“Turn right,” Patrick whispered, stepping through the door.
Chad followed him, keeping his head low. Their driver and guard were nowhere to be seen. His heart racing, he followed Patrick to the bus, and the others slunk out of the shadows to cover them.
Chad climbed one step, then another, and was swallowed up by the vehicle’s dark interior. Just as they got in, the two Commandos jumped into the bus behind them.
“Finally! Come on, boys, we’ve wasted too much time already,” one of them grumbled.
Chad tried not to think of all the eyes that peered at them through the dark as they made their way to the back of the bus. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the Commandos weren’t watching, then pushed the unconscious man into a seat next to Luke and squeezed in between him and Patrick.
“What the fuck?” Luke whispered, staring at him.
“Don’t ask.” Chad propped up the Commando inconspicuously. “If he moves, put him back to sleep.”
Luke just kept staring at Chad, until Chad turned away.
He let his mind wander, taking the most of every minute of the ride before he had to use his shield again. They’d have a better cover this time and would only have to make a few steps out of the bus and to the nearest corner.
He patted the radio that he had turned off and hidden in his pocket. What else were they going to find in the man’s pockets, and more importantly, how much did he know? Chad jumped to his feet when the bus finally stopped, another door right next to them opening.
His companions got up, crowding around him as he grabbed the man’s belt again and spread out his shield to lift him upright.
“Stay close,” Luke whispered to the others. Before Chad knew it, they were out on the street, and the bus disappeared from sight as they rounded a corner.
“Thank God.” Chad breathed out, lowering the man to the ground. He took a deep breath and rested his hands on his knees, not believing his luck. Too many things could’ve gone wrong.
The Commando at his feet groaned. Before he could do anything about it, Luke struck the man, and he sprawled on the ground again.
“Let’s go home before anyone sees us,” Luke grumbled, and led them into a dark alley, where they could take off into the air without being seen.
* * *
Peter signed the last paper and pushed it aside, huffing in annoyance. Never before had he felt so restless, stuck there with the paperwork. Then again, what else could he do while he waited for them to return?
The phone rang, making him jump. “What?” he barked, pushing the button.
“Team Alpha’s on the way.” Peter recognized Brad’s voice. He was on guard duty at Post Zero, the rooftop, and Peter had asked him to inform him personally about any updates tonight.
“Good.”
A minute later, the door swung open, and Luke strode inside. His troubled eyes settled on Peter as he stopped and dropped his mask onto the conference table. The others followed his example, and then there was Chad, carrying someone by the jacket, and Patrick with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.
Peter stood and stared as Chad dropped the man to the floor and raised his gaze. A minute passed, and still no one spoke up.
Peter narrowed his eyes. “I did send five of you there, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Luke said, nodding. His lips formed a tight line as he glanced at Chad. “That poor bastard is a Commando that your protégé here has knocked out and kidnapped, because apparently, sticking to the plan is a concept foreign to him.” Luke glared at Chad, making him look down.
“Kidnapped?” Peter raised an eyebrow.
Chad looked up at him, his expression hardening in defense. He unzipped his jacket and took out a smartphone and a radio. They fell on the table, followed by the AK.
Peter let another eyebrow climb up his forehead.
“It’s a guard from the base,” Chad said. “There was nothing there, okay? It was all dark, we didn’t know where we were, we couldn’t see their faces, nothing. So when he walked in while I was searching the control room, it was actually good, because I got to use his phone and take pictures and everything…”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Peter held up a hand. “Let’s start from the beginning and hear the whole story.” He looked at Luke, who opened his mouth again. “And then we will discuss the protocol and your mistakes.”
Luke grunted. “I’ll let the hero here tell the story, since he knows best.”
Chad shot an annoyed look at him and crossed his arms, some of the usual stubborn fire back in his eyes.
He told Peter about the uneventful ride to the Commandos’ base and the meeting, and Peter didn’t want to interrupt, but couldn’t help himself once Chad got to the part about the control room.
“So they just left it open?”
“Well, this guy walked out of it when we arrived, and I guess he was going to get back to his post but got held up,” Chad said.
No way are these people military, Peter thought. “And you got to see the whole place through the cameras? Was there a laboratory of any kind, anything similar to what Chris remembers?”
Chad shook his head. He picked up the smartphone.
“Look, there were three screens, split in four, that makes a dozen images. Half of them were from where we had been: the entrance, the corridor, two cameras in the big hall…” He crouched and used the Commando’s finger to unlock the phone, muttering, “This sucks, can I chop off his thumb or something?”
Peter grimaced. “Rooney will take care of the phone.” He came closer to look at the pictures.
Chad’s thumb kept flipping through
