“Are you ready to go, or do you need a few minutes to catch your breath?” Destiny asked Cory.
“No, I’m fine. Let’s get going,” Cory replied.
The two moved off, leaving Adam and Lana alone.
“Hey, are you all right?” Adam asked Lana with a concerned look on his face.
“Yes, I’m fine, just worried about getting his sister back,” Lana lied. Although she was worried about Isabel, it was her jealously that was bothering her.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get them back,” Adam said confidently. “Now are you ready to run?”
“Yeah, I am.”
They jogged on a trail around the golf course until Adam abruptly stopped.
“Great pace, Lana, but are you ready to tackle that hill?” Adam said, pointing to a steep hill directly across from them.
“Ahh, you mean that mountain over there. I don’t think so.”
“Come on, it’s a piece of cake,” Adam said as they walked toward the base of the hill.
The hill rose a hundred meters from the base to the top.
“Okay, we’re going to sprint to the top and walk back down then repeat for a total of ten times, got it?” Adam instructed.
“Got it!”
They sprinted to the top, the steep incline forcing them to use the balls of their feet. By the second ascent, Lana’s legs felt much heavier. Like a champ, she pushed through the pain and ran up the hill six times before every muscle and nerve in her body screamed for her to stop. She highly doubted she would make it up the hill ten times. Looking up, she saw Adam at the top, waiting and clapping his hands in encouragement.
“Come on, Lana,” he shouted, “Go your hardest, and we’ll cut it down to eight instead of ten.”
Her body was at the exhaustion point, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet the challenge. She put all of her effort into forcing her leaden limbs to complete the last two climbs. When it was over, she collapsed on the ground with her back against the soft grass, and massaged her calf and thigh muscles.
“That was hell,” she gasped, completely exhausted.
They laid there for a few minutes looking up at the clouds.
“All we need now is that perfect breeze,” Adam said.
“Um-hm,” Lana nodded. “Hey Adam, if you don’t mind me asking, are you and Destiny a couple?”
Adam laughed, not sure how to respond.
“Me and Destiny? No, she’s like my sister, I-we would never...”
“Oh,” Lana said, disappointed, “well, I think you guys look cute together.”
“Well, I thank you for your blessing, Miss! Now, are you ready to do some combat?” Adam asked.
“After what we just did? I don’t know, Adam.”
“Come on, now, there’s water where we’re going next.”
“Water? I would do anything for a cup of water right now. Oh, Adam, you sure know how to bribe a lady,” Lana teased.
“Ha ha, come on!” he said, helping Lana to her feet.
*
Meanwhile, at the opposite side of the golf course, Destiny had finished demonstrating her shooting technique and what she expected Cory to replicate.
“Lana told me you had her and your sister learn all about guns. I hope you’re just as impressive as she is,” Destiny teased.
“Yeah, I taught her everything she knows, but she kind of excelled and became a better marksman than me.”
Although their relationship was rocky, Lana wasn’t around, so he gave her due credit.
“But don’t think for a second I’m not good competition. I hit my targets,” Cory added, picking up a pistol. He examined the handgun as he tucked a spare loaded magazine in the left side of his holster belt. Having a conversation revolving around Lana bothered him, so he shifted the focus back to his training.
“Can I start?” he asked, looking back at Destiny.
“Uh sure…whenever you’re ready,” Destiny replied.
With his shirt still off, Cory caught Destiny ogling his frame. As he aimed, he smiled coyly, imagining the horror Lana would feel knowing Destiny might be her biggest threat yet.
*
“Okay, your goal right now is defense. Focus on protecting yourself. When you don’t have a gun with you. What will you do then?” Adam instructed Lana.
They were in a spacious room of the golf course lodge. It was empty except for a few punching bags and mats spread over the floor. The walls were made of glass. From inside, Lana could see much of the golf course, as well as the dining area inside the lodge.
