by Maddie Wade
Lucy shoved her sisters forward and down making them move quickly and keeping low. Lucy brought her wrist to her mouth.
“We have charges being lit to bring down the building on the east side. I have the targets.” She said as she continued to move.
Lucy took the lead and left Zin to have their backs. She raced towards the centre of the building and the labs. Zack, Nate, Liam and Jace were taking some heavy fire over by the second lab. Lucy held up her hand for the others to stop. She crouched down and ran to the other side so that she came up behind the men firing on her teammates.
She and Zin both fired and took out two of the men firing on Jace and Zack. Nate took out the last man with a shot to the chest.
She turned back to her sisters and saw Megan looking pale. What she saw on Lizzie’s face though was the same as what she had seen when she had got her black belt in Jujitsu; pride. Her sister was proud of her. She wished she had time to bask in it, but she didn’t. There was a serious firefight going on over the other side of the building, and they needed to get going.
“Thanks, Luce,” Jace said as he walked out of the lab to her left. He winked at her and even now, he could make her want him.
“Anytime handsome,” she said and smirked.
“We need to stop the woman we saw exit the lab from leaving this building. It may be the scientist or even this Divine One everyone is going on about,” Zack said as he approached Lucy, Zin and her sisters. “Jace and I will go after her, you,” he pointed at her and Zin, “need to get the civilians out now.”
“Copy that boss,” Lucy said. She smiled at Jace as he and Zack took off down the central corridor.
She turned to Lizzie and Megan and was about to speak when the building shook, and a blast took them off their feet. Her ears were ringing, and there was dust filling her mouth as she rolled to her knees and stood.
Her clothes were covered in debris but other than that; she was unhurt. She promptly grabbed up her weapon, which she had dropped and ran to Lizzie and Megan. Zin was already there and seemed none the worse for wear.
She bent and spoke to Lizzie who seemed to be in shock.
“Lizzie, look at me,” she said and grasped her sister’s face, turning it, so she had to look at her. Liz’s eyes wandered and then settled on her.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked and knew she was shouting a little. Liz nodded uncertainly and then more confidently.
“Yes, I… I’m fine,” she said and slowly stood.
Lucy felt relief flood her body, thank God.
“Good let's go,” Lucy swivelled to see Zin lifting Meg to her feet. He was gentle yet firm, ever conscious of the threat around them. She saw Meg limp and cry out as she tried to put weight on her foot.
Zin shook his head and Lucy. “She can’t put any weight on it, you’re gonna need to go in front, and I’ll carry her. Lucy nodded, and he went to lift Megan.
“I can help her; you two need to shoot, don’t you?” Liz asked.
Lucy and Zin exchanged a look. “Can you do it?” Lucy asked.
Lizzie nodded eagerly “You just get us out of here; I’ll help Megan walk.”
They all ducked as the building rumbled again. Someone was trying to level the building one charge at a time.
“Okay let’s go.”
They ran as fast as they could down the hallway the same way that Zack and Jace had gone as rubble now blocked their exit.
A loud explosion sounded further away towards the sleeping quarters and then the lights went out. She could here firing up ahead. She slipped her night vision goggles on so that she could see a little better, although the dust was a huge problem.
Tapping Liz on the shoulder, she indicated for them to wait and motioned for them to sit as they checked out the end of the corridor. Lizzie eased Megan onto the floor and sat next to her.
Lucy looked at her sisters and felt a rush of love for them both. This was how it was meant to be. Lizzie looked up and caught her eye. The love and trust shining in her eyes gutted Lucy in the best way.
Lucy winked at her sisters and blew them a kiss, which made Liz smile before running to catch up with Zin. She crouched and peered round the corner. Five men, shit. The two of them engaged the men, and they returned fire causing her to pull back. She shot one in the chest, and he went down. The next man she clipped on the shoulder, but he was far from out. She saw a door opposite that was recessed and shouted to Zin.
“Cover me.”
