Hit Squad

by Sophie McKenzie

  ‘She’s my friend too,’ Ed insisted. ‘Foster managed to make me think she was dead before.’

  A lump rose in my throat at the desperate look on his face. ‘Have you tried to contact her remotely?’ I asked him.

  ‘Yes, but I’m not getting anywhere,’ he said.

  ‘That’s because she’s being given Medutox,’ Dylan said. ‘Like we were.’

  ‘Okay, you can both come.’ My voice sounded gruff, like it didn’t matter much either way. But I knew I wasn’t fooling either of them.

  ‘What about me?’ Amy said.

  ‘No.’ Dylan and Ed spoke together. ‘I can move faster if I’m only protecting two people,’ Dylan added.

  ‘You should go and find Cal and Avery,’ I said. ‘Let them know what’s happening.’

  Amy nodded.

  Dylan checked the time again. ‘Not long now till the Medutox wears off.’

  I looked over at the complex. Men were pouring out of the building now. Smoke billowed upwards out of shoots of fire. The walls were barely visible under the licking flames. You could feel the heat from here. Shouts and yells filled the air.

  Seconds passed. I fidgeted impatiently.

  ‘Okay,’ Dylan said. ‘My power is back.’

  ‘Come on!’ I set off across the grass again, out of the cover of the trees. If any of the men spilling out of the building had looked over they would have seen us, but all eyes were on the front of the complex, where the fire raged hardest.

  I led us round to the back of the building. Here the flames were smaller and the smoke not quite so dense. I stopped running. Dylan and Ed raced up.

  ‘Get behind me,’ Dylan ordered.

  Ed and I stood on either side of her so that we formed a triangle. I realised my hands were trembling. I reached up and focused on the door straight ahead of us. I gave my wrist a sharp twist. The door swung open. Smoke poured out. I felt Dylan’s force field surge around me. It would protect us from the fire, I knew, but we still needed oxygen.

  ‘I can get us to Ketty’s cell in about a minute,’ Dylan said. ‘But remember the smoke will get through like Medutox does, so you’ll have to hold your breath until we’re past it. Okay?’

  Ed and I nodded. I took a deep breath.

  Dylan set off. Ed and I stayed close behind her. Into the building. Smoke swirled around us. The heat was intense. Dylan walked us through the flames. Every now and then her force field weakened, especially under my feet, and I felt the scorching fire creep closer. It was terrifying to be so close to the flames, to see and hear their raging crackle and hiss.

  The pressure in my lungs was building as Dylan led us along the corridor. The smoke darkened as we walked. For a moment it was impossible to see the walls on either side, then the smoke cleared – enough to reveal a door on the left. Dylan carefully took hold of the handle and opened it. A short flight of stairs appeared before us. We raced down. The fire and smoke were lighter here. Through another door. The air suddenly cooled around us.

  There were no flames. No acrid fumes here. I looked up. No sign of damage to the ceiling – on the other side of which the lab explosion had occurred.

  I felt Dylan release the force field. I breathed in deeply. My heart beat faster. If Ketty was down here, the chances were good that she’d survived the initial blast.

  ‘How did you find her?’ I asked as we raced along.

  ‘Harry did it,’ Dylan said. ‘He hacked into the security system and found out how to release our rooms and the door to the one you were in.’

  So that was how it had opened – nothing to do with my telekinetic skills after all.

  ‘Anyway,’ Dylan went on breathlessly. ‘We found Ketty but Harry couldn’t see how to release her door. The power cut didn’t help either.’

  ‘Harry caused that power cut?’ Ed asked admiringly.

  ‘Yeah, we hoped it might open Ketty’s cell door as well as the labs, but it didn’t,’ Dylan said.

  We reached a crossroads. ‘Along here,’ Dylan said, speeding down the right-hand corridor.

  I ran up beside her. ‘Did Ketty see you before?’ I asked. ‘Does she know we’re here?’

  ‘No,’ Dylan said. ‘There was no way of contacting her. I saw her through a glass panel, but she couldn’t see me.’

  I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant, but a second later it was obvious. Dylan stopped outside a large metal door. A small window was set into the door at eye level. I peered through. There was Ketty. She was pacing up and down the room, her forehead furrowed with a frown. My stomach seemed to fall away inside me as I saw her. She was here. Just on the other side of this door.

