by Strauss, Lee
Just in time. Someone started pounding on it. I almost swallowed my heart.
Noah put a finger to his lips, warning us all to be quiet. Mary turned out the lights. Jabez opened the door to the hallway and we followed him out in near darkness, like rats after the pied piper.
And I wondered which one had tipped the authorities off.
Chapter 36
Noah kept my hand in his, and I was grateful for his lead. My wounded arm throbbed, shooting pain up my shoulder and into my chest. I bit my chapped lips to keep from crying out.
I imagined that whoever was at the front door would be surrounding the building as well. I felt the weight of my gun tucked into my waist along with the rifle in my shoulder bag, thankful that my shooting arm still worked.
Jabez led us past the gym and the kitchen toward the factory door that was still opened from when Noah and I had left it. I thought I heard someone gasp at the blood on the floor. My blood.
My heart lurch when Jabez took us back inside. Mara’s body lay where we’d left it, with bluish skin and a fine layer of ice forming on the surface.
Hannah looked like she might faint. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Jabez propped her up and helped her until we reached the back of the factory.
“We need to move this,” Jabez said, and Noah and Taylor jumped to shift a large piece of machinery that concealed a door. The screeching noise on the cement floor made me cringe. I wondered what could possibly be behind that door that could help us escape. A tunnel system, maybe? The sewer? Were we going to flee on foot underground?
It was worse than that.
My jaw went slack when I saw it. This was Operation Red Bird?
“A plane?” Noah said incredulously.
We all stared in awe and terror. No one besides the president flew private planes anymore. Not even the richest GAPs.
It was white with a wide red stripe down the side and only two propellers.
“It was my dad’s,” Jabez explained. “There’s enough gasoline in the tank for a one way trip anywhere in North America. It’ll get us to Arizona, no problem.”
No problem?
“Who’s going to fly it?” I sputtered.
Jabez grinned. “Me.”
“You know how to fly?”
“My dad showed me how, before they were outlawed. And I rock on the simulator programs.”
“I know how to fly, too,” Mary said. “But first we need to push it outside.”
More garage-type doors were opened and the guys pushed the plane out into the back alley. It was covered in snow, but packed down from industrial vehicles cutting through.
I had my gun out, watching for Grandpa V’s troops. It seemed the task force he’d appointed to find me was quite small. Not one person had made it to this side of the factory yet. My capture obviously wasn’t high on his list of priorities.
Once the plane was out, Mary and Jabez hopped into the seats in the front. Noah and I scrambled to get inside behind them.
“Come on,” Taylor said to Rebecca and Hannah, who were hanging back.
“I don’t know,” Rebecca said. “This is evil.”
He reached out and grabbed Hannah’s hand. “If you stay, you stay alone. We’re going.” He just looked at Rebecca, and I wondered if he’d let her stay behind.
Hannah pleaded, ‘Please, Rebecca.”
“I’m the one going to hell for this, not you,” Taylor said, reaching out his hand.
The props started spinning, and the alley filled with the sound of the plane engine coming to life. Rebecca decided to risk hell over her life at present and got in beside Hannah. Taylor closed the door.
Jabez shouted, “And we’re off!”
I fiddled for a seatbelt, and Noah helped me to fasten it before doing up his own.
Our mettle was tested with the rocky takeoff. Screams filled the plane as we lifted off, the wings tilting side to side dangerously. I pressed my hand against my mouth to keep from yelling in fear.
Gunshots rang out. Two men had rounded the corner and fired at us. I white-knuckled the armrest, half expecting the plane to blow up.
The shots subsided, and we remained airborne. My breathing slowed to puffs of relief.
“We did it,” I said, amazed. Seven fugitives catapulting through the sky in a tin can with wings.
I gazed out the window, stunned by the fact that we were flying above the clouds. Stars sparkled in the dark sky and the moon shone full and bright, like it was there just to light our way.
I peered into the cockpit, astounded by the number of lights and dials, switches and levels.
“How do you know we’re going in the right direction?” I asked, shouting over the noise of the engines.
Jabez waved his good arm and spoke loudly. “It’s got automated pilot features. Not sure how well it works, but it’s taking us southwest to Arizona.”
Arizona. We were really going there. I looked at Noah hopefully.
“I guess we’re destined to be cave dwellers,” he said.
“Just like our ancestors.”
He snickered even though I knew he didn’t believe in evolution.
I pressed into him, my breathing finally normalizing. We were okay, safe from Grandpa V and his posse, at least for now. Hannah and Rebecca squeezed in tightly beside Taylor. Hannah still wrung her hands nervously in her lap, but at least Rebecca had stopped whimpering.
How would we get on together in Arizona? This daring escape had bound us together, even though I wasn’t exactly sure why everyone had volunteered to flee with Noah and me. Mary and Jabez had reasons I didn’t understand. And it had to be more than loyalty to Celia for Taylor to follow me to this extreme, didn’t it?
I let my eyes close, exhausted from the trauma of the evening. I had time to figure everything out later.
At least I thought I did.
The plane suddenly tipped downward. My eyes popped open and my throat constricted as my hot breath came out in a scream.
We weren’t going to make it to the desert. We were going to crash and burn in the snowy hills of Oklahoma.
The End of Book 2
I hope you enjoyed Volition—I’d love it if you’d leave a review on Amazon . They are so helpful to Indie Authors like me.
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Stay tuned for CONTRITION, coming Fall 2013! Read on for the first chapter.
As Lee Strauss I write historical and science fiction/romance for upper YA and adult readers. I also write light and fun stuff under the name Elle Strauss. You can follow me on facebook, twitter, pinterest and wattpad by visiting me at www.ellestraussbooks.com .
Other books by Lee Strauss
Ambition (short story prequel to the Perception Series)
Perception (book 1 of the Perception Series)
Jars of Clay
Broken Vessels (Jars of Clay Volume Two)
Playing with Matches
A Piece of Blue String (companion short story to Playing with Matches)
Acknowledgments
Even though writing is a solo effort, no writer does it alone. Many thanks to all those who have helped me along the way and especially with this series. Dale Pease for his fantastic cover art, Denise Jaden for her awesome beta reading/content editing skills, Rhonda Helms for editing, all the great bloggers and reviewers, you rock! My lovely Indelible ladies, you make this so much more fun! My husband who is my rock, and my kids, family, and all those who pray for me. Thank you!!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
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br /> Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