Lucy ran for the door, while Zin laid down covering fire. She made herself as small as possible and poked her head out enough to get a better angle on the other three men. She lined up her shot and took the man down with a shot the head. Zin had taken care of the other two and the last the one that she had shot had disappeared through a door at the far end.
Lucy ran back to Zin with a smile. They turned to look at Megan and Lizzie, and Lucy felt her stomach heave. Megan was sprawled out on the floor with a head wound, and Lizzie was gone. She ran to her sister with Zin beside her.
“Meg,” she said and knelt to her baby sister. Pulling back her hair, she could see a bloody wound on her face where she had been hit with the something hard. Her breathing was strong, though, and it looked like a concussion nothing more.
“Luce,” she heard and turned to see Jace and Zack running towards her. “What happened?” Jace demanded as he reached her.
“We were fending off five men and Lizzie and Megan were here. Meg hurt her leg in the explosion and couldn’t walk,” she said in a rush.
Jace grabbed her upper arms and forced her to face him. “Are you okay?” he asked, and she realised he wasn’t accusing her of anything, but that he was worried about her.
“Yes, I’m fine, we need to find Lizzie,”
“Go,” said Zack, “Daniel and Dane are headed this way. They can help me get Megan out, you three go after Lizzie.”
Lucy swallowed down the fear and nodded. They ran back the only way Liz could have been taken, trusting Zack to take care of Meg.
They ran down the long corridor, dodging debris and falling rubble as the building shook again. Rounding the corner, they saw a man running with Lizzie thrown over his shoulder. Her head was bobbing, and she seemed to be unconscious.
Please, God, don’t let it be too late, she thought. They all stopped dead as Smithy stepped out of the room opposite. He saw the man with Lizzie and pointed his weapon at him causing the man to stop. The man turned, and Lucy drew in a breath.
That fucker Michaels! He had her sister and had hurt the other. Lucy went to move, and Jace caught her arm as Smithy spotted them and turned his weapon on them. He seemed confused and tipped his head like a lost puppy.
She, Jace and Zin all held their weapons on the two men. Michaels held a weapon on Lizzie and turned so that he had everyone in his sights. Lucy was going to tear that fuckers throat out with her bare hands when she got near him.
A feeling of rage like nothing she had ever felt filled her gut and fear burned her throat. Smithy turned his weapon back on Michaels and that split second distraction was all it took for Michaels to take his eyes off them, and allow Jace to fire the shot that killed him.
Michaels fell to the floor dropping Lizzie. An almighty explosion hit, knocking them off their feet and threw them back three metres. Lucy hit her head, and it knocked her senseless for a second. Her vision swam, and she struggled to stand before she realised something was pinning her down. She pushed at it and realised it was Zin. As she pushed at him, he started to moan and come around.
“Zin? Jace?” she called and heard Jace answer her.
“Jace are you okay?” she called again. He answered next to her ear.
“I’m okay baby, are you okay?” he asked as he helped her to stand. Zin stood and rubbed his head, a bloody gash on his forehead.
They all turned towards where Lizzie had been and for a split second just stared. Lucy screamed and ran towards the pile of rubble that used to be the west wing of the building. There w
as nothing but rock on top of rock. Lucy jumped up and started clawing at it with her bare hands, her fingernails tearing as she tried to dig away the tonnes of rock.
She felt wet on her cheeks and brushed it away. No, no, no! This wasn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She felt Jace try to pull her away and started shrieking and kicking out as he hugged her and pinned her arms.
“No, Jace no. I have to get to her she could be hurt,” she cried as she struggled to free her arms so that she could get to Lizzie.
“Luce, baby,” he spoke in her ear, and the sound of his voice brought her back to herself. “The building is collapsing, we need to move,” he turned her and held her face in his hands as hot tears slid down her cheeks.
“Babe,” he said in a heartbroken voice, “We’ll come back for her I promise,” She nodded and let Jace and Zin lead her out of the crumbling building, the whole time looking back to where she had last seen Lizzie.
