Falcon’s plan was so insane it was almost brilliant. Almost. There was still the 75% chance of being captured, or worse; killed.
Her fierce eyes studied the warehouse, calm and calculating with every step. I stayed in the shadows of the alley as she crouched along the wall, avoiding the camera’s line of sight. She had sat in the alley for nearly twenty minutes, monitoring the exact time schedules of the camera’s rotation-something I would never have thought of.
Before, I wouldn’t have believed she was capable of such exact thoughts. She was too wild and unpredictable, from what I had seen anyway. But in that moment, watching her drag the large piece of sheet metal almost as tall as her, it was like watching a completely different person altogether. She was so commanding when instructing me to stay put, I felt like a dog on a short leash-ready to bend to her every will.
While I waited for her signal, I finally took the time to fully embrace my surroundings. The moon was covered in a thin blanket of silver clouds, casting the streets in a darker night than they should have been, but I wasn’t afraid of the dark. I never was. Silly things like phobia’s were removed from my mind in the lab when I was ‘born.’ Unlike normal kids, I wasn’t afraid of the monster under my bed. No, my monsters were very real. Worst of all being my mother.
I breathed in the free air, allowing my shoulders to relax as the cool wind kissed my face. This didn’t feel like another one of my escapades. I could feel the wheels of fate turning, guiding our decisions tonight and realized in horrified stagnation that this was it; there was no going back now.
Falcon turned back to me, waving her hand in beckon. And I realized another terrifying thing-I hadn’t paid attention to any of her movements. I had no idea where to step, or how to dodge the camera’s views. Stay crouched and count five seconds, then move a step….or was it seven seconds. I couldn’t remember exactly what she had said.
Dammit, I chided myself for not paying attention. I think she saw the panic and hesitation on my face, as she pulled her blaster out, firing at every camera within her range. Much to my surprise, no sirens blared to life, nor did any other traps activate. It occurred to me that maybe the cameras were never recording to begin with. They were just another precaution. But how had she known?
“I thought I told you to pay attention,” She spoke flatly, her eyes burning with rage as I jogged to meet her at the open gate.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but wisely decided the look in her eyes made her more dangerous than my mistake. Apologizing would probably have ended with my teeth going down my throat. She clenched her hands into fists, like it was taking every drop of self-control she had to not knock my lights out. Her body was rigid, like a predator on the hunt as she stopped only inches from where the large trapdoor blocked the front entrance. I glanced at the windows, wondering why we didn’t just go around the trap and sneak in that way. Then I saw the little blinking lights in the corners of every sill. Motion sensors knocked the windows off the idea board entirely.
Falcon wrenched the scrap metal from under her arm, barely managing to hold it with her one good hand. I was half tempted to step up and help her, but something in her demeanor had changed ever since we arrived at the warehouse. She was desperate. I didn’t know who this Phoenix person really was, but Falcon seemed to be driven by the pure need to see this person again. Never mind why she was convinced someone was hiding in a warehouse even we couldn’t get into.
As she dropped the metal across the ground in front of us, the other end landed an inch from the doorway and the old trapdoor activated. In seconds, we were staring at a new trapdoor underneath the metal piece, which had been just long enough to stretch over the length of the trap. Without a seconds hesitation, Falcon planted her foot firmly on the metal bridge, applying her weight.
As the trapdoor activated once again I felt a stab of fear. What if it didn’t work? What if she fell into the pit? I wouldn’t survive the night without her, they’d be dragging me back to my mother in hours if she was captured. My arms lunged forward on their own, ready to grab onto her in the worst case scenario. But as the new door rose into place and she was still safely standing on the bridge I nearly laughed at my own stupidity. I never should have doubted her plan, she was too smart to fall victim to such a simple trap.
Falcon wasted no time in jumping the rest of the way, destroying the rusted padlock with her blaster and prying the heavy metal door open. I quickly scrambled across our make-shift bridge, not wanting to test its durability limits. The warehouse was nearly barren save a few lonesome crates stacked against the garage doors in the back.
