They were almost there. Just a few more feet.
She couldn't believe it had actually worked. She'd always wanted a more active power, and now she had one.
Luke's shout turned her excitement to fear. "Lucy, get down!"
Guns exploded around them. She and Adam dove into the nearest bushes, and placed as many trees between them and the bullets as they could.
Luke's voice crackled in her ear, "I just heard over the radio, one of the snipers got a look at the mutant. Tell me where you are. I'll get you out of there."
Lucy gave Luke their position and listened as he explained the path they should take.
The cold Russian night bit into her skin as they scurried from tree to tree.
They were ten feet from the gate. So close. A helicopter waited for them just past the hill.
They ran as hard and fast as their legs could pump.
But no one could outrun a bullet.
Lucy prepared for the impact even as she ran. She fought the paralysis of fear. Unseen harbingers of death chased her, intent on cutting into her body and tearing her apart.
Nothing happened.
The air around her thickened and quieted into an eerie silence. She paused long enough to turn around. A bullet hovered mere centimeters from her left eye.
Luke stood beyond the gate, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. "Get out. I'll protect you."
Guards swarmed from the outlying buildings like hungry flies. A spray of bullets screamed toward them, the sound muted by the force field Luke had created. He blocked them all. It was as if the bullets were stuck in a thick plaster.
"Luce, I can't hold on much longer. Too hard to keep them all away. Please, hurry."
Lucy grabbed her friend's hand and tried to run with him through the gate.
He stopped her. "Thank you, Girl, for freeing me. For those moments, I had air in lungs that was mine alone. Remember me as I will you."
He leaned down to kiss her cheek, his floppy skin surprisingly soft, then ran toward the guards with a thunderous growl.
The guards focused all their firepower on the mutant. Bullets hit him, but he did not fall.
Lucy screamed and started chasing him, but Luke ran through the gate and dragged her away.
She yelled at Luke and pushed him. "No, he needs us. We have to help him."
"We can't, Luce. We'll all die if we go back."
Adam's voice shook the field. "Go, Girl. Must go."
A guard charged Adam and he tossed him aside like a ragdoll. They emptied their guns into him, to no avail. He ripped through their defensive lines, knocked them unconscious, twisted their guns like a clown with a balloon animal.
His roar filled the dark night—part human, part beast.
Lucy couldn't pull her eyes from the amazing creature.
Finally, Luke's arm tugged at her, and she allowed him to lead her to the landing pad outside the facility. She barely noticed the bullets still whizzing past their heads.
The helicopter rested on an empty field over a hill.
Luke buckled them both in. As the chopper lifted off, Lucy sobbed until she hiccupped, unable to stop.
A few minutes later, the pilot handed Lucy a phone. She took a few deep breaths before answering. "Hello."
"Did you get it?" Mr. Black growled.
"Yes. But Dr. Koslov was killed. The data is useless."
"You little bitch. You have no idea how royally you've messed up. I'll deal with you and your brother when you get back."
Lucy handed the phone back to the pilot and slumped against Luke, who put his arm around her. "It's going to be all right, Sis. We'll figure it out."
She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and rubbed the smooth contours of the strange sphere. Another wave of tingling heat coursed through her.
Maybe it would be all right after all.
Chapter 42 – Sam
My thoughts had finally calmed and my eyes had just closed, when Brad called to me from the living room. "Sam, check this out!"
I sighed, pulled myself out of bed and went to him. "What's up?"
He looked up at me from his computer at the dining room table. "Sorry, were you sleeping?"
"Almost."
He pointed to his computer screen. "I thought you'd want to see this right away."
The email had been sent fourteen minutes ago from an account I'd never seen before.
This message is for Sam and Drake. You aren't alone in your fight against the organization you call Rent-A-Kid. We can help. We will be in touch.
No signature.
"Can you trace where this came from or who sent it?"
He looked at me as if I'd asked him to make his computer float. "Um, no. I'm a writer, not a computer hacker. I know how to type. That's about it."
"We need Lucy. I haven't talked to them since they left on assignment. I hope they're okay. Have you received anything from them yet? She was supposed to email us information about the school and security?"