I look up and my heart drops at the stricken look on Bea’s face as she runs toward us. She shakes her head, and then her whole body’s trembling, and she mutters Mila’s name over and over again.
I turn back to Rahn. “We need to go now.”
“She’ll have tasted an augmenter; she won’t be the same. And we’ll be riskin’ ourselves, our own lives,” Rahn says.
I stare at him. Can’t believe what he’s saying. “We are not leaving her. We never do that—not when we can get there before she’s fully converted, not when there’s still a chance.”
Rahn’s nostrils flare, and the sun bounces off his glasses.
“I’m coming,” Bea says, and her words surprise me—she’s never been on a rescue before. She must see the look of shock on my face, because she then says, “I look after her! She’s my responsibility. And why did you take her out that far? That’s dangerous—she needs protecting.”
“I didn’t take her,” I say. “She wasn’t supposed to be there!”
“No.” Rahn stamps his foot. “We ain’t havin’ Bea come with us. If it was any other person, I’d say yes, but she ain’t right in the head. She’d just—”
“How dare you!” I scream at him. “She’s a person. You can’t talk to her like that. Hell, you aren’t even talking to her! She’s right here!” I point at Bea. “A person, Rahn. An actual person.” I look at Bea. “And you’re right, we need you. You’re coming with us.”
“Good,” Bea says. “I’m getting my sister back, Rahn. I’m going to be there for her.”
I nod and look at Finn. “Get me a gun.”
“But they’re in Rahn’s hut.”
“I don’t care. Get me one.”
Finn doesn’t move.
“Already on it,” Yani shouts, and he’s running back, ignoring Rahn shouting at him.
Then Rahn turns to me. “If you insist on goin’ on this mission, you ain’t takin’ any of us—”
“What the hell?” Corin exclaims. “We always go—no matter what.” He looks at me. “So, you’ve got me and Bea. Who else do you want?”
I’m breathing hard, and it takes me a moment to think. I need the best shots, but also people who are good under pressure and won’t panic when it comes to the Enhanced. The people who go on rescues. “Kayden, Esther, Sajo.” I pause, bring a hand to my face, look at everyone else. If we end up splitting up, then people might have to run. Need the best runners too. That’s me and… “Seven.” She can run faster than me.
I scan the rest of the villagers. Five’s eyes beg me not to choose her. I know she hates drama like this, she locks up, can’t think. Rarely goes on raids because of it. She’s a liability.
“I’m coming,” Finn says. He points at Sajo. “I’m just as good a shot as my dad.”
I nod. I particularly want Sajo as he looks formidable. He’s muscular—the complete opposite build to his lanky son. I’m confident Sajo will be able to intimidate the Enhanced Ones just by looking at them, if needed. Finn, on the other hand, won’t—but we need numbers, and he’s decent with a gun. Even if he’s whiny and petulant most of the time.
“What about Yani?” I look back toward Rahn’s hut, but he hasn’t yet re-emerged with a gun.
“No, not Yani,” Rahn says. “That’s already eight—nine includin’ me. And we need people here.”
“You’re not coming,” Corin blurts out.
“The hell I’m not! I’m your leader. If we have to rescue that damn girl then I’m sure as hell comin’,” he says. “Three, you stay on the radio. If you hear that we’ve been caught, then—” He turns, points at one of the men. “Alan, you’ll lead a team out for us, with Paul and Yani as backup. And you’re in charge of the village when we’re out—”
“We need to go,” I shout. “We can’t miss the interception.”
“Fine,” Rahn yells. “Get your stuff and get in the truck.”
We pile into one of the blue pickups, the one that has the nearly full fuel tank—me, Rahn, and Corin in the cab, everyone else in the back. I hold a Luger, and it makes me feel better. We also have most of the weapons and all the sunglasses our village has. We turn on one of the foxhole radios, and Corin tries to tune it in, but he’s unsuccessful. I look at the space on the dash where the truck’s own radio should be, but there’s just a big hole: the Enhanced don’t keep permanent radios in their trucks any longer, not when there’s a chance we can steal one.
