by Ladew, Lisa
His mouth found hers and claimed it, his kiss telling her everything would be all right. He would make sure of it.
He pulled away before Katerina could even get started and raised one of the guns. “Who is that?” he said, deadly steel in his voice.
Katerina looked behind her. “That’s Dylan Phillips. He’s here too. He - he likes to be called Storm now.”
West raised the gun higher and Katerina could feel the tension in every set of his muscles. She grabbed his arm. “He helped me escape. He got me out of the cell they put me in.”
Before West could respond they heard voices from behind them. “This way,” Dylan called urgently, leading them in the other direction.
Katerina and West ran to catch up with him. He was already talking in a low tone when they got there, more to himself than to them. “They won’t dare shoot in section E.”
He held the cylinder up to his lips. “Thisbe, open the exit door in Section E. As soon as we get out of it, lock the door behind us and don’t let anyone else out.”
Katerina looked at him, her expression startled. “Dylan, are you coming with us?”
Dylan didn’t say a word, only urged his wheelchair faster. They rounded a bend and came across a huge orange and black warning sign marking the entrance to Section E. It had a gun with a red line through it right in the center of the sign, and several other signs proclaimed: Danger - Flammable - No open flames - No guns allowed. As they passed the signs, the corridor opened up and began to change. Large pipes bound with heavy-duty tape ran along the ceiling and walls. Katerina shivered as she ran. The whole place looked so menacing.
Dylan made a motion towards the walls. “No guns allowed here. Twenty different experimental gases are being pumped into here and most of them are highly flammable. So you are at least safe from being shot for now.”
They ran down the corridor, West on one side of Dylan and Katerina on the other. Dylan whipped his head towards West. “Put away your guns,” he snarled. “Weren’t you listening? No matter what you can’t shoot in this corridor. If one of those pipes gets hit by a gunshot the whole place could go up.”
West made the guns disappear in the waistband of his pants and Dylan faced forward again. Katerina felt her strength flagging, her breath tearing in and out of her lungs in short gasps.
From behind them, they heard shouting. Katerina tried to put on a burst of speed, afraid of being caught. Then came a sound that chilled Katerina to her very bones. Gunshots. Katerina saw sparks fly as the bullets whined off the wall close to her.
“God save us all,” Dylan muttered and ducked his head.
More shots roared from behind them. “What are you doing?” Dylan screamed over his shoulder, but his voice was swallowed in a great fiery whoosh that seemed to explode on all sides. Katerina cried out and almost fell to her knees as fire seared over her head.
West was there in an instant, cradling her, pulling her forward, urging her on. The hallway around them filled with fire and Dylan swore under his breath as Katerina and West covered their heads with their arms and bent low as they ran.
Dylan held his metal communicator to his lips again. “Thisbe, fire in section E. A pipe has burst. The idiots shot at us.” Dylan listened for a moment and then spoke to the faceless computer again. “I know it’s bad. You have to try.”
Behind them, the roar of fiery gas escaping the pipe and metal melting down the walls covered any other noises there might be.
They reached a T in the corridor and Katerina chanced a look over her shoulder. The fire was behind them. For now. The loud bray of an alarm descended on them from all sides, making Katerina cover her ears in pain.
Thisbe’s voice came over a loudspeaker, cool and unemotional, but certainly not computer-like. “Fire in Sections E and F. Spreading quickly. All hands on firefighting duty. Enact containment plan 21. All hands. Prepare for escape plan 5150 on my mark.”
Dylan led them left. Katerina could see a door big enough to let in a tank at the very end of the hallway. Dylan wheeled directly to a small door inset in the big one and pressed a button. The door opened and Katerina felt a blast of sweet, cool air on her face.
Oh thank God.
They stepped out of the doorway and onto a long, concrete ramp that led upwards at a steep incline. The door slammed shut behind them, cutting off the strident alarm. From where they stood, Katerina could see nothing. No sky, no stars, no trees, no ground. Only concrete on every side.
