‘You’re impossible,’ I groan.
‘Impossibly awesome that is.’
I let out a laugh and a sense of rightness fills me. It feels good to have our old friendship back, even if it’s not exactly what Hunter would have liked. I’m glad I haven’t lost him.
I look ahead to the rest of our group and the smile on my face lowers as I consider them. There are so many people that I care about—too many people, and we’re all in constant danger. Why do I feel like there’s no way we’ll all make it out of this alive?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Copper barrels into me as we walk down the steps to the station. The concourse is dark with deep shadows crawling up the pillars and masking the empty ticketing booths. It’s late and there’s not a person to be seen, but I get the feeling Copper knew we were coming.
The dog’s long tongue licks the side of my face in one big motion. He’s so happy to see me again, but the excitement wanes once he knows that I’m okay. He walks off in a huff as if he wants to teach me a lesson for leaving him this way.
‘You have a dog?’ Quinn squeals, when she sees him. Her voice is loud and echoes in the deserted station.
Soren shoots her a dark glare and she scowls back at him in return. She leans in close to my ear. ‘You have a dog?’ she repeats, in an excited whisper.
‘His name is Copper.’
She grins as she watches him and can barely contain her excitement as she walks over to the corner he’s sitting in and pats him.
Aiden touches my elbow. ‘Let me strap your ankle for you.’ He leads me over to one of the metal bucket chairs near the staff entrance. I take a seat while he goes to the security office in search of a bandage.
My eyes are drooping as I wait, and I slouch further into the chair, struggling to keep myself upright. Aiden returns with a bandage in his hand, and proceeds to strap it around my ankle.
‘I know we iced it on the helicopter, but I need you to do it again for fifteen minutes every two hours. Try not to walk on it too much and keep the ankle elevated,’ he says, as he’s finishing up.
I smile up at him. Seems like my talent to create ice will come in handy for once. ‘Thanks Aiden.’
‘It’s my pleasure. Can you bring Quinn and Adam to the clinic in the morning? I need to monitor them,’ he asks.
‘Sure thing,’ I say, stifling a yawn. Now that we’re home, my exhaustion has hit me hard and I can barely keep my eyes open.
‘Let’s get you to bed,’ Sebastian says, walking over as he sees me attempt to stand. He places his arm around my waist and helps me up. ‘You look ready to collapse.’
‘No kidding,’ I respond. I want to stay awake to debrief M, but with the pain from my injury and my exhaustion I know I’ll be of no help.
Sebastian helps me down to the tunnels and along the track to the carriage I sleep in. It’s slow going, especially on the stairs, but my ankle does feel a lot better now it has been strapped.
As I reach for the carriage door handle I hear footsteps in the tunnel. I look over my shoulder and see April appearing out of the darkness, trailing along the side of the train towards us.
‘You’re back,’ she says, relief evident in her eyes. She catches Sebastian up in a hug then proceeds to give me one. She’s squeezes me tightly, and I can tell how relieved she’s feeling.
‘Not everyone’s back,’ Sebastian says. ‘There were recruiters there. We fought them off and told the people in the ARC everything.’ He pauses and glances at me before continuing. ‘Dalton didn’t make it though. They killed him.’
‘He’s dead?’ April’s eyes widen and she looks down at her feet for a moment. She roughly wipes her eyes, and when she looks up again her face has hardened. I can still see her eyes are glistening with tears though. ‘We need to wake M up. He’ll want to know.’
‘Yes, we need to talk to him as soon as possible,’ Sebastian agrees. His face lights up as he goes on. ‘There’s someone else here you’ll want to see.’
She raises one eyebrow and I smile at her warmly. She’s going to be so happy to see her dad again. I would love to see her face when they are reunited, but I really need to rest. I give Sebastian a nudge. ‘I can find my bed from here. You should go with her.’
‘You sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure.’ I stifle yet another yawn. ‘I’ll see you both in the morning.’
