Sovereign Hope (33 page)

I screwed my
eyes shut. Great. That meant they could get back in whenever they
wanted now.

“
We’ll figure out a way to fix this, I promise you. But right
now we need to know what they said,” Agatha said.

I nodded.
”He’s mad that we have Oliver. He said they know where we are and
they’ll be here in half an hour. He said if we hand him over, then
they’ll kill us quickly.” The story came out in one go and I was
thankful. My nerves were unraveling. None of it would make any
sense if I tried explaining again. There was a moment’s silence
while everyone took in the information.

“
And if we don’t?” Agatha asked in a sharp tone.

I didn’t
respond. They all knew what that silence meant. Everyone turned to
look at Oliver. “I hope no one’s thinking about handing me over,”
he said, daring anyone to try it.

Beatty was the
first to agree. “There’s no question of that. We’ll fight. It’s
just a matter of how to go about it.”

“
We’ll barricade ourselves in!” Oliver cried, as though it
were the obvious option.

“
That’s suicide, boy!”

Otis and Brynn
agreed in murmurs. They soon began arguing with Cliff, who had
emerged out of the darkness, shouting their opinions over one
another as they disagreed about the best plan of action. Agatha
screamed over the top of them, bringing them all to a halt.

“
We’ve already wasted five minutes. Let’s assume they’re
almost here. Brynn? Did you get your stock this
afternoon?”

He broke into
a broad grin. “That I did, Aggie.”

“
Good. Beatty, you take the store corridor. I’ll take the
left-hand side of the hangar. Brynn, you take the right-hand side.
Lay charges along the hallway to the hatch, okay?”

Beatty and
Brynn stormed out of the room without having to be told twice.
Everyone else looked to Agatha.

“
What’s the plan?” I asked. Surely they weren’t going to do
what I thought they were going to do.

“
We’re gonna wait until they’re inside and then blow them to
pieces,” Agatha announced, getting to her feet.

“
And where are
we
going to be when the place goes up?” Tess asked in a small
whisper.

“
As far away as possible.” Suddenly Agatha was shouting. “Come
on! Move! Everyone grab some water, first aid supplies, warm
clothes, and then get out of the hangar. MOVE!”

Infected by
her urgency, everyone fled the room. I jumped up from the bed,
pulling on jeans and an oversized sweater in under thirty seconds,
while Tess and Oliver ran off to do the same. I picked up my
rucksack and raced out of my room, barreling straight into Beatty.
He had a black case in either hand. From the relieved expression on
his face, they were obviously filled with explosives. “Careful,
Highness,” he whispered, and then jogged off in the other
direction, ducking in between pillars of boxes as he went.

Water was easy
to find. I grabbed two of the gallon containers from the stack in
the hangar and stuffed them into the rucksack. There was no room
for anything else, and the bag was heavy. I slung it onto my back
and did my best to locate the first aid supplies Agatha had
demanded, but I couldn’t seem to find any.

“
Farley!” Across the madness of the hangar, Cliff stood by the
exit, accompanied by Tess and Oliver. He waved me over, and I ran
to them as quickly as I could without knocking over Brynn in the
process. He was kneeling on the floor, twisting wires around the
contacts of a charger. He pushed them down into the small block of
grey explosives, which he held gingerly in his hand.

“
What are you doing just standing there?” Cliff
shouted.

“
Agatha said to get first aid supplies…”

“
A few Band-Aids aren’t going to be any good to us if Tobin
and his thugs show up, are they? Go with Tess and Oliver. Get above
ground and head to the far side of the ridge. Stay low and watch
out for anyone approaching. Go!”

He pushed me
back towards the exit. I almost toppled over with the weight of the
water on my back but quickly regained my balance. The three of us
turned and fled down the hallway alone.

