The goggles covered their eyes, the maps were memorized and carefully tucked away, and every hand held a weapon. The men were silent as two by two, they moved deeper below the earth’s surface. The single thought running through all of their minds was survival. Their survival, as well as, the survival of those they had come to rescue.
As they reached the end of the long passageway, Jason raised his hand to signal for them to stop. Quietly, the men obeyed Jason’s silent command. When Jason began to whisper into the mini-microphone, all their attention was focused on his softly spoken words.
“Remember, this is to be quick. Go to your section. Do what you have to do and get out. And don’t under any circumstances separate yourselves from you partner. Good luck.”
Nikolas glanced at Lucky. For the briefest moment, he wondered if he could trust him to be there if he needed him. When Lucky looked at him and gave a brief nod of his head, Nikolas had his answer. They had made a pact and they would honor it.
“You ready, Cassadine?”
“As I’ll ever be, Spencer,” Nikolas replied back. As he and Lucky followed the trail which lead to their section, Nikolas couldn’t help but hear the voice of his beloved in his mind.
Because it's almost midnight and I feel like everything is about to change.
At the time he didn’t know how prophetic her words were, but now he did. Now, his only hope was that the changes would be for the better.
Lucky glanced at his half-brother again. Never in a million years would he have pictured him and Nikolas working together as a team. If anyone had suggested the idea to him, he would have laughed. But here they were. Partners.
The passageway was desolate and dreary. From what they could gather, their section hadn’t been inhabited in quite some time. Neither of them were willing to make assumptions though, so with Nikolas on one side and Lucky on the other, they each searched every room.
Lucky couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t believe Tommy had lived most of his life in this place. The living quarters weren’t much bigger than his closet…when he had a closet. There were no beds or mattresses. Only a few dirty rags which had probably served as beds. Lucky shook his head as the respect he held for Tommy continued to grow.
Nikolas’ thoughts were the same as Lucky’s. How could anyone be subjected to this type of existence without anyone knowing about it? As he went through every room, he knew he would never forget this night as long as he lived.
Nikolas had just forced the door open of the last room on his side when he heard the screams. He quickly left the empty the room and went back into the passageway. “Lucky!” Nikolas fiercely whispered into his microphone.
“Yeah, man. I heard it. Let’s go,” Lucky replied as he joined Nikolas. Together, with weapons drawn, they went in search of the painful outcry.
Tommy felt his heart began to race as he neared the familiar passageway which led to where he and his mother had lived for the last few years. Soon. In a few minutes, his promise to her would be realized. They would be together again. He would get her out of this hell and finally they could have a real life again.
Jason could sense Tommy’s excitement and it matched his own. Soon he would have Keesha back in his arms. Back in his life again. His feet couldn’t move fast enough as he began to pick up speed.
Earlier, when he and Tommy had gone over the maps, they had decided that they would go to Simone first. According to Tommy, many of the newcomers were housed near his mother in the off chance they required her medical attention. Although Jason hoped no harm had been done to Keesha, he prayed that she was sent to Simone’s section. If not, looking for her would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, and no matter what, Jason was not leaving without her. His gut told him she was down there somewhere. And, he intended to find her.
As they neared the opening of their designated section, Jason slowed down and signaled for Tommy to do the same. With their backs against the wall, they inched themselves the remainder of the way. When they reached the opening, Jason stopped and placed a finger to his lips as a silent order for Tommy to remain quiet. Tommy understood and didn’t say a word.
Jason eased himself away from the stone wall and peeped around the corner. He saw movement and after a second, he recognized the shape as that of a man. He quickly and quietly pressed himself back against the wall and mouthed the word “guard” to Tommy, who nodded.
Jason checked his gun. He pulled the silencer from his vest and quickly snapped it into place. He opened the viewfinder and listened as it clicked into position. He then disengaged the safety. He turned to Tommy and mouthed, “Stay.”
Holding the lens to his goggle-covered eye, Jason rounded the corner. The red dot centered on the guard’s chest only seconds before the bullet exploded into his body. The guard grabbed his chest and then crumbled to the ground.