It had clearly just been emptied out, maybe no more than a few hours ago. Scuffle marks and fresh footprints in the thin layer of warm sand across the floor greeted us. Falcon was frozen, staring at the vacant room like a wounded animal. Her eyes were specifically trained on a pair of tire tracks that followed the footsteps out the garage. All of a sudden it made sense that the security was disabled for the most part, anything worth stealing was already gone.
“I don’t think your friend has been here,” I swallowed. “Maybe-“
“Shut up.”
Her voice carried a sharpness that shut down any theory before it could begin to fester. Her shoulders were stiff, like she wanted to tackle the nearest person and swing fists until she couldn’t anymore. Which, unfortunately, was me. Clearly, she didn’t want to hear any of my ideas, she just stood there in defeat, with no idea where to go from there.
The clanking of a chain pulling the metal garage doors open had no effect on her. She stood there, staring at the tracks. As the doors began to lift enough to reveal heavy, military-style boots, a cold sweat trickled down my spine. I didn’t have to think about it a second longer and grabbed Falcon’s good arm, using all my weight to drag her with me towards the pile of crates.
That seemed to snap her from the stupor as she stopped fighting me every step of the way and willingly crouched behind the boxes, holding her blaster at the ready. Three guards in white uniforms entered the warehouse, holding the newest Circuit Blasters. It was rare for any civilian guards to carry a weapon, let alone blasters that required two hands to even lift them. After all, the bigger the gun, the more intense the blast.
The first one to speak was the tallest of the group, obviously the leader. “If that damn trap keeps malfunctioning, I’ll wrangle the engineer who installed it myself.”
The second one’s voice was gruff, deeper as he stood between the tall on and the short one. “There isn’t anything in here to protect, they cleared it all to the camp a while ago.”
“Yeah, did you guys see that Firebird?” The tall one whistled. “Talk about a sweet ride.”
Falcon’s shoulders twitched. A firebird? A phoenix-who wasn’t a person at all. It dawned on me that we’d risked our lives to get in here for a car. A freaking car was worth more to her than both of our lives! My blood boiled and I clenched my hands into fists to suppress my anger. She’d lied to me twice tonight. Granted I had lied to her too, but I had lied to save my life. Her lie could have killed us.
“There’s nothing here,” The short one finally spoke up. “We’re due back at camp before sun rise.”
My breathing finally evened out as they turned their backs to us, climbing into their windowless rover as the garage doors began to shut. At the last second, Falcon sprang up, running after the rover as it began to move. Without any other options, before I knew it, I was racing after her.
My feet thundered in the sand as I ran, using muscles I didn’t even know I had. My heart thundered in my chest as she jumped onto the rover’s tail, pulling herself onto the roof. The rover was picking up speed as I struggled to grab onto the tail.
Falcon, plopped onto the roof, turning back to me. Our eyes met, but hers were different-cold even. I wanted to scream for her to help me, to grab my outstretched hand. She watched me race to catch up, slowly falling behind. It was a test. She was testing me-I could see it in here eyes. This was my test, to prove I had what it took to keep up with her. To push forward and rebel the odds, like an Outlier.
I sucked in a long breath and drove myself forward, pain shot up my calf as I grit my teeth and pushed on. My fingers fumbled with the handle of the back door, loosing grip several times before my fingers wrapped securely around the metal.
I pulled as hard as I could, hoisting myself onto the tail. I tried to lift myself onto the roof, but it seemed my body was at its limit. My arms became noodles, barely strong enough to hold on to the handle. Falcon held her hand out to me. Gratefully, I grabbed it, letting her pull me the rest of the way up.
The roof was sturdier than I had thought it would be. I laid flat on the metal, relishing in the air as it filled my lungs once again. “Thanks.”
“Congratulation’s rookie,” Falcon grumbled. “You passed your first test.”
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