  I banged on the metal. ‘Ketty!’ I yelled. ‘Ketts!’

  ‘It’s no good,’ Dylan said. ‘I tried all that. The room’s obviously soundproofed. And that glass panel in the door is one way, so she can’t see us.’

  I peered inside again. Ketty was now sitting on the edge of the tiny camp bed that lined one wall. The room couldn’t be more than two metres square. A metal box. I kept staring in at her, willing her to look up. Which was crazy, of course, as she wouldn’t have been able to see me, even if she had.

  ‘Nico, where’s the card Jack gave us?’ Ed said impatiently.

  ‘Hurry!’ Dylan added. ‘The fire will spread here. And Foster’s men are still outside.’

  I pulled out the card. My fingers fumbled and it fell to the floor. Ed picked it up and gave it to me. My hand trembled as I held it over the swipe strip by the door. My nerves were jumping all over the place. I couldn’t focus . . . couldn’t even breathe . . .

  ‘Nico, get a grip!’ Dylan snapped beside me.

  I took a deep breath and swiped the card. The door gave a pop as it opened. Ketty’s head shot up, those golden-brown eyes fixed on the door.

  Suddenly I couldn’t move. My legs felt like lead. Impatient beside me, Dylan pushed at the door. I took a step forward. Almost stumbled. Looked up.

  She was here, flying into my arms.

  I held her tight, my cheek against the top of her head, my heart pumping so hard it felt like it would burst. Neither of us spoke but I knew that, however long I lived and however great my life became, no moment would ever feel better than this one.

  It felt like no time passed, then I became aware of Dylan shouting in my ear.

  ‘Nico, will you come on!’

  Ketty and I pulled away from each other. I was aware of Dylan and Ed beside us. Ketty was looking around, smiling at them, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.

  ‘I knew you would come,’ she said, looking back at me, her fingers fluttering over the dark bruise on my cheek. ‘I saw in a vision back in the castle, after they saved me from the water. I was semi-conscious for ages then they brought me here. My leg was just bruised, so I’m fine and . . .’

  ‘Guys, we really need to go,’ Ed said.

  I shook myself. He was right. We still faced a huge challenge to escape the building. It was going to take all Dylan’s powers to protect the three of us – and the fire upstairs would be raging harder than ever.

  I grabbed Ketty’s hand. ‘Come on.’

  We rushed back to the stairs we’d come down earlier. As we got closer, the ceiling above us gave a warning creak. I looked up. Cracks were splintering across the white plaster which was flaking down. Swirls of smoke were drifting through too.

  The whole thing was about to collapse.

  ‘We can get through!’ Dylan shouted.

  ‘No!’ Ed grabbed her arm.

  ‘Get back!’ I shouted.

  The ceiling gave a huge crack. I dragged Ketty backwards. Ed and Dylan stumbled after us. Another crack. More plaster.

  And then the whole ceiling caved in.

  31: The Way Out

  My lungs filled with plaster dust. I bent over, coughing.

  ‘No!’ Ketty wailed.

  I straightened up. The whole ceiling – from just beyond where we were standing to the stairs – had collapsed. Piles of rubble
blocked our exit.

  ‘Now what?’ Ed clutched at his forehead. Like the rest of us he was covered in dust – and choking.

  It wasn’t just the dust. Smoke from the room above was now whirling overhead. The fire had found its way down to us at last.

  ‘Along here!’ I turned and pounded along the corridor. Surely there had to be another way out?

  I ran, pulling Ketty behind me. The smoke and dust eased slightly. Ketty’s slim wrist was real in my hand. She was alive. I still couldn’t believe it. I wanted nothing more than to stop and hold her again. But we had to find a way out of the building before the rest of the ceiling collapsed and the fire engulfed us.

  Around a corner. Along another corridor. Stairs leading up to the ground floor appeared at the end. I speeded up.

  ‘No, Nico!’ Ed yelled after me. ‘They lead up to the centre of the building. We’d never get through the fire there.’

  I skidded to a halt. Ketty stopped, breathless, beside me. I turned to Dylan.

  ‘Can’t you protect us all?’ I said.

