‘Just a few hours,’ the tips of Dawson’s ears blushed red at the admission. ‘Like most of us, but we’re quick learners and are ready to fight.’
‘You know it's going to be dangerous where we’re going?’ Kit asked.
’The whole country is dangerous,’ Dawson replied. ‘What’s a little more added to the mix?’
Kit couldn’t argue with her and climbed up to the back seat. It was a tight squeeze with space being unforgiving but she placed her headset on and heard Lil and Rook chattering in their own planes.
‘Where are you both?’ Kit asked.
‘Either side of you boss,’ Lil replied and Kit looked to the planes that were flanking her and her heart steadied at the sight of them. Constant and loyal, they never questioned her about her decisions and had come to trust her completely. With that knowledge, Kit was certain her plan was the right one and braced herself as the engine roared into life and they headed for the skies.
Fighter jets moved gracefully through the sky as though they were birds discovering how to fly properly for the first time. As Kit looked out of the window she found herself stop in awe at the sight, people were finally coming together in this fight, and there was finally a chance that they could win. They had managed to create an army, managed to create a force that could counteract their enemy. Now it was just seeing if it was strong enough to beat Hawk.
‘Boss?’ She heard Lil ask. ’There’s someone on the line who want to talk to you.’
‘Evie?’ Kit asked, sudden expectation rising in her heart.
She heard a male voice crackle over the airwaves. ‘Not quite unfortunately,’ Jack said.
‘You?’ Kit asked. ‘Where are you?’
‘Right in the air with you,’ Jack told her. ‘A few planes behind but I’ve got an eye on your tail, don’t worry I’m here to fly with you not against you.’
Kit tried to look round and see him but her view was restricted from her seat. ‘But you betrayed us,’ she said. ‘You were working for Galen the whole time you were with us.’
‘That’s what she wanted you and Evie to believe,’ Jack said. ‘She said those things knowing that Evie would believe she had been betrayed but none of it was true.’
‘And you think I believe you?’
‘You should do boss,’ she heard Canaan reply. ‘He’s done nothing but try and help since we left.’
Kit’s heart kept at the sound of her friend’s voice. ‘Canaan? You’re with him?’
‘Coming up on your left side,’ Canaan said and when Kit looked around she saw the fighter plane pull up alongside them and sure enough saw Canaan’s goofy face waving over to her. She grinned at him.
‘I can’t believe you’re still alive,’ she said.
‘What? You think I’d do something stupid to get myself killed?’ He asked and Kit gave him an incredulous look. ‘Okay, fair enough,’ he said. ‘But Jack ain’t lying, he’s been on our side the whole time, even got help from Ryx in Alto.’
‘Seriously?’ Kit didn’t know if she was more surprised or annoyed. ‘I’ve been trying to work with him for years.’
‘What can I say? Must just be the Fox charm,’ Jack smiled at her and it reminded her of Evie and at that moment any anger she had towards him was softened. The warm glow that she had in her chest whenever she thought of Evie returned and settled her. ‘Speaking of, where is my sister?’
Kit hesitated, not quite knowing how to tell him what had happened. Thankfully Lil stepped in. ‘She’s going to be joining us on the ground,’ she said. ‘We’ll fill you in but right now we need to make sure we can get to Volt in one piece.’
‘Hawk’s going to be sending planes after us the first minute she can,’ Jack said. ‘Your crew got enough ammo to outfly them?’
‘We’re locked and loaded,’ Kit said.
’Then me and our boys will follow your lead,’ Jack told her and that was all Kit needed to forgive him and believe he was fighting on their side.
The first planes from Hawk’s army hit them like a swarm of bees. They had waited till it was the dead of the night appeared as if from nowhere. They were firing everything they had at Kit and her army. Dawson dodged every threat that came their way and lined up shots for Kit to fire. Feeling the rockets launch out from under them was a new type of power Kit hadn’t experienced before. She could see planes on all sides being hit, soldiers who were fighting with her were sparking into orange flames as they were struck and their planes were spiralling to the ground.
