A Whole New Crowd(100)

My hands trembled, but I typed back: I’m in. Back road. Field. Trees. River. Hidden door in a hill. Two tunnels. I sent that one and immediately started another one: I’m sorry. I really am. I still care about Jace, but I hate him. I didn’t know until the hotel. That one was sent as well. Then a third, but this one would be shorter and to the point. I’m going in. I love you, Tray. I love only you.

Then I silenced the phone and tucked it back into my pocket.

“I’m so dumb,” I muttered to myself. Pulling my head back through the sweatshirt, I leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. I waited, one more moment alone, one more moment alive. My phone was buzzing in my pocket, but I wasn’t going to read the messages yet.

This was my plan. Get in. Find Gray, and hope they sent an army after me.

It was time to go. I nodded to myself, wiped my sweaty hands on my pants, and stood. I grabbed the door handle and turned it.

Light blinded me for a moment, but I went into the next room and shut the door. Throwing an arm over my eyes so I could let them adjust, I darted forward. It was go-time. The cameras would see me. I needed to move as quickly as possible.

I scanned the room. It was a large basement hallway. A ladder was lowered down like in a submarine and there were four doors, two on each side of the hallway. There were no windows to see in so I started feeling the handles. All of them were locked. I was tempted to climb the stairs and see what was up there, but I heard a door from above open, then the scuffling sounds of feet over the floor.

“Downstairs. An alarm went off. Check it.”

Shit. I had seconds to hide.

There was no place to hide in the hallway. I didn’t think. I went straight to the door handle that had been the loosest. Kneeling down, I used my pins to crack the lock. I was breathing in and out steadily to keep my heart rate low. Then the door gave way just as the hatch over the stairs lifted up. A pair of boots appeared and then I was pulled inside a room. I was held against the wall. The door started to slam shut, but I twisted. I shot my arm out and the door landed on it. It couldn’t slam shut. They couldn’t hear that sound. They’d know someone was there. The person softly cursed and held the door from my arm. I pulled my arm back and the door shut. It clicked softly at the same time a guard jumped to the floor outside.

As more guards dropped from the stairs to the floor, I turned. Two inches separated us. I was face to face with Gray. His eyes were wide and shocked. Then his door was knocked on. He cursed and shoved me towards his bed.

“You in there?” a guard called through the door. A key was being inserted into the lock, but it stopped. The guard pulled the key back out. “What the fuck? The lock is all messed up.”

Another guard was next to him. Pushing on the door, he said, “What are we going to do? That’s our only set. Boss has the other set.”

“Check the other rooms. Nothing was on the camera, but they said to still check.” He pounded harder on the door. “Answer me, kid, or we’ll have to bust down your door.”

Gray was holding me behind him. His hands were jerking and his knees were shaking. “I’m here.” His voice was hoarse. He cleared it, then called out louder, “I’m here. Here.”

The guard laughed. “Don’t suppose you’d tell us if anyone got in here?”

The second guard joined in, bellowing loudly. “Right. That tunnel is almost a mile long.”

I closed my eyes shut. Good joke, fellas. Good joke.

“Post, you clear?” The guard turned away. The doors were being unlocked and then shut again. We heard, “Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Last room clear.”

“All right. You heard the others. Set that alarm again, make sure it’s working right.” He paused for a moment. “Let’s head to the next level and keep clearing.”

They started back up the stairs. As they left, before the hatch was closed over the stairs again, we heard, “We have to clear out the rest of the shipment—” It shut and we couldn’t hear anymore.

I started to speak, but Gray slammed a hand over my mouth. He shook his head, then pointed to the hallway and leaned close. He whispered into my ear, “We can’t trust the others. I’ve heard them telling information for food.”

I nodded. He lifted his hand and I whispered, “Are you okay?”

His eyes clasped shut and he pressed his hands to his forehead, rubbing his temples. I skimmed him up and down then. He was thin, but Gray had always been scrawny. His shirt was sweaty, bloody, and there were dark smudges I didn’t want to inspect. Kneeling down, I tapped his foot so I could inspect the bottom of his shoes. They were still in good condition. That meant he could run in them.