Three (Article 5 #3)(74)

At least there had been.

“Come on,” I said.

The sky was clear and quiet, and the air smelled vaguely metallic, like blood and electricity. We stayed low and kept together, and crept closer.

Just outside the gate we paused, hiding behind the rusted body of a van that had been propped up on cinder blocks. Chase threw a rock over the hood, and it skidded through the open gate before coming to a stop.

Nothing happened.

“Evacuated?” asked Chase.

“Maybe they’re up at the lodge,” I said.

“I’ll go take a look,” said Jesse. He jogged toward the open entrance while Chase and I kept our eyes open and mouths closed, struggling to hear if anyone was coming.

I slipped the ring Chase had given me over my finger and then slid it back off. It didn’t feel right to wear it yet, not when that someday we’d talked about wasn’t today. In the meantime I would keep it safe, and hold on to a future where things were different. Normal, like Sean had said.

Chase was watching me; I felt his gaze before I looked up. He had a streak of dirt down the side of his cheek, and I wiped it away slowly with my thumb. His breath quickened. I had the urge to lean closer, to bring my fingertips to his lips and feel the soft curve of them, but instead I lowered my hand and listened.

Long minutes passed, and when Jesse didn’t return, Chase stretched his legs.

“It’s been too long,” he said.

I nodded. If this was a trap, it was an awfully quiet one. Jesse was probably still searching, or had already found the others, but that didn’t mean we could take any chances.

“Stay out of the open,” I said. “We’ll go around the woods through the cemetery. Keep the wall on our side.” It was longer than taking the road that cut straight through the middle of the compound, but it wasn’t worth the risk of exposure.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “Yes, ma’am.”

“What?” Silently, I cursed the heavy Sisters of Salvation skirt I still wore and tied the excess in a knot around my thighs.

“Nothing.” He grinned fully as he checked the chamber of his gun. “I’d take orders from you anytime.”

The laugh bubbled out of my throat. I covered my mouth to lock it down, but that didn’t stop the tingling in my belly.

“I’ll take point.” His dark, amused eyes met mine. “If that’s okay with you.”

“By all means.” I gestured for him to lead the way.

Before he stood fully he ran the back of his finger up my calf. The heat raced through my veins.

“You might run faster if you lose the skirt.”

Before I could respond, he was off, running for the gate with his gun pointed at the ground. I raced after him thinking he was probably right; it would have been a lot easier to move without this stupid uniform.

The back fields where the army had trained were empty—the fire pits had been covered as if they’d never been lit, and the storage sheds were cleaned out. In the parking lot only a large yellow bulldozer, a car, and a white moving truck remained. None of them bore MM emblems.

Jesse was nowhere to be seen.

Without speaking, we moved on, staying close to the barricade as we entered the woods. We came to the cemetery and found the shed unguarded and the door open. I cringed, remembering how we’d found Jesse inside with the caged soldier. We searched it quickly, finding not only the cage empty, but the entire room stripped. The bright lights that had hung on the ceiling were gone. It looked like it hadn’t been occupied in years.

We moved faster now, climbing the hill along the perimeter. My heart was pumping by the time the trees began to clear, and the sweat was flowing freely down my brow. Finally, the dorms came into view, but only one person could be seen. A man, standing outside the back entrance of the lodge’s cafeteria.

Jesse.

The panic swelled and broke inside of me. I abandoned the fence and forced myself to walk toward him, coming to a stop beside the swing set. It was broken now, the chains lying across the ground like dead snakes.

What I’d come to recognize as Endurance looked nothing like the fully functioning compound I’d left just days before. Outside, the lodge was in ruins. The north wing had been demolished; all that remained was a heap of concrete and broken wood. Though the smoke had died away, the air still smelled charred and acidic, as if there’d recently been a mechanical fire. Over the wreckage I saw that the barn had been torn down, and the gardens, once a jungle of green living things, had been torn up by a car’s tires.

The breath scored my throat, coming faster and faster. The safe house had been destroyed. The posts were falling, one by one. And now Endurance had been demolished, too.

“We’re too late,” I said. And then again. “We’re too late.”

Our friends were gone.

Jesse was staring straight ahead, a blank look on his face.

“It’s been days,” he said. “This didn’t happen this morning.”

He was right. The dust had settled and the fires had died. Endurance had fallen days ago.

“Em,” said Chase. His shoulders were rising and falling; the collar of his shirt clung to his skin. “The orchard.”

Rebecca. Sean had told her to go to the orchard if something happened. My legs were already shaking from the run across campus, but I pushed them on again. This time I tucked the gun into my waistband and ran full out, hearing the blood rushing through my eardrums. Chase pulled ahead, which drove me on harder, until my heart felt like it might burst in my chest.