Victor turned to face her. “I don’t expect to change your mind. I’m here because I see now what’s been going on. They flew us here on a big plane. We never got to see the cities and towns stripped of people. We were told you surrendered, and the war was over as soon as it began. When I first saw you, I assumed you were like me. Like the others. We’re at peace. It’s time to rebuild a new America.”
The numbers ticked off, drawing her ever closer to the top floor. His story was impossible to confirm, and it wasn’t a version of events she wanted to believe. At the same time, knowing what she did about David and his leaders, it made sense. They’d threatened her with the lives of her friends to get her to comply. Lying to young people to get them to marry off was simple by comparison.
Her thoughts turned to Peter and Audrey. She recognized the threat to their lives, but if she didn’t try to escape, all three of them were doomed inside the vault. If she could get out of NORAD, even if it meant accepting assistance from Victor, she could seek help on the outside and eventually come back for her friends. In the meantime, she reasoned, no harm would befall them until she was captured again.
Please be right.
“For now, let’s agree to disagree. As long as you help me escape from this nightmare hole, I’m willing to call you an ally. It’s the best I can do for you.”
“I’ll take it,” he said, much too happily.
She shook her head in disbelief. “We’re coming up to the top level. Do you think there will be guards this time?”
“I’ll handle them,” he said dryly, facing the door.
“What are you going to do?”
“Stay back.” He motioned for her to stand near the buttons, which would keep her out of the line-of-sight for people outside.
The doors opened and Victor strode out as if he owned the place. She listened intently as someone yelped. An instant later, a second person cried out. Two thumps followed.
“You can come out.” Victor was huffing from exertion.
“Oh, crackers,” she blurted. Two guards were on the ground. Blood gushed from their heads.
Victor smiled. “This way. The exit is here.”
They ran down the short hallway and approached the same door she’d tried to open before being captured the other time. Its large EXIT lettering drew her forward. Looking behind, she saw no one there to stop her. The men on the ground were black piles of uniforms. They weren’t moving at all.
“It’s not complicated,” he said. “You open it with this handle.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
He pointed to a placard near the mechanism. “The designers didn’t want anyone getting stuck inside for lack of understanding a complex system. It’s a failsafe.”
“Thank God for that,” she said, truly relieved.
The vault door swung out as if it were motorized. It was about seven feet tall and almost square. As it came out of the wall, she got a good look at its depth. It was at least three-feet thick, with graduated edges, so it fit into the socket in wedged stages rather than being one smooth block.
When the door cleared enough for her to see around it, she was disappointed at what appeared. “There’s another opening…”
“Yep. There’s two doors. This one, and the big one to the outside.” The outer hole was big enough for a truck to drive through, as was the fifty yards of tunnel between her and the portal. Yellow and white lines were painted on the ground, as if the road from the outside came into the mountain and up to the inner vault door. “It’s all designed to protect us.”
“The outer door is already open,” she said dryly. “There are people in the tunnel.”
“We’ll simply run by them,” Victor advised.
“Yeah, I’m good at running.”
CHAPTER 27
NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain Entrance, CO
“I knew you were bad news,” Brent remarked, pistol pointed at Long.
“You shoot me, I shoot you. Is that how it’s going to be?” Long gave the men a sideways glance. “Drop your weapons or boss man gets it.”
The other men did as instructed, then crouched in place or crawled away, afraid the guy was going to spray them with the street sweeper. It didn’t worry Brent; he’d take one in the gut if it gave the others time to regroup and fight back.
Long laughed after everyone was disarmed, then he spoke to Brent. “You don’t know anything about me. For instance, did you know I was transferred to your prison wing specifically so I could survive the first wave?”
“I suspected,” Brent replied, fighting to maintain his cool.
“Well, did you know several of the others you let go from your prison were also playing for the enemy team?” He nodded toward the entrance to NORAD, as if clarifying who he meant.
“I should have let you rot…” he said in a dejected tone.
“Naw, we all would have gotten out. We had it planned to the last detail. One of the guards was in our pocket, trust me. My point is you were never going to win. The only reason I didn’t stop you before this is because I wanted you alive. By driving yourself here, you’ve made it easy to scoop you inside. That’s where you’ll get a taste of our hospitality.”
Trish came up behind him, catching Long’s attention. “There’s our accomplice now.”
Brent half-turned. “Trish?”
“Please drop your weapon, Brent. No one has to get hurt.” She sounded apologetic.
A heavy sigh escaped his chest. After running through his chances of getting at least one shot into the asshole in front of him, he figured Trish might fire at him, too. Despite everything, he didn’t want to make her do that.
He put the gun down and kicked it over to Long.
The guy cackled. “Oh, how it must break your lonely old heart to see your star pupil pull a gun on you.”
Some of
