Zeus looked down at the rats, then at Jack and Abigail, then over at me.
“He can’t,” I said, not loud enough for anyone but McKenna to hear. “He’ll electrocute himself.” I looked at Zeus, wondering what he was thinking. He wore an expression that seemed to be less fear than sadness. He looked once more down the hall at the rising flow of rats, then pointed his hand toward the farthest sprinkler, visible in the distance by the rats’ glow.
“Don’t do it!” I yelled.
My shout was too late. Fierce yellow bolts of electricity shot from Zeus’s fingertips, connecting with the sprinkler head. At first nothing happened, then, like a breaking dam, water burst from the ceiling, starting from the sprinklers at the end of the hall, then, one by one, working its way toward us. I looked at Zeus, who was stoically watching the water approach. Then all the hall sprinklers blew. Water burst from the ceiling in a torrential downpour.
The rats shrieked as the water hit them, and electricity sparked wildly below us in sporadic, brilliant bursts, like camera flashes at a concert. I held tightly to McKenna as she leaned her head back and opened her mouth to catch the spray, drinking furiously.
Zeus screamed, then fell backward into the middle of the steaming rats.
“No!” I shouted.
In an instant Jack shouted, “Semper Fi!” He jumped from the wall and started running up the corridor toward Zeus, sinking thigh-deep in the squirming bodies of dying rats. By the time Jack reached him, Zeus was completely covered by the rats, a bulge in a pile of moving fur. He reached down and lifted Zeus up onto his shoulders, rats falling off around him. Zeus’s skin was severely blistered, and blood was streaming down his arms and legs from rat bites.
Jack struggled through the mound of rats, like he was dragging himself from a snowbank. As he pulled his legs out from the pile, rodents were still clinging to him, and he flung them off. He ran to the end of the corridor where the sprinklers hadn’t been activated and pulled off Zeus’s wet outer clothing. He wiped the water off Zeus’s blistered body, then listened to Zeus’s chest and started CPR. Zeus suddenly gasped for air, then screamed with pain.
“Abi!” Jack shouted. “I need you.”
Abigail had regained consciousness just in time. She slid down the pipe and ran to Zeus’s side, putting both of her hands on him.
“That was crazy brave,” Jack said to Zeus. “Crazy brave.”
Zeus was barely conscious and didn’t respond.
I turned to McKenna. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, water dripping from her face. Her lips were pink again. “I’m okay.”
“Good, because we’ve got to go.”
We both slid down the pipe to the wet floor, which was layered with the bodies of dead rats. The carcasses squished beneath our feet. Taylor had already jumped down, and I crossed the hall and helped my mother to the ground. She was trembling with fear.
“Come on, Mom. We know a way out.”
She didn’t speak, but leaned into me.
“Everyone after Ian!” I shouted. I purposely didn’t mention the air duct. Zeus may have blown out most of the hall cameras, but I was guessing the Elgen could still hear us.
Jack lifted Zeus onto his shoulders, and he and Abigail ran down the hall after Ian. When we reached the air vent Ian climbed up the pipe first, pushed out the vent cover, and climbed inside the duct. Then he reached down to help us up. “Come on! Hand him up!”
Jack and Ian lifted Zeus, then Abigail, Wade, and my mother.
Hatch’s voice came echoing down the hallway. “Your resourcefulness never ceases to amaze me. But there’s no way out. The building is surrounded by hundreds of guards. Give yourself up.”
“You’re a freak!” I shouted. “Come get your dead rats!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty more. Guards,” Hatch said softly, emphasizing his confidence, “get them.”
Jack noticed a fire box a few yards down the hall, and he kicked it in and grabbed the ax.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“Whatever comes next.”
A moment later Ian yelled, “Bunch of guards sixty yards up the hall.”
“How many is a bunch?” I asked.
“Thirty? And there’s twice that down the hall, waiting behind the door.”
“Do they have those helmets?” Taylor asked.
“Looks like it,” Ian said. “You can’t help here. Give me your hand.” He lifted her up.