‘Lil, Rook, Jack, stay close,’ she ordered and saw their planes fly closer to hers. They flew in formation over the rocky landscape below and shot out at the planes that were firing at them. There was beeping in one of the machines and Dawson looked round with panic in her eyes.
‘There’s one on our tail,’ she said. ‘And we’re down to our last shot.’
There was suddenly a loud crackle over the radio that forced Kit to take off the headpiece. Not now, she thought as pain rippled through her head. The plane launched their weapons at them and Rook’s plane was hit and as it began to fall away Kit saw Lil’s plane go after her and in a second they were all separated.
‘We have to go after them,’ Kit told Dawson.
‘We’re three miles from the border,’ Dawson said. ‘We’ve got enough planes left in the air to make an impact on Volt.’
‘We don’t leave people behind,’ Kit said.
‘I’ll go and find them,’ Jack said. ‘You need to get to Hawk and Evie,’
Kit was torn and there was a split second to make a decision. ‘Okay,’ her mouth was arid and her vision became blurry. ’Stay in contact as much as you can, I’ll get to Evie.’
She watched as his plane veered down to where Rook’s plane had fallen and sweat poured down her brow and her hands began to tremble as she headed back into the heart of Volt.
Chapter Twenty-One
Their plane had been hit and they were losing height. Fast. Freddie was doing his best to fly them to a safe landing but as the speed increased, Evie was holding onto the side of the plane knowing full well that there was going to be a huge impact and they were going to be hurt, badly. They had just made it into the US borders when the strike had hit, they had gotten so close and Evie had almost believed they’d have a safe landing.
Blood tingled through Evie’s veins, she could sense the energy underneath her skin and her instinct was telling her to use it but she was so unsure of how her powers worked she didn’t want to do anything that would make the situation worse, but the situation was as worse as it could get. They had enemy planes closing in on them and firing. They were losing fuel and moments away crashing.
Evie looked over to Freddie who’s hands were gripped onto the wheel, sweat was pouring from his brow and his eyes were frozen in a state of shock. ‘Have you done everything?’ Evie asked as loud as she could over the noise.
When he looked at her, Evie saw the pain and fear in his eyes. ‘I can’t do anything else,’ he told her. ‘We’re…we’re going to die aren’t we?’
Evie knew then that she couldn’t wait, she had to do something to save them as the world came hurtling towards them. ‘Hold on,’ she said as she let go of the side of the plane. Swirls of white energy flowed around her, it tingled against her skin like needles of burning metal but as her mind cleared the energy expanded around her and her vision went blank. She didn’t know what was happening but the motor of the plane began to slow and she felt lighter in her seat. Suddenly there was a crash and a thumping thud to the ground beneath them as the plane made impact. It shuddered as it skidded forward and when Evie opened her eyes she saw rocks heading straight towards them. Her chest was ready to burst and the plane came to a stop. She didn’t dare open her eyes, certain she was dead or had killed everyone on board, she couldn’t move, couldn’t think and could barely breathe.
‘We’re okay,’ she heard Freddie whisper, at first she thought she had imagined it. ‘Evie, we’re alive,’ he said and she
slowly opened her eyes and a cold rush of air entered her lungs again. As she blinked she saw their plane had just stopped short of the rocks and they were still in one piece. With her hands shaking she reached to her buckles and undid her seatbelt and almost laughed as she looked over to Freddie. Instead she gasped. Pierced through Freddie’s stomach was a metal rod from part of the plane. He was holding onto it, blood spilling over his hands and when he looked at her blood trickled from his mouth.
Evie quickly went to him, ‘No,’ she said under her breath. ‘No, no, no,’ she tried to help him as his blood covered her hands, she heard gurgling in his throat as his internal organs had split like ripe fruit and blood now trickled down from his lips. His head fell towards her and he looked at her with wide white eyes. He made a small croaking noise, as though he were trying to speak but as he choked on the blood that wouldn’t stop flowing, he became still and Evie’s hand trembled as his chest became still.
