Authors: Michelle Gagnon
N
oa’s heart hammered in her chest as they staggered down the hall. She clutched Zeke’s arm and giggled; it came out sounding incredibly fake. He was looking down at her with grave eyes, an equally forced smile glued to his face.
They made it halfway before being noticed. “Hey!”
Noa looked up. Both guards were staring at them, their expressions puzzled and put out.
“Man, you’re old,” she said, stumbling slightly. “You here for the party, too?”
Zeke squeezed her arm, and she kept moving forward. It was a desperate charade; they were covered in soot, who would believe they were just a couple of stoned teenagers here for a rave?
“Hey, where’s DJ Leo?” Zeke demanded. “He should be spinning by now.”
Noa admired the steadiness in his voice. They were still ten feet from the guards—too far for the Tasers.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the shorter guy growled. “How the hell did you get in?”
“How the hell did you get in?” Noa mimicked, then giggled again.
Zeke drawled, “Dude, chill. You know what you need? The little blue pill. Right, Jenny?”
“Oh, yeah,” Noa agreed, nodding. “The little blue pills are, like, totally awesome.” The nearest guard stood a few feet from the door, and the other one still blocked it. They had to get to the control room window; she needed to know if anyone else was inside before they acted.
“You don’t get out of here now, I’m calling the cops,” the guard ordered.
Noa lurched forward, closing the distance between them. She grabbed his arm to steady herself, simultaneously yanking his hand off the gun. He staggered under her weight—she was a few inches taller, high enough to see the hair plugs dotting his scalp. “Oops!” she said. “I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Aw, man. She always does that.” Zeke shook his head. “Hey, you guys got a trash can or something?”
Noa shifted her head right. Through her peripheral vision, she could see into the control room. A bank of monitors displayed rotating images of the building’s interior and exterior. Her breath caught as a shot of their ragtag group appeared in the upper-right-hand corner. The room was empty, though. Thank God the guards had been talking, otherwise they would have known exactly what was coming their way.
“Get off me!” the guard snarled, jerking his arm back. “Crazy bitch. I swear, I’m gonna—”
His words cut off abruptly as Noa jammed the Taser into the soft tissue at the base of his throat. His mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish. She jerked back—any contact with someone who had 1,200 volts shooting through their system would render her helpless, too. The guard fell to her feet, still twitching.
“Hey!” the other guard protested belatedly. Turning, Noa saw that Zeke was already on him. The guy’s eyes rolled back and he dropped like a stone.
“Nice job,” she said. “Little blue pills? Really?”
“What can I say, I’m a huge
Matrix
fan.” He shrugged. “We could’ve used the flashbang, you know.”
“Too much noise. It might’ve brought the others running.”
“Your call.” Zeke turned and hissed, “All clear!”
As the others hurried down the hall to meet them, Zeke bent over the guards, securing their hands behind their backs with plastic zip ties. This part of the raid, at least, was rote.
Noa scanned the control room. Spotting a nearly full can of soda beside the console, she picked it up and dumped it liberally over keyboards and towers. There was a satisfying hiss as fluid seeped into the electronics. The images on the monitors wavered, then went black.
“Not exactly the best use of your hacking skills,” Zeke noted.
“Well, we’re in a hurry,” Noa muttered. She would’ve preferred to gather data off the server, but there was no time. More guards were lurking around here somewhere.
“Kidding. Sheesh.” He grinned at her, clearly enjoying himself again. Taking out a few guards always seemed to cheer him up.
“Let’s go.” Noa led the way out of the control room. The others waited silently in the hall outside. She pushed through the double doors, which opened onto a dimly lit, cavernous room. The ceiling soared to the full height of the warehouse. Twenty feet into the room the floor dropped off, right in front of a cargo bay with an enormous sliding metal door.
“All right!” Zeke said. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“How do we get the door open?” Remo asked.
Good question
, Noa thought, walking to the edge of the platform. There was some sort of motor attached to the base on the right-hand side. Motors weren’t really her thing, unless they were attached to a motherboard.