Rahn drives. He nearly always drives during rescue missions, there and back. Says that he’s the only one who can keep calm enough during these times and be trusted to drive safely.
“Go faster!” I lean forward, peering through the windscreen, but it’s dirty. Marks cover it, and it makes it harder to see.
Corin grabs a compass from the glove compartment, as well as the map we keep in here. It’s old and not very detailed, but it will do. In blue circles, someone’s marked the places where we normally enter New Kimearo when we’re raiding.
“Where were you when they ambushed you?” Corin asks.
I peer at the map. It takes me a few moments. “There.”
He reads out the co-ordinates, and Rahn grunts.
“Then they’re going to run back that way, straight along that bit—parallel to that valley,” Corin says. “The land is flatter there—easier terrain and the quickest way. So they should get to the town from this angle—oh shit.”
“What?” I stare at him.
Corin frowns. Jagged sunlight dives onto his face, highlights the sunburnt patches. “We’re not going to get there in time. We’re miles from it—and if they were traveling at a normal running speed while you were running back to Nbutai, they’d have a shorter distance than you. They’ll be near that point now, or even ahead of it. They could already be at New Kimearo if they took the right augmenters or had a vehicle anywhere on the route.” He indicates a point on the map with his thumb. “And we’re here.”
Miles away. I stare at the map, can’t make sense of it, then look in the rear-view mirror. Stretching up at an angle, I can just about see Bea sitting in the truck bed. She’s got her noise-canceling ear defenders on, and I think she’s counting under her breath.
“You sure we’re too late to intercept? We’re going to get to that point in, what, fifteen minutes?”
Corin shakes his head and pushes his sleeves up—he’s wearing black, like we always do on a rescue. “Won’t be quick enough. My guess is they’ll have her in the compound when we get to the interception point.”
I curse under my breath and drum my fingers against my thighs. “Look out for Elf,” I say.
“What?”
“Elf’s following them. If he’s already there when we get to that point,” I say, pointing at the map, “we’ll know we’re too late for an interception, and we’ll do an extraction.”
Rahn slows the engine. “If we’re too late, we should cut our losses and go home.”
“No. If we are too late, it becomes a rescue mission from the compound,” Corin says. “We’ll get her. And we can’t go back to Nbutai now anyway, Elf’s still out there.”
“Rahn, drive faster.”
We get to the interception point. I look around, heart pounding, trying to see Mila and the Enhanced Ones. Or Elf.
But there’s no sign of anyone.
Rahn revs the engine, mutters something under his breath.
I look in the rear-view mirror, see the others are looking too. Bea’s taken her headphones off—a good call. She can’t wear those during the actual mission. Hearing is important.
I breathe deeply and beg for Elf or the Enhanced with Mila to come into sight. But I can’t see anyone. It’s just quiet. Elf wouldn’t go any nearer to New Kimearo than this, would he?
“What do you want to do?” Corin looks at me.
“I decide what to do,” Rahn says, but we both ignore him.
I weigh up the options as quickly as I can. “How far ahead of us could the Enhanced be if they’re not at New Kimearo yet, if they didn�
��t have a vehicle?”
Corin shrugs. “Hard to say. Ten minutes? But they probably are at the town already. The conversion could’ve started.”
I look at the radio. We managed to get a good signal. No captures or conversions have been announced. But I know that sometimes the capture announcements can be delayed by hours.
“Right. Rescue mission it is then,” I say.
“No,” Rahn says. “That’s my call. Not yours. And Elf’s not here. If he’s followin’ them, and he’s not here, then they’ve obviously not got here yet.”
I shake my head, grimacing. “Doesn’t mean that. He could’ve got caught too, or hurt. Or he wasn’t able to keep up if they’ve got a vehicle.”
“Rushing into a rescue mission is a mistake,” Rahn says. “We’re not doing it.”
I grit my teeth for a moment. “You’re just pissed off that we overrode you.”
Rahn growls. “I put the welfare of my people first always.”
“Then we’re going in.” My voice is hard.
