Logan and I looked at each other. I could practically see his thoughts in his eyes, for they were the same as mine. The twins were on the other side of the room, and with one of them injured, they’d never be able to outrun their attackers and make it to the cars in time to get away. Clay, also, would never agree to just leave Logan behind.
I took a step away from the car, back toward the inevitable fight.
“Go!” Logan shouted as he pulled another of the makeshift smoke bombs from his pocket.
“But...” I hovered with my hand on the door to the car, unable to decide what to do.
Logan twisted off the cap of the aerosol can. “Just go while you can. We’ll catch up.”
He threw the canister at his own feet, and a second later the air in the garage filled with an opaque cloud of billowing gas, blocking off everyone’s vision.
I couldn’t help hesitating for one more moment, watching the vague shapes of humans moving through the smoke. Then I heard the sound of a fist meeting flesh, and an unrecognizable voice shouting in pain, and knew the fight had begun.
Every instinct I had begged me to go back and help the others, but then I looked over at Jordy, huddled in the passenger seat of the car with my briefcase still clutched to his chest.
“Damn it.”
Biting my lip and clenching my fists, I shoved myself behind the wheel of the car. The keys were waiting for me right on the dashboard, in such easy reach it was as if this whole desperate escape had been planned. Starting up the car, I peeled out of the garage, barely remembering to hit the button for the outer garage door in time to keep from driving right through it. Within a matter of seconds, we were out on the open road, the two of us quickly leaving all the chaos behind.
After days of living in the artificial environment of the underground bunker, the sight of real sky and plant life was a shock to my eyes. The bunker’s lighting system had been set to night, but out in the real world, it was only late afternoon. The sun hadn’t fully set yet, but gray clouds covered the sky in a bleak atmosphere. A light rain pelted the car, just enough to make the windshield wipers necessary, but not enough to impede visibility on the road.
Neither Jordy, nor I, said anything as I kept driving. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just picked a random direction and didn’t stop, turning only when the road gave me no other choice.
An hour passed in silence. The light rain turned into a heavy downpour that even the windshield wipers struggled to keep up with. We were completely alone on a nameless back road that I couldn’t have found on a map to save my life and there wasn’t another single pair of headlights in sight.
Figuring we’d driven far enough, and there was no point risking our safety driving though the rain, I pulled the car to a stop under the shelter of a small bridge.
Even after the rumble of the car’s engine died, I continued to grip the steering wheel hard enough that I could feel the stitches holding the old leather together.
“Jordy, I...”
Whatever useless words of comfort I’d been about to offer died on my tongue when I looked over at the other man. He was curled up on the seat, knees pressed to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs, making him look even smaller than usual. The sight would have been pathetic enough, but he was also shivering so badly that he seemed in danger of biting his tongue.
While the weather wasn’t very cold, it also wasn’t that warm, either, and he was wearing very little. Not even shoes. The skimpy boxers and tank top he’d chosen to wear earlier were certainly eye catching, but he was paying for that choice now.
In contrast, I was sitting here still mostly dressed. The only clothing I was missing was my tie.
I slipped off my jacket and draped it around his shoulders, appreciating the way it practically swallowed him. His hands gripped the lapels and pulled the jacket tighter around him like a blanket.
“What do we do now?” he asked when his shivering finally stopped.
“Now?” I repeated.
Oh, right.
What were we going to do now?
No, I needed to think. I had a plan for this. I remembered talking about it with Logan and the others when we were first organizing this whole operation.
Searching the car, I found my briefcase sitting on the car floor at Jordy’s feet.
“Now, we’re going to have to wait.”
Opening the briefcase, I started looking through its contents, but I was stopped when Jordy suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Oh my God. Kitt, you’re hurt. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What?”