“You know, Adam, this style of fighting isn’t for me. I’m the kind of girl who prefers to punch you in the throat, and while you topple over and cry, I’ll run away or shoot you.”
“We’ll get to that, Lana,” Adam said, laughing. “But first, I need to make sure you can defend yourself from attacks where you can’t punch someone in their throat.”
Lana was happy she could joke and poke fun with Adam. She was weary of being sad and Cory’s silent ridicule of her every move.
“Okay, Lana, so what do you do if someone much bigger than you grabs you from behind?” Adam said, creeping up behind Lana and effortlessly picking her up off the ground. Her feet dangled in the air as she let out a loud squeal.
“I would use all my strength to swing underneath and then push them off using my legs. Then I can attack!” Lana said, still kicking into the air to no avail. Fortunately for her, her feet got tangled up with Adam’s legs, knocking him off balance.
They fell right on top of each other; their faces inches away from one another. He smiled nervously as Lana slid over to sit flat on her butt beside him. Clearing his throat, he attempted to apologize.
“I-uh-that wasn’t how I meant for that to happen. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, trust me. Don’t even worry,” Lana laughed, “Not bad for a weakling, huh? You should have stood your ground.”
“Actually, you’re kind of like a rag doll now that you mention it,” Adam teased with signs of relief now visible on his face.
“Whoa! I didn’t say I was a rag doll. I should have punched you in the throat; I could break your windpipes with ease!” Lana threatened, with a grin on her face.
“Now I regret teaching you that technique. I like my windpipes,” Adam replied as they stood up. “One more thing left for us to do: I want to polish your punches and kicks.” He directed Lana toward the punching bags across the room.
After they had finished, Lana’s hands were numb and she was incapable of hitting anyone or anything.
“Right now, I really appreciate my guns, and I will never drop or ever forget mine,” she said, rubbing her hands as they walked back to meet the others.
“It’s not that bad, you actually did pretty well,” Adam said with encouragement.
Instead of pitying herself, Lana switched subjects and talked about Adam’s computers, “I have never seen such an amazing computer system. How did you hack into the Government system without them even realizing?”
“Oh, something my mother taught me. I’ll be happy to show you sometime.”
“Yes, please. To be honest, it’s partly my fault Isabel is missing, I wasn’t careful enough when I was trying to figure out the device.”
“That device is above par. Don’t blame yourself for anything. It took me days to even figure out that it was capable of lodging itself within the human body,” Adam said. To save his ego, Lana decided not to add that she had determined that after a few hours of examination.
“Finding the logo inside the chip was the hardest for me, and the fact that I still have no idea what it does perplexes me,” Lana said, hoping Adam would keep his guard down and tell her more of what he knew.
They saw Cory and Destiny conversing from a distance.
“What’s your major?” Adam asked, impressed with the conversation he was having with Lana.
“Engineering. Well, it was before all the schools closed down,” she replied nonchalantly. “So w
hat else do you know about the device that I don’t?”
“Not much, but I’ll share what I know with you later, maybe we could even work together,” Adam suggested, who seemed shocked a girl like Lana was studying engineering.
“Definitely! I want to get my hands on that computer of yours,” Lana replied.
“My computer is my girlfriend. I’m not sure she will be okay with someone else touching her,” Adam joked with a wink.
“I hope you know how sad that sounds,” Lana said, laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Destiny asked as she moved next to Adam to allow Lana and Cory to be closer to one another.
“Adam and his life as a computer nerd,” Lana said with a big grin, which quickly vanished as Cory glared at her.
“You guys ready to go?” Adam said.
“Yeah, I could use a shower,” Cory said.
They walked to the parking lot and drove off in a black BMW.
“So guys, who did you have more fun with? Me or Destiny?” Adam asked, while glimpsing at the rear-view mirror.
“Destiny. Hands down,” Cory smiled. “At least with her, I don’t have to worry about cheating.”
Destiny glanced back and smiled.
I don’t trust this bitch, Lana sulked.
