Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (26 page)

With
the
light
of
day
it
was
easy
for
him
to
see
exactly
where
the
guards
were
positioned.
There
were
seven
guarded posts
in
total and
each
position
had
two
guards.
One
post
was
at
the
entrance
to
the
base
with
another
two
occupying
the
two
towers
to
the
left
and
the
right
of
the
entrance
at
the
corner
of
the
base.
There
was
another
based
at
the
entrance
to
the
main
building,
another
was
located
at
the
entrance
to
the
supply
room
and
there
was
a
third
tower
to
the
rear
of
the
base
with
two
in
the
tower
and
two
along
the
back
fence
to
guard
the
rear
of
the
building.

It
also
be
came
apparent
that
each
tower
had
a
spotlight,
a
sharpshooter
and
a
spotter
concealed
behind
a
mesh
of
camouflage.

It
was
hard
to
see
the
movement
of
these
soldiers
in
day
light,
but
their
warm
breath
against
cold
air
would
make
it
easier
to
locate
and
track
their
movements
at
night.

Lee
carefully
compared
the
bunker
schematics
against
the
base
that
lay
in
front
of
him.
Deducting
that
if
his
brother
was
being
held
in
the
cells
as
previously
considered,
it was
most
likely
to be
located
to
the
rear
of
the
base
near
the
bottom
of
the
tower.

But
from
where
he
was
perched,
his
view
of
that
part
of
the
area
was
obstructed
by
the
main
building.
It
was
extremely
risky
for
him
to
enter
through
the
guards’
quarters
and
go
unnoticed.
Waiting
for
night
fall
,
he
began
to
manoeuvre
both
down
and
around
the
hill
to
position
himself
at
the
rear
of
the
base,
keeping
his
distance
so
he would not
be
spotted
easily.

Lee
took
up
position
about
five
hundred
meters
away
from
the
fence
and
gauged
the
area.
He
could
see
at
the
bottom
of
the
tower
there
was
a
large
industrial
air
ventilation
unit. Immediately
he judged
this
to
be
the
best
potential
point
of
access
to
the
bunker
below.
To
get
to
this
unit
he
would
have
to
pass
through
two
perimeter
fences
undetected.
It
was
between
these
fences
that
additional
guards
patrolled
on
foot.

Lee was fully
camouflaged
in
his
hunting
gear
and
as
luck
would
have
it,
that
night
was
particularly
foggy
and
he
was
able
to
mask
himself
better
in
the
darkness.
The
fog
also
helped
him
hide
his
warm
breath
in
the
cold
air.
He timed
his
advance
to
the
back
fence
so
that
the
tower
spotlight
was
farthest
away
from
him
and
the
patrol
guards
were
in
the
opposite
direction.
The
point
in
which
he
approached
the
fence
was
directly
beneath the
tower
so
he
needed
to
gain
access
to
the
base
in
total
silence.
By
approaching
the
fence
here,
Lee
was
in
a
blind
spot
from
the
spotlight
and
could
not
be
seen
unless
the
guards
had
been
alerted
to
his
presence.
It
also
left
the
shortest
distance
between
him
and
the
ventilation
unit. However
he
was
directly
in
the
path
of
the
two
guards
on
foot
patrol.

Reaching
the
outer
fence
he lay
at
the
base
of
it,
camouflaged
and
undetected.
Waiting
for
the
light
to
pass
from
left
to
right, he
then
removed
his
wire
cutters
from
their
pouch
in
his
trousers
and
began
to
cut
an
opening
along
the
base
of
the
fence.
Cutting
a
length
long
enough
for
him
to
slide
underneath
with
relative
ease,
he worked
his
way
across
the
gap
between
the
fences
ensuring
to
stay
as
low
to
the
ground
as
possible
and
making
only
moves
as
intended.

Moving towards
the
internal
perimeter
fence,
the
guards
were
getting
closer
to
his
position.
Edging
his
body
against
the
fence
the
guards
were
within
only
a
few
feet
of
where
he
lay.

They
began
to
pass
by
him
when
one
of
them
stopped
and
turned
in
the
direction
of
Lee.
He quietly
gasped,
holding
his breath
thinking
he
had
been
spotted,
but desperately
hoping
he
hadn’t been.
The
guard
began
to
walk
towards
him.

Seeing
this, he
slowly
ran
his
hand
down
his
hip
to
where
his
knife
was. He
also
had
in
his
possession
a
tranquiliser
gun,
but
the
effects
of
the
gun
wouldn’t
be
instant
so
in
this
case
he opted
for
his
knife
. He
gripped
the
handle
and
readied
it
for
action,
knowing
that
if
seen
there
was
very
little
chance
he
would
ever
make
it
home
to
see
Jennifer
again.
He
did
not
know
what
kind
of
powers
these
guards
possessed,
adding
further
danger
to
the
situation. Very little ran through Lee’s head as survival mode kicked in.  The constant battle in his thoughts went silent for a little while. He stopped thinking about Tom’s disappearance and Jennifer’s worry. He only thought about getting through the next few minutes.