“Stay close,” he said. “They’d been on a recon patrol when they were attacked. Hunters are probably waiting for their extraction party.”
I nodded.
He gripped my upper arm, right over the red cross. “If they engage, don’t hesitate.”
I swallowed the sense of doom. Anxiety pooled in my stomach, but I ignored the nausea and my shaking hands.
“We got you, girl,” said Phan with a big smile. “You won’t have to fight. You’re only there to heal.”
Was this guy new? What an idiot.
We headed out shortly after, and I rode in the rear of an electric ATV with Maldonado driving. Sunset had just passed, and the brisk November air seeped beneath my heavy gear to chill my very bones. While my temporary squad joked around, Istayed quiet, certain they could hear the erratic pounding of my heart.
Darkness had enveloped us by the time we made it to the location—a six-story glass office building that had apparently been reappropriated as a lookout. Other squads had arrived before us, their footfalls crunching on the asphalt as they marched toward the building, guns in hand.
How many soldiers had received a firearm? How many rounds were they given? Since the Gunlock Law, firearms had grown increasingly harder to find. How the Defiance armed themselves was a mystery to me, though I suspected stealing from the NAO—thanks to Lucas—was the prime method.
I stayed close to Isaac as our squad moved in. The glass of the main door had been smashed in, and we stepped through in silence, following the other squads. I flinched at the crunch of glass under our boots.
We found the stairs behind the abandoned check-in desk. Isaac peeked around the corner before giving us the go-ahead. In the pitch-black stairwell, I followed the bouncing flashlight of the soldiers above and below. The other squads peeled off as they reached their assigned floors, and the familiar sounds of medics barking triage orders filtered from the propped doors. Six floors up, Isaac set his hand over the push bar. Metal scraped against metal as he pushed it in, then peeked into the darkened interior.
Cubicles spanned out with offices at the perimeter. I strove to see through the darkness, keeping my ears perked for suspicious noises, but there were none. Not enemy soldiers, not dying comrades.
Nothing.
We snuck through the gloom, clearing each cubicle and conference room, every office and restroom. The place wasempty…except for a break room on the south side of the building.
I stepped in after Isaac and Maldonado, my gaze darting to the dark masses on the floor near the windows. A beam of light grazed over the six bodies lying at strange angles in pools of red.
My heart sank, but I approached the bodies to check each one—riddled with bullets and pulseless. Sprays of blood spattered the windows, now pockmarked with holes. I peered into the dark world outside, wondering what these soldiers had been surveilling. What portion of the Hunter domain had they lost their lives to observe?
“They’re gone,” I said, voice steady.
Isaac nodded once, all business. “We’ll transport the bodies to the rally point. Let’s clear the floor and help the other squads with anyone still alive downstairs.”
While I waited with him, the four soldiers cleared the rest of the floor, searching for anyone else, anyone who might be alive.
They found no one.
As we regrouped near the stairwell, the walkie-talkie on Isaac’s belt erupted in static. “Eyes on enemy. Level one. Over.”
My heart jumped into my throat.
Isaac unclipped his device. “Copy that. How many? Over.”
“At least twenty. They’re at the front, but circling back. Get down here. We’re going in now. Over and out.”
Isaac glanced at me, visage stern. “Remember what I said. No hesitation.” He pulled a pistol from his holster. “Where’s your blade?”
Hands shaking, I yanked out my combat knife.
“Stay close to me. I’ll cover you, okay?”
“Wait,” I said. “What if—what if we just waited?”
“Not an option,” he said without further explanation, then briefed the other soldiers. “Shoot to kill, men. We meet at the rally point as discussed.”
My body transformed into a buzzing wire as we returned to the main stairwell. Khattab opened the door and motioned for us to follow. Shouts from below bounced against every concrete surface.