Jason backed up a step to motion for Tommy to follow him. Jason began to search the rooms as Tommy headed for the one he had shared with his mother.
Simone was filled with fear, but she was determined not to show it. She knew that Tommy was in there somewhere and she prayed that somehow he would find her. As Tracy dragged her away, Simone tried to slow her down as much as possible. The area they were in now was one Simone had never seen before and she didn’t want them to go so far that Tommy would not be able to find them.
“Shut up!” Tracy angrily whispered. She was furious. Her plans to leave a dead Simone in her little rat hole for Juan to find her had to be altered. The sudden power outage put a huge damper in her plans and she had to come up with an alternative. Whoever was responsible for the generator turning off had better hope she didn’t find him.
Tracy’s pace increased as they reached the area she was looking for. Simone’s eyes grew wide as Tracy shined the flashlight and she became able to take in the sight. The door was massive and was made of the most beautiful wood she had ever seen. And from the looks of the it, it was thick and hardy. She wondered what secrets lay in wait behind it.
Tracy’s fingers flew over the control panel as she punched the secret code in. As the door opened, Tracy shoved Simone through it. Ignoring a still Simone who lay on the floor, she then moved to the big desk which took up most of the room. Tracy viciously punched in the telephone number for the head security guard.
As Tracy screeched into the telephone and demanded to know what happened to the generator, Simone slowly moved into a sitting position. Her fingers moved around her and she realized that she was on carpet. The glow of Tracy’s flashlight revealed a richly decorated room. The desk where Tracy stood was huge and made of the same rich wood of the door.
The door, Simone thought. The door didn’t click behind them. Simone raised herself into a standing position and turned to move through the door which was still open.
“Move again and you die,” Tracy said, cocking the gun she held. Her hand was steady and after years of target practice, her aim was clear.
Justus was in shock as he focused on what he found behind the door. The two women he found huddled in the middle of the room were emaciated. They barely moved as he entered the room.
Thinking that their lack of movement was due to fear, Justus began to speak to them in a soft, soothing voice. “I’m here to take you away. I won’t hurt you. We’re here to help. Come. Go with me.”
At first, the women looked in Justus’ direction without registering his presence. The lack of light made it impossible to make out his shape as he came into their room. For them, the opening of the door meant yet another intrusion by the merciless guards. When the man at the door made no move to drag them away and began to speak in a soothing tone, they relaxed and allowed his words to sink in.
“You’ve come to help us?” the younger one asked, her voice a little above a whisper. She squinted her eyes in the hope of seeing who she spoke to.
“Yes,” Justus said. “Come with me.”
The two tired women rose, and as quickly as they could, moved to join Justus at the doorway. Justus glanced down the passageway to make sure the way was still clear. Across from him, he saw Lonnie and five gaunt women standing close to him. Lonnie towered over the women as he looked towards Justus.
“Everything is clear on this side,” Lonnie whispered into his microphone. Justus gave him the thumbs up. With Lonnie in the lead and Justus in the rear, they began to exit the area.
As they neared the opening which led to the main passageway, Justus’ eyes wandered over the area. He had imagined that it was bad when Tommy told him the story, but he never imagined anything as bad as this. No wonder Tommy hated him, Justus thought.
“Anything?” Marco whispered into his microphone.
“Nothing,” Roberto replied. He had scanned the area and done a walk through. Marco had given him a detailed description, but so far no one fitting that description had shown up. Secretly, he thought that the idea of someone not directly involved in the night’s activities showing up to cause problems was ludicrous, but he was not stupid enough to say so. Lonnie had asked him to do the watchdog detail and it would do Roberto no good to have Lonnie get word that he had been making cracks. He would keep his thoughts to himself.
A movement in the bushes alerted Roberto’s attention. He couldn’t believe what his night goggles revealed to him.
“Son of a gun,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” Marco asked. He was about three yards away and he hadn’t seen the rustling of the bushes.
“I think I’ve found what we’ve been looking for,” Roberto replied as he moved closer to the bushes and what hid there.