“Dylan, are we underground?”
Dylan only grunted, but Katerina knew they had to be. A horrifying thought entered her brain.
“Dylan, are the monkeys kept underground too? Are they housed down there?”
West pulled impatiently at her hand. “The what? The monkeys? Forget about the damn monkeys. You can’t save them all,” he admonished Katerina.
Katerina pulled away from him, running to get in front of Dylan. “Dylan, the monkeys will be last priority, right? No one’s going to save them will they?”
Dylan looked at her directly and Katerina saw something new in his eyes. A light. A ray.
“You’re right Katerina. I’ll see what I can do.”
Katerina warmed slightly. Was it the first time he had called her by name?
Dylan held his communicator to his lips one more time. “Thisbe, they need a car.” He listened to something only he could hear then turned to them, speaking quickly and deliberately. “Go to the parking lot on the far east side of the compound.” He motioned which direction it was in. “Thisbe says for you to find the row of driverless cars along the very back section next to the fence. Get into the third vehicle from the end. Thisbe will take you out.”
Katerina glanced at West’s face and could immediately tell he doubted the plan. She didn’t. She trusted Dylan. She trusted the computer too.
She knelt in front of Dylan. “Thank you. You made up for all in my eyes. And maybe God’s too.”
Dylan’s misshapen face broke into a smile of relief so great, it almost made him look beautiful. Katerina was able to smile back for only a second before West pulled her away.
They made it up the ramp much quicker than Dylan’s wheelchair could, but Katerina could hear him barking orders at Thisbe behind them. He was asking her to open the doors to section R and inquiring if she were able to open any of the monkey’s cages.
Dylan’s voice faded behind her as she lost her breath again and her blood pounded in her ears. West curled an arm around her waist and urged her faster. The silent night air was broken by the sound of an alarm, and then sirens split the blackness. Reinforcements were coming.
They reached the very top of the ramp and Katerina looked around. There wasn’t much to see, only dirt and a few large buildings and fences and scrub brush. Now Katerina could hear men’s voices, yelling and calling instructions.
“Over here,” West said, pulling her behind a large concrete pylon. He drew something out of his shirt. “Put this on.”
Katerina shook it out and realized it was a military uniform, just like the one he was wearing. She put the pants and shirt on over her clothes, wishing she had time to stop and marvel at the fact that West had found her at all, and that they had escaped. She shoved her hair up under the cap and looked at him.
West peeked out from behind their inadequate hiding place. “I don’t see anyone. We’ll have to make a run for it and act like we belong. Let me do the talking if anyone stops us.”
No problem.
They ran in the direction Dylan had pointed them, staying on the very outskirts of the base. People passed them on foot and in vehicles. A green fire truck and water tanker sped down the street in the direction that they had come from, but no one gave them a second glance. They finally reached the parking lot that Dylan had assured them would be there. They slowed, looking for the row of driverless vehicles. Katerina wondered if they would know them when they saw them.
She needn’t have worried. In the very far corner sat fifteen vehicles,
perfectly equidistant from each other and each looking exactly like the last. They counted three from the end and ran up to it. West opened the driver’s door. Immediately, a light glowed on the dashboard. Thisbe’s voice filled the cabin. “In the back seat please. Lay down.”
West closed the front door and opened the back door, motioning for Katerina to get inside. Katerina did and West curled up beside her, trying not to put too much weight on her.
“I trust you are comfortable, Lightning and Thunder?” Thisbe said.
“What?” West muttered under his breath.
“That’s us,” Katerina whispered to him. “Yes Thisbe, thank you,” Katerina said louder.
The car reversed smoothly and drove through the parking lot. Katerina watched out the front window and saw the very top of a gate leading to the exit.
“Are there any gate guards?” West asked, his words tight and clipped.
Thisbe’s smooth voice answered immediately. “No. I called them all away to fight the fire. I looped the cameras also because I know Storm wants you to escape undetected and that is the only way it will happen.”
