“One of the men left too, once he saw it was not going well for Paul here. I’m sure he will be back. With reinforcements.” Simon tilted his head as he noted Anna’s position, standing just a few paces from where her husband lay. “Anna . . .”
But Anna shook her pale face. “No, I don’t want to talk about it now. Later.” Her voice broke. “Let’s just focus on getting away.”
“Okay.” He frowned at the blinds that shook where Anna held them in her grip. “Are there any other exits?”
With a shaking hand, she pointed behind her without looking. “Yeah. The service entrance. Maybe that’s best to go out of. On the side.”
“Alright. I'll get Nora up to move.”
He walked back to where Nora sat, her body curled on itself. A part of him broke seeing there, curled over in pain.
Nora's eyes were glazed. “Can we get out?”
“We will, yes.” Simon touched her shoulder as he walked next to her to look out these windows.The hover is right outside.Through the service entrance was the same way Tilly went out back to the playground.
Anna, who had followed him into the bakery area, gestured behind her with her hands. “I just need to unlock that gate. Can do that now or . . .”
He looked through the side window again. “That’s a good idea. We’ll load there and then leave fast. I’d set a fire, but I think that would draw more attention.”
Nora tried to move but then stopped to grip her leg. “A fire is too much. You’d have everyone hunting us if you make anything that big.”
Anna’s voice was quiet next to him. “They’re going to hunt us anyways. Others knew what Paul was up to.”
The bandage was holding on Nora's leg. Simon checked the blood flow again. He spoke briskly. “It doesn’t matter. We were planning on leaving this town anyways.”Now we just need to do it faster.
Stella chimed in just to Simon over the connection,“No need for any fire. Load up, and leave the distraction to us.”
Relief flooded him. He looked over to Anna. “Get the keys to the side gate; a distraction is already planned.”
Nora struggled to sit more upright. “Huh?”
Simon pointed through the window. “The drones are going to assist.”
Anna turned, her face ashen. She looked between Simon and Nora. “The drones?”
Around Nora's leg, Simon added a loose layer of cloth. “Yes.”
“Alright . . . right. I’ll get the keys.” She left and Simon heard her opening a lock a second later.
He asked over the connection,“The distraction?”
In response, Stella projected an image of the drone positioning itself in the middle of the street, down from the bakeshop. The drone then began to sound an alarm, flashing and spinning in an abnormal pattern. It flew up and down the street, screeching the whole way.
Simon saw through Stella's projection people taking notice, until no one was standing by the bakery any longer. The drone was joined by another that hovered low above the street, flying in the opposite direction. Fog poured from overhead, covering the entire area.
His processors relaxed, seeing what the drones were doing.That will be more than enough.Simon reached for Nora and hiked her gently in his arms. “Here we go.” He tilted her head into his shirt. “Keep your eyes closed. You don’t need to see the other room.”
“Okay.” Nora covered her eyes with her hand for good measure as they walked through the main room to meet with Anna waiting by the service entrance.
Alarms were sounding down the street. Simon didn’t bother to look for who was watching, and moved on Stella’s word when she said clearly to him,“Go now.”
They walked together to the hover, Anna unlocking the gate on the way. Simon spoke low as he put Nora on the bench seat in the back before climbing in himself. “Okay, Nora. We will go fast.”
Nora didn’t respond. A thin sheen of sweat was on her face. She curled up in the backseat clutching her leg, next to the single scooter still back there.
Anna climbed in as well, sitting on Simon’s usual bucket seat. A blank expression on her features. She said softly next to him, “Think that distraction will be enough?”
The fog was so thick that the entire area was obscured. Even with his vision enhanced it was difficult to see far. “Yes. More than enough.”
