Survival

you. They had been waiting patiently in case they were needed to help at the metro station, but Danny's guards had managed to get everything under control, so they had just been sat there at a secure location waiting for any orders. Rashid and the two guards were the only other people who knew of the compound's location, once all her team had been assembled and they were safely in with Sheryl, Rashid and the two pilots were to be paid a healthy sum of money for safe passage out of the way of the Elite. She had told them that they would soon return to their loved ones, as soon as their plan had been put into action, so they were to stay hidden until then. She didn't know whether the plan would work or not, but she had to give them some incentive, something to keep them quiet. Sometimes money alone isn't enough, you had to make it emotional for them. She wasn't deceiving them, she was hopeful the plan would work, one of her plans at least.

The guards waiting at the rendezvous point were given a similar scenario, and just as big sum of money, except none of them knew the whereabouts of the compound. The fewer people who knew about it the better. She trusted Rashid with her life, she had known him all of his life and he vouched for the two pilots, they were as trustworthy as he was. Sheryl clicked a few icons on the screen in front of her and pointed to the chair next to her.

“You might as well sit down” She said, to which he obliged.

She sifted through messages and feeds, stopping for the odd sip from her glass. She was trying to find out any information about the bigger picture that she could. It seemed that similar events were unfolding across the planet, over eager rebels detonating explosions, the Elite burying them all under mountains of rubble. It was a naïve move on the rebels' part; it was too soon, it was sporadic, very loosely coordinated. One faction had obviously heard what others were doing in another part of the country or continent and didn't want to be outdone. They wanted their name remembered in history as part of the resistance that gave humanity back its freedom, and it just snowballed from there. It was playing their cards too soon, and none of them would be remembered for anything other than being foolhardy. It was a shame; they could have been useful in the right situation.

She continued to check any intel she could find. The other teams she was affiliated to appeared to be as dismayed at the short sightedness of some of the rogue factions as her; it could jeopardize the whole mission. Thankfully it hadn't done as yet, so they were all ploughing on as quickly and efficiently as they could. Sheryl's phone suddenly bounced into life on the desk and she answered it promptly. There was only Mateo she expected to hear from again, so assumed it was him, without even looking at the number.

“Hi Mateo” She said eagerly waiting to hear good news.

“We've got a huge problem Sheryl” He shouted down the line, “We've been tracked to the rendezvous point, we need to get out of here asap”

Sheryl threw her glass down and lurched forward in her chair.

“Is everyone there?”

“We're still waiting for Niel and the others” He replied, “But we can't hang around long”.

Sheryl could hear a rumbling sound in the background that was coming from the rendezvous point.

“What's that?” She asked.

“Shit, I don't know, something's coming” Mateo hurriedly replied.

Sheryl's thoughts whizzed round her brain. She knew she had to get them out of there now, but she also needed to contact the last three.

“Ok, we'll get you out of there straight away, stay safe” She said sounding more panicked than she wanted to. She could see the whole thing falling apart, but had to keep trying. She turned to Rashid, who knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Get them out there now” She ordered, to which Rashid picked up his own encrypted phone to contact the pilots, “What about the other three?”

“Leave that with me”.

Sheryl dialled another secret number and Joaquin answered. Her instructions were clear, the helicopter was on its way to pick up her team, three of them weren't there yet and he was to wait behind to greet them and pass on the coordinates to the compound. He would not give out the coordinates to anyone other than the three team members. She knew she was potentially compromising everything, but things appeared to have gone completely sideways as it was, this was the only way she could think of to get the remaining three team members to her. She had to trust Joaquin, pray he was as honest and loyal as he had appeared to be so far. She put the phone down and then began typing the coordinates to him. With another sigh, one of apprehension, she pressed send. She poured herself another gin, this one much larger than the last two.

“Damn it” She said under her breath.

THE RENDEZVOUS POINT

The roar of some kind of engine caused them all to look to the south where it appeared to be echoing from. The guards picked up their weapons and adopted the same defence stance they had done previously. Joaquin's encrypted phone rang. Great timing, he thought. He answered it quickly, knowing the only person who would phone him was his current boss. He listened carefully to the instructions, told her he understood and the call abruptly ended. The other guards looked at him, waiting for some news.

“The chopper is coming to pick them up, we just need to hold back whatever is making that noise and then I have to wait here for the last three team members” He informed them.

“And then what?” asked Christian.

“You guys leave like you were supposed to do” He replied.

They agreed, no need to