The Hazard Squad: Into the Void

Chapter 9

It was 5:58 the next morning when a powder blue Prius pulled into the Medusa base's garage, where Charlotte stood waiting. The door opened, and a tall white man with brown eyes and short strawberry blond hair climbed out. He was wearing jeans and a bomber jacket.

"You're early." She said as she walked over to him.

"There's not much traffic in the middle of the night." He replied in a British accent that sounded slightly different from hers.

Smiling, she pulled him into a hug. "It's good to see you, Daniel."

He hugged back, and a moment later they pulled apart. "Mum wants to know if you're coming home for Christmas."

"Not sure yet. She still hasn't apologized for berating Dad on Boxing Day."

"In her defense, he said he was bringing Angelina, but he failed to mention they were bringing her kids too."

"They're not kids." She corrected him. "Harriet's graduating from university next year, and Malcolm's engaged."

Daniel sighed. "Look, I'm not saying she didn't overreact, but you know she's still in love with him."

"I know, I know." She shook her head. "Just tell her I said maybe."

"Right, enough about that. You didn't ask me here to talk about family shit."

Charlotte nodded. "Since you're alone, I'm assuming the others said I could piss off?"

"More or less."

"That's alright. You were always stronger than most of them anyway."

"Is anyone else coming?"

"Brandon and Gina should be here soon."

At 6:35, Lea and Camila sat in the control room of Thrill Hill, an amusement park located at 796 Featherstone Street. As the name suggested, it was located atop a large hill, giving them a clear view of the surrounding area. The park was smaller than most - taking up roughly four square acres - and featured a dozen attractions, including two roller coasters, a Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars, Power Tower, Octopus, Mirror Maze, Carousel, Scrambler, Pirate Ship, Tilt-A-Whirl, and Caterpillar. The main entrance was on the south side, and there were emergency exits on the other three sides. There was a wooded area less than half a mile away from the north and east sides, and a major highway was located to the west side. A second, smaller wooded area ended half a mile south of the parking lot. It had once been connected to the larger wooded area, but a plane crash a year earlier had created a gap between them. The park had been closed for barely a week, which was why Lea's group had been able to restore power to the control room and undamaged security cameras. The original plan had been for Jennifer to use Ian's detonator to kill the members of Medusa who took medication, but upon arriving at the amusement park, she had been unable to find it. Her best guess was that someone had discovered and taken it prior to their escape.

"Void, this is Nightshade." Jennifer said. "Two vehicles approaching. Looks like the cops."

Jennifer was sitting in the top gondola of the park's Ferris Wheel, watching the entrance and surrounding roads with high-power binoculars.

"Copy." Lea stood up. "Terrastorm, Kraken, meet me at the entrance."

James met up with her halfway to the entrance, and they walked the rest of the distance together. Devin was waiting for them at the entrance. The three of them walked out to see a pair of police SUVs parked at the edge of the lot. Arnold, Fred, and Illyana were approaching them while Amanda, Vera, and Marvin covered them and watched the surrounding area. Arnold and Fred carried short-barreled assault rifles, and Illyana carried a semi-automatic shotgun. The two groups stopped about eight feet apart.