“So… let’s get down to the nitty gritty,” he said.
“The what?” Desh didn’t understand what Pelo was talking about, so I stepped in.
I slung my arm over Pelo’s bony shoulders. “Pelo, all you need to know is how to set off the bomb and where to place the video disc. Do you know those two things?” I held two fingers in front of his eyes.
He nodded jerkily.
“And where to find your parents!” he exclaimed, his finger pointing to the ceiling.
“Yes, if you have time. Please, Pelo, don’t risk your life for them. I know them, and once that bomb goes off, they’ll find their way out all on their own.”
Pelo slowed to a sway, his head bowed over his clasped hands.
“I’ll find Esther and the baby first, then your parents. I… I just want to do her proud.”
I pushed through my uncomfortableness and said, “You will. You have already, Pelo.”
He seemed to accept this and started rousing the others.
Gus was crouched at the entrance, quietly. His hand braced against the wall. I shuffled towards him and his shoulder tensed as I approached. Quickly, he grabbed his handheld and sent a message.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I squatted down beside him.
“What do you suppose they’re looking for?” Gus whispered, pointing through the trees. I froze, my face caught between the lighthearted grin of before and the panic rising up my throat. Fanned out, scanning the forest, were ten Woodlands’ soldiers, their gun butts pressed to their chests, swinging back and forth.
I didn’t need to answer, but I did. “They’re looking for us.”
Gus nodded slowly. “Tell everyone to arm themselves swiftly and quietly.”
I cursed internally. “Wait, what are you going to do?”
“What I have to,” he muttered from one corner of his dry, bristly lips.
I told the others and soon the cave entrance was crowded with gun tips.
Olga leaned over the men and whispered worriedly. “Can’t we just let them pass? They may not notice us if we’re quiet. Gus, you can’t kill all those men!” Her voice was high with panic.
He ignored her and took aim. “Who said anything about killing them?” he grumbled.
She shook his shoulder just as he pulled the trigger, the shot hitting the dirt in front of one of the soldiers. They scattered and took cover.
Gus swung around, his gun still loaded, and leaned in on Olga. “Damn it, woman! Why did you do that? I was aiming for shoulders and legs. Disabling shots, not kill shots.”
Olga’s pale face turned anemic. Her lips trembled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to… I was worried you would…”
As I watched, everything rolled into place, and I understood why Olga tried to stop Gus. I could see it plainly on her shiny, white face.
Shots fired and chipped the rocks around us as we backed further into the cave. Olga slid along, her hands creeping backwards, but there was nowhere to go.
“How did they know we were here?” I demanded as shots pinged around the cave entrance.
She took way too long to answer. “I… I don’t know.”
Gus pressed the rifle to her chest right over her stuttering heart, and she gasped.
“We’ve disabled three of them,” someone shouted from the front. “The others are too well hidden.”
Gus swore. “Take this,” he said, pushing the rifle into my arms as he returned to the entrance to help the others, pulling a handgun from his waistband.
My hand shook and slipped over the black plastic.
Olga blinked up at me. “Let me go and maybe I can negotiate with them to get Rosa back.”
Don’t trust her.
“I can’t believe you betrayed us, Olga,” I stammered, my finger grazing the trigger. I was so glad Rosa wasn’t here to see this.
She narrowed her beady eyes and smiled, revealing nubs of teeth. “Are you even sure you’re on the right side?” I paused. She was just messing with my head. “I can find her for you, Joseph. I can help you.” Her voice sounded strange, hissing like a snake.
I considered her as another shot clipped the rock above me, and I ducked.
Rash crept up beside me and snatched the gun from my hands, turning it around and smashing Olga in the side of the head, knocking her unconscious.
“Don’t listen to that bitch,” he said, flashing me a worn-out grin.
He was right. She couldn’t be trusted and I was never going to betray my friends, no matter what promises she made.
I crawled towards the entrance just in time to see the last shot fired.
Some of the Survivors had already jumped down to remove the soldier’s weapons. Most were writhing around in the dirt with shots to the legs and arms. Matt pumped his hand a couple of times. “I’m going to administer some quick first aid,” he said as he jumped down.
Elise skidded down the rocks from the other cave, and I joined them to help.
“Why are you helping us?” a soldier spluttered as I put a pressure bandage on his arm.
“I’m a Survivor,” I answered proudly. He grimaced at my answer. He didn’t understand.
We tied the men to trees and promised to return later. Their eyes betrayed how confused this situation made them.
We gathered, away from the soldiers, to discuss what we should do.
“The video is out of the question,” Matt said. I’d expected it to be Gus. “It’s too dangerous. I’m not even sure we can plant the bomb. Obviously, they know we’re coming.” Matt’s sad eyes went to the cave, where his friend Olga lay unconscious. “I can’t believe she…” He hung his head in sorrow.
Pelo sounded crushed when he said, “You mean I can’t go in?”
Gus stared at the sky, counting the clouds. “I’m sorry.”
We decided to get closer and assess. But just a small team—me, because I begged, Pelo, Rash, and Gus.
We followed the rocks until they petered out, the huge turbines suddenly shooting into the sky before us.
A noise we’d heard before pulsed through the sky.
We stopped and hugged the large pillars of the turbines as a single chopper flew overhead, its spinning blades mixing with the turbine shadows and looking like a giant star on the forest floor.
Gus eyed it like prey. The rest of us cowered. We moved closer, hiding behind the one clump of bushes.
The chopper flew to the center of Pau and slipped out of view. Minutes later, it rose and flew to the outer wall. It hovered close and landed carefully in a small clearing, its nose nearly touching the outer wall. We retreated into the scrub, our eyes trained on the small man who clambered awkwardly from the chopper, holding a silver case in one hand. He scurried to the front of the chopper and suddenly disappeared.
“Where’d the little guy go?” Rash exclaimed.
I knew from when Rosa and I had entered the Superiors’ compound that the man had gone underground.
“He’s entered the tunnels beneath the town,” I muttered, still grasping the ends of a branch and pulling the leaves off stressfully.
We waited anxiously for him to reappear or for the chopper to leave for about twenty minutes when an agitated Rash sprung up and said, “To hell with this! I’m getting us a chopper!”
Before we could stop him, he was stealing closer to the back end of the craft confidently like he knew what he was doing. But I knew he didn’t have a clue, so I followed him. Letting Rosa’s best friend get killed was not going to help my situation.
ROSA
The earth rocked beneath my feet, even though it hadn’t started yet. My body was anticipating the scramble, the fight against whatever Grant had planned. My mother. I had to find my mother.