Hit Squad (23 page)

We watched Harry usher the kids through. Dylan peered around her, then followed him.

‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We need to get out ourselves.’

We raced out of the room and along the corridor. Footsteps sounded behind us. Clearly the men that Amy had sent upstairs were on their way back. We reached the fire door Harry and Dylan had just
exited through. It was still unlocked. With a single twist of my hand, the door flew open ahead of us. We rushed out, into the cool night air. Across the hard, dark grass. Into the trees. I looked
around. No sign of Harry, Dylan and the kids. They must have run into a different section of the trees.

‘Can you reach Dylan yet?’ I asked Ed as we stopped at last.

‘No,’ he said, panting for breath. ‘She must still be under the Medutox.’

I peered out of the trees.
There.
Dylan and Harry were running towards us from another part of the woodland about twenty metres to the left. Dylan was in the lead, Harry, limping, was
struggling to keep up. The four younger kids ran alongside him.

‘Okay, Ed,’ I said. ‘They’re safe. Give Avery and Cal the go-ahead.’

Ed gave me a swift nod, then turned away, focusing on the middle distance.

I stepped out of the trees and waved at Dylan. She waved back and shouted something.

What was she thinking, yelling out like that? I darted back under cover. Man, Dylan was going to attract serious attention making such a noise.

‘Is it done, Ed?’ Amy asked.

Ed nodded. ‘Cal and Avery are setting light to the oil now. The explosion’s going to happen any moment.’

I looked again at Dylan. She was really gaining on Harry now. I peered more closely at him. He was limping quite badly. Was he injured?

At last Dylan ran up. She was gasping for breath, holding up the tablet computer we’d seen earlier.

‘Issketisheesalie,’ she gabbled.

‘What?’ I said. ‘Are you guys okay?’

Dylan nodded, her eyes glinting in the moonlight.

‘Look,’ she said. She pressed a button on the screen. It fizzled into life. A black and white image of a small room with a single bed came into view.

‘What’s that?’ I said, looking away and across the grass towards the complex. The explosion should happen any second now.

‘
Look
, Nico,’ Dylan gasped again.

I looked at the tablet computer in time to see someone walk across the room, their back to the camera.

I stared at the screen, unable to believe what I was watching.

‘It’s Ketty,’ Dylan said with a moan. ‘She’s alive.’

As she spoke, Ketty turned round. Her face – her beautiful face – filled the screen. A terrible confusion of emotions flooded through me – disbelief and hope . . . and
terror.

‘Where?’ I grabbed Dylan’s arm. ‘Where is she?’

Dylan pointed back to the complex. ‘In there,’ she said. ‘A room – a cell, really – close to the lab.’

I stared at Ed in horror. He’d just told Cal and Avery it was okay to blow up the lab.

‘Stop them!’ I ordered.

‘It’s too late.’ Ed’s words were drowned out by the explosion. It rocked the ground. I spun round, my focus on the complex. There, flying out of the lab window, were
Avery and Cal.

But all I could see was the fireball that rose from the side of the building they had just left.

And all I knew was that Ketty was still inside.

‘NO!’ The yell erupted out of me. Without thinking . . . without even knowing what I was doing, my legs were carrying me towards the burning building.

I raced through the trees, my breath searing my lungs. If Ketty was there, I had to find her. I had to get her out of the complex even though – and I could barely face the thought that
pressed against the edges of my consciousness – she was unlikely to have survived that bomb blast.

Dylan ran up beside me as I reached the edge of the trees. Her face was pale in the moonlight, her dark red hair streaming out behind her.

‘Wait, Nico,’ she panted, grabbing hold of my arm. ‘You can’t just barge into a burning building.’

‘I have to get Ketty,’ I said. ‘How did you know she was there? Why didn’t you rescue her along with the little kids?’

‘I’m trying to explain,’ Dylan said. ‘Ketty wasn’t in the same stretch of rooms that me and Harry and the hit squad children were put in. Foster had her off in some
special cell. I saw her on the CCTV when they took us in, but we couldn’t work out exactly where she was until Harry found this.’ She held up the tablet computer.

‘So?’ I tried to pull my arm away from Dylan’s hand but she gripped me more tightly. ‘You said her cell was next to the lab. If you found her, why didn’t you get
her out?’

‘I didn’t say “next” to, I said “close” to,’ Dylan said furiously. ‘Ketty’s cell is
underneath
the lab. It’s in the basement.
There’s a row of tiny rooms where Foster keeps all his supplies. Ketty’s in one of those. They’re on a separate security loop to the rest of the building, so the power cut
didn’t open her door.’

‘Did you actually go down there?’ I asked.

‘Yes, but the room was still locked. All that happened was that Harry got hurt.’ She hesitated. ‘I think Ketty’s cell opens with that card Jack gave us.’

I stared at her, taking in what she was saying at last. I felt in my pocket. The card was still there.

‘If she’s in a basement room she might have been protected from the blast,’ Ed said. He and Amy had appeared beside us. I’d been so intent on what Dylan was saying I
hadn’t even noticed. I glanced up. Cal and Avery were clear of the building now. They were heading for the spot where Harry was waiting with the little kids. Neither of them had noticed
us.

‘But she won’t be protected from the smoke,’ Dylan added. ‘They’re getting the Medutox into her through the air vents which means she doesn’t have long before
the fumes get to her.’

‘So why are we waiting?’ I shook off Dylan’s arm at last. ‘I have to get inside.’

‘You won’t get past the fire,’ Dylan argued. ‘That’s why you have to wait.’ She checked her watch. ‘My Medutox should wear off in another couple of
minutes . . . then I’ll get us both in . . .’

‘I’m coming too,’ Ed said. ‘If we meet someone on the way, I can hypnotise them.’

I gazed at them. Part of me wanted to tell them to stay behind, but – if I was honest – I knew I might well need their help. ‘I don’t—’

‘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 . . .’