He counted to three and pulled himself the rest of the way under the gate and out of the hole. He got up into a crouch and took another look around. No sign of any movement.
Something scraped below him, then the chain link on the gate rattled momentarily. He shot a look down. Ruby was part of the way through, her hand holding the gate in an attempt to stop it from moving.
“Quiet,” he mouthed.
Her eyes were wide and scared, but she nodded. Slowly she let go of the fence, and relaxed when there was no more rattle.
Ben held out his hand, telling her to wait in the hole. He crept over to the outfield wall, which was covered by large blue sections of padding. Between the two mats at the very center was a crack through which he could see beyond the wall. He’d been right. It did open.
The problem was, how?
He ran his finger along the crack but found no release. He would have to go over, which meant he’d be in sight of every guard in the place. Maybe if he went quickly, he could—
A double pop.
He dropped to the ground.
The sound hadn’t been loud, but it had been unusual. He looked back toward the stands and realized he had just enough of an angle to see part of one guard. The man was leaning against a pole as if nothing had happened.
Had he not heard the noise? Or was it a normal sound around here that Ben hadn’t noticed before?
“What’s going on?” Jilly whispered, her voice barely drifting out of the hole.
He crawled over. “Did you hear that noise?”
“I heard something. Thought you made it.”
“Uh-uh.”
“What was it?”
“Don’t know.”
He looked back at the fence.
“Are we going to go or not?” she asked.
“Hold on. Let me—”
The sound of running steps stopped him. Not on the field, but farther away in the stands, and…receding.
He cautiously rose back to his feet and inched out until he could see the guard he’d noticed before, but no one was there. He inched out a little farther, checking to see if the guy had repositioned. He found that not only was the guard missing, but the next guard down was gone, too.
Emboldened, he continued pushing the boundaries until he was standing free of the holding area’s cover.
All the guards in the stands were gone.
For a full two seconds, he didn’t move.
Then he turned toward the center-field wall and ran.
Martina was not happy.
Gabriel had decided she would be on lookout, meaning she had to stay on the hill and report what was going on instead of being with everyone else headed to the stadium.
“You promised you would do what we told you,” he reminded her when she protested the assignment.
She hated him in that moment for reminding her, but she had taken the binoculars and remained behind.
From her vantage point, she was able to watch while Pax and Nyla were stopped in the parking lot and put in the car. Moments later, there was a bright flash from the interior, followed by the soft echo of the bullets.
Then Pax’s voice came over the radio. “Go!”
Martina moved the lenses from the car to the trees where group one was gathered. Seconds after Pax’s command, the group moved into the parking lot in a loose line. Though she couldn’t see them from here, she knew the other two groups were also making their way toward the stadium.
She switched her view to the interior of the stadium, focusing on the detention area she was sure her friends were in. Her brow furrowed.
What the…?
Someone was outside the gate, kneeling next to…a hole in the ground? Not only that, apparently someone was in the hole.
Oh, my God, she thought. They’re breaking out.
The person who’d been kneeling suddenly shot up and looked inward at the stadium. She raised her glasses, trying to see what had drawn his attention. For a moment she couldn’t figure out what it was, then she realized the guards were gone.
She trained the glasses back on the guy on the field. He had moved away from the hole and was stepping slowly from the shadows into the lit open area to the right of the fence.
It wasn’t very long before he seemed to realized what she’d already discovered, because he turned and started running toward the back of the field.
Martina gasped.
As the man turned, his face had come into view.
Ben.
He was alive!
Without another thought, she jumped up and began running down the hill.
Bleep-bleep.
Bleep-bleep.
Dr. Lawrence looked up from her desk, unsure where the noise was coming from.
Bleep-bleep.
Bleep-bleep.
Dr. Rivera grabbed the radio off the central table. He twisted a dial on top and the sound decreased.
The general alarm, Lawrence realized. It had been tested once when they first arrived but hadn’t been used since.
Suddenly the bleeping was replaced by the voice of Brooks, station director. “All security personnel report to entrances one, two, and four. Multiple individuals approaching.”
“Multiple?” Lawrence said.
“I repeat,” Brooks said. “All security personnel report to entrances one, two, and four. Multiple individuals approaching. Intake officers report to your stations.”
“That’s us,” Lawrence said, standing.
Rivera looked annoyed. “The others can handle this.”
“I’ll let you explain that to the director when she comes asking where you were.”
“Fine.” He pushed up.
On the way to the door, Lawrence swung by the observation room. The subject was stretched out on the cot, staring at the ceiling. Lawrence activated the intercom. “Ruby, how’s your headache?”
“Gone.”
“Excellent news.”
“I take it you are still feeling no other symptoms?”
“You take it right,” the girl said, not hiding her displeasure.
“Don’t worry. In the morning this will all be over,” Lawrence said with a smile before heading for the door where Rivera was waiting.
“Still no sign of infection?” he asked.
“None.”
While the teams drew the attention of the security personnel, Pax and Nyla drove over to the back of the stadium and hopped out of the car.
“Martina,” Pax said into his radio. “Have they pulled the guards from inside the stadium?”
No answer.
“Martina? Do you read me?”
He turned and looked toward the hill where she was supposed to be stationed.
“Martina?”
He saw someone enter the parking area from the base of the hill, running.
“Who the hell is that?” he said.
Nyla followed his gaze. “I’m not sure.”
“Is it Martina?”
“Could be.”
Two armed men ran out from the east side of the stadium, on an intercept course for the person Pax had spotted.
“Son of a bitch,” Pax said.
If it was Martina, there was no one around to help her.
“Come on,” he told Nyla as he headed back out into the parking lot.
“Steady,” Gabriel said just loudly enough for the others in his group to hear.
They were walking at a normal pace, hopefully projecting a sense they were not a threat. Their weapons, though, were all close at hand.
Ahead, five Project Eden soldiers were approaching. They, of course, were not even attempting to conceal their firepower. Each carried a rifle, the barrels angled at the sky.