“Your turn, Ostin,” I said.
“After McKenna,” he said.
“Go without me,” McKenna said. “I’ve got an idea. Jack, can you break one of these pipes?”
“I think so.” Jack lifted the ax to the closest water main, then swung at it. The blow only dented the pipe. “Hold on!” he shouted.
He pulled back and hit the pipe again and again. On his fifth strike the ax pierced the pipe and a powerful stream of water shot across the corridor, hitting the opposite wall.
“Here we go,” McKenna said, turning her hands white with heat. She put them into the gushing stream. The water immediately flashed into steam, the sound echoing loudly down the hallway like the blast of a steam engine. The steam made it impossible for everyone but Ian to see.
While McKenna continued to fill the hall with steam, I helped lift Ostin up to Ian; then Jack lifted me up, and I climbed inside the duct, leaving just Jack and McKenna behind. Everyone was still clustered around the vent area.
“Taylor!” I shouted. “Get them to the mechanical room! Hurry!”
“How far down is it?”
“It’s the third vent opening!” Ian shouted. “You should be able to feel the cold of the refrigeration room, it’s just past that!” He turned back. “Michael, they’re close! Tell McKenna and Jack to get out of there!”
I leaned out through the vent. “McKenna, Jack, you’ve got to come now!”
McKenna had cupped her hands in the gushing water and was drinking greedily from its spray.
“Now, McKenna!” Jack shouted.
She ran to the vent. Jack threw down the ax, then lifted McKenna up to me, and I helped pull her in. Then Jack jumped and, doing a chin-up, pulled himself up and in.
Just a few seconds after I’d replaced the vent cover the guards moved past us through the steam, none of them noticing the vent above them.
I breathed out in relief. “Just in time, guys,” I said. “Now let’s get out of here.”
It took us only a few minutes to crawl to the mechanical room, though we had to stop once when a troop of guards ran underneath one of the vents. Wade was ahead of us dragging Zeus, who was still barely conscious. He was the first to reach the vent opening above the mechanical room.
“That’s it!” Ian shouted to him. “It’s clear below. Just Raúl and Tanner!”
Wade pulled off the vent cover. “Hey, guys! It’s us!” he shouted. Then he climbed out, dropping to the concrete floor. Ian helped lower Zeus and Abigail down to Wade and Raúl, then climbed down himself.
Taylor jumped down without anyone’s help—it was easy for a cheerleader—then Jack helped lower my mother, and then climbed out of the vent, lowering himself down slowly. McKenna and I were the last ones out. As I looked around, I saw that Raúl was standing next to the open pipe. Tanner was curled up near the lockers, his shirt pulled over his head.
“Where’s the guard we left in there?” Jack asked Raúl.
Raúl said something to Ostin, who translated. “The guards can be executed for going AWOL, so he’s probably running for his life,” Ostin said.
I put a hand on my mom’s arm. “I know it’s crazy, but hang in there. We’re going to get home again.”
My mother forced a smile. “I know we are. I’m so proud of you, Michael. Your father would be proud of the man you’ve become.”
Her words had a powerful impact on me—powerful enough that I had no idea how to reply. “Thanks,” I finally said. “Now let’s get out of here.” I turned back to the group. “McKe
nna, you go first so you can light the way.”
She looked nervously down into the pipe.
“Is something wrong?” Ostin asked.
“I’m just a little claustrophobic.”
“Just look straight ahead,” Ostin said. “And think of feathers.”
“Feathers?”
“Something soft and relaxing. It will help.”
McKenna smiled at him. “Feathers. Thanks.” She climbed in.
Next in was Jack, who was carrying Zeus, with Abigail following closely behind, keeping a hand on him always. Raúl, Wade, my mother, Taylor, and Tanner went next.
When she was in the pipe Taylor turned back to me. “Come on.”
“Go on,” I said. “I’ll be right there.”
She looked at me nervously but obeyed, leaving just Ian, Ostin, and me. Ian went next. As he was climbing in we heard a short burst of machine gun fire.
“Ian,” I said. “How close are they?”