Her brain could hardly compute enough to put one foot in front of the other. She kept looking behind her hoping to see Lizzie shouting at her to wait for her. But she didn’t.
Pushing through a door to the outside, they were immediately confronted by Dane. He grabbed her from Jace and crushed her to him, before thrusting her away.
“Lizzie?” he asked in a grave voice. All she could do was sob and shake her head. She clutched his shirt and sobbed as her brother let out the most heart-breaking sound she had ever heard. He sounded like a wounded animal, and she cried harder.
She felt Dane’s legs give way and as he went to his knees, she felt arms embrace them. She opened her eyes and saw Jace, Daniel and Nate surrounding them and holding them up as they fell apart.
She would learn later that, Zack, Liam, Zin and all of Zenobi had protected them from harm. A circle of love and loyalty had formed that night that would never be broken.
Chapter Thirty
She walked around in a fog. Everywhere she turned was crumpled rock and stone. Her heart was broken and she didn’t think it would ever be whole again. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she tried to hold the pain in.
They had dug for hours and nothing. There was no sign. Everyone had moved rocks and mortar by hand never giving up. Zack had brought in a specialist search and rescue team, but it had been three days now, and there was no sign of life.
Each time the cadaver dogs had signalled something she had wanted to be sick, and each time they had pulled out a body that wasn’t her sister. The first three times Jace had caught her as she collapsed in relief.
People came and went, and she tried to force food down a throat that was closed in grief. Dane had left with Daniel and Megan yesterday. He was as broken as she was and he needed to be with Lauren. Lucy hadn’t really spoken to Megan. Her grief was too raw, and she didn’t know what to say to her.
The search and rescue team had finally told them that nobody could have survived three days under that amount of rock. The thermal imaging was picking up no signs of life either.
She walked aimlessly to the place where she had seen her sister last and sat down on the cold, hard stone. She tried to remember what the last thing her sister said to her was and she couldn’t remember.
She heard Jace rather than saw him as he sat next to her. He didn’t touch her but stayed close offering his support. Her arms were linked around her bent knees as lay her head on them.
How would she look Matty in the eye, knowing she hadn’t saved his mother. The thought of him losing his mother like he had hit her and she broke, her dry sobs shaking her frame. Jace pulled her into his arms and held her while she cried tears of a loss and desolation.
When she was done, he kissed her hair and held her until the sun set and they were the only ones left. She stood on shaky legs and turned to the night sky. She hoped her mum and Lizzie had found each other.
“Goodnight Liz,” she whispered, “give mum a kiss for me.” She let Jace take her hand as they walked back to the car. Never had she believed she could love him more, but she did. Without Jace these last few days she wouldn’t have had the strength to breathe in and out.
It was time to go and face her dad!
~~~
Jace held the woman he loved as she said goodbye to the sister she adored. Her pain was tangible, and he didn’t think he had ever felt anything quite so gut wrenching. Watching her these last three days had been the hardest thing he had ever done.
Her beauty and strength were amazing. Every time they had found another body she had gone pale but had faced it with strength and dignity. Yes, she’d cried, but that was strength as far as he was concerned.
Her obvious love for Lizzie was open for anyone to see. She didn’t hide her grief, she embraced it let it out, and at the same time, he knew she let go of the grief and guilt she held for her mother's death.
Michaels body had been pulled from the wreckage, and she hadn’t reacted, but Dane had lost it and had to be pulled away. Smithy was presumed dead like Lizzie, and he knew he would never forget the confused, scared look on his friends face as he wrestled with whatever they had done to him. He hoped that wherever he was now, he was free. As far as Jace was concerned, he was just another victim of the Divine Watchers.
The scientist had gotten away and so had the Divine One who it seemed had also been on site. It had been a shock to realise that the Divine One was the woman who had brought Megan up. He regretted they hadn’t detained them, but he would grant them a life on a private beach if it would bring Lizzie and Smithy back.