“I got this.” Zeke vaulted easily off the ledge and bent low, examining it. He pushed a few buttons, and with a grinding sound, the metal gate slowly started rising.
Noa closed her eyes, nearly overwhelmed with relief. She was going to get them all out. By now, the taco truck should be waiting on the other side. . . .
“Stop!” a voice yelled.
Noa turned. Two security guards stood just inside the double doors, pointing guns at them.
Teo clung to the door handle with a death grip. Daisy was careening around the building at a speed that the taco truck was clearly not designed for. As she swung the wheel left, his whole side of the truck lifted off the ground. The tires slammed back down on the pavement, but the tail protested, swinging out wide.
“We’re going to flip!” he yelled. “Slow down!”
“Can’t,” Daisy grunted. “He’ll catch us.”
Sure enough, in his side mirror Teo could see the guard chugging after them, his hair sticking out in all directions. He was definitely gaining. Worse yet, his gun was raised. . . .
Ping!
Something metal smacked into the side of the truck. Instinctively, Teo ducked.
“What was that?” Daisy yelled.
“He’s shooting at us!” Teo screamed back.
Daisy jerked the wheel again, swinging the truck from side to side. Teo braced his knees against the dashboard; it felt like his arm was being ripped from his shoulder. The plastic food bins were sliding around in the back; there was a dull thud as a pony keg flipped over.
Looks like we won’t be getting that security deposit back on the truck
, he couldn’t help thinking as another
ping
resonated, perilously close to the cab judging by the sound of it.
“Can you see them?” she hollered.
“No!” Frantically, Teo scanned the side of the building. It was one long mass of brown brick; there was no sign of a loading dock. “It’s not here!”
“Great. Just great,” Daisy growled.
The barrage was increasing. Glancing back again, Teo saw that Boss Man had been joined by another guard. He appeared to be in much better shape, closing the gap with long strides as he shot at them. “Crap.”
“What?” Daisy demanded.
“Nothing. Just keep driving.”
Something groaned behind him. Spinning in his seat, Teo saw that the rear door had popped open. Through it he had a clear view of the guard as he raised his gun to shoulder height, leveled it, and fired.
Teo jerked back. The bullet sheared past the space where his head had just been and hit the windshield, splintering it into a spiderweb of glass.
Definitely not getting that deposit back.
Daisy swore. They’d reached the back of the building. Tearing around the corner, the truck tilted crazily again, only righting after she struggled mightily with the wheel. As they approached the next corner, Teo closed his eyes and started praying. . . .
“All of you, get on the ground!” one of the guards yelled. Noa recognized him as the one who had been walking the perimeter earlier. The guy at his shoulder glared at them menacingly.
The kids looked at the guards, then back at her. Like they were expecting her to save them. Like there was still some way out of this, for all of them.
“No,” Noa said, surprising herself.
“What?” The lead guard took a step forward. “I know you,” he said, peering at her through the gloom. “They’re looking for you.”
Noa didn’t say anything. She could feel a chill night breeze on her neck. The door was still rising behind her, and she was only a few feet away. She could drop, roll beneath it, and run. Maybe there weren’t any guards left outside.
Zeke caught her eye. She could tell he was thinking the same thing. The two of them could make it. They had a pretty good sense of the surrounding landscape, enough to get away on foot. But it would mean leaving the others.
The guard stopped next to Janiqua and placed the barrel of his gun to her skull. The girl’s whole body went rigid. The unconscious girl she was holding slumped to the floor. “Don’t make me shoot her,” he warned. “Just climb back up here, nice and easy.”
Noa chewed her lip. If she capitulated, it would be over for all of them.
A tear slid down Janiqua’s cheek. Noa sighed. Slowly, feeling like each foot weighed a thousand pounds, she walked back to the platform and placed both palms flat on it, braced to lift herself up.
As her heels pushed off the ground, there was a tremendous crash behind her and the shriek of brakes. Whirling, Noa saw the front of the taco truck jutting onto the loading dock. Its roof had collided with the gate, which ground to a halt. Daisy and Teo stared slack-jawed at her through a shattered windshield.