I stagger into the carriage, exhaustion making even the simplest task an effort. I close the door behind me and, fully dressed, I collapse down onto the bed. My head has barely hit the pillow when I fall asleep.
‘Elle! Elle! Wake up!’
‘What?’ I groan, struggling to open my eyes. It feels like mere moments ago that I closed my eyes and went to sleep. My vision is hazy and it takes me a moment to recognise Quinn standing over me. A lamp lights her face, which is filled with such fear that I feel like I’ve been doused in a cold bucket of water.
‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, sitting up.
‘We have to leave.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Recruiters were spotted by a lookout, and the man in charge, M, thinks they tracked us back here.’
‘And he wants us to leave now?’
She nods her head vigorously.
I slowly push myself to stand up. My leg is still shaky beneath me and pain shoots up through my calf whenever I lean on it too heavily. Quinn reaches out and grasps my arm until I can steady myself by curling one hand around the back of a seat.
‘There’s a bag of my things in the corner,’ I say, quickly and quietly.
She heads for the corner of the carriage and slings the bag over her back. ‘Anything else?’
‘I need to go get someone.’
‘Who?’
‘Kelsey. She’ll be just a few carriages down with Mia.’
I open the door and find Sebastian reaching out to grasp the handle. Kelsey is already in his arms and rubbing her eyes tiredly.
‘You’re back,’ she says, smiling.
I manage a grin for her. ‘Of course I’m back. I missed you.’
‘I missed you too,’ she says.
‘You ready?’ Sebastian asks.
There’s no worry in his stance, just sheer determination. I give him a nod and try to appear a little less concerned. ‘Yeah, we’re ready.’
We make our way along the train tracks to the platform where people are slowly gathering. Sebastian has his hands full with Kelsey, so Quinn helps me climb up off the tracks.
The people already waiting on the platform seem confused and lost. There’s a tired tension to the air and, though everyone is exhausted, there is fear painted clearly across their faces. Sebastian winds his way through the crowd to one of the walls where his dad is already standing. Quinn and I follow him closely, and I try hard not to bump people as I stagger past.
‘I can’t believe we’re being driven out again,’ I say. As much as I dislike living underground, I hate the idea of picking up our lives to leave again.
‘We shouldn’t be,’ Sebastian says, taking care to keep his voice low. ‘We need to be facing Joseph, not running away from him.’
I nod with him, but don’t feel as certain of his words as he does. People will get hurt if we confront Joseph and I don’t want to lose anyone else.
M walks down the steps to the platform and the people gathered fall silent. He falls into place next to April, who is standing several steps up so the crowd can clearly see them.
‘What’s going on M?’ Thatch raises his voice to be heard over the soft chatter.
M clears his throat. ‘Recruiters have been spotted nearby and our location has been compromised. I believe the group followed some of our members here. There are still a couple out there watching the station, but they have sent others back for reinforcements. We need to leave before they return with an army to take us down.’
The words are barely out of his mouth when whispers and mutters start shooting around the room. People are clearly scared, but
aren’t happy to be leaving again. I don’t blame them.
‘Surely there’s another way,’ Thatch says.
M hesitates before he continues. ‘I’m afraid not. We can’t risk a reoccurrence of what happened at the last camp.’
‘This isn’t right!’ Luke says, his voice carrying from the back of the platform. ‘We can’t keep hiding.’ For once I find myself agreeing with him. Are we really going to move every time Joseph’s recruiters find us?
‘It’s time we did something about Joseph,’ Sebastian adds, causing heads to turn and look at him as he stands beside me. There are mutters of agreement through the crowd. We’ve been hiding for long enough and everyone knows it.
M faces the rest of our group and lifts his hands up, calling for us to quieten down. ‘The recruiters will attack us here with all their strength, and I will not have a repeat of what happened last time.’
‘Then we set a trap,’ I say, surprising myself for actually voicing my opinion aloud in front of all these people.