“They’re entering the butchery.”
His words filled me with fear. We’d run out of time.
“Go!” I shouted. “They need you to make sure it’s safe at the other end.”
Ian dropped out of sight, and Ostin climbed into the pipe. He slid down the side, then said, “Come on, Michael.”
“We’re not going to make it,” I said.
“What do you mean? We’re almost out.”
“They could be here any second. The guards know about the pipe. If we just disappear, they’re going to figure it out. Then all they need to do is throw a grenade down the pipe or wait at the other end to catch us. We need time. We need to keep them looking.”
Ostin looked at me with an anxious expression. “I don’t like where this is going,” he said. “What are you thinking?”
“Anacondas,” I said. “Hatch wants me. If he follows me, everyone else can get out. Taylor’s got the GPS, she can get you to the pickup point. ”
“You can’t do this,” Ostin said. “If we need a distraction it should be me.”
“Hatch doesn’t care about you.”
Ostin stared at me blankly. There was another burst of machine gun fire, closer this time.
“We don’t have time to debate this. You know I’m right.”
“They’ll catch you.”
“Think, Ostin. It’s the logical choice. This way everyone else gets out and I still have a chance.”
“Dude . . .”
“You know it’s the logical thing! Now get out of here. I’m locking the pipe behind you, so there’s no turning back. I’ll lose the guards, then I’ll join you.”
“But you don’t know where we’re going.”
“Remember plan B. Find me in Cuzco.”
There was a crash just outside the door. My heart froze. “Go! Now!”
Ostin looked at me one last time, and his eyes watered. “Don’t get caught!”
“I don’t plan to. Go!”
Ostin disappeared down into the pipe, the last of McKenna’s light just barely visible behind him. I capped the lid and locked it. Then I pushed some crates around the pipe and laid a chain over its cap. I figured that if one of the guards was familiar with the pipe, he would think we couldn’t have escaped through it.
I gathered grenades from the locker—three concussion and two smoke grenades—then I put my ear to the door. The guards were close, but as far as I could tell, they hadn’t entered the refrigeration room yet. I pulled the pins from both a smoke and a concussion grenade, threw them into the refrigeration room, then locked the mechanical room door.
The concussion grenade exploded with a loud boom. A minute later I heard the guards enter the refrigeration room, their heavy boots clomping on the concrete floor. As their footsteps came closer to the mechanical room, I hid behind a stack of boxes next to an air duct. When someone tried the door, I pulled down my visor, then set off a smoke grenade, filling the room with smoke.
Just seconds later there was a loud blast as the door blew in. The guards shouted as they blindly stormed the smoke-filled room. I stood up and joined the chaos, my visor pulled down over my face.
“Where are they?” someone shouted.
I pointed up toward the vent. “Look.”
A guard shouted, “They’re in the air shaft!”
“We’ll flush them out,” the captain said. He lifted a communicator from a strap on his chest. “Targets are in the air ducts. I repeat, targets are in the air ducts. Position guards at all vents. We’ll hold at east corridor and send a deuce in.” He replaced the communicator, then pulled out an electronic tablet, summoning up a complete diagram of the Starxource duct system. “Schulz, Berman, go after them. You are only cleared to use RESATs. We’re too close to the bowl for guns.”
“Yes, sir,” the two guards said almost in unison. The first guard stepped on the crate, then jumped up, grabbing both sides of the vent. He lifted himself up with the dexterity of a gymnast. As the second guard stepped up on the crate, the captain said, “Wait.” He took from his utility belt a handheld device that resembled a television remote. “Track them with this.”
He turned it on and the machine immediately started to scream. The captain looked at the reading, then back up with a bewildered expression. He slowly panned the machine the length of the ceiling, then down across the room, stopping at me. For a moment we both stared at each other.
“Gentlemen,” he said, replacing the device in his belt, “the chase is over.” He pulled his helmet off and smiled at me. “Finally we meet, Mr. Vey.”
I produced a lightning ball in each hand and simultaneously threw them in the faces of the guards closest to me, dropping them both to the ground. Then I lunged at the captain as he reached for his RESAT.
