They were so close, Hunter could almost smell the fresh air and feel the hot sun burning her skin. The exit door was ahead, and Marcus reached it first, slamming against the handle.
“Locked. And there’s no security panel.” He searched the door and slapped it with his palms. “Dammit!”
Mosi passed Imogen to Will – who now had his arms free when Fearne jolted awake as they ran – and pushed through the group. Hunter felt the ground rumble with each of his footsteps. Everyone fell back.
As Mosi threw his fist against the door, Hunter felt the bite of a taser as it fired past her arm. She whirled, her heart leapt into her chest and then a fight began.
The dimness of the hallway splashed with red light made it difficult to see, and the gas masks weren’t much help. Benji zoomed between the guards, knocking them over with his speed. An explosion shook the walls around them. Hunter glanced back and saw that Mosi had caused the entire door to crumble in. But it wasn’t enough; behind the rock-solid cement, a steel emergency door blocked their path. It must have activated when the alarms switched on. They couldn’t get through.
“Watch out!” screamed Chantal.
An electric blue bullet zipped past her head and barely missed Will’s shoulder.
“Marcus!” yelled Ryo. “Duck!”
A guard grabbed her collar. Using moves she’d learnt in her training, Hunter dropped under a right-hook and twisted the guards arm behind him, taking the taser and shooting him in the back. A blow to the head sent Hunter down and she screamed in pain when someone crushed her fingers. The corridor was so packed with children and guards fighting that there was no room to move. In the red haze, everything seemed blurry.
What are we going to do, the way out is blocked!
Chantal let out a cry that made her stomach flip. Hunter rolled away from a falling guard and bumped against the wall. Ryo took a hit to the stomach just beside her, so Hunter grabbed the ankle of her attacker and forced heat into her hands. His ankle caught fire and it burned like a twig up his leg.
They weren’t prepared for such a fight. Even though their powers far outweighed the Men in White, it would be useless if there wasn’t another way out. Hunter forced herself to her feet and threw a fireball at a guard charging towards her. He screamed and ducked out of the way.
“Mosi!” Hunter shouted.
Mosi’s large form was dancing back and forth in swift movements between two Men in White. He thumped one on the head so hard that Hunter was sure his spine had split in two. The other he threw against the wall.
Hunter felt a hand snatch her hair and she fell back against the guard that held her. His grip was so tight, he would surely rip her head off if he pulled for much longer. But after only a second, he seized up and passed out at her feet. Chantal stood behind her with a taser.
“What’s the plan?”
“The only way out is up, otherwise we have to find our way to the sewers,” said Mosi.
“Then we have no choice,” said Hunter.
Benji zipped past her and skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over an unconscious guard. “I’ve been everywhere,” he said. “Mosi’s right: the only way out is through the sewer, but it’s blocked by some sort of coded door.”
“I’ll be able to unlock it if we hurry,” said Marcus. His nose was gushing blood.
“Then we’d better-”
Hunter was cut off when an ear-piercing alarm blared throughout the institution.
Over the alarm, there came a voice.
“WARNING. ALL SYSTEMS DISARMED. PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. WARNING. ALL SYSTEMS DISARMED. PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.”
The monotone woman’s voice repeated her message, just as she’d done when Jack had tried to escape. Hunter wondered for a moment if it was a sign that she should try to run down to the Death Caves and rescue her friend. But was it worth the risk?
“Are we going to explode?!” shouted Zac over the noise. “What do we do?”
“Follow me.”
Mosi charged past her. Hunter quickly did a head count, thanking God they were all conscious and alive. Imogen must have woken up during the fight. She was breathing without the gas mask, which meant the mist had vanished. Mosi led them past the surgery rooms and back to the elevator.
“We’re going upstairs?” called Chantal. “What if there’s more guards?”
“Then we have to fight them, don’t we?” snapped Marcus.
As Mosi slammed his hand against the elevator door, a chill went up Hunter’s spine the moment the alarm stopped and silence fell. There came a crackle of static over the intercom, and then another voice spoke up.
“Children.”
They all froze, even though the elevator door had opened.
“I know what you’re planning to do,” said Dr. Wolfe. “Your efforts are wasted: I have every exit secured, and more guards waiting on level 1.”
“He’s bluffing,” said Zac.
“Shh!”
“Save yourselves the punishment and stop this fight. You dare not even dream what I have in store for you if you continue to resist restraint.”
Imogen whimpered and clung to Chantal’s arm. Hunter looked around at the group, their fears accelerating with each word the doctor spoke. It’s what he wants. To put fear in their minds. It’s working.
“Let’s go, get in the elevator!” Hunter shouted.
They were hesitant.
“We’ve made it this far, now come on!”
Mosi moved first and the others hurriedly followed. Will stood close to Hunter in the small box as it shot up, and Hunter’s blood pumped in her ears.