The room falls quiet and every head turns to look at me. My heart is racing quickly as I look out at all the faces watching me. ‘If we know that Joseph is sending an army of recruiters this way, we need to set a trap for them. While they are distracted here, we attack Headquarters. If we can keep the recruiters occupied here, it will be easier to get to Joseph.’
‘She’s right,’ Hunter says. I catch sight of him across the room. His eyes are bright with defiance and there’s a deadly look to them as he considers the plan. ‘You know how desperately he wants to stop The Movement now, after everything that’s happened. He will send every last recruiter he can spare if he thinks this could be his chance. Joseph has no talent. His power lies in the fear and brutality of his recruiters. Without them he has no way to control the people of Hope.’
‘If we can take away his recruiters he would be powerless and we would have a real chance at finally stopping him,’ I add. ‘We just fought off recruiters in the ARC and won. They know we’re no longer scared, that we won’t sit by and watch them ruin the world we live in anymore. They are waiting outside for reinforcements because they know we won’t go quietly this time.’ I feel confidence building inside me and I know for sure that it is time to act.
‘In the ARC we saw first hand the lengths Joseph is going to in order to advance his evil experiments and maintain his power. We have to stop him now, or it might be too late!’
A cheer of approval goes up through the room. Every voice is in agreement. Every person is keen to finally get the chance to fight for our future. The group turn to M to see how he responds. He appears thoughtful as he considers our words.
‘We may never get another opportunity like this,’ April says to him, keeping her voice low enough that only he can hear. ‘We have to take it.’
He draws himself up tall. ‘You are all right. It’s time we finally dealt with Joseph. He is getting desperate and we will take advantage. The snake is finally exposing its body. Tonight we chop off its head.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
M launches straight into action and doesn’t waste a minute as he puts our plan into motion. Everything feels rushed, and I’m worried this is all happening too quickly, but we don’t have the luxury of time right now. The recruiters could attack the station at any moment and, though M’s plan sounds solid, there are so many things that could go wrong.
I approach the edge of the platform with Sebastian at my side. Kelsey is sleeping contently in his arms, and I chew on my lower lip as I watch her. I don’t want to let her go, but I know she can’t stay here when there’s so much danger.
‘It’s okay Elle, we’ll look after her,’ Quinn says. She’s already down on the tracks with Adam and the others who won’t be staying to fight. Aiden is taking them to the next hideout, so they should be safe. Still, it’s harder than I expected to say goodbye.
We climb down onto the tracks and Sebastian slowly passes Kelsey to Adam, carefully arranging the sleeping girl so she’s comfortable in his arms.
Quinn watches them closely and then turns to me. ‘I wish you would come with us Elle. I only just got you back.’
I give her a sad smile. I wish I could wait in safety for this to be over too, but that’s not who I am anymore. The girl who would hide away in the shadows has been gone for a while now. I could never sit back and allow other people to fight my battles for me.
‘It will be over before you know it.’ I try to reassure her.
‘Are you sure you won’t come with us?’ she asks.
I shake my head and pull her into a tight hug. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow,’ she gives a short laugh. ‘It feels like an eternity away. I’ll miss you.’
‘Me too.’
She pulls back from the hug and looks me in the eye. ‘You’ll be careful, right? I don’t want to hear about some heroic stunt you’ve pulled. If things go wrong and there’s the option between being the girl who stands and fights or the girl who runs. Be the girl who runs.’
‘I’ve always been useless at running,’ I say quietly. ‘You be careful too. You and that cure are too important.’
‘I’ll promise to be safe if you do,’ she says, giving me her best motherly look. ‘I’ve told you once before and I’ll tell you again, this isn’t the end for us.’
‘No, this isn’t the end.’
I’m sad to see Quinn and Adam go, and it tugs at my heart to see Kelsey leaving too, but it’s a weight off my mind to know they’ll all be safe. Copper comes and nuzzles his head against my leg as the group starts to move into the darkness of the tunnel. It’s a small comfort, but it does make me feel better.