18
“Ah, welcome back!” Bienaimé called out as they entered the house. “Adam, Destiny, tell me how they did!”
“They’re both great shooters,” Destiny announced.
“Yes, and great in combat too,” Adam added.
“Good, good. You guys go wash up. I’ll have dinner ready in a bit, there are things we must discuss,” Bienaimé concluded.
The four tired young people did as they were told and went upstairs to their rooms.
“Do you want to shower first?” Lana asked, opening the bedroom door.
“No, you can go,” Cory replied as he entered the room.
“Cory? Are we ever going to talk?” Lana asked, annoyed.
Instead of answering, Cory took a seat on a small chair by the window.
“Okay, fine,” Lana snapped, stomping over to her suitcase to fetch her clothes. This is the longest day of my life, she thought, now regretting having told Cory about Doug. A little while later, freshly showered and dressed, they joined the others at the dinner table.
“So what did you have to talk to us about?” Cory asked.
“I’ve met up with your friend, Mr. Doug, and retrieved the devices. They are now locked up and safe, and will stay like that until we figure out what to do with them. Also, he gave me some important information about the set-up of the place.”
Bienaimé tapped his fists on the edge of the table, and continued, “The good news is that the research facility only has guards stationed on the outside. The inside is filled with scientists, so we have little to worry about regarding the interior - but don’t drop your guard.” Stretching out his hands and laying them palms down on each side of plate, he leaned slightly forward and added, “Now, the bad news is that Doug has never been allowed to go to the prison, so there’s no information there.”
Sitting back, he shook his head slightly as he dropped his hands into his lap. He said in a calm, even voice, “Furthermore, we only have twenty men. I’ll suggest using a five men squad to capture Dr. Phils, and the rest for the prison, seeing as it’s more heavily guarded. Five men should be more than enough to handle the research facility, but with only fifteen men, we could still be outnumbered ten to one inside the prison.”
Bienaimé paused, his lips tightly pressed together, looking around the table at each of the young people, in turn. After making sure he had their full attention, he said, his voice rising in volume, “If we’re going to do this, we need to be prepared. Right now, I need your brains. The meeting is tomorrow at seven, so you have until then to think of something that would even the odds, because these people will not agree to fight if it’s a suicide mission.”
All of them nodded, deep in thought. They all had something worth fighting for. And the time for action was at long last coming.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Bienaimé added, “Doug is scheduled to do a drop off exactly four days from now - so we will attack then. I have decided that you four will be part of the fifteen men assigned to the prison. You all have people you love in there, and I won’t deny your reunion. I will lead the other group.”
Picking up his fork, he waved it in Destiny and Adam’s direction, “You two will tell Cory and Lana everything about the prison and facility. Cory, tomorrow I will check your house to see if they’ve tried to contact you. That is all for now. So eat up and enjoy - and remember, I need ideas from all of you intellectuals come tomorrow.”
Cory finished his dinner, barely tasting the food. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts - but first, he needed to talk to Destiny and Adam. After dinner, the four went down to the secret basement to talk.
Adam pulled up the blueprints of both facilities on his computer screens.
“The buildings are secluded - about ten miles away from the nearest gas station - an ideal hide out. Lucky for us, there is nothing but trees around it, making for a perfect cover and vantage point. The research facility and prison are about two miles apart, and isolated from each other, and, from what we can tell, they also function separately from one another - but that’s not to say they do not communicate with one another,” Adam explained.
Stabbing his finger at the screen, he continued, “The research facility has two guards guarding each of the two towers, here, and there. And there are men stationed throughout the building. A barbed-wire fence encloses the entire area, and there’s another guard who does security-checks of everyone entering and exiting the building. I rank the security at the research facility a medium at best.”
Taking a deep breath and scratching his chin, he said, “The real problem is with the prison. It’s your standard maximum-security prison. The area is surrounded by a double 30-foot razor fence, and there are observation towers at every corner—”
“Not to mention the armed patrol vehicles, motion sensor, and the whole nine yards,” Destiny added.