After the door was sealed shut for only a second, the elevator went pitch black and came to a grinding halt. Several of them screamed. Hunter pushed the fire to the edge of her skin, letting her veins glow bright like the sun and give them some light. Their faces were pale and terrified. She removed her mask and breathed in the clean, confined air. The rest of them followed.
“Marcus, can you power it up again?”
Sweat dripped from his brow as he nodded and pressed his palm against the power box. The elevator rocked back and forth.
“He’s doing everything he can to stop us,” said Hunter. She looked at each of their faces and realized that she had become their leader. She had to be braver than all of them. And at that point, as the fire surged through her skin and emerged from the dark pit it had been hiding in all those months, she felt truly brave. Brave enough to lead them to freedom. “You’ve all lived so long in this place that the idea of escaping seems impossible. But we’re already halfway there. He knows that we have our powers, and that scares him. He can’t stop us. The most he can do is throw obstacles in our way. We have to keep going, or our fears will weigh us down.”
Light burst to life inside the elevator. Marcus breathed hard through his teeth and suddenly the electricity switched on and they shot up so fast, Hunter’s stomach dropped.
Zac and Ryo cheered.
Hunter wondered what Dr. Wolfe would try next. She had no time to prepare herself for what might lie on the other side of the door, for they slid open seconds later and the corridor lay empty before them.
“Go!”
They sprinted to the staircase, Mosi in the lead. He burst into the common room with such force that the door was knocked off its hinges. Inside the room were three Men in White waiting, their tasers raised. They opened fire. One hit Mosi, but his skin could not be penetrated. Again, Imogen raised her hands and protected their group with a giant forcefield. Mosi stalked forward and swung his fists, no mercy given. They were at the door in seconds.
“How do you know there’s a way out here?” asked Zac as they entered the boy’s bathroom.
Mosi looked around, suddenly confused. “I don’t.”
“I do,” said Will. He ran his hand down the crack on the left hand side and slid the secret door – their secret door – aside. The others gazed at him in surprise. “Follow me.”
Hunter gave him a smile and entered first. It felt so good to summon the flames and light their way. For the first time, she saw exactly what the staircase looked like; a muddy, cemented corridor with stains of green and gray running down the walls. They followed her light in silence until they reached the door that led to the guard’s quarters.
“What is this place?” asked Zac after Will had closed the door behind them. The corridor was tall with old lamps dangling from the ceiling, the walls made of decayed brick and the doors labeled with scratched-out names. The one above the room that she and Will used to sit in read ‘Alistair Barnes’.
“We need to go right at the end of this corridor,” said Mosi. “Then there should be a stairwell and an emergency exit.”
Hunter nodded as they walked. Her heart was pounding in her chest. All she had to do was tell the others to meet her outside, then go left and find Jack. But could she get him out? Had he woken up yet? And what about Alfie? There were no roars coming from the Death Caves, which meant that Dr. Wolfe must have sedated him. Could she get him out too?
Will slid the latch on the door aside, and they moved into the next corridor. Hunter stopped and glanced left at the dimly lit passage, clenching her fists. She couldn’t move her feet.
“Hunter,” said Will by her side. “Let’s go.”
She looked up into his shadowed face. At once, her choice seemed easy. Find Alfie, find the prisoners, find Jack. Free them all.
But it was not that simple, and a part of Hunter knew that. She knew it was stupid and reckless and completely against the fire’s guiding voice that urged her to run with the group and not back to the dark caves of death.
And yet something was pulling her. A force so powerful, it seemed to be a power of its own.
The power of a hero.
“I can’t,” she said to him. “I have to get them out. I have to try.”
Will’s eyes filled with ferocity. “No. Hunter, don’t.”
“What are you doing?” called Mosi.
“There’s people down there,” she said to the group. “Why should we get to escape and leave them in this place?”
“Uh,” said Marcus, “because they’re crazy? You said so yourself Hunter! We can’t risk it!”
“They’re still people.” Hunter started backing up the corridor. “I want you all to run.”
“Hunter-”
“Listen,” she snapped at Ryo. “If I get caught, so be it. At least you’ll all be out. You’ve been here too long, it wouldn’t be fair. You guys go ahead without me.” She slipped from her pocket the address Dr. Rosenthal had given her for a house somewhere outside of Seattle. She didn’t know how far it was from ICE, but it was a safe house and she’d memorized it already. She handed the paper to Marcus. “Go to this address and stay together. I’ll meet you there.”
“What happened to sticking together?!” called Chantal. “You can’t just leave!”
“I’m sorry.”
She turned to run.
“Hunter, wait-”
Will came jogging up to her. As the others hurried down into the darkness towards the sewers, Hunter’s spirit soared. He stayed with her.
Will took her hand. A connection buzzed between them. For a split second, Hunter felt a flame burst to life inside her, a flame she hadn’t felt in a long time. It was ecstasy and excitement and bravery all at once. It was pure warmth.
“You’re not doing this alone,” he said. “Come on.”