Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (45 page)

“How did you—?” Weaver narrowed his eyes at Megan.

“Like I said,” I took another step toward him, so his gun was pressing into the skin on my forehead. “We’re different.”

Weaver’s brows narrowed as he stared down the barrel of his gun at me. Zander, unable to witness the standoff any longer, stepped around me with a grunt. He clamped his blackened hand over the end of the redheaded man’s weapon and crushed it in his fist like an empty can of soda.

“Jesus.” Weaver yanked his hand back and stared down at the mangled remains of his service weapon as it clattered to the floor. “I think different is maybe a bit of an understatement.”

“Believe me, I know,” Tessa said. “Where are the others, Weaver? Where are you keeping the refugees?”

“The grays were confined to quarters after the breach,” Weaver said, nodding in the direction we had just come. “Smaller building on the other side of the gap.”

“And what about our man at the front gate?” Tessa asked.

“You don’t want to know, Cavossi,” Weaver said as he kicked his battered pistol across the floor.

He turned his back on us and walked off down the corridor. Tessa ran after him, and the rest of us followed suit, but Megan stopped short in the middle of the hallway.

“They’re going to kill him,” Megan’s eyes widened. “Gran, they are going to kill Mason!”

“He was taken to the extraction center to have his transmitters removed,” Weaver said, turning to face us. “She doesn’t need him anymore. Apparently, she found another specimen, a newer model. Poor kid.”

“No,” my heart leaped into my throat.

Somehow, I just knew.

“And that little firebomb stunt you pulled, just shortened her timeline,” Weaver jabbed a finger at us. “She’s taking that boy north as soon as her transport arrives. We’ve been ordered to do a full sweep of the camp. By 0400, they’ll all be—gone.”

“You can’t let this happen.” Tessa grabbed Weaver’s collar and pulled at him. “You have to do something.”

“It’s out of my hands now, Cavossi,” Weaver’s jaw flexed and rolled. “Apparently, it always was.”

“Damn it, Weaver, those people have done nothing wrong,” Tessa shoved him against the wall. “They are innocents. You can stop this. You can save them all. You just have to decide to do what’s right and
do
it.”

Weaver’s eyes tightened. “Maybe I’ve been following orders for so long that I don’t know what right is anymore?”

“But, you do,” Riley stepped forward, gently pulling Tessa away. She laid her hand on the man’s shoulder. “You always have, and now is your chance to do something about it.”

“You don’t know me,” Weaver scowled.

“Maybe not, but I
see
you,” Riley smiled, laying her hand over his heart.

Their eyes locked for a moment, hers wide and pleading, his fierce, and full of rage. He looked down at her hand, his nostrils flaring, and then back into her eyes. The knots in his jaw softened, and his mouth dropped open. His breath quickened. His shoulders rose and fell. Tears sprang to his eyes but didn’t fall.

“You know what’s right, and this isn’t it.” Riley nodded, and the man closed his eyes.

“Weaver, please?” Tessa said.

After a moment of silence, the redheaded man pushed himself away from the wall. He took a deep breath, shoved his hand into his pocket, and pulled out his massive set of keys.

“Extraction center is on the far west end of the grounds,” he said, holding up the ring by a large brass key. “Small brick building near the tall green slide. Use the service entrance.”

“Paradise Pipeline,” Megan said, turning to leave. “I know exactly where that is, Gran.”

“Megs, no,” Tessa wheeled on her and grabbed Megan’s arm.

“I worked here. I know this place better than any of you,” Megan urged. “I can get there without being seen.”

“Megan,” Tessa grabbed her wrist.

“I’d hurry if I were you,” Weaver said, dangling the keys. “The extraction crew is extremely—efficient.”

“Gran, please,” Megan’s eyes flashed. “I got this.”

Lightning cracked outside, and thunder shook the ground.

“I’ll go with her, Tessa,” Ty volunteered.

“Me, too,” Jake and Falisha said, almost in unison.

“Damn it,” Tessa said, swiping the keys from Weaver and passing them to Megan. “Be. Careful. I just got you back, Megs. I’m not ready to lose you again.”

“Ditto,” Megan smirked, clutching her fingers around the keys.