  She shook her head. ‘I could maybe look after myself. But extending the energy round three of you . . . where the fire’s at its worst . . . there’s no way . . .’

  My stomach screwed into a knot. I slid my hand fully into Ketty’s and gripped it tightly. The others all looked at me expectantly.

  ‘We’ll find a way,’ I said. I looked back along the corridor we’d just run down. There were two rooms on either side.

  ‘Let’s check these out,’ I said. ‘See if there’s a window we could open.’ It was a long shot. Ketty’s cell hadn’t had windows and nothing I’d seen in the rest of the basement so far suggested there were any elsewhere down here. But it was all I could think of.

  Smoke was already curling around the corner we’d just run round.

  ‘Move!’ I said.

  Dylan and Ed raced into the rooms on the right. Ketty and I ran through the first door on the left. Some kind of storage area full of cardboard boxes. No windows.

  I looked around, suddenly feeling helpless. We were trapped down here.

  Ketty reached up and touched my face again. Her fingers were cool on my cheek.

  ‘I’m sorry I was so angry with you about . . . about Amy pretending to be me . . . it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t even really hers, she’s just a kid.’

  I gazed into her golden-brown eyes. ‘Maybe it was a bit my fault,’ I said. ‘I mean, I did act like an idiot, going off on my own and . . . and . . .’ I took a deep breath, ‘. . . showing off and stuff . . .’

  Ketty smiled.

  ‘When I thought you were . . . gone . . .’ I said, struggling for the words, ‘. . . I realised that nothing else mattered except you not . . . being gone . . .’

  ‘Me too,’ she said.

  We stared at each other for another second, then Ketty shook herself.

  ‘Where are the others? D’you think they found something?’ she said.

  Taking her hand again, we re-entered the corridor. It was rapidly filling with smoke now. We didn’t have much time. We crossed over to the door I’d seen Dylan fly through just seconds before.

  Unlike the other rooms, this one was in darkness. I stood in the doorway, trying to adjust to the shadowy interior. Beside me, Ketty gasped. She pointed across the floor to where Dylan lay sprawled. She was moaning, clutching her head. A figure was bending over her. As we watched, open-mouthed, he stood up.

  It was Foster.

  ‘How dare you do this to me?’ He glared at us. ‘How dare you destroy my work?’

  I was so shocked that, for a second, I thought it was Amy again, impersonating Foster. But the look of furious contempt in his eye was utterly genuine. I glanced at Ketty. She looked terrified. Anger rose up in me.

  ‘How dare you kidnap Ketty and con those children into forming your own personal team of assassins?’ I snapped. ‘The Medusix you’ve created doesn’t even work properly yet. You’re using those kids like lab rats. Your own nephew collapsed after—’

  ‘Nico.’ Ketty gripped my hand more tightly, warning me not to provoke Foster further.

  Foster let out an impatient snarl. ‘That’s what this lab was for . . . developing the drug so it would work. And now you’ve destroyed it. Everything’s gone.’

  ‘Everything?’ I could hear the hope in Ketty’s voice.

  My own spirits soared. If the lab was gone, then our mission had succeeded.

  ‘Everything,’ Foster repeated. ‘All the samples . . . the formulae . . . the research notes . . . it’s all destroyed.’ He paused. ‘I’m destroyed.’

  I stared at him. Dylan was still prostrate at his feet, eyes closed, emitting low moans. But Foster was making no effort to stop us from running away. He might have hit Dylan, but he hadn’t pulled a gun on us. And then I realised that he had no need to do any of these things. He knew the fire would get us. The fire would get all of us.

  ‘Is that why you came down here?’ I said. ‘To go down with your ship?’

  ‘I saw you coming towards the complex. I couldn’t see how many of you, but I knew you were coming for Ketty,’ Foster said. ‘And I wanted to be here too. To make sure.’

  ‘Sure of what?’

  ‘That if I’m not going to survive this, then you aren’t either.’

  Nico? Ed’s voice sounded in my head. I’m next door. Does Foster have a gun?

  Probably, though he hasn’t drawn it. But he’s more or less knocked Dylan out. She’s on the ground.

  I’ve found a way out. I just need a minute.

  I glanced up and down the corridor. I couldn’t see either end of it, the smoke was now so thick. Its acrid scent was creeping towards us. Ketty coughed.

