I remove two detonators from Rabaan’s waist and set one for fifteen seconds. I throw the detonator out the door, and watch it land a few inches from a small group of Hostem. They are blown into pieces from the ensuing blast. I set the second one to twenty seconds and toss it outside as well, towards what remains of the vehicles. I remove the sash from Rabaan’s waist as the vehicles ignite.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him.
I sprint off through the door, ignoring the cuts on my feet from glass shards that litter the tile, sling the belt around my shoulders, and secure the Levin gun in my waistband. As I pass through the set of doors for the connection bridge, I see children pouring from the Predestination Center, hurrying toward the emergency bunker’s entrance.
Shots are being fired at the glass of the bridge, but the protective film is preventing any real damage. With the lights of the complex shining brightly, I can see the full assault being led from the cliffs below. At least a hundred people are scaling the cliff face.
I bolt down the bridge, through the housing unit, and onto the other bridge. Women in various stages of pregnancy are shuffling as fast as they can towards the emergency bunker. I push my way past them. One of the windows on the bridge has been blown out, probably before the emergency protocol was put into place. Jagger, Keller, and Gage are rapidly firing down at the climbers below. I remove a detonator, set the time to ten seconds, and drop it out the window.
“Get down,” I shout.
Everyone crouches down as the device ignites below causing the bridge to shake slightly. The women stand back up, hurrying even faster down the walkway. I look down and see a number of the climbers have either fallen or are dangling from their ropes.
“Where are Quin and Lehen?” I ask Jagger, as he picks his Beta rifle back up, firing down at those who continue to climb.
“They went to the Developmental Quad,” he says between bursts of fire. “The building was breached just before lockdown.”
I hand him and Keller three detonators, leaving me with four.
I squeeze past the mass of people rushing into the emergency bunker while Tobin and two Morrigan direct everyone. Children and instructors continue to exit the Predestination Center as I make my way in. I follow the line of kids, hoping they will lead me to the connecting bridge to the Developmental Quad.
I find the entrance and bolt down the walkway.
Smoke empties from the building, floating along the ceiling of the bridge. I can hear shouting and screaming echoing through the halls as I gingerly step inside, remove the gun from my waistband, and hold it up in front of me.
Two children round the corner to my left, blood and ash covering their faces. I point them towards the door, practically shoving them through, as a tall figure in black follows from behind them, firing in our direction. I shove the kids to the ground and lie on top of them as I fire at him, hitting him in the leg just above the knee, then in the stomach. I pull myself off of the children, shouting at them to run.
I walk over to the moaning lump on the floor and remove his hood.
Terrance looks up with anger in his eyes that changes to sorrow when he sees who I am.
“How could you be mixed up in this?” I shout. “I trusted you.” Tears stream down my face. “I thought you were my friend. You murdered my family…my friends,” I whimper.
His hand reaches up, fingers brush my face. I’m sorry, he mouths, then goes limp.
I stand and walk away, leaving Terrance to die alone.
A moment later, Quin and Lehen drag Rey around the opposite corner from where the kids came from. He is badly injured, his shin bone shattered beyond repair. I cover them as they drag Rey down the bridge. Braxton and three Morrigan meet them halfway. Two of the Morrigan take Rey and carry him into the Predestination Center.
“How many are in there?” Braxton asks, as he comes up to me.
“I’m not sure,” I answer, smoke around us getting thicker.
“Almost all of the children got out,” Lehen says, as he, Quin, and the remaining Morrigan join us. “The building is crawling with Hostem.”
“We can’t let them get any farther.”
“I’ve got an idea,” I say removing one of the detonators from Rabaan’s sash.
“The glass is impenetrable,” Lehen says. “How are the detonators going to help?”
“I’m not going to use them on the glass.” I look over at Quin, who smiles as he senses what I’m planning.
He places his palm onto the film covering the window closest to the entrance on the right. His back begins to glow as his Quantum Stream pulses through his system. The coating cracks under his palm, radiating outwards, before finally shattering. I fire the Levin gun at the window, disintegrating the glass.
“Cover me,” I say, handing Braxton my gun before jumping out.
I aim for a thick pile of snow just a few feet below, so I don’t have to jump far. Energy blasts shoot over my head at the intruders down below.
I lower myself slowly from one ledge to another. A Hostem swings up next to me, but a shot from above kills her within seconds of reaching my ledge. I remove the rope from the woman’s harness, watch as her body plummets to the valley below, then secure myself and push off of the rocks, swinging hard to the right, aiming for the farthest support column. I secure the detonator by one of the column’s joints, setting the timer for five minutes, swing back around to my left, and