“We need to hurry,” Jake snapped, stepping forward, his eyes wild. He pointed above us. “Do not go outside. I mean it. This thing is minutes away. Do you hear me?
Minutes
. It’s going to be bad. I can feel it. Please, stay—”

“They’ve got it, Jake,” Ty grabbed Jake’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “And I’ve got
you
. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”

Jake’s eyes shot wide, and his mouth clamped shut. Ty’s eyes locked on his; firm and determined. Jake’s brow furrowed in confusion. He stared down at their joined hands, unsure. Ty flushed but didn’t release his hold and Jake didn’t pull away.

“You?” Jake stammered, searching Ty’s face.

“Yep,” Ty smirked. “Crushin’ hard, too.”

“Well, that explains a few things,” Falisha laughed. “Like, so many things.”

“Whoa,” Jake said. A slow smile spread across his face. “How did I--?”

“Because guys are clueless, remember,” Ty snickered.

“Tic-toc lover-boy,” Megan tapped her wrist and nudged Ty’s arm.

“Right, sorry.” Ty smiled broadly. Jake’s hand was still clutched in his. “Okay, just holler if y’all need us.”

He tapped the orange plug still wedged in his ear, then he and Jake disappeared through the brown metal door with the others. Weaver pulled his walkie out, pressed a button on the side. It clicked three times and chirped once. “Command to alpha. Command to alpha. Check in, over.”

Static.

“Command to alpha,” Weaver grunted into the receiver. “Check in now, damn it.”

Click-chirp, Click-chirp, static. Click-chirp. Static. Click-chirp.

“Alpha Team to Command,” the radio crackled and hissed, jumbling the voice on the other end. “All teams are…the…over.”

“Call them off, Weaver,” Tessa said. “Now.”

Crackle. Static. Click.

“All units, stand down,” Weaver said. “I repeat; all units stand down. Halt search efforts. K.O.S. has been revoked. I repeat; K.O.S. has been revoked. Report to Med Wing for new orders. Over.”

Click, click…static.

Chapter 40

Ballistic

“They didn’t respond,” Riley said, her panicked eyes trained on Weaver. “Why didn’t they respond?”

“Damn it,” Weaver said, spinning the dial on top of his walkie. Nothing but static. “Something is jamming the signal.”

“Well, unjam it!” Tessa shoved him. “My granddaughter is out there.”

A loud crash of thunder blasted outside. It shook the building, rattling the windows in their frames. A doorway slammed opened at the end of the hallway. A handful of heavily armed men dressed in full riot gear stomped out. Their boots squeaked against the vinyl floors and their sharp, urgent voices filled the space. A woman in blue scrubs shuffled across the hallway in the middle of the pack, dragging a small child behind her. Three more men came after.

“Stop!” Weaver shouted down the hall.

The men turned, and their guns snapped up, all of them pointed in our direction. The front man crouched and took aim at Weaver, who was running down the hallway toward them. The child twisted, writhed, and struggled in the woman’s grasp but she refused to let go.

Still, the little one kicked and bucked in her arms, raking with nails and stomping at the woman’s feet. She yanked and tugged, their wrestling match spinning the two of them around to face us. Choked in her grasp was a young boy with messy blond hair and soft green eyes.

“Liv!” Beans shouted, his gaze locking on mine. Blood ran down the side of his head. He swung his elbow at the woman’s face, struggling to free himself with renewed strength. He managed to rip her mask off, but her grip held firm. “Let. Me. Go!”

“Get us out of here, now,” the woman spat, jabbing a needle into my brother’s neck.

“Liv…vie,” Beans breathed, reaching out toward me.

His eyes closed, his face went slack, and his body slumped to the floor. The woman scooped him up like a sack of garbage, her face twisted in disgust.

“Get your filthy hands off my brother, you bitch!” A fierce growl ripped from my chest, and I let go.

Zander reached for me, but I was already gone, my right hand clutched around the spare gun from Tessa’s pack. The doctor’s goons rushed forward, and the hallway erupted in a shower of spent ammunition. The doctor screamed and shoved at one of her men. I ran straight at her, dodging her armed entourage and ducking around bullets like stray branches in the forest. Hot metal grazed my shoulder, but it barely hurt.

Nothing mattered more to me than stopping that woman’s next breath.

A bullet sailed toward my face, followed immediately by the guard who’d fired it. I dropped low and slid across the floor on my knees. The bullet snicked off a tuft of hair at the top of my head. It tumbled onto my shoulder like a feather drifting on the breeze.