  Hurry up! I thought-spoke.

  ‘Contemplating your own mortality, Nico?’ Foster asked nastily. ‘Or working on your exit strategy?’

  Keep him talking, Ed thought-spoke. Don’t let him know I’m down here too.

  My mind whirled. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Panic filled me. There was so little time and, somehow, Ketty and I had to get a barely conscious Dylan away from Foster and stop him from following us into the next room.

  Ask him about StopMed, Ed suggested.

  ‘What’s StopMed?’ I said immediately.

  Foster blinked, clearly shocked that I knew the name.

  ‘How do you know about that?’ he said.

  I coughed. A wave of dark, acrid smoke swirled around us. I reckoned we had less than a minute before we started passing out.

  ‘Is it another drug?’ Ketty asked.

  ‘It’s designed to arrest the Medusa gene. Permanently,’ Foster snapped. ‘It was a by-product of the Medusix tests . . . Obviously it hasn’t been tested on live subjects.’

  Okay, Ed’s voice appeared in my head again. It’s time.

  There was no time to think. No time to hesitate. The smoke was in my eyes and up my nose and down my throat.

  I raised my hands. Using all the focus I could muster, I twisted one wrist, raising Foster off his feet and flinging him against the wall. With the other, I lifted Dylan off the ground.

  Still groaning with pain, she zoomed towards me. I guided her through the door. Ketty was already out, in the corridor. As she raced next door, I slammed the door shut. I raised Dylan again. Ran after Ketty. The room next door was bigger, full of stacked tables and chairs. No windows that I could see . . . so where was this way out?

  ‘Over here, Nico.’

  I looked to the corner of the room. Ketty and Ed were bent down over an air vent. Ed had pulled the covering off, revealing a metre-square hole in the wall.

  ‘It goes a couple of metres up,’ he said. ‘There’s a ground-floor vent to the outside at the top. Can you get it open?’

  I laid Dylan down, rushed over and peered up. The air vent leading to the ground floor above our heads was clearly visible. A twist of my hand and the latch gave. Now we could get out.

  ‘Done,’ I said.

&nbs
p; ‘Okay,’ Ed said. ‘Teleport me up there and outside. I’ll help everyone else.’

  Seconds later Ed was through the air vent. I looked round for Ketty.

  ‘Dylan first,’ she said.

  Obediently, I teleported Dylan up off the floor and up through the vent. I waited till Ed had hold of her, then turned to Ketty.

  ‘Your turn,’ I said.

  She leaned forward and kissed me. ‘I’ll be waiting up there,’ she said.

  I smiled and teleported her up.

  Then I crawled into the vent myself. I stood up. My fingertips just reached the bottom of the opening to the ground floor. Ed’s head and shoulders appeared above me. His face was barely visible, ghostly pale in the gloom. He reached out his hand. I grabbed his arm and braced myself. My ability to teleport only worked on others, not myself. I was going to have to use the wall as leverage to raise myself up a bit. Ed wouldn’t be able to carry my weight alone, even if I moved him using telekinesis while he held on to me.

  As I positioned my back and feet against opposite sides of the shaft, a bang echoed from next door. Was that Foster coming after us?

  ‘Hurry up,’ I gasped.

  Ed strained, pulling on my arm. I inched up the shaft a few centimetres.

  And then a hand clutched at my ankle.

  ‘Get back here,’ Foster roared.

  I lost my grip on Ed – and my footing. I tumbled to the floor in a heap. Foster pulled me out. I tried to resist but I was weak from the smoke. It was thick in the room now, choking me.

  Still holding me with one hand, Foster drew his gun.

  ‘Only one bullet left,’ he panted. ‘I was saving it for myself, but now . . .’ He pointed the gun at my head.

  I stared in disbelief at the tiny metal barrel.

  Was I going to die?

  The smoke was filling my lungs. I didn’t have much time either way. And then I looked into Foster’s mean grey eyes and I thought of all the terrible things he had done and all the terrible things that had happened since I realised I had the Medusa gene and I knew that it couldn’t end like this.

  I couldn’t let it.

  Using all the power I had left. I turned the gun telekinetically, just as Foster pulled the trigger. The gun fired into the wall.