Zoe peered over Lucy’s shoulder into the file. There was a collection of articles about Dr. Olivia Rivener, decorated geneticist. A photo of her smiling was at the top right corner of one of the articles. Her face looked kind and warm, her eyes inviting.
Zoe looked up at Summer. “Why did she come to you?”
“I worked for Port Authority at the beginning of the year. Due to some flaw in their security system, some of us that were hired earlier in the year still have access. She wanted to know if I could get her and a young friend out of the country on a boat.”
“And?” Zoe asked.
Summer paused and stared at the girls for a long moment. Then she reached down under the table and yanked at a small package that was taped there. “She was the only family I had left. I would have done anything she asked.” A small smile played at the corner of her mouth. “Besides, any chance to rage against the machine right under their noses? Sign me up.”
Lucy pulled her eyes up from the folder and bored them directly into Summer. “You said I was going to be part of bringing down the powers that be. What did you mean?” The way she asked, Zoe thought she might already know the answer and was hoping Summer would prove her wrong.
“Ollie I knew, but you? I don’t help strangers.” Summer took a step forward, the small package in hand. “She told me you were the key to bringing down Grantham and the whole system. She told me if I really wanted to expose them, making sure you stayed alive was the only way.”
Summer took a couple more steps, and Zoe inched backward. But Lucy stayed firm, showing no sign of the childlike fear Zoe expected.
“Ollie was many things, but a liar? No way,” Summer said. “She never told me how you were going to do it, only that your safety was essential. So much so that Ollie sacrificed her life for this. For you.”
Summer was only a couple of inches from Lucy now, and the girl remained like stone.
“So, you tell me. What’s so special about you, Lucy?”
They held one another’s stare. Zoe stood a foot away, waiting to react if needed, each breath slow and cautious.
Lucy snapped her gaze to the ceiling, her eyes focused and robotic. “Someone’s here.”
“Impossible,” Summer said. “They would have tripped the alarm—”
A siren pierced the warehouse, and Zoe clamped her hands over her ears.
Summer cursed and rushed to the side wall to silence the alarm. Within a moment the shrilling sound died, and Summer powered up a large arrangement of screens on the wall. Zoe hadn’t even noticed them. Six screens revealed security footage of the junkyard.
Armed soldiers in black ran in formation, hunched over. Again Summer swore. “I thought you said you weren’t followed!”
“How do we get out of here?” Zoe asked.
Lucy scanned the screens, calculating. “There’s at least fifteen on-site, others waiting in the surrounding streets. They have orders to obtain, not to kill.”
Summer and Zoe both looked at Lucy.
“How do you know that?” Summer asked.
“She can hear them,” Zoe answered in disbelief even as the words left her mouth.
Summer’s eyes widened, her mouth slightly ajar as the reality that Zoe knew but didn’t want to believe started to sink into her bones.
Lucy turned to Zoe. “I can get us out.”
Summer was moving then, toward the back of the room. Lucy also moved, toward the middle table. She grabbed a long black rifle, and Zoe nearly told her to be careful. But before the words could finish forming, Lucy was assembling the weapon, loading it with a large magazine, and cocking it for use. She grabbed a small pistol and did the same, then stuffed her pockets with extra ammunition and tucked the pistol in the back of her jeans, all within seconds. Zoe stood mesmerized, too stunned to process the stream of questions bombarding her brain.
“Hurry,” Summer called.
Zoe turned and saw that Summer had moved a tall stack of shelving, exposing a hidden door. Lucy moved first, armed and ready, Zoe rushing after.
“Out this way, across the south side, toward the east corner. There’s a place in the fence that’s vulnerable,” Summer said. She handed Zoe a pair of wire cutters and the package she was still holding. “Don’t stop until you reach the coast.”
“You aren’t coming with us?” Zoe asked.
“Captain always goes down with the ship. I’ll distract them here as long as I can.”
This was insane.
Summer turned to Lucy. “Burn it down.”
Lucy nodded, and then they were moving. In a blur they were through the back door and out into the cover of night, the cold air nipping at their exposed skin. Zoe heard Summer shut and barricade the door as Lucy followed her instructions and started south.
Gunfire popped inside. They’d penetrated the building. Lucy didn’t hesitate, raising the rifle, using its scope as she moved on steady, easy, unfaltering feet. Zoe struggled to follow as she stumbled through her fear. Around and through heaps of scrap, she squinted to see in the pitch-black, Lucy always moving before Zoe could even register whether the pathway was clear. Around another corner.
Pop, pop.
Two shots from Lucy’s weapon sent an agent face-first to the ground. Zoe let out a cry and jumped back. She hadn’t even seen the agent coming. Lucy continued, the slain man on the ground behind her. Zoe blocked it all out then and just committed to following.
Another agent approached, and again Lucy put him down without hesitation or remorse. Silent and precise, bullets left her gun and killed the enemy. He fell like a hunk of meat. Two more came from the right. The girls were drawing attention.
Lucy fired half a dozen shots. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Followed by clunk, clunk as bodies fell. She tossed the current magazine and reloaded another, never stopping.
“They’re all headed this way,” Lucy said. “Stay close.”
They reached the back fence and moved quickly toward the east corner. Zoe ignored the strong pull to hide under a pile of trash until the terror was over and focused on keeping up with Lucy, who moved like water. Fast and certain.
The corner came into view, lit by a streetlamp across the road. Zoe exhaled and grabbed the wire cutters from her back pocket. Her hands were trembling, but she managed to snap the fence while Lucy stood guard behind her. Then they were through.
“This way,” Lucy said, heading right.
“Where are they?” Zoe asked. She knew Lucy could hear them.
“They went radio silent.”
They knew she could hear them.
“Two ahead, another to the right,” Lucy said as she made a sharp turn left.
Could she sense them? Zoe wondered. Could she hear their heart rates?
Another sharp turn, then across a narrow and dark street. They moved quickly and tried to stay covered, Lucy’s weapon at the ready. She started across a wild grassy plot of land and pulled up to alter her steps. Her shoulders tensed.
“Lucy,” a man called out.
Zoe looked around but saw nothing.
“I know you can hear me, Lucy,” the voice came again from wherever it was hidden. “I’m laying down my weapon and coming out unarmed. Don’t shoot.”
Zoe looked to Lucy, who was listening for what he’d promised. They shouldn’t stand here, she thought. More would come. He could be leading them into a trap.