Jay nodded and hurried off, and I turned to Dr. Tierney. “Do what you can to get these two prepped for transport. I am really hoping it won’t come to it.”
“I’m on it,” she replied, already turning away from me, focusing completely on Quinn. I turned and left, leaving the door partially open. I moved back through the dining room and into the den with the creepy animal heads, grabbing a black plastic crate off the floor. I proceeded to shove all the loose papers and files we had somehow accumulated into it, not bothering with any sort of filing system. It could be sorted later.
I was halfway through when a dark-haired, tanned man—his name was Gregory—knocked on the door. He had a rifle slung on his shoulder, and his eyes watched me, alert.
“You’re in charge of the guards tonight?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Yes. Jay said you needed to see me?”
“I need you to pull everyone scheduled for the second shift to join you in the watch. Have them patrol the area, and send a scout out to the heloship landing area in one of the larger vehicles.”
“Problem?”
“I hope not,” I muttered. Gregory gave me a wary look. “I’m not sure yet,” I told him honestly. “But I’m taking precautions. Report back to me in…” I checked my watch and did a quick count. “Seven minutes. Make sure the scout takes a subvocalizer, and tell them to report back if the heloship doesn’t show up in nineteen.”
He nodded and left, and I was glad of the fact that he hadn’t asked any questions. Time was a luxury at this point.
Almost as soon as he moved out of it, Lynne and Morgan pushed through the door of the den, followed by Jay. “Hey, Violet, what’s up?” asked Lynne.
“I need you both to start pulling the vehicles around to the front of the barn and loading them up. Food and weapons, guns and ammunition are the priority. If you find you need more people, then wake them, but do it quietly.”
Lynne arched an eyebrow. “Expecting trouble?”
“Like I just told Gregory, I hope not… but right now, until I know otherwise, I need to make sure we’re ready to go with all we can carry. I’ll know for sure if we need to start waking the rest of the camp soon. Jay, would you help them load?”
“Absolutely,” he said with a nod.
“Let me know if you have any problems, and try not to cause a panic. If anyone wakes up and asks what you’re doing, tell them to come see me, and I’ll explain.”
Lynne frowned and exchanged dubious looks with Morgan, who was managing to look sleepy and skeptical at the same time, her short black hair sticking up in all directions. “To be fair, you haven’t really explained it to us,” Lynne said, her green eyes narrowing.
I opened my mouth, realizing she was right. “Viggo and Owen went on a mission tonight, and it went sideways. They got bogged down, and we had to send Amber, Ms. Dale, Thomas, and one of our doctors to sort it out. No one’s hurt that I know of, but their last transmission didn’t have enough information, and, well… If they get back in—” I checked my watch again and blew out a breath. “Sixteen minutes, then we’ll call it an evacuation drill. If not… then it’ll be for real.”
“You mean you’d leave them all to die?” gasped Morgan, her hand going to her mouth. I looked calmly at her and nodded, taking a deep breath.
“My first priority has to be you and all the people here,” I said, my throat tight. “If Viggo and Owen have been captured, I will be the first one to mount the rescue mission, but I can’t neglect my responsibility to everyone else. It’s not what they would want.”
“She’s right, Morgan,” said Lynne, giving me an approving nod. “Let’s go move those vehicles and stop wasting time.”
As Morgan followed Lynne out, I finished sweeping papers into the box, then turned my attention to the computers, slightly less haphazardly pulling wires and setting the long boxes in a line on the table. They would need to be packed, but only if there was enough space to take them. If not, they were going to have to be burned.
Eighteen minutes later, I was still packing, Gregory silently helping me, my eyes focused entirely on the task ahead. I’d passed my deadline, but I was giving them an extra five minutes until I woke everybody up—I just couldn’t bring myself to really give the order until I was dead certain something had gone horribly wrong.
I had just looked down at my watch again when Gregory paused, his hand drifting up to his ear. I stilled, my heartbeat swelling like acid in the back of my throat. He mouthed something into the earbud, then reached up to turn his subvocalizer off.