Evie took half a second to compose herself, she couldn’t bring herself to take her hand away from Freddie’s wound tears of frustration stung her eyes as she tried to activate her powers. If anything could heal him it was her abilities, she was sure of it, but nothing happened, she was useless. Evie finally took her hand away, his blood clung to her skin and she could smell burning metal. With her hands shaking she closed Freddie’s eyes and held her nerve, determined that she wasn’t going to let this break her now, she couldn’t. With her legs shaking, Evie got to her feet and headed out to the back of the plane. There was mess everywhere, entangled with bodies that were crying out in pain. She found Sinclair and Garret and helped them sit. ‘Are you hurt?’ She asked Sinclair.
‘Not severely,’ Sinclair winced.
‘I can help her,’ Garret said and came over to her. Evie watched as he placed his hands over Sinclair and she saw a white light emit from his palms. The plane seemed to become suspended in an aura of calm. The cries of the injured faded away and the rush of adrenaline that had been coursing through Evie’s vein’s simmered and her heart rate returned to normal. The light faded and Evie saw Sinclair sit up looking more comfortable and the others around them seemed to be in less pain.
Evie looked at Garret with suspicion. ‘What was that?’ She asked.
‘The same power that exists in you,’ Garret told her. ‘There’s no time to explain, they’re going to be here soon.’
Tears of grief and frustration welled in Evie’s eyes and she did what she could to force them away, now wasn’t the time for emotions, but she wanted answers. ’Could you have stopped this from happening?’ She demanded.
‘You think my powers are greater than what they are,’ Garret said. ‘I could not have stopped this any more than you could have.’
‘But you’re one of them, they did this, surely you could have-’
Evie was interrupted. ’Evie, there’s no time for this,’ Sinclair said. ‘We’re not going to get any answers right now.’
Evie composed herself and quickly refrained her thoughts. She could sense she was falling back into soldier mode, that all of the training she had gone through when she was younger was still part of her. It was strangely comforting to her and she allowed herself to fall back into an old role that hadn’t been hers for a long time. ‘We need to mobilise and get to Volt,’ she said. ‘We’ve landed in the border and we’re not far from the compound’s surrounds.’
Evie found a couple of bags with supplies in them and tried to help the other soldiers to their feet. As they began to move the plane rocked and they all froze in panic.
‘Are we going to be able to get out of here?’ Sinclair asked.
‘We have no choice,’ Evie told her and gingerly took a step over to the window. Through the misty windowpane she saw they had crashed into the base of a jagged mountainside and their plane was precariously balanced on a small plateau of stone. ‘We’re going to have to do this carefully,’ she said as she inched her way over to the plane’s side door. She saw the locked handle and tried pushing it upwards but it was stuck. Channelling her emotions, Evie took a step backwards and formed an energy ball in the palm of her hand. The power of it radiated through her and she slammed it forward into the door and the impact caused the locks to break. She gingerly pushed the door open and saw there was a large drop to the ground below and not a lot of space to land safely. She looked back to the others who were looking at her waiting for orders. If they had any fear, they were doing a good job of not showing it.
’This is going to have to be slow and careful,’ she said to them. ‘Keep the weight of the plane even and don’t make any sudden movements.’
She began to usher them forward slowly. The plane moved underneath them and Evie’s chest tightened every time there was shaking underneath her. One by one people jumped down to safety, soldiers were helping each other and as Evie saw them come together she was comforted with knowing that she was with people who were doing the right thing by one another.
Sinclair was the last one to reach the door, Evie watched as she shouldered a backpack with supplies and she silently took Evie’s hand for some quick comfort. ‘We’re lucky no one else was seriously hurt,’ she said as Garret joined them.