I see Mia loitering by the tunnel entrance, watching the group go, and I walk over to her.
‘You’re not going with them?’ I ask.
She shakes her head. ‘I can be helpful here. I want this to be a better world for Amber, and I can’t go and hide when I could be making a difference,’ she replies. ‘Aiden will look after her.’
I nod, knowing exactly how she feels. We both pause as we watch the last of the people leaving disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.
‘We’ll see them again,’ I say.
‘I hope so,’ she replies, her eyes misting with tears.
I reach out and rub her arm. ‘We will,’ I repeat.
The two of us climb back onto the platform. With most of our group gone, it feels eerily quiet and uncomfortably empty here. People are even whispering as they discuss our plan for tonight. Everyone falls completely silent though, when M whistles for our attention.
‘You all know the plan,’ he says. ‘Now, get to your posts.’ His firm order shatters the silence and my heart begins to race. It’s happening. We’re finally doing something about Joseph, and I know deep inside that everything is going to change tonight.
‘Are you ready Elle?’ April says, as she rushes over to me. He eyes drop to look at my leg. ‘How’s your ankle feeling?’
‘It’ll be fine,’ I say. It still hurts to walk on, but Aiden says it’s just a light sprain. I’ve been much more mobile since it was strapped and, as long as I’m not trudging through mud or snow, I think I’ll able to manage okay on my own.
She frowns, looking as though she doesn’t believe me. ‘If it’s causing you trouble or too much pain…’ she hesitates before she continues. ‘If there’s something I can do…’
‘It will be fine,’ I insist.
‘Okay…’ she says, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. ‘Then we better get moving. You head down to the tunnel entrance and check the coast is clear. Any problems, let me know. Otherwise, Luke and I will meet you there soon.’
I nod and turn to make my way to the edge of the platform, but Hunter intercepts me before I can even take a step towards the train tracks.
‘Winters,’ he says, as he approaches. ‘You’re leaving without saying goodbye?
I roll my eyes at him. ‘The team going to Headquarters is leaving via my exit, I�
�ll see you guys in like five minutes.’
‘Five minutes is too long to wait.’ He smirks, but his eyes are troubled and I know it has everything to do with what will happen tonight. My heart lurches inside me as I consider how this is for him. Joseph is his father after all and I can’t imagine this is easy for him.
‘Are you sure you should be going to Headquarters?’ I ask him, before lowering my voice. ‘You know how this ends.’
‘I know how this ends,’ Hunter replies, his face a detached mask. I want to reassure him, but there’s nothing I can say that will help. If things go the way we hope, this won’t end well for Joseph.
I glance at the tunnel. ‘I need to get to my post, but I’ll see you soon.’
He nods, but doesn’t reply. He still has the same haunted look on his face and I worry about how he’s going to cope with tonight. Something tells me that sending him to Headquarters is a bad idea.
I leave Hunter and get down onto the tracks, with Copper right behind me. As I enter the tunnel, cold tingles creep up my spine and I try to keep myself calm. The darkness of the tunnel envelops me and seems to invade my senses. I struggle to contain the nerves I feel churning in my gut as I think about tonight.
Lara and Henry will already be waiting by the front entrance. Their group is essentially acting as bait tonight, luring the recruiters down into the station. Lara had seemed so certain that she could toy with their emotions, making the recruiters unnaturally confident enough to storm the station once they catch sight of her by the entrance. Not only will her group have to lure the recruiters in, they’ll also have to escape through the manhole exit at the other end of the tunnel.
The timing tonight has to be perfect. Once all of the recruiters are down in the station, each of the three teams will cause their entrance to collapse, trapping them in the tunnels. If one entrance blows before the others, the recruiters will realise what’s happening and escape.
My stomach sinks as I think through the plan, and what could potentially go wrong. Our chances of success aren’t high, but it’s better than doing nothing. We just need to buy M and his team going to Headquarters enough time to get to Joseph. Who knows; maybe we can actually pull this off.
Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 23