“Rwarrrr,” I bellowed, thrusting into the side of the man’s torso with my blade. He crumpled in a heap mere inches away, and I was back on my feet.

“Go, go!” Dr. Zucker shouted. “Get me the hell out of here.”

“Down,” Zander yelled, and I ducked low.

Another guard dropped onto his knees at her side, a quarter-sized hole smoking in the middle of his helmet. Her eyes went wide, and I heard her pulse quicken. Her pristine blue scrubs were spattered with blood and gray matter. She turned and ran as the last of the armed men shoved through the exit and out into the darkness.

I dove through the doorway after them, straight into a hail of bullets. I dropped to the ground. My face slammed into the concrete. A slug pinged off the sidewalk by my head. I rolled to the side and scrambled across the ground ducking behind a concrete bench as more gunfire blasted around me.

A bullet whizzed past me toward the truck idling nearby. It shattered the rear window, striking the driver in the head. He slumped over onto the steering wheel, and then fell out of his opened door onto the ground. Dr. Zucker’s guard turned toward the sound. A moment’s pause was all it took for the last man standing to fall.

The second his head turned, I shot to my feet and launched Louie toward him. The wooden shaft pitched end over end as it tumbled through the air. The blade sunk into the man’s chest, splitting his armor with a satisfying crack. He dropped onto his back like a fallen redwood, the ax still buried in his trunk.

The clouds rolled overhead, and lightning split the sky. It flashed bright white, illuminating the fear in the woman’s eyes as I slunk toward her. My shoulders heaved up and down with each rapid breath. Lightning flashed on all sides, indiscernible in its origin. Thunder shook the ground and the siren finally stopped. The sky churned above us, writhing like a sea of tortured souls deep in the pits of Hell.

“Help me,” the doctor cried out, searching the darkness. “Oh, God, please.”

“God can’t help you, now,” I hissed, my lips peeled back in a demonic grin. “No one can.”

The last bit of color drained from her face. She dropped to her knees next to the truck. She hefted my brother up in front of her and wrapped her hands around his head, ready to twist.

“Stay back or I snap his neck,” she shrieked at me, her eyes wild with fear. I could smell it. “I’ll kill him, I swear.”

“No,” I growled, cocked my head to the side, and raised the gun. “You won’t.”

The pistol kicked in my hand. The muzzle flash was lost in a burst of lightning that filled the night sky. The light dissipated, leaving neon green tracers that spidered across the clouds.

The woman’s mouth dropped open. My brother collapsed onto the ground. Her eyes were wide and locked on mine, both hands clutching desperately at the hole in the front of her throat. She choked and sputtered as blood shot through the gaps in her fingers. A salty sweetness filled the air, like old pennies in a tide pool. I breathed it in deep and stared into her eyes, unwilling to let a single ounce of her suffering go to waste.

The world was exploding all around me. The wind kicked up. Dirt and ash swirled around us like a thousand tiny storms refusing to work together. Thunder crashed with the strength of ten gods, shaking the ground beneath my feet. The symphony was little more than background noise against a slowing heartbeat and shallow, strangled breaths.

Massive bolts of lightning danced and twirled across the skies above. It was all very beautiful, in a way, but it paled in comparison to the tiny flicker of light leaving that monster’s eyes as I stood over her.

“Go. To. Hell.” I spat crouching in front of her.

“Too…late,” she sputtered. Then, she was gone.

“Gahhhh!” I screamed as the beast ripped itself from my chest and dragged the woman’s soul off to feed.

Our bodies hit the ground at the same time. My muscles burned, and my bones felt like they were shattering inside of me. Breathing became nearly impossible. My head began to spin, and my stomach lurched as I dragged the doctor’s body off my brother.

“Beans,” I gasped, pulling him toward me by his shoulders. “Please, wake up.”

He was covered in blood and dirt. His arms and legs were limp, and his mouth hung open. I cradled him gently and rolled him over onto his back. I reached my hand behind his head and tipped his chin to make sure he could breathe. A spark flashed, and I jerked my hand away. His head lolled to the side, and a flash of lightning reflected off the probe embedded in the back of his neck.

“No,” I sobbed, raking his blood-soaked hair from his face.

One in each temple. I tugged at the collar of his oversized gray scrub top, my fingertips grazing the metal nobs below his collarbones. The breath rushed from my lungs. I pressed my eyes closed and buried my face in the loose fabric over my brother’s chest, listening for the faint echo of his heartbeat.