Everything seemed to slow down. The guards had been thrown off balance by the crash. Remo took advantage—he threw himself at the one who’d threatened to shoot Janiqua. Danny and the new girl thronged the other one. Zeke charged forward to help them, while shouting something that took a moment for her to discern.
“Throw the flashbang!”
Her brain finally processed what he was saying. Noa fumbled in her jacket pocket and drew out the grenade. She tore out the pin and hurled it; the flashbang bounced in between the nearest guard’s legs before settling into a slow spin like a top. “Cover your ears and get to the truck!” she yelled.
The world around her exploded in noise and light. Even though she’d anticipated the blast, Noa’s whole head throbbed from the concussion. Dizzily, she stumbled forward and grabbed the unconscious girl under the shoulders.
“Help me!” she shouted, dragging her toward the truck.
The pressure on her shoulder eased—Zeke was there, helping her carry the girl. Remo’s feet were disappearing through the truck’s windshield—he’d dived in headfirst. Janiqua and Danny pushed past, following him.
Struggling with the weight, she and Zeke managed to get the girl off the ledge. Teo threw open the passenger door and helped muscle her inside. Noa spun to check on everyone. The guards were still down on the floor looking stunned—the grenade had gone off between them. Chances were they still couldn’t see or hear very well. One was tearing at his eyes; the other clutched his head.
The young boy they’d found inside was standing right in front of them, looking dazed.
“Come on!” Noa shouted, waving for him to join them.
He hesitated.
“Hurry, we got company coming!” Teo yelled.
Looking terrified, the boy didn’t move. Noa raced back across the room, grabbed the kid by his shoulders, and propelled him toward the truck.
“We gotta go!” Zeke shouted.
Noa pushed the boy toward the open door—someone hauled him inside. She dove into the truck cab after him, bumping her knee hard against the shift. Daisy threw the truck in reverse, briefly pinning her to the dashboard.
The back of the truck looked like a cafeteria after a food fight; a half inch of beer sloshed along the floor, sweeping taco flotsam along with it. The rear door was open, providing a window into the enormous parking lot that surrounded the building.
Two more guards were less than fifteen feet away. They were approaching slowly, guns raised, as the truck screeched toward them.
And she was fresh out of flashbang grenades.
“Get down!” Noa shouted.
The truck jerked to a halt six feet from the men. Noa pressed herself to the floor, although she couldn’t tear her eyes from the guns.
The truck lurched forward again, momentarily throwing off their aim; but the guards were too close, and the truck wasn’t picking up speed fast enough. All they had to do was start firing, and they’d hit at least a few of them.
Suddenly an explosion went off right beside her. Noa yelped, her hands automatically leaping up to cover her ears. Another blast followed, even louder.
Zeke was braced between the driver and passenger seats. He was holding a gun and firing off rounds at the guards.
Immediately, they dropped to the ground. Shots kept coming, but they flew wild. Zeke clicked on an empty magazine. Without meeting her eyes, he let the gun drop by his side as he slid into a crouch.
Noa was speechless. No guns, that was her rule. She’d insisted on it. Even Turk had treated it as the single edict that couldn’t be broken.
But Zeke had brought a gun.
The van finally picked up speed, veering out of the lot and bouncing onto the road that led back to the highway.
“Everyone okay?” she asked, scanning the other faces.
They all looked shell-shocked. A few murmured that they were fine. The rest just nodded.
“Good,” Noa said. “Radio Crystal and tell her to park the van and wait for us. We’ll ditch this truck by the highway.”
“Then what?” Remo asked.
“Back to the safe house, but we need to clear out tonight and get on the road again.”
Grumbles at that. Noa couldn’t blame them. She was utterly spent. After everything that had happened, even she could probably clock eight hours of sleep. But they needed to put as much pavement between themselves and Phoenix as possible. Of course, looking the way they did right now, they wouldn’t have a prayer of maintaining a low profile. They all needed to shower and change clothes; she’d allow time for that. Then they’d leave town.
Noa braced herself by planting the bottoms of her feet against a cabinet. Her jeans were soaked through. She was covered in soot and ash and felt sore, bruised, and exhausted.
And angry. Very, very angry.