‘We’re not out of the woods yet,’ Evie said as Sinclair sat on the side of the exit. ‘But we’re alive, which is something to be thankful for.’
Sinclair gave her an appreciative smile and cautiously jumped to the ground below and landed with a thump.
‘You go next,’ Garret said to Evie. ‘You’ve gotten everyone out, now it’s your turn.’
Evie wasn’t able to say anything as the plane slid and she fell into Garret who quickly held onto her and had one hand on the door. The plane stopped and as Evie tried to catch her breath she looked up at Garret who still had a tight grip on her. ‘It’s okay,’ he told her and he loosened his arms around her. ‘Get to the door.’
Evie tentatively let go of Garret and moved as cautiously as she could alongside the wall of the plane till she got to the exit. She looked round to make sure Garret was following her. Despite him being one of them, she had found herself reacting to him the way she would any other human. ‘You’re going to follow me right?’ She asked.
‘I’ll be right behind you,’ Garret assured her.
Evie nodded and lowered herself to sit on the edge of the plane door and as she pushed herself to the ground below she landed with a quick hard thump and heard Garret land behind her. There was a loud scraping noise that coursed through her ears and as they turned they saw the plane fall to the pits of the mountain below. Evie’s heart thumped against her chest, sweat poured down her back and her heart ached for Freddie and his body that would never be laid to rest.
Sinclair helped Evie to her feet and they looked at each other for a moment as they caught their breaths. Evie then turned to get a better look at where they were and saw the monumental wall face that now faced them. An almost vertical climb of several feet, with little to no climbing equipment. Evie’s heart sank and as exhaustion began to creep in, she wanted to give up. But she knew that wasn’t an option, instead, she shouldered her backpack and looked at the others.
‘Well, we’d best get climbing,’ she said.
The route upwards was tough and arduous. Evie’s hands hurt and the rocks cut into her skin. Her footing slipped a couple of times and she grasped onto the rock face, trying to steady herself and wondering how her life came to this point. She remembered Cara, her best friend who had been violently shot and killed by Hawk in front of her, she remembered her parents and she thought of Jack and finally Kit. She wanted a future with her, she wanted a world where they could be free and where she could be safe and her loved ones weren’t getting hurt by this war. She reached up to the next rock above her and found strength return to her muscles and she moved quicker. Determination had been fleeting but at that moment she was certain she was going to end Hawk’s reign over them.
Hours seemed to pass but when Evie grabbed the final rock and pulled herself up
onto the ledge she took a few moments to catch her breath before she turned around on her knees and helped Sinclair and the others up.
Evie and Sinclair looked at the dry, black landscape in front of them. ‘This is where you grew up?’ Sinclair asked.
‘It’s not all bad,’ Evie told her but Sinclair gave her a look that told her she didn’t believe her.
‘Well, let's see what it has to offer,’ Sinclair said.
Her stomach twisted and turned itself in knots and Kit found herself wishing she was close to a bathroom where she could stay until it was all over. She shook the feeling away. She wasn’t built to be a coward, and she certainly wasn’t going to be one now. Being here though was strange, she remembered her escape like it was yesterday and now she was following the route back to the place she had never hoped to see again.
The outer towns of Volt were smouldering in fires from riots that had long since passed through the streets. Graffiti had been sprayed on doors, marking houses where Genics lived. The smell of blood and gunpowder hung low in the air. A lump found its way to Kit’s throat and nestled there as she clenched her hands, ready for an attack. The planes flew in formation, the gentle hum of the engine whirred around them but the team had fallen to silence. This place brought those who had escaped it to a fearful contemplation, none had expected to be back, none had thought they would be about to take on the leaders that had created them. Kit looked out over at the planes and saw the men and women who had all come from here, they were all fighting for the same reason. They all wanted the same thing and Kit found a sense of peace as she saw she wasn’t alone. They finally had a shot in this war, and she was ready to take it.
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