I was
breathing hard by the time we reached the ladder. My body
complained bitterly as I forced myself up the rungs. It took
forever to reach the cold, pocked surface of the hatch. I yanked
the lever across and gathered all of my strength to push up against
the heavy metal, but then froze. What if the Reavers were already
out there, waiting for us? I hesitated.

“
Do you need me to push it open?” Oliver called up from below.
He sounded far away. I swallowed and heaved upwards; the rusted
iron creaked and then moved an inch. I cursed and let go of the top
rung so I could push with both hands, at which point it moved back
and hit the ground with a clang that vibrated around the inside of
the silo. I braced myself, listening for any movement. When I heard
nothing, I quickly climbed out of the hole and moved aside so Tess
and Oliver could follow. They were right behind me, and in less
than a minute they were creeping forward to peer into the night. A
heavy layer of cloud blocked out any light that the moon might have
provided, leaving us squinting into the pitch black.

“
Which way did they tell us to go?” Tess hissed.

I pointed in
the direction of the ridge line that concealed the garage.

Oliver
groaned. “There’s nothing out there.”

“
They’ll never see us if we’re beyond that ridge. We only have
to wait until they’re inside, anyway, and then Brynn will blow the
place.”

Oliver was
still jittery, but when I scooted out into the dark he followed,
constantly looking left and right. Cicadas chirruped loudly,
blocking out any more delicate sounds. I cursed the stupid insects
under my breath. The Reavers could almost be on top of us and we’d
never know it with all that noise.

It was cold in
the night air of the desert, and I shivered, thankful for my
sweater. We reached the base of the dune and scrabbled up in the
dark, struggling as every second or third foothold collapsed under
our weight, sending the red dirt tumbling out from underneath us so
we slipped back down. By the time we reached the top I could hear
low whisperings and could just about make out Nyla and Cliff
below.

Scout was
clinging to Cliff’s back as he climbed, peering fearfully up into
the dark with scared, round eyes. We helped pull them up as they
neared the top, and Cliff sucked his teeth, thinking hard.

Nyla pulled
her son down the other side of the high dune, producing keys from
somewhere. Their trucks were parked below in front of the shed that
housed Agatha and Daniel’s cars. She opened the closest black
vehicle, stowing the little boy inside.

“
Lay down and go to sleep, little man. Momma and Daddy will
come soon.”

I heard him
whimper as she closed the door and locked the truck. Nyla sprang
back up the embankment and was at our side within seconds, pulling
a gun out of her waistband.

“
Damn!” I hissed.

“
What is it?” Tess asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I
leaned forward, lying flat so I could look back over the other side
of the dune.

“
I left my gun.”

“
You can’t go back for it now,” Cliff said firmly. I ignored
him and sized up the distance between the dune and the silo,
attempting to calculate how long it would take to run down and back
again. Before I could do anything, Nyla let out a low hiss and
elbowed Cliff. She pointed out into the emptiness of the desert,
and he strained his eyes.

“
They’re coming,” he said.

“
I can’t see anything,” I whispered.

“
That doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

“
We have to warn the others,” Nyla muttered under her
breath.

My stomach
turned ice cold. I would have felt a lot safer if Daniel were with
us.

“
I’ll go get them,” Cliff whispered.

He was up and
over the edge before anyone could object. I watched as he slipped
down the other side, kicking up a plume of dust that temporarily
clouded our view.

“
He’s crazy!” Tess moaned. I was too busy staring into the
clearing dust and smoke to respond. I barely noticed Oliver creep
forward to lie beside me. He fidgeted restlessly.

“
So… is Elliot coming?”

“
I have no idea. I
seriously
hope not.”

He grunted. We
lay there in silence for another moment before Agatha’s hushed
voice echoed up from below, followed by the scraping sound of
people climbing. Three of them, Agatha, Beatty and Otis, appeared
and ducked down over the ridge.

“
Where’s Cliff and Brynn?” Oliver asked, lowering himself back
down to the others.