Katerina saw the gate slide open and the car accelerated through the opening. She felt West breathe a sigh of relief next to her. He dropped his head so that his hair tickled her ear and she could hear him breathing deeply. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
They drove in silence for several minutes and Katerina’s heart began to bloom with release and hope.
“How far can you go, Thisbe?” West asked and Katerina heard thick emotion in his voice.
“One hundred miles in all directions.”
“What is the closest town?”
“Rachel. It is exactly 32 miles away.”
“Can you take us there?”
Katerina gripped West’s arm. Thirty-two miles? The closest town? Was that really smart? West shook his head in warning and squeezed her hand. “Trust me,” he whispered.
“Yes I can take you there,” Thisbe replied. “And yes I will. You may sit up now.”
West sat up first and helped Katerina into a sitting position. He pulled her tightly into his arms and kissed her forehead. “Thank God you’re real,” he whispered. “Thank God I found you.”
Katerina closed her eyes and felt their heartbeats merge into one. A miracle. That’s what it was. A pure miracle that she had two men to thank for.
Her eyes shot open. “Thisbe, is Dyl - Storm okay?”
“He is okay for now. He is herding monkeys. It would be comical if not for the fire.”
“What about you?” West asked, sitting forward in his seat and staring at the light on the dashboard. “Are you OK? Is the fire still spreading?”
“The fire is still spreading. I am fine. My mainframe is well-protected.”
West relaxed slightly and Katerina nestled into his chest. They were nowhere near out of danger, she knew that, but it still felt good to be held by her husband. She watched out the window as the car accelerated faster. They seemed to be going much faster than anyone would normally drive. She peeked around the head rest at the speedometer. One hundred and forty-six miles an hour. Katerina gulped and felt for her seatbelt. West noticed her fear and put his on also. But the car sped along perfectly straight down the empty highway, not giving them any reason to fear other than the speed and the fact that no one was driving it.
They rode along in silence for many minutes, West’s hands roaming up and down Katerina’s arms and pulling gently at her hair, like he couldn’t believe she was real. Katerina recognized the feeling and shared it.
Abruptly, the vehicle began to slow. Katerina looked around. They couldn’t have gone thirty-two miles already, could they have?
Thisbe’s voice spoke from the console. This time, it sounded robotic to Katerina and the change scared her badly. “My mainframe will be breached in eight minutes, four seconds. I must bring the vehicle back if no one is to know you have gone. Please exit immediately.”
Thisbe maneuvered the car to the breakdown lane and West fumbled at the handle, finally opening the door and spilling them out onto the blacktop.
“Thank you,” Katerina called, but the car was already accelerating again. It turned around and sped back the way it had come from, even faster now that it was completely empty.
Chapter 17
West hugged Katerina to him, practically carrying her as he picked his way over the Nevada desert scrub.
Neither of them was sweating anymore, and he was afraid heat exhaustion would set in soon. If it did, they were dead. The sun had risen hours ago and it was beating down mercilessly on them. They had ditched the uniforms when Thisbe had dropped them off, but Katerina had the brilliant idea to keep the hats, and they both had theirs pulled low over their faces.
West’s phone battery was dead. It had died an instantaneous and much mourned death the instant he had turned the phone on.
They had been walking for hours and Katerina was asleep on her feet. The lonely road lay a half mile to their right. West hadn’t wanted to stay on it, afraid that any vehicles rushing down it would be military - men with guns ready to take them back to their certain doom. But not one vehicle had passed on it. West tried to make sense of it. Was it really that isolated out here? Why hadn’t they at least seen fire trucks rushing to the base?
West swayed on his feet and gritted his teeth, fighting for control. Katerina mumbled and he pushed himself upright, gripping her harder. They had to be close. Had to be.
