At one minute and forty seconds, Oliver and his team round the corner in a full sprint.
“Failsafe triggered. Building’s going to blow. Load everything up and get in!” Oliver yells as he hands a box to one of my soldiers. He jumps into the helicopter and begins grabbing boxes from Nash and David.
“Fuck me. Hurry!” I stand by the doors until the last soldier is on, then I jump inside. We lift off, and twenty seconds later, an explosion goes off in the rear of the building. It triggers one detonation after another until the entire building, including the courtyard full of unmoving soldiers, is gone. Vibrations shake the ‘copter, but it remains in the air. Guess that takes care of the problem.
“What is all this stuff?” I shout, pointing at the boxes. I knew he was going for intel but thought Nash would copy it electronically.
“They documented their experiments,” Oliver returns with a grimace. “We’re going to make copies and get them to my father. He needs all the ammunition he can get to show the government what Raven’s doing to us.”
CHAPTER36
WILLA / GREER
We’re in the cafeteria grabbing breakfast when we hear the sound of helicopters. Rushing outside with River, I watch two Army helicopters land and unload passengers. From the nearest one, soldiers in camouflage, holding guns, emerge. My heart sinks when I see who steps out. Oliver, Beckett, Quaid, Jax, and several students I’ve gotten to know, like David, Talia, and Gabe. Now I know who’s leaving. There won’t be anyone left.
River’s gasp has me turning to the other helicopter where emaciated people are rubbing sleepy eyes and slowly disembarking. These must be the captives. I swallow hard. They look rough. If it hadn’t been for River, that would have been me. A pulsing power emanates from them.
Like the others, River feels powers. Maybe that’s why he gasped. I haven’t really felt them until now, but there’s definitely an invisible wave coming off these people. They must be powerful if I’m picking up on it.
A tall, lanky young man with a petite brunette tucked under his arm is staring at us with a murderous expression on his face. Or rather, at River. The girl tugs on his arm, but he shakes her off and stalks toward us.
“Shit,” River mutters.
“You bastard!” the young man roars before clocking River in the face. “You’re a fucking traitor. Aidan, Jordan, Freddie, Mark, and Hector. Gone because of you. You sold us out! Why? Tell me!” he continues to whale on River.
River says nothing. Nor does he fight back.
It hits me. Lance. One of the guys from Atlanta who was captured. The group Jordan told me about who he felt guilty about not saving. River too. “Jordan is fine. He’s living in Atlanta. Or at least he was when we saw him a couple of weeks ago.”
His fist freezes in mid-air, and he turns to sneer at me. “You sure about that?” His voice is taunting. “What do you think, River? Or is she a liar like you?”
River shoves him. “Get away from her.”
Quaid strides over and gets in between the two. Fire erupts across his body, physically forcing them to step back. “What the fuck is going on here?” His amber eyes flick over my body as if making sure I’m not hurt.
Lance suddenly splits into two. Literally. There’s one of him standing by the girl and the other tackling River to the ground.
“Sergeant!” Quaid yells, and a stocky young man in fatigues comes running over.
He points at the two slugging it out, and the soldier quietly orders them to sleep. River and Lance, or rather both Lances, slump to the ground.
Hmph. That’s the asshole who put us to sleep before we arrived here. I turn toward Quaid. “That’s a shitty way to handle it. They’re only going to be more pissed off when they wake up.”
He lifts a shoulder. “I don’t have time to coddle anyone. Tell them when they wake up that if they don’t cool off, I’ll throw them in the brig.” He stalks off, muttering something about double trouble.
I look at the girl across from me. Anger simmers deep in her eyes. “Hi. I’m Greer.”
“You with him?” she asks, jaw clenched so tightly she can barely get the words out.
“River?” I clarify. When she nods, I confirm. “Yes. Jordan told me Lance and the rest of them were captured, but there were too many for River and him to fight. They both felt incredibly guilty about it.” I hope she’s more reasonable than Lance.
She snorts. “I’m Dani. How long have you known River?”
“A couple of weeks,” I reply. Wow, it seems longer.
“That explains it. He’s lying to you.”
A couple of soldiers come over and lift Lance’s bodies. She positions herself next to them. “Lance is the best guy I’ve ever met. He’ll do anything for his friends. Trust me. If he hit him, you can bet your ass River deserved it.” She taps one of the soldiers on the arm. “I’m going with him.” Her tone is firm and after glancing across the yard at Quaid, the soldier nods.