“Going at them head on is a bad idea. We need to attack them from the inside,” Cory suggested.
“Let’s hope we can figure out how to get in,” Adam said, pushing his chair away from the computer and standing. “I’ve downloaded all the information on this USB key for you and Lana. The layout of the prison is on there, but keep in mind it’s from a few years back. They might’ve made modifications to the place. If you guys can go through it more thoroughly, we can meet up again, say three p.m., to discuss what our plan will be.”
“Sounds good, and remember guys, we need to find a way in first, before we start a gunfight,” Destiny added.
Cory and Lana nodded as they journeyed back to their room, leaving Destiny and Adam in the basement to talk. Lana was eager to do her own research, but she faced one problem. Adam had given the USB key to Cory, and she felt awkward asking for it. But she had been looking for a reason to talk to Cory, and now she had one.
“Cory, can I use the USB key? I just want to copy the files onto my computer,” she said, hoping to strike up a conversation.
Cory replied by throwing the USB key toward Lana without looking
- definitely not the response she was hoping for. Stretching out her arms, she caught the key from his careless throw. Lana was sure she would not be able to concentrate in their room with the never-ending awkwardness between the two. Picking up her things, she ventured out, looking for a place to come up with her own plan. The task proved troublesome, Bienaimé’s house had so many rooms and artifacts that Lana kept getting distracted trying to find somewhere to work in.
At last, she stumbled upon a room with an overview of the backyard. The view was perfect. It overlooked Bienaimé’s tennis and basketball courts, pool and garden. Sitting next to the window, she began her research. Opening the files on the USB, she read them one by one. Lana wanted to make sure sh
e knew the blueprint of the facility, and in particular, the prison, as if she had been there a thousand times. Finally, unable to concentrate any longer from sheer exhaustion, she took a break to admire the backyard.
I wonder if this is the kind of view Grandma has. Can’t believe I haven’t seen her new place yet. I bet it’s just as nice as this one. Without thinking, Lana reached for her phone and called her grandmother.
“Hello, darling!” Lana’s grandmother answered, with obvious excitement.
“Wow, Grandma, you sound so excited.”
“I haven’t heard from my grandchild in a very long time. I miss her voice.”
“Sorry, there’s a lot going on here,” Lana said, ashamed that she’d neglected her grandmother this way.
“Well then, fill me in,” the older woman insisted.
“I’m not in the mood to do a lot of filling in… Hey, do you think I can come stay with you when I’m done with everything here?” Lana said with melancholy in her voice.
“You’re always welcome here, you know that. But you’ve always turned down my invitations. What’s happened with you and Cory?” her grandmother asked, having picked up, as always, on her granddaughter’s behavior and temperament.
“I’d rather not talk about it, Grandma. Can’t we talk about the weather or something else, please?”
“No young lady, you tell me what’s going on right now. You sound defeated. What’s wrong? What happened?” Lana’s grandmother’s tone shifted from being nonchalant to a fierce lioness, ready to protect her cub.
After a few seconds of hesitation and looking up at the ceiling and trying not to cry, Lana broke down. Her voice cracked as she spoke, “I made a stupid mistake, and I admitted it to Cory, and now he hates me.”
She couldn’t compose herself. She wished for nothing more than to lay her head on her grandmother’s lap and cry until her tears ran out.
“What did you do? Take a deep breath, then go over the events clearly, darling,” Her grandmother said gently, wanting to hear all the details before giving advice.
“Okay, so Cory and I always fought. It was so hostile all the time. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. I couldn’t remember the last time I had genuinely enjoyed myself.” Lana stopped, sniffed, and then dabbed her eyes before continuing. “So when I was having fun with Doug, I got carried away and ended up kissing him. After I realized what I had done, I told him to stop and pushed him off me. Then Cory came…”
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