He lifted his face, feeling the sun burning his cheeks and saw something that made his spirit soar over the dessert like an eagle. A building. A plain, white building that looked like the grandest hotel, with smaller buildings behind it. It was still over a mile away but he knew they could make it. Nothing would stop them.
“Katerina, we’re almost there,” he told her, hearing his own jubilance.
“What?” she muttered, trying to help him, trying to place her feet solidly on the ground.
“A building. Look.”
Katerina lifted her eyes and he felt the exact moment that she realized they wouldn’t die out here in the dessert. New strength flowed through her limbs and she stood fully upright, her pace quickening.
“We made it,” she sighed.
The building seemed to take an eternity to reach, but they finally drew close. A sign announced that they had arrived at Little A’Le’Inn, Earthlings Welcome. Katerina gaped at it but didn’t remark on it. West thought she was probably saving her energy.
Four cars graced the parking lot but no people were in sight. West looked around for a phone, desperation lining his thoughts. How could he make this work? Give them the most amount of time with the least amount of danger? If they holed up here, and the guys from Operation Arma showed up with vehicles and guns, he and Katerina would be caught for sure. No warning, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. But what choice did they have? None.
He pulled Katerina around to the Inn’s front door and pushed his way inside, hoping he didn’t look too scruffy. A wooden bench sat just inside the door. Perfect. He maneuvered Katerina over to it and sat her down, whispering he’d be right back. He pulled his cap low to hide his features and loped up to the counter, where a tiny sign proclaimed he should ding the bell. He did, just once, as quietly as possible.
A slight man with heavy glasses appeared almost immediately. “Yes Sir, what can I help you with?”
West pasted a smile on his face and held out his hand, praying the man would take it. The man’s hand reached out automatically. As soon as West felt the slide of the man’s skin on his fingers he gripped. “Relax. Don’t say a word. Look at the floor. I need a room for one night but I won’t be paying and I can’t show up on any register. Mark the room as unavailable but empty. Forget my face. Forget I was ever here. Do whatever you have to do quickly.”
West made a vow to himself that if he got out of this he would send the Little A’Le’Inn twice what the room was worth. No, four times! But right now he just needed the ro
om and for this guy to not remember he existed.
The man’s gaze slid into the slightly unfocused stare West was beginning to know so well. He bent under the counter and retrieved a key, handing it to West. “Trailer 5. Round the back and to the left.”
West let go of his hand and grabbed the key, then turned to gather Katerina and leave before anyone else saw them.
Katerina looked surprised and about to say something. West held a finger to his lips and pulled her out of her chair, then through the front door.
“That was quick. I didn’t even see you give him any money,” Katerina said as they hurried through the dirt to the back of the building.
West spotted the trailer and made a beeline for it, pulling Katerina with him, hoping she wouldn’t insist on asking more questions. She still didn’t know about what he could do and he wanted to keep it that way. At least for now. Any time he stopped to think about it too long the implications threatened to knock him to his knees. What were the limits of his power? Did Katerina give special abilities to anyone besides him? He wasn’t the only person she’d healed. Those kinds of thoughts ran races inside his head until he was half mad. He didn’t want to give her those thoughts too if he didn’t have to.
West climbed the three rickety steps to the trailer and shoved his key in the lock, secreting them inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door shut behind them. That had been easier than it had any right to be. Katerina dropped to a bed and shut her eyes. West headed for the phone, his muscles still tensed for fight or flight.
He dialed Blaise’s number but it went right to voicemail. He cursed under his breath and hung up.
“What?” Katerina asked without opening her eyes, the tone in her voice implying she was near her breaking point.
“Blaise isn’t answering. He’s probably on an airplane on his way out here. That could take hours.”
“Brody,” Katerina said.
West tried his brother’s number, but that phone also went to voicemail. “Nope,” he said heavily.
“So we wait,” Katerina muttered.
West stood and paced the room. “I can’t help but feel like that’s a bad idea. We need somebody to know where we are and what’s happened to us. Somebody who cares. Somebody who has the power to do something about it.”
