Free Web NovelChapter 210: Chapter 209 - Escape
Marybeth and Iyisha moved to the hallway and glanced through the glass at the far end.
Headlights cut through the dark outside.
Iyisha narrowed her eyes. "How many?"
"Two trucks," Malcolm said as he joined them.
"Probably because you shot that lock," Marybeth added, her tone dry.
Iyisha shot her a look.
Marybeth rolled her eyes like it was obvious.
"Come on," Malcolm said.
They moved to the stairs and started down.
"Shit," Marybeth muttered.
Footsteps echoed from below, heavy and fast, and voices followed as more men moved up the building.
A nurse shouted from the far end of the floor, and people started moving in panic, doors opening, bodies shifting out of the way.
Iyisha looked at Malcolm. "There’s another stairwell," she said, pointing toward the right corner where an exit stairwell sat behind a door.
He nodded.
They moved fast and pushed into it, taking the emergency stairs down.
The sound hit them immediately.
Footsteps from below.
Coming up.
Iyisha leaned just enough to look down and saw figures moving up toward them.
"We can’t go this way," she said.
Malcolm stopped, then turned and pushed the door to the second floor open and slipped inside.
The others followed right after him.
They stepped into a hallway with lights still on, and movement at the far end told them they were not alone. Guards were already inside, moving between rooms, checking doors.
Malcolm dropped low at once, and the others followed, crouching as they moved quickly toward the nurse’s station. They slid behind it and pressed close to the counters, using it as cover while footsteps passed not too far from them.
"We’re surrounded," Lance said under his breath, his hands gripping his gun too tight.
"No shit Sherlock," Marybeth muttered.
Iyisha raised a hand and signaled for silence.
Marybeth drew in a breath and held it, then leaned just enough to peek around the corner before pulling back.
"Got any other exit?" Malcolm asked quietly.
Iyisha shook her head.
Malcolm’s eyes shifted toward the window behind them.
Iyisha followed his gaze.
The drop.
Her chest tightened as she thought it through.
Could they even survive that?
Before she could say anything, they heard the door from the stairwell open.
Voices.
Closer.
Malcolm raised a hand again and motioned for them to move.
They stayed low and followed him along the side, keeping tight to the wall as the sound of boots spread through the floor behind them.
"Shit."
They rounded the corner and Malcolm stopped them with a hand.
Iyisha’s heart lurched as he looked at her.
That look.
The one he gave when there was no way out except through.
Then a door along the wall opened.
Iyisha raised her gun at once.
A man stood there in utility gear, his face tight as he motioned them in.
Marybeth glanced at Iyisha.
Footsteps were getting closer.
They moved.
They slipped inside just as voices reached the hallway.
The man shut the door and moved fast, pushing aside a cabinet to reveal a narrow opening in the floor.
"Down," he said. "Go."
Marybeth went first without hesitation, dropping into the opening.
Lance followed, then Iyisha.
Malcolm came down after her, then the man.
"Move," Marybeth hissed.
They pushed through the narrow passage, crouched and moving fast, until they reached the other side and climbed out.
They came out behind the building.
Iyisha’s heart jumped when she saw three men already there, standing like they had been waiting.
The man gave a quick smile. "They’re with me. Let’s go."
He ran.
Iyisha looked at Malcolm.
He nodded.
They ran after him.
As they passed the edge of the building, Iyisha glanced back and saw guards spreading out, searching the area, looking in the wrong places, missing them completely.
She let out a breath and kept running.
The man led them forward without slowing.
They didn’t stop until they reached Marcus Garvey Park, and when they finally dropped behind a line of bushes, their bodies gave in all at once as they hit the ground and tried to catch their breath.
Iyisha leaned forward, her hands on the grass, breathing hard, while her chest still struggled to settle from the run.
A headlight passed along the road nearby, and they all went still, keeping low and quiet until it moved on and the light disappeared.
Only then did Malcolm move.
He reached out and grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him closer. "Who are you?"
The man grinned, even with his breath uneven. "I just saved you, kid. Don’t piss me off. That run almost killed me."
The man laughed under his breath, still trying to catch it. "You’re a crazy bunch."
"Take your hands off me," he added, his voice rough from the run.
Iyisha reached out and tapped Malcolm on the back.
Malcolm didn’t let go right away, and his grip stayed tight for a second longer before he finally released him.
The man dropped back onto the grass and lay there for a moment, breathing hard, one arm over his chest as he tried to recover.
No one spoke right away.
They were all spent.
Iyisha shifted closer to Malcolm and leaned against him, her legs still shaking from the run, her breath uneven as she tried to steady it. Sweat clung to her skin, and her chest still hurt from pushing too hard for too long.
Lance crouched nearby, his shoulders rising and falling as he fought to catch his breath, while Marybeth stood off to the side, one hand on her hip, still watching the man.
"We got out," Iyisha said, though her voice came out softer than she meant, and she looked at the man as she said it.
Malcolm didn’t take his eyes off him. "We’re safer when we’re alone."
Iyisha exhaled slowly and nodded. "I know," she said. "But he just saved us."
"Why did you save us?" Marybeth asked from the side, her tone sharper now as she stepped closer.
The man didn’t answer.
Iyisha watched him, her breath still uneven, waiting.
Lance suddenly moved, stepping forward and dropping to one knee beside the man as his hand reached for something on the ground.
Malcolm saw it at the same time and moved fast, stepping in and taking it from Lance’s hand.
There was a faint red light on it.
Then it turned green.
A voice crackled through. "We’re in the area. Over."
Iyisha’s chest tightened.
Malcolm raised his gun at once and aimed it at the man.
A radio.
Iyisha lifted her own weapon and looked around, her heart pounding again as the exhaustion in her body clashed with the sudden rush of fear.
A low rumble rolled in from the road.
Iyisha turned her head and saw a car creeping closer with its lights off, just a dark shape moving through the street.
Her chest tightened.
She looked at Malcolm.
Fear settled in her eyes.
