This Is Not The End.

Chapter 33

Beck didn't waste any time in finding both my father and Cara. We didn't have a lot of time to spare; it was almost ten o'clock and we still hadn't left. The worse lot of the Infected came out as soon as the sun went down, and I still hadn't got the hang of controlling the lesser ones. I didn't trust myself with the killers.

Beck fitted Cara's helmet while I psyched myself up for the journey. Anything I'd learnt during my crash-course in motorbikes had flown from my brain like it did after a maths lesson, and I kept reminding myself where the breaks were, just in case.

"I don't want the stupid helmet!" Cara fought, trying to get away from him.

"Look, it's the helmet or you don't come! It's my one condition,"

"You don't wear a helmet!"

"I'm basically an adult!"

"You're seventeen!"

"And you're eleven, I think I have the upper hand here,"

As Cara tried to get away from Beck, my father made his appearance and leant against one of the tin walls as he watched us make any final preparations.

"How's my A Team feeling?" he grinned, dragging my attention from Beck and Cara's fight.

"Worried,"

"Tense,"

"Hungry,"

"But not scared," David noted, nodding, "Beckett?"

"You know me, boss. I'm the deadliest fucker out there," he smirked as he tightened Cara's helmet and stepped back to admire his work. "When're we headed off?"

He checked his battered, yet expensive – and stolen – watch, "Ten minutes, give or take. As soon as Dyani comes back to me with her numbers, we're going,"

Beck nodded and retrieved his jacket from where he'd left it on a countertop, pulling it onto his shoulders and zipping it up. "Sounds good to me,"

"You know the plan?" David raised his eyebrows at us.

"Fuck shit up and don't die?" Kai replied optimistically.

"No, that's our plan," Jack shot to him, "Our job is to get in and out without being seen. Wait by my bunker and break in through there – we're in and out in an hour, then you start breaking things,"

"Someone's been listening," my father nodded. "You know your stations and you know your timing. Everyone has a weapon?"

"I am the weapon," Beck grinned, letting his old, obnoxious self shine through.

"Piss off," I rolled my eyes. "Yes, we all have knives,"

"Good," he nodded, "Come find me if you need anything. Stay safe out there."

"Hey, Dave, I need to speak with you for a second," Beck caught his attention, to which he was beckoned to go with him. My father gave us all one final, foreboding look, before turning on his heel and leaving us in silence with our bikes.

I didn't know what I was expecting – some sort of loving good luck – but I shouldn't have been surprised. He'd never been all that touchy-feely. It was something I'd got from him, I supposed. When there was a job to be done, emotions were put aside.

"Skye, I love you," Kai promised me, "But your dad is an ass,"

"He is trying to kill us," Jack shrugged. "What were you expecting, a loving farewell and a picnic basket?"

"Someone a bit more like Skye,"

I raised my eyebrows at the comment, not quite sure about how I felt about it. I didn't want to be like him, but he was all I had left. I wanted more than his anger and his scowl, I wanted something positive I could look back on as opposed to hey, my dad's gonna kill us all. It wasn't gonna happen, I had all I could take, but I enjoyed the fleeting hope which came with it.

"You have me," I brushed him off, "Why would you want anyone else?"

"Exactly," he draped his arm around my shoulder and beamed at Jack, "We've got our own Misery,"

"Can it, Sunshine,"

"Hey, that's my name for him," Jack defended, "Get your own,"

"God, sorry, I thought we were sharing,"

"Sharing is caring, Jacky-Boy," Kai raised his eyebrows which earnt a laugh from me.

"You two are the worst," he shook his head to hide his smile. "Who did I piss off to get stuck with you?"

I shrugged, "SWORD,"

"God,"

"Not funny,"

I squeezed Kai slightly as our hug and pushed him away from me, sitting on my bike as I listened to him and Jack argue about who was driving. They brought in age, height, and even their powers as they bickered, and I didn't help by calling both of them incompetent as neither had ridden a motorbike before. Even by the time Beck came back with Cara, they hadn't decided, but Beck had far more important news for us.

"We're headed out," he grinned.

"What, right now?"

"This very second, get cracking,"

I jumped at his words, kicking up the side stand and letting it burst into life. Beck did the same for his and Cara's bike, the girl clinging to him for dear life. Kai and Jack finally reached a decision and Jack bagged the driver's seat. The other two bikes roared with power before falling back silently and Beck grinned back at me.

"Ready?"

"Let's fucking go!" I laughed. The kids back at SWORD fuelled me. The very thought that I'd be helping them kept me aching to go, and I couldn't afford to waste any second of that. The sun was still strong in the sky, and hopefully, we'd be in and out before it had fully set. That was the goal anyway, any realistic thinkers would know that we never had a chance.

Beck and Cara led the way out of the garage, and I let Kai and Jack follow up. I felt safer in taking up the rear like I knew nothing would happen unless I saw it first. As they passed me, I could still hear Kai arguing with Jack as to why he should've been driving.

It still pleasantly surprised me at how quiet the bikes were. Someone had modified them, and I suddenly hoped that it didn't make them unstable. Beck wouldn't know because he wouldn't care, which sometimes made me wonder if Jack and I really were the only ones with functioning brain cells. We were.

The bike tore across the woodland, and before I knew it the compound was a distant blur of wall. In front of us my father and Travis each drove a transit van, which I knew Kai would find hilarious, and led the way through the trees, avoiding the town we'd come through a week ago. Behind me, we were followed by Cheyenne's Shifters and a small army's worth of various cars. Cheyenne ran beside me as a cheetah, distinguishable by her streak of purple beneath her eye. I grinned at her and put on a burst of speed, challenging her. She accepted and, keeping behind Jack and Kai, we raced against each other, laughing as I went. As we accepted the draw, we fell back to our normal speeds, and she returned to her tribe.

I let the air brush through my hair as I smiled to myself. We were so close, and I was more than ready. I would not let myself down, and I wouldn't disappoint the kids. As of tomorrow, they were free, and so was I.