~~~
They had been back in Hereford for two weeks. The mood was sombre amongst the team. Nobody could seem to move past the heavy veil of grief that surrounded them. Dane and Lucy were both still working.
Lucy and Jace had spent some time with Colin. The reunion between Megan and Colin had been heart-rending. Colin was devastated at the loss of Lizzie and overwhelmed with joy to get to hold Megan in his arms again.
Megan for her part seemed lost. The love being thrown her way was too much. She felt guilty for Lizzie and troubled by the role she felt she had played. That people she had spent her whole life with could cause this sort of pain was too much for her.
She felt comfortable around Dane and Lauren though, so it was agreed she would stay there. Dane was warm towards her but held back, in part because of Lizzie, but in part because he didn’t have it in him at that time to be anything else. Walls were up to protect very damaged hearts. The only good thing was that the Divine Watchers hadn’t touched Meg, except to take blood. The relief at finding out he wasn’t going to be a father to anyone else’s baby except the ones he and Lucy decided to make in the future, nearly buckled his legs.
He and Lucy just held each other long into the night, most nights using their bodies to ease the hurt. He missed Smithy and always would; he had been a good friend, a good man and what had happened at the end of his life would not pollute that memory.
He curled his body round Lucy, as she let out a strangled cry in her sleep. She had been doing that since they returned. Stroking her back, he whispered in her ear softly, and she settled. He had heard her dreams one night and the torment and distress he had felt nearly did him in.
He was not prone to tears, but her suffering and watching people he cared about suffering was so hard. His hand shook as he rolled to his back, keeping his one hand in Lucy’s. His touch seemed to soothed her. He looked at the ceiling and wondered what he could do to get her through this. He was with her all the time, and it didn’t feel enough.
Jace stayed up long into the night wishing things could be different.
~~~
Lucy sat around the conference room table as Zack briefed the team. The wreckage had been cleared, and the bodies of Lizzie and Smithy had not been found. There had been a break-in to the site, and large pieces of rock had been moved around the site of their demise.
Lucy just couldn’t bear to say ‘dead’, or ‘death’. She twirled a lock of her hair tying it in knots, a childhood habit
that she thought she had stopped. So there were no bodies to bury, they hadn’t even afforded them that dignity.
She watched Dane, and he looked like he had aged fifty years. His face was unshaven, he had bags under his eyes and he looked like sleep was a distant memory. She knew how he felt. Sleep for her was not restful or easy to come by. She kept waking with tears running down her face, dreams of Lizzie begging her not to leave her in her head.
She listened as Zack talked about how they believed the Surgeon had been imitating Michaels and allowing him to go free. Someone had tipped the Surgeon off, and he had gotten away.
People were still showing up with symptoms of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and new abilities. Samples that Zack had taken from the lab were being analysed, but it looked like the mind control drug was being used in conjunction with some very disturbing hypnosis.
The other drug that was found was still being evaluated, but it looked like that drug was the one used for the enhancement of abilities. All other human samples had been destroyed, and she for one was glad. The only good news had been hearing that Jace wouldn’t be a father. Jack had also confirmed that a number of terrorist attacks had linked back to The Divine Watchers. Including the attacks on several refineries.
Roz had not confirmed who her asset had been, but it seemed they hadn’t survived and that had made it personal for her. She and Zenobi had left but had said they would be available and they just had to say the word. She had also left a phone number.
Lucy kept zoning out of what was being said and for the first time ever she wasn’t sure if she had the fight left to care. She swung her head towards Jace as she felt him looking at her. He thought she was so strong and brave, but she was a fraud. A broken, weak fraud.
The pain and worry in his Jace’s was horrible, and she hated to know that she was making him worry. She wished she could start to let her grief go and move on but she couldn’t. She wished she could run away from it all and go someplace, to be alone from everyone and everything. Megan was another thing she wanted to run from, she wanted to get to know her, but it felt like such a betrayal of Lizzie. As if she was substituting Megan for Liz. Like buying a new phone when the old one broke.