I never made it. Two darts hit me in the back, followed by a third, taking my breath away. As I dropped to my knees, three more darts hit me. I think it was three. At least that’s as many as I could remember before blacking out.
The escape pipe was smooth and sloped slightly, so even at a distance of more than a hundred yards, it was an easy crawl. It reminded Ostin of a slide at a water park.
The end of the pipe was deemed clear by Ian, so McKenna jumped down about five feet to the spongy forest ground below. The ground and foliage beneath the pipe were trampled and littered with cigarette butts, revealing the pipe’s steady traffic.
As McKenna looked around, Jack jumped down, then turned and helped Zeus, who was now more conscious, which meant in more pain.
Jack laid Zeus on the ground a few yards from the pipe, then helped Abigail, who immediately knelt down next to Zeus, running her hand over his forehead. She pulled back the shirt they had put on him, revealing second- and third-degree burns over half his body.
“We’ve got to get him help,” Abigail said. “If it gets infected he could die.”
“We’ll get help,” Jack said.
Wade and Raúl helped Mrs. Vey out of the pipe, then Raúl came over and knelt beside Zeus. His forehead creased in concern. “Sábila,” he said, nodding. “Need sábila.”
Jack looked at Abigail. “What’s sábila?”
She shrugged.
“Sábila,” Raúl said again, lifting his hands in a flourish as if describing what he was saying.
“We’ll ask Ostin,” Abigail said.
Mrs. Vey was standing next to the pipe’s mouth when Taylor climbed out. After Taylor had caught her breath, she put her hand on Mrs. Vey’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Mrs. Vey nodded, even though she was weak and emaciated. “Where’s Michael?”
“He’ll be here in a second. He’s bringing up the rear.”
Tanner carefully jumped down, followed by Ian. It was another five minutes before Ostin stuck his head out, panting from the long crawl. He looked around, then scooted on his butt until he was sitting on the rim of the pipe and jumped down.
As Ostin dusted off his knees, Mrs. Vey walked over to the pipe and looked inside. “Where’s Michael?”
Taylor
also looked inside the pipe. “Michael!” Her voice echoed in the darkness, but there was no response. “Ian, where is he?”
“He was right behind us,” Ian said. He looked at the pipe. “He’s not there.”
“What?” Taylor and Mrs. Vey said in unison.
Ostin looked up with a pained expression. “He didn’t come.”
Taylor blanched. “What do you mean, he didn’t come?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Ostin, who was still catching his breath.
“The guards were too close. Michael stayed back to provide a diversion so we could escape.”
Mrs. Vey stared at him in disbelief. “Michael’s still inside the compound?”
“He said he had to stay,” Ostin said.
“And you let him?” Taylor shouted.
“What was I supposed to do? It was the logical thing to do.”
“Logical!” Taylor screamed. She put her hands on the rim of the pipe to climb back in. “I’m going after him.”
“It won’t do any good,” Ostin said. “He locked the pipe after me.”
“No!” she shouted, her voice echoing down the pipe. She turned back angrily. “We came all the way here to rescue his mother and you left him behind?”
Ostin swallowed. “I was just—”
“Being stupid?” Jack said fiercely.
“Leave him alone,” McKenna said. “It’s not his fault.”
“Then whose is it?” Taylor said.
“It’s Michael’s,” McKenna said. “He made a choice.”
“I knew I should have waited!” Taylor shouted. She swung around, thrusting her finger in Ostin’s face. “I never would have gone first if I had any idea he was thinking of leaving. We stick together.”
“I’m sorry,” Ostin said.
“Sorry?” Taylor said. “I thought you were smart.”
For a moment no one spoke.
Then Abigail said, “So what are we supposed to do now?”
Ostin said meekly, “Michael said that Taylor has the GPS; she’s supposed to lead us to the pickup site.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Taylor said. “I didn’t come all this way to leave Michael. Do you have any idea what Hatch will do to him if he catches him?” She turned to Ian. “Can you see him?”