I imagine if I were in a civilian place, like a mall or something, there’d be somewhat of a stampede. Mass hysteria. And although I definitely felt near hysterics on the inside, the calmness of the soldiers around me quickly put me in check. We moved as one, exactly how Top had instructed, and we moved fast.
It was a blur. Leaving the lobby, sprinting through the halls, down the stairs, through the tunnel. Sean was just ahead of us, pulling J.D. by the hand.
“Remy,” I said when we burst through the tunnel. “Rylen!”
“They’re both working,” Tater said through panting breaths. “They’ll get there before us.”
“Oh, God,” I said, nearly panicking now. “Rylen’s going to the jet! We have to stop him!”
Tater broke formation, yanking me to the side against the wall as everyone sprinted past.
“Don’t, Amber!” He shook me. “¡Cálmese!”Calm down.“He has a job. Let him do it! Now, come on.” He yanked my arm and we slid back into the running ranks.
The worst, most sickening sense of fear entrapped me as I ran. I never got to say good-bye to my parents. And now I wasn’t going to see Rylen before he boarded that jet to try and give us all a chance to escape. A sob broke from my throat, but it was a dry, fearful sound. Even my tears were too afraid to come out.
We filed smoothly into the forbidden door and someone at the exit stairs ahead shouted, “Five minutes! Move your asses!” Another man was shoving guns of various types into soldiers’ hands as they ran past. Tater got one. I didn’t.
We picked up speed, slowing the slightest bit as we all had to sprint up the steps and out into the night. A blast of cold air slapped me, but I barely felt it. My eyes went straight to the greenhouse where Remy would have been working. To my relief, it appeared empty. Tater was right. Since she’d been out here, she was probably one of the first ones to run to the aircraft hangar.
It was a dead-on open air sprint the rest of the way to the hangar. We burst through the tall, metal doors, which were being opened from ground to ceiling. Engines were roaring and propellers were whirring. Top was at the bottom of the stairs of the first plane, waving people up.
“Is Remy on this one?” I shouted to him.
He shook his head, circling an arm to tell everyone, “Go, Go, Go!”
Tater and I ran to the next airplane.
“Did Remy Haines board?”
The man shook his head. “No women onboard yet.”
Tater and I shared a look of confusion that turned to panic. We looked all around us at the people spilling into the hangar, running up the stairs. We ran to both the choppers, no Remy. I shook out my hands at my sides.
“Tater, where the hell is she?” We were back to Top’s plane now.
“Thirty seconds!” he shouted.
“Still no Remy?” I asked. Top shook his head.
Tater motioned something to the First Sergeant, and shoved me forward. Top grasped my upper arm hard. And then Tater was running out of the hangar.
“Wait!” I screamed and tried to yank away, but Top literally picked me up off my feet and carried me, kicking and screaming, up the stairs.
“Tater! No! Tater, come back!”
“Don’t let her off!” Top told the people on board as he unceremoniously dumped me inside. Devon’s arms wrapped around me, not leaving a single crack for me to pry myself loose. I sank into the floor of the plane as the doors closed, wracked with violent sobs.
Rylen
I didn’t like the look in Captain King’s eyes when we got to the jet. He wasn’t focused. He looked fucking insane. We didn’t have time for this.
“Dude,” I said. “Are you up for it?”
He blinked, but his eyes still freaked me out. “I can fly.”
“I know you can fucking fly, but can you focus on this mission?”
His jaw locked. “I’m not afraid to die.”