Rahn snarls. “We have to prepare for rescue missions. Discuss tactics. We can’t go barging in. And we—”
“Right,” I say. “Here’s the plan. Just drive there. We split up, go in there in three groups of three or four. I’ll lead a group. Corin you lead one. And—
“And I will,” Rahn says. He moves the vehicle forward. Then he lowers his voice. “And you two would do well to remember who’s the leader here.”
“Right. Whatever.” I flex my fingers, then point ahead, ignoring Rahn’s splutterings.
I can see the edge of the town now. New Kimearo. Stone buildings and dark blocks rising out of the sand. The town is in a wide valley of the Titian Mountains, and, on the other side of the buildings, I can just about make out the murky shapes of the other smaller mountains, rising behind it.
Mila is in there. My sister. Somewhere in that matrix of stone buildings, my sister is there already.
About to be converted.
“Who do you want in your team?” Corin asks me.
Rahn clears his throat. “I decide the teams.”
“No. This is Keelie’s mission. Keelie, who do you want?”
Rahn growls.
I think quickly. “Sajo and Seven and Bea.”
“Of course you’d say Bea. She’s your sister. You don’t really—”
“She’s the best at navigating,” I shoot back. “You know the compound map you drew up? She learned it off by heart.” It’s something we all should’ve done, and some of us tried, but Bea’s better at it. The same as our aunt, Ramna. “And Bea’s closest to Mila. If Mila’s already being brainwashed, seeing Bea might help her.”
I catch Rahn’s eyebrows lifting above his glasses in the mirror.
“I’ll lead the extraction,” I continue. It has to be me who gets Mila back. I have to do it. She was taken because of me. Because I told Elf and Five about Red. I have to get her back. I have to prove to everyone that I don’t give up on my family.
“You want me to lead the distraction?” Corin asks.
I nod. The distraction for a rescue is arguably the most dangerous part: Corin’s team will have to intentionally draw many Enhanced to them, away from the conversion compound—and the most effective way to do that is to use themselves as bait, revealing their Untamed natures to instigate a chase, and then evade capture.
“I want Kayden and Esther with me,” Corin says.
“I’ll be the backup then, with Finn.” Rahn does not sound happy, and I half expect him to challenge me. “For whichever team needs it—if it’s needed.” He hands me and Corin two distress flares each—not that we ever use them. Purple is a request for help, and red is a signal for everyone to abandon the mission and retreat. “But if Mila’s already converted, we cut our losses. Just like always.”
“No—we only cut our losses after a week,” I say. “We’re getting her out, no matter what.” I shoot him a dangerous look, daring him to say more—to treat Mila differently to any other person who’s been taken.
But he looks straight ahead and then stops the truck in one of our usual spaces where we park during raids and missions, under the shade of some thick vegetation. We jump out of the cab, and make sure we’ve all got our dark glasses on to hide our Untamed eyes. I check Bea’s okay, and she gives me a quick nod.
Energy buzzes through me now, but it’s nervous energy. We update the rest of our group on the plan, and Seven, Bea, and Sajo stand next to me. Seven’s tall, and I stare at our shadows on the ground, stretching out. She doesn’t say anything. Neither does Kayden. Bea fiddles with our mother’s necklace. I want to reach out and squeeze her hand, but I know she doesn’t like being touched a lot of the time. Even by me.
Everyone else is talking. Rahn’s going through the lessons. The lessons that we all know off by heart.
You can never outrun the Enhanced Ones. They are better, faster, and stronger than you… Don’t ever lead the Enhanced Ones toward the village… They deserve to die, each and every one of them… Never let yourself be Enhanced. Once it’s done, there’s no going back….
That last one doesn’t make me feel any better about this, about Mila. She’ll be Enhanced by now. Never be the same again. But there’s still time to save her—I know there is. She hasn’t been Enhanced for long.
But what if she’s pretty much converted after only first taste? What if the whole conversion doesn’t take days, but hours?
No. She won’t be like that. It can happen, yes, but it’s rare. Very rare. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have the seven-day rule. Most people can be saved during that time—even if they’re never really quite the same person again.
