Equipped with the right tools, Mariella opened the top of the vent much faster than Seth had done in their past life. There were spotlights again, so she waited until one had passed before looking out.
The yard was in chaos. It looked as though everyone in the base was flooding out through all four exits, probably thanks to the terrified medical staff running and screaming about bombs. Guards were everywhere, too, but they didn’t look very organized. Some of them ran around howling and firing their guns at random, shooting real bullets at whatever nightmarish illusions filled their minds. Some of the other guards fired back. Everyone else was in a panic, trying to get from the low pillbox buildings to the front or side gate without getting shot. Tommy had done his job well.
Mariella waited for another spotlight to pass, then helped Seth climb out. The baby stirred at the sound of gunfire and screaming, but Seth touched her face and soothed her.
Jenny and Esmeralda were the first to jump to the ground. Seth went next, his arms around the baby, landing in a squatting position with a painful wince on his face. Jenny and Esmeralda grabbed him from both sides, keeping him steady so he didn’t topple over. Mariella joined them on the ground.
“I’m not going with you,” Mariella whispered. “I’m going back inside.”
“You can’t do that!” Jenny told her. “Why would you?”
“They have so much information on us,” she said. “We have to destroy Ward’s records, or it will be too easy for someone else to pick up the pieces and track us down. He’s a control freak. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the data is right here on site, in the file server room. I don’t think even his superiors know what he’s really doing here.”
“Ward will still be looking for us,” Seth said.
“Maybe. You’re going to encounter him again tonight,” Mariella said. “The future’s too uncertain, I can’t see how it will turn out. But maybe you’ll defeat him. Maybe he won’t live.”
“You definitely won’t live if you go back now,” Seth said.
“I might,” she said. “You go on without me. I’ll catch up if I can.”
“This is crazy,” Jenny said. “You know you have to come with us.”
“No,” Mariella said. “Jenny, you won’t remember, but I survived last time. I eventually got home to Sicily. The Nazis never came for me again, even though my family took their money—I guess they got busy with other things. I spent years waiting, but nothing happened. I had my baby, Jenny. I got to raise her and watch her grow up, and she gave me six grandchildren. I watched them grow up, too. I lived to be more than seventy years old.” She smiled. “I named her after you, you know. Juliana.”
“You survived?” Jenny whispered. “I assumed we all died that night.”
“I made it out, with my little girl, and I had a long life,” Mariella said. “You died to give me that, and I’m going to do my best to give you the same. I owe you.”
“Please don’t,” Jenny said, clearly fighting back her feelings. “I don’t have many friends.”
Mariella hugged Jenny tight, then kissed her on the cheek, though it covered her own face with painful sores.
“I love you,” Mariella whispered, and Jenny let out a sob, then bit her lips to keep the rest inside.
Mariella said good-bye to Seth, and to the drowsy baby Miriam, and to Esmeralda, and told them to run. After the spotlight passed again, the three of them ran past the crowd that was gathering outside the warehouse, where the base’s employees were demanding to be let out the gate. Jenny and the others continued toward the motor pool area, where they planned to steal a truck.
Mariella ran the opposite way, toward the helicopter pad. One of the privileges of cooperating with Ward was that she’d been allowed to spend time outdoors each night, though no one was permitted out during the day for security reasons. She’d noticed the helicopter pad and the shed beside it. She hoped the shed held what she needed.
She ran across the concrete pad, keeping her head low to avoid stray bullets from the crazed guards running around the yard. She reached the shed, but the door was padlocked. She kicked the door, frustrated.
“Identify yourself!” a voice shouted. A guard in the standard black, insignia-free uniform stood only yards away, leveling an automatic rifle at her. “What are you?” he screamed, dancing around but keeping the gun aimed right at her.
From his demeanor, Mariella guessed that he was under the spell of Tommy’s fear. She remembered hearing Tommy shout orders to the guards he’d frightened. With their minds clouded by fear, they’d eagerly done what they’d been told.