The lab door crashed open once more and a masked man wearing a balaclava and bullet proof vest lunged towards me, dragging our sled.
“LIAM!” I screamed and tried yet again to free myself before I got hurt.
“No don’t shout! It’s alright; I’m here to help you!” said the guy in a weird forced voice, and he released me from the clamps that were holding my legs and arms against the table.
He rushed over to Liam and did the same for him, freeing him from the table.
“Quick – get out of here – there’s a tunnel that leads you back onto the road. Get out of sight, stay away from the Iota Pass and lay low.”
“Who are you?” I asked, jumping down from the table and rubbing my wrists from where the restraints had been a little too tight and cut the skin.
The masked man strained to push one of the machines out of the way to reveal a metallic door in the wall. He kicked at the lock until it broke and pushed the door open.
“It doesn’t matter who I am, just go! Run, you won’t have long. They’ll be here straight away. Good luck Payton,” he said and I thought I recognized his voice, but I didn’t have much time to think about it because he grabbed me and Liam by our arms and threw us into the dark tunnel along with our sled. The door slammed shut after us.
“Liam,” I gushed and reached out to hug him but he avoided it and forcefully grabbed my wrist, ignoring the red marks from the clamps.
“Come on, we gotta run. Grab this.”
I grabbed the rope attached to the sled and stumbled over my feet as Liam sprinted through the black corridor, painfully gripping my wrist. He wasn’t lying when he said that he was a fast runner – it was so hard to keep up with him and try to hold the rope at the same time and I kept skidding along the iron floor, still feeling the ache in my muscles from over-using them. It began to feel colder, like we were approaching outside, and we eventually reached a door at the end of the tunnel bolted shut with a lock.
“Stand back,” said Liam, freeing my wrist and kicking the door just like the masked rescuer did.
A gust of snow flew in our faces as we fled the tunnel and my whole body was riddled with agony from the cramp in my legs, the pain in my shoulder from dragging the sled, and the raw sting around my wrist from Liam’s grip on the already sore skin from the clamps. He took the rope from me and ran on ahead, making for the trees. I followed, squinting my eyes against the shards of snow stabbing at my face like glass.
The icy temperature scraped my lungs as I took in gulps of air, racing after Liam through the forest. He seemed to be running for ever, deeper into the thicker trees before finally stopping in a clearing in front of a cave in the side of the mountain.
“Okay, we’re sheltering in here until the storm passes,” Liam yelled and pushed me into the cave, dragging our stuff behind him.
We used the tent as a shield across the front of the cave and rolled out the sleeping bags (Harry had given us a spare for me to use).
“Who WAS that guy?” I asked Liam, lying on the sleeping bag to catch my breath.
“I don’t know, but he knew you!” he answered, rummaging through our bags for something.
I tried to think of where I knew the voice from, particularly the way he said my name. I’d heard it before, for sure. Liam brought a tin from his bag and sat opposite me on his own sleeping bag, opening up the tin. Inside was a whole pile of sandwiches, and he placed them between us to share.
