not. If asked, all is clear and you didn’t see us.
They mechanically handcuffed their right hands to each other as one of the radios went off. “Section 1, come in,” the male voice squawked over the walkie talkie clipped to their waist.
“Go ahead,” both men said in a monotone voice.
“How’s it look?” the voice asked brusquely.
“All clear,” both men responded simultaneously once more.
Troy nodded at me with a smile. Drake grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I could feel his nervousness emanating from him. It had been some time since we had been on a mission with this many people, and the last mission we were on hadn’t ended well.
We proceeded to go inside, trusting Herman and the Illinois guy to let us know when someone was around us. I heard a chirp in my ear.
“Good morning, Remy, Jace, Troy, Noah, Drake, Jaxson, and Blake. Long time no see,” I heard a cool detached voice say in my ear.
It took me a moment to realize that the voice belonged to Zach Young. A sharp pain in my head proceeded his greeting. I saw the others around me double over in pain, clutching their heads. I could hear the keening wail of someone in the distance.
“It’s a trap, get out of there,” I heard Will demand in our ears.
Zach made a loud tsking sound in our ear pieces. “I’m afraid it’s too late. In less than two minutes you’ll be surrounded by fifty of our finest. It’s time you stopped meddling where you aren’t welcome.”
“Get out everyone,” I heard Jace demand as I looked up and saw blood pouring out of the ears and nose of one of our operatives. “Return to the rendezvous.”
We stumbled backwards. I saw Drake and Gavin grab ahold of the teacher from our team and begin dragging her off. As we exited the building, I could see a line of vehicles advancing towards us.
The other teams arrived around us near the tree line, just as we began getting attacked. The man beside me convulsed as if he were being electrocuted. Dawn yelped in pain as thin lines of blood sprouted from her exposed body parts. An invisible attacker had caught up with her.
“Show yourself!” I demanded as Marcus started to look around in confusion, determined to help his friend and teammate.
I gasped. The child couldn’t be more than thirteen years old but the blood lust was in his eyes. I looked around as more of enemy converged upon us. A majority of them were young teens. Only a handful of them were adults.
I stumbled back into Drake. “They’re children!” I gasped in horror, momentarily stunned at their viscous attacks.
“We can’t attack them,” Jaxson gasped as he grabbed my hand.
My gift began to buzz within me. It was demanding to be unleashed. I felt the warmth begin at my feet and spready rabidly through my body. It knew the danger I was in. It knew the danger we were in.
“Stop!” I screamed in my head as I heard our helicopters arriving. I pushed my thoughts harder than
I ever had at the attackers.
I yelped as I felt my gift unleash.
“Grab her!” I heard Sierra scream just as one by one the teens around us froze, powerless to resist my gift.
I felt my connections surround me and immediately felt my gift rein in. A kaleidoscope of colors surrounded us. I heard the gasp around us.
“We need to go,” Terrance insisted in a voice full of awe.
“Go,” Jace insisted. “We’ll stay here until everyone is loaded up.”
“Jeremy,” Dawn cried out as she clutched her bleeding arm.
I looked around and noticed Ford was missing.
“Where’s Ford?” Terrance asked as he looked around wildly.
“He was trying to get the case away from Zach and his men,” Dawn hissed between clenched teeth.
“Get them loaded, we’ll get him,” Troy instructed to the other teams. Then he looked at the other healer in the group. “Heal her,” he pointed towards Dawn.
We heard the hum of another helicopter arriving. It was much smaller than the ones we used, and its destination was clear as it began it’s decent on the roof of the facility. The lights of the helicopter perfectly illuminated five men on the roof top and Ford, creeping up behind them.
“Stay,” I projected to the men on the roof. They all halted, steps away from boarding the helicopter. “Ford, now” I insisted as I felt Mr. Young pushing to break the hold I had on them.
Ford grabbed the case clutched in Mr. Young’s hands and turned to run back towards the stairs. We all gasped in shock as the door to the roof blew out, windows erupted with flames, and Ford was thrown back several feet.
“He needs to jump,” Sam said, and I turned in surprise to see Herman, Sam, Rachel, Gavin, Jemmy, and Sierra still behind us.
“Jump Ford,” I yelled at him telepathically. “Drake and Sam, you need to get ready.”
Ford didn’t hesitate as he ran towards the edge. Drake produced a force field around him, and Sam began to lift him from the roof top.
I hissed as I felt Mr. Young break from my hold. He advanced towards Ford at a run, just as I felt a sharp knife pierce my arm. I looked down to see a girl I hadn’t seen among the frozen reel her arm back to strike out once more. Her aim going for Sam.
