Renegade

Chapter eighteen

Driving in broad daylight was a lot easier than at night time. As much as they had to be careful back when they were on their way to pick Diana and Howard up, now they could floor it without hesitation.

Noelani's loud SUV lead the way, Blaise's rusty Jeep close behind, while Wake and his old van were at the back. At first glance, their vehicles looked rickety at best, hazardous at worst. Both the SUV and Jeep were a faded black, their sides riddled with bullet holes. Wake's van that used to be white was now copper-colored.

All three vehicles had belonged to the CS before the Freakshow had claimed them. Snatching them from underneath their noses had been a piece of cake for Gale, who only had to snap his fingers for any piece of technology to bend to his will. He had thought it amusing to steal them with their drivers still within, much to his teammates' consternation. Disabling the tracking devices hadn't posed more of a challenge either. CS vehicles were solid and well-equipped, which was why they had stolen them in the first place.

The SUV was fast and powerful, the Jeep adapted to any sort of terrain – including certain ability modified ones –and the van's back was specially designed to contain their kind.

"Remodeling" them to look worn and battered had been done in order to avoid attention. Gale had tinkered with them, swearing up and down about how much more efficient they would be. That had been mostly true, though they sometimes acted up when they were too far out of his range – as was currently the case with the SUV, the engine roaring like an enraged grizzly.

The inside of the van was unusually quiet and a quick glance told Wake it was because Diana had dozed off. Her head was tipped back against the headrest, swinging left and right with every turn of the car. Her window was pulled down halfway, the wind messing with her strawberry-blonde locks. The sound of tires speeding over rocky roads filled the narrow compartment.

That none of this pulled her from her slumber was an indication of just how exhausted Diana was. It didn't come as a surprise, considering she had used her ability half a dozen times in less than twenty-four hours – four instances in which she had to tunnel two vehicles, not only people.

Wake also felt the telltale signs of fatigue, his eyes prickling from lack of sleep while another yawn escaped him. He was ashamed to admit it, but they had grown complacent over the years.

There had been a time when they would go for days without sleep, surviving on adrenalin, terror and sheer willpower. Back when the camp had been in its nascent stages, they would pile on mission after mission – be it guerrilla attacks on CS bases, rescue missions or retrievals. As the camp's population grew, the abilities diversified, allowing them to implement multiple layers of protection.

Ever since its establishment, "Camp Freak" as Gale – master of terrible names that seem to stick for some reason – had christened it had never been attacked. Consequently, it had allowed them to gain some assurance which, as time passed, evolved into overconfidence.

That meant they were prone to making more mistakes, such as botching up a simple and straightforward rescue mission, subsequently allowing two dangerous individuals to roam free and wreak havoc.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened, veering right after the Jeep. The movement caused Diana's head to loll forward.

Wake blamed himself for what happened. Brad had held him back before they left, the warmth of his hand seeping through his clothes, and told him that it was nobody's fault.

Their hacking knowledge was mostly non-existent, so Noelani managing to get into their system and temporarily shutting off their security was miraculous. Wake didn't hold her accountable for disabling the whole building.