I sigh in relief.
“Ready for this?” I ask the room. “You know your jobs?”
Everyone nods. Two of the new guys who came in with us are dead. One remains. He understands the situation now. I’m relieved for selfish reasons that there hasn’t been a new delivery, though I anticipate that with the drop in numbers because of the frequent hunts, there will be another in the next day or so.
I wonder how they’re going to keep abducting people from the same places? They’re risking someone figuring out a pattern.
Then again, there’s a chance that they might have already taken this into account. Our Shuttled driver didn’t mention another one after the one we hijacked until next month. If they receive another delivery of people, they’re pulling from a new source.
Azlan, Wade, and I share our sharp weapons with those being called to the hunt. That leaves us with one extra, and I leave it with one of the guys not called. The plan is a rapid take-down of the three guys outside, and then we’ll be releasing everyone else. Azlan and Wade will turn the tables on the hunters. Malcolm and I will head to the admin building. Everyone else will beheading to the remaining two barracks, eliminating the guards, and releasing the prisoners.
As soon as we take down the guards outside, I’ll call my father and have him relay the signal that the rest of my family can move in. It’s Rhodes’ pack’s job to find the forge and secure the man there. He’s not a kill-on-sight.
I’m keeping Brek with me. We’re taking the truck anyway, so it’ll work out. Doc will be meeting us at the lodge.
The nervous energy in the room is palpable. It shivers in the air. I catch many guys looking at Azlan every few minutes. Interestingly, I think they’re using his calmness and indifference as reassurance. I’ll have to tell him when this is over. He’ll find it amusing. Probably the first and only time someone looks at a psychopath and thinks,Everything is going to be okay.
The lock in the door grinds back, and it opens a minute later. Brek is coming out last. We’ve already arranged ourselves in order of departure with Wade in the front. The two other guys are next. Then me and Malcolm. Last Brek. He’s supposed to hang back and head for the door slowly, which won’t be hard since he’s running a fever and is in pain.
I’d really have liked Azlan to have been called out. I’m shit at physical confrontations. Not that I can’t pull it off. I think I can well enough. But I’m not the best option.
I walk out in front of Malcolm, paying more attention to his footsteps than where I’m going. It’s about the distance between us. Our ambush needs to be simultaneous.
My heart races so quickly that I feel a little lightheaded.I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.The four words chant in myhead. In reality, Ihaveto do this. I need to get Brek out of here before his infection spreads.
Wade stops at the back of the pickup truck and looks back. That’s our signal. I spin around, knife in my hand, and as if I’m following a choreographed dance, I duck and spin until I’m behind the armed man standing to the side. This isn’t the one at the door. Malcolm has him.
Suddenly, all three guards have knives at their necks. Yes, they still have the rifles, but now they’re also serving as human shields.
“Struggle and we will kill you,” Malcolm says. “Understand?”
All three men nod.
“You’re going to put the safety on your rifles if they’re not already. Do it now.”
I hear one lick. The man that Malcolm has.
“Nowslowlyset the buts on the ground and let them fall, pointing away from everyone. Do it now.”
All three hit the ground and then fall like dominoes.
“You’re going to raise your hands over your heads slowly. I’m truly itching to kill someone, soplease,by all means, do something to raise the alarm,” Malcolm says. “Do it now.”
The three men raise their hands.
I feel around the guy in front of me. He flinches when my movement causes the blade to bite into his skin. It’s on the tip of my tongue to apologize, but then I remember where I am and what I’m doing.
“Right pocket,” my guy says. “Zip ties.”
Okay, that deserves a thank you. I wait until I get the zip tie around his wrists, securing them behind his back. “Thanks.”
He nods.
“Now tell us how you communicate,” Malcolm says.
“We have radios,” his guy says. He nods where there’s one hanging from the wall of the cabin. As Malcolm is reaching for it, a voice comes through.
“Cabin A, four released.”
