by T. R. Graves
* * *
Two hours later, we landed on a helipad that seemed bigger than the Coxes' house. There was no way it would be hidden from the people searching for us. They'd instantly suspect it was where we'd landed and de-droned.
"Where are we, Dad?" I asked.
Dad smiled and said, "Your mom and I have been building her dream laboratory and my dream SNP headquarters for years and years. This is it. I'll take you on a tour, but first we need to tend to our wounded. Your mother will need you and Thorne," Dad said.
My head bobbed up and down. I was more than willing to help treat all of the people who'd been injured during our escape.
As soon as the drone door opened, we were met with three stretchers and a large cage big enough to fit all of the panthers comfortably.
Those of us who could walk got out of the way of the people there to lift Sean onto one of the awaiting stretchers. Dad and Jayden waved away their own stretchers until they heard, "Both of you get on those now, and don't give these nice people a hard time." Mom yelled from a door that looked like it opened up from nowhere within the forest's edge.
Dad grinned wide when he saw her running toward him, sporting her own grin. When they came together, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her from the ground, kissing her long enough and hard enough to make us all look away.
"Put me down, Sam. You're embarrassing our daughter, and I think your shirt is bloody," Mom said, slapping Dad's chest.
As soon as he dropped her, she stepped around him and grabbed me into her arms, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, and the tip of my nose like she was afraid we'd never see each other again. After everything I'd been through, I didn't care that I was too old to be kissed like a toddler. I only cared that I was back together with my family… that my family was as safe as they could be.
When she'd finished showering me with affection, she turned toward Jayden and offered him a glance that held within it every ounce of appreciation and admiration she had for him. Then she reached out her hand and pulled him toward the two of us.
"Jayden… I can't thank you enough for keeping them safe. For the rest of my life, you'll be my hero," she swore, giving him his own kiss on the cheek.
Jayden's face burned bright. He wasn't used to getting this type of praise.
"I didn't do anything special," Jayden claimed.
With my own kiss to his cheek, I said, "That's not true and you know it. Now let's go. I'll take care of you, Thorne'll take care of Dad, and Mom'll take care of Sean."
Jayden winked at me. "Deal."
Following Mom, the stretchers, and the big cats, Thorne, Rorie, Simon, and I went through the magical door. It ended up being the entrance into an elevator that took us deep within the earth to a bunker that would keep us safe even if World War III took out the rest of the planet.
While we waited for the elevator to be filled, I saw the helipad flicker out and turn back into the forest floor it should be. When the doors of the elevator closed, we were blanketed in darkness as it plunged downward. When they reopened, we were met by a state of the art facility that had people bustling everywhere, typing away on computers, and monitoring images that made little sense to me.
They all looked up and saluted Dad, who was lying back on his stretcher. They did the same thing when Jayden, who was sitting on the side of his stretcher, passed by them. Then a girl a little older than me stood and began clapping. A heartbeat later, the entire team of people who'd been working at computers, talking on phones, and rushing from here to there just seconds before was standing and clapping.
Jayden grinned sheepishly and waved at them to stop. Instead, the clapping got louder and went on until we made it into our very own elevator (Mom, Sean, and Simon got the first one and Dad, Thorne, and Rorie disappeared onto the second, the panthers on the third) and the doors closed behind us.
"It seems like you're a well-known figure around here," I suggested.
Jayden shrugged. "I'll tell you everything after I get this gunshot wound taken care of and I've rested."
"You bet your bottom dollar you will. We have some talking to do, and don't think you're going to get out of it either. I'll take care of you, and I'll let you rest. Then it's you and me. Understand?"
Jayden smiled and said, "You got it, babe."
I leaned over and kissed him on his lips. I'd only planned on a quick peck, but Jayden had other plans. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto the stretcher with him, kissing me as thoroughly as Dad had kissed Mom.
"I love you," he croaked around our kiss.
"I love you, too," I said raggedly.