Aftermath

Ch 128: Prelude

Kota

For the third time, I threw my body against the basement door, but once again, it didn't budge.

Okay, you know that doesn't work. Try something else.

Aside from the redline, my calls and texts weren't going through, so I was on my own. Apparently the last time I had at least partly disarmed the last bomb. Maybe I could do it better this time, though I wasn't sure how to approach it. Since the previous version had two methods of deployment, it had been more complicated, and more complications meant an easier path to disabling it. However, this one was much more straight-forward, and to make matters worse, the C4 was a high-order explosive. Brent meant business this time around.

If I couldn't get out of here, then I had no choice but to try.

I stumbled back down the stairs, my legs still feeling like jelly, and as I moved, bits and pieces of the moments before the last bomb went off flashed before my eyes.

With a heavy shove, I send Jenny sprawling across the linoleum, where she stumbles into a table.

Quickly recovering, Jenny turns around to stare at me.

"Go to the other side of the room and get down!" I yell.

"Kota, what have you done?"

No time to discuss it. "Go!" I shout, barely audible over the music.

Thirty seconds left.

Jenny scurries across the room as fast as she can with the boot. She tries the door to the courtyard, but as expected, it's locked. She ducks down below the nearest table.

The others across the cafeteria remain oblivious through everything that's happened. Now that Brent is gone, I stand up straight, adjusting my jacket over my increasingly bloody shirt as this would invite too many questions. The last thing I need is one of them approaching me. "Get down!" I shout directly at them.

Twenty seconds left, and they can't hear me over the Risa's playlist.

"Trip! Risa! Caleb!" I shout, my words dissolving into coughing as the

"What are you smoking?" someone replies.

Fifteen seconds. I'm running out of time. "Take cover!" I shout. "Get down!"

Jer nudges Caleb, telling him something, and one by one, they slip down under the table.

Ten seconds. They're as covered as they're going to get. Time to take care of myself.

Keeping a running clock in my head, I tense my leg muscles, preparing to jump.

Eight... Seven... Six...Five..Four...

My phone buzzed inside the immobilizer, and without taking my eyes on the metal box, the wires, and the rapidly descending timer, I pulled out my iPhone. Not bothering to look at the screen, I accepted the call and raised the phone to my ear. "Thank God someone's gotten through," I said, kneeling over the device. "I need some help—now."

"What's the problem?"

Apparently my night could still get worse. "I don't have time for this; it's an emergency."

"Son, stop," Ethan said, his voice urgent. "Tell me what's going on."

Oh, what would it hurt? Ethan certainly knew more about this than any of my brothers, and I couldn't get through to anyone else. "Okay, fine. I'm standing over an active bomb that's going to go off in less than five minutes, and the door has been jammed."