Revolution- Runaways 3 [EDITING]

Chapter 26: Eli

My pulse throbbed in my throat. I had feigned courage up until we landed the plane, but now that we stood above the underground headquarters of Red Shield, I thought I was going to vomit. Micaiah's firm hand on my shoulder was the only thing grounding me.

Britt had flown the plane, and she was directing our attack from the outside. We each had earpieces smaller than our fingertips that she would use to communicate with us. I tried to remind myself that she was there if anything went wrong, and she would signal our military accomplices for backup. But you could only get there so fast if someone was shot through the heart. My scar pulsed, as if it remembered the pain of such a fatal wound.

Britt tapped her watch, indicating we had a minute before she would cue us. My entire body tensed. I worried I wasn't going to be able to move when she gave us the signal. I felt Micaiah's grip tighten.

"It will be okay. We'll be in and out," he assured me, whispering in my ear. Sometimes it still surprised me how gentle he could be. I wasn't used to this side of him.

I forced air into my lungs and consciously pushed it back out. All we had talked about was this plan for the last twenty-four hours. I could stage this invasion in my sleep. The only thing we were unsure of was the layout, but that could only be so complicated.

Britt flicked her wrist, and we broke off. We were supposed to go in pairs searching for Raven, my father, and my uncle. The only one going alone was Anderson. He was going to be the mode of transport to get the three figures out of the facility. He would be notified as each person went down, and he would collect them accordingly. Evidently, he could move up to a thousand pounds of human matter with ease.

Micaiah and I were going after my dad. I hadn't come to terms with that idea yet. But our feet were moving now, and we were inside the building in seconds. Whether I liked it or not, we were in the middle of his facility, and he could blow our cover at any second.

The structure is no different from that of most office buildings, aside from the fact that they've somehow built the entire structure underground. The halls are dark, but the highest-ranking officials sleep in the lowest apartments. That means that all three of our targets should be down there.

Security guards are on our tail almost immediately, but each one drops to the ground with Micaiah's influence. I shift forms three times before we reach the bottom level. I struggled to do it so quickly, because I've only shifted a few times since I came back. Fortunately, Micaiah hadn't noticed.

For a second, I hoped my father wasn't here. Maybe he was in the labs, overseeing some of the sick research he was ordering. Maybe he was in his office sorting files. Of course, I had no such luck. We picked his lock in a fraction of the time we expected to, and find him asleep in his bed just as we had planned. All I had to do was shoot the sedative up his veins and get him out of here. It sounded easy enough.

I was just a few feet from my father. I hadn't seen him in months, but he looked exactly the same. A shadow of a beard grazed his face, just like normal. I wasn't surprised to see a glass bottle at his bedside. He was still an alcoholic. I could smell it in the air.

Micaiah was on standby in case my father woke up. He doesn't even know this is my father, I remembered. I wouldn't be the one to tell him, especially not now.

I placed my feet as carefully as I could, avoiding anything that could make a sudden noise. His breath hitched, and I froze, changing my disguise as a precaution. My arm barely advanced. I was terrified I would brush him by accident, and he would wake up. The needle was in my hand. I didn't have much farther to reach.