I grit my teeth. We have to get Mila back. We will. And I hold onto it. Mila won’t be brainwashed easily, because she’s got the same fighting spirit we all have.
“After an hour, I want you leavin’ and makin’ your way back out here anyway,” Rahn says. “Whether we’ve got her or not. Keep the radio tuned in if you can. If you hear that anyone’s been caught, tell the others as soon as possible—without the flares, unless they’re needed.” Rahn grunts. “Any trouble, you follow the lessons. Preservation is key. Don’t risk yourselves. We’re better comin’ back without Mila, than without ourselves.”
“We need to go,” I say. I look at Bea, Seven, and Sajo. “Come on. We’re going to the conversion compound. Corin, get ready to distract. Rahn, be ready on backup.”
Corin nods, half smiles. I don’t know how he can be so confident; everyone knows it’s those in the distraction team who are in the most danger. They’re the ones drawing attention to themselves. But they’re also the ones with the most weapons. And weapons are good, I remind myself. The Enhanced won’t touch them, not when they’ve got weapons.
“I can get us in through the alley by the pharmacy,” Corin says. “There’s a direct path connecting that building to the conversion compound, and they’ll take it. Is that far enough?”
I think as fast as I can, trying to remember the layout. But I know Bea will have that sorted. “Yes. Give my team ten minutes to get in place once we’re in the town, then start.”
Corin nods.
“I’ll take my team to the pharmacy then—we can infiltrate the top floor and there’s a good vantage point from there,” Rahn says, and Finn sniggers—probably at Rahn’s use of team. “I’ll be able to see if any more Enhanced head for the conversion compound, and I’ll create a second distraction if needed.” He doesn’t look thrilled at that though.
I smile. “Let’s do this.”
We set off, my team going first. Corin leads his team to the right, and Rahn and Finn follow a moment later. I push my foxhole radio into my survival bag. It’s one of the bulkier ones, but it’s got the longest earpiece, so I’m able to leave that poking out. I should be able to listen to it quickly and check the broadcasts if needed—and if it works.
It doesn’t take my team long to reach New Kimearo, and, within a few seconds, we’re among the stone bloc
ks. I make sure all our glasses are on firmly and that our weapons are hidden—that would be a big giveaway that we’re Untamed. The Enhanced don’t carry weapons.
We head for the compound that we know the Enhanced use for the conversions. It’s the biggest building, stone, and it’s on one of the edges of the town, but I lead us through a back route, so we approach from the opposite direction. They’re less likely to suspect that we’re Untamed if we approach from the heart of New Kimearo.
We walk through the official gates into the conversion area. Bea keeps close to my side, and I glance at her, intermittently. She’s never been on a rescue before.
The compound is ahead of us: lots of blocks with connecting bridges and balconies.
“Act confidently,” I say. “If we act like we’re supposed to be here, we’re less likely to be questioned.”
Careful and confident.
And we need to get as close as we can and be ready to act quickly before Corin’s team starts the distraction. We’ll likely only have a few minutes, and, the closer we are to Mila’s location, the better.
Heart pounding, I lead us around the side. We get to a small, open courtyard. There’s a door straight ahead. We go inside. My hand is by my side, ready to grab my Luger if necessary, though it would be a last resort—only if we’re recognized as Untamed.
But there’s no one inside. The air is cool and refreshing.
“Conversion rooms should be that way,” Bea says, pointing at the open doors in front of us. “I wrote down everything that everyone describes from raids and other rescues. That potted plant with the yellow ceramic pot next to the glass, I remember Yani saying about that before, that the conversion rooms were next to them.”
“Okay,” I say after a moment. “There’s going to be Enhanced in there. We’ll wait for the distraction.”
We find hiding places and wait.
Two minutes later, a gunshot sounds.
About ten Enhanced Ones race out of the building. They’re drawn to sounds of violence, because they know those sounds indicate that their prey is in the town.
We wait a moment longer, then we head over to where Bea said the conversion rooms will be. She’s right. Inside each one, I see restraining beds and tables with huge cabinets next to them.
A Dangerous Game Page 18