I couldn’t see
Agatha’s face in the darkness but I heard the strange inflection in
her voice. “They’re going to wait until the last minute. The
Immortals won’t be so easy to trick if they think there is no one
down in there.”

“
What! They’re going to die if they don’t get out now!” he
cried. He was ready to dive down the embankment and get them
himself, but Beatty put his hand on his shoulder.

“
Don’t worry, lad. My brother knows what he’s doing. And I’ve
never seen anyone as crafty as that knife thrower. They’ll get
out.”

There wasn’t a
hint of doubt in his voice. The low hum of an engine was now
clearly audible, even to my ears. When I clambered up over Tess’
legs to lay flat at the ridge line again, not one but two dark
objects were hurtling through the scrub towards us.

“
Get down!” Beatty cried as the engine sounds grew louder. He
grabbed hold of my ankles, pulling me back until I was almost level
with them. We huddled together, waiting with baited breath as the
noise grew closer and closer. With a screech of tires on loose
gravel, the cars skidded to a halt in front of the silo, killing
the engines.

There was no
noise.

“
What are they doing?” Tess hissed.

Agatha took
her hand. “I have no idea. Just stay quiet.”

My limbs were twitching, nervous.
Come on, come on. Go inside.
The
only way to slow my breathing was to lean back and close my eyes.
Eventually, there was the metallic clunk of car doors opening and
closing and the crunch of shoes on the stony ground. Deep voices
spoke quickly. Grunting as heavy objects were lifted, and a
strange, muffled gurgling noise. Then a voice was heard over the
mumbling.

“
Wait until we send for you.”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
Is it him? Is it Elliot?” Oliver asked.

“
No.” I was quite sure. “No, it’s not him. I’m going to have a
look.”

“
No, get back!” Beatty growled, but I was already at the ridge
and out of his reach.

“
There are nine men going into the silo,” I whispered down to
the others. “They’re leaving two outside.” That was a lot of men,
and they were all armed to the teeth. The thought of Cliff and
Brynn waiting down below made my eyes prick painfully. They
wouldn’t stand a chance.

The two men
that remained stood alongside the rear SUV. It took a second to
spot the figure in between them—the woman, bound and cowering back
against the car. Her head was covered in some sort of sack. On the
cold night breeze, her dress fluttered and swayed soundlessly. It
looked like she was shivering.

A loud bang
ripped through the night air and I jumped, sending a shower of
debris rolling down the other side of the embankment. I turned to
stone. Had they heard? I held my breath as I listened for the noise
of approaching footsteps, but the cicada chorus drowned everything
else out.

I counted
…ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen... Another loud popping
sound rang out, followed by a round of identical sounds.
Gunfire.

A hand grabbed me around the ankle. This time Beatty wasn’t
gentle, yanking me down hard. I was sliding. Before I slipped out
of view, I thrust my head up a few inches, determined to get
another look at the scene below. The men had their backs to the
dune, hovering close to the entrance of the silo. The hooded woman
was there, too. She was standing in exactly the same position as
before, except this time her covered head was pointed in my
direction.
Is she looking right at
me?

My shirt hiked
up as I slid back down, and the ground sunk its sharp teeth into
the sensitive skin of my belly, making it sting. I arrived
unceremoniously back at Agatha’s side.

“
What the hell are you doing?” she hissed through clenched
teeth. I straightened out my clothes and rolled over, brushing the
gravel out of my hands.

“
We needed to know how many were down there!”

“
Otis could have gone. I’m sure he would have been much more
subtle!” She sounded like she wanted to throttle me.

“
I’m sorry, okay? They didn’t hear me, though. They didn’t see
me.”

As I said the words, the niggling image of the bound woman
flashed before my eyes
.
Surely she couldn’t have seen me?

“
Well? Come on, then. Tell us what you saw or it was a wasted
journey.”

“
Two men. They have guns. There’s a woman down there, too, but
she’s all tied up. She has a bag over her head.”