Briar Preparatory Academy

Splitting

Preston POV

I grip the steering wheel harder as the jeep bounces over fallen logs. I curse under my breath when the jeep lurches over a huge ditch, jerking Seth and I back and forth in the jeep. I look out the corner of my eye to see the outline of an abandoned warehouse in the distance, concealed by the trees. We are nearing the back of the property and my heart starts to beat faster and faster. I glance over at Seth who looks like he is going to be sick. And I don't think it's from the jerking of the car.

I finally come to a small clearing sheltered by a grouping of small trees. It has enough coverage that the jeep will not be easily spotted and it is distinct enough that we will be easily able to find it. I park the jeep and turn it off, taking the keys out of ignition and letting out a large nervous sigh. I grab Kate's backpack from the floorboard and sling it onto my back. I lean my head against the headrest and breathe silently. I look over to Seth who looks just as nervous as I am.

"You know no matter what we see in there, we have to keep going. We have a mission." I tell him.

He nods in return. I turn my body to face him, and I feel like I need to tell him about the severity of what we might experience. "Seth listen. I know you are expecting us to go in and get Celeste out, but I need to prepare you for the fact that we might be doing a corpse recovery." I tell him, searching for a reaction. He says nothing, and just stares out the window.

"And you also need to know that these people will not play by the rules that we have at the Academy. When we work in Physical Defense there's always a line that once you reach it, you release your victim. These people don't have that Seth. They will shoot us without a second thought."

"I already told you. I would be willing to take a bullet for her any day of the week." He says, I nod and turn to face the front.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I said, pulling open my door and shutting it quietly behind me. I wait for Seth to walk around the front of the car and when he does, I grab his shoulder and he turns around and makes eye contact with me. His eyes shown with courage, anger, and determination.

"Hey, if she's still alive we'll get her back. I just don't know how long she can hang on." I say. A weak smile spreads across his face and he nods his head.

"Alright. Let's go."

As we approach the building, I hear the familiar smooth sound of Kate's voice in my ear. "Guys do you read me?"

I reach up and tap the comm, almost out of instinct. "I read you."

"Remember boys, this is a Clandestine Exfiltration Operation. Be clean. Go in, get Celeste and come out."

I look at Seth and nod; neither of us daring to talk so close to the compound. "Roger that."

"Okay if you look to the northeast you should see a camera positioned on the roof of the building. It will be disabled in 3...2..."

I motion at Seth with my fingers and we bolt towards the building across the clearing as soon as she says one. We press our bodies flat against the exterior wall breathing heavily. I run my fingers over the smooth trigger of the gun in my hand. Four bullets. Ten lives. One operation. One girl.

I pull the backpack off my knees and dig through it, searching for a lock breaker. I dig around the bottom of the backpack until my fingers reach the small magnetic object. I quickly slap it on the door. After several seconds there is a metallic click as the lock opens. I drop the device back into the backpack, zip it up and grab the gun with both hands. Under normal circumstances, giving Seth the gun would have been the smart idea. But at this point, if he was faced with the necessity I don't think he could do it.

I don't think he could kill.

We slip through the door to the compound. I look around the room to see that it is basically one large room. There are empty boxes and crates stacked everywhere haphazardly. The area is one large room with a door across the building. That has to be the stairs.

"Kate. Disable the cameras." I hiss quietly into my comm.

"Okay I'm working on it... You're clear." She says in my ear. Seth and I both start running through the empty room, jumping over boxes and running as hard as we can.

I hear Kate start to curse in my ear. "Kate what is it?" Seth asks, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Camera had a small disable delay. They might have caught a glimpse of you running. Expect one guard to come in and check the place to see if there's anything. This will be your chance to get ammo and to figure out the entrance to the underground level." Kate says, still cursing under her breath. "Guys, don't kill anyone. We don't want any blood on our hands."

Seth and I bolt behind a large crate in the corner of the room as we hear a door swing open. I close my eyes and listen to the footsteps. I calculate that there is one man who I estimate is about 180 pounds based on the sound and the pattern of his steps. I tap in Morse code on Seth's arm.

One man. Coming close. Disarm and take weapons.

He nods as soon as I finish tapping the message on his arm. I count down from 10 in my head. I get to one and Seth bolts from behind the crate. He catches the guard by surprise and sweeps his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground. I leap over the crate and grab the man's throat. I shove my fingers in the pressure points I learned last year in Physical Defense. Almost instantaneously, his breathing slows and he slips into unconsciousness. His body goes limp and his breathing is shallow.

"Get his guns." I hiss over to Seth. He leans over the guard and pulls two guns out of a holster on his waist. He hands me one and I cock it, putting my personal one into Kate's backpack. Seth grabs the other and cocks it, feeling the weight. For Seth shooting a gun is second nature. When the gun is in his hand it becomes an extension of his body.

I grab the keys off his ring, hoping that they will help us get into the building. I slide them in my pocket. I drag the limp body of the guard over to one of the empty crates. Seth comes behind me and takes the lid off. I heave the body up and into the crate, putting the lid on and turning away. Seth and I start running towards the door.

We finally reach the door and I try each key carefully until I find the one that opens the door. I slide it in and we slip into the hallway. I close my eyes and picture the map in my head; we aren't too far from the cell.

"This way." Seth whispers, leading the way down the cold concrete hall. I take several moments to look around at the hallway. Everything is cold, concrete and uninviting. I pull my jacket closer to my body to block out the chill that travels up my spine. I feel the chill of the room travel up my spine leaving goose bumps on my arms.

I hear the sound of my heart beating. I watch as Seth's body slides down the hallway quietly. He holds the gun in his right hand, stabilizing it with his left.

"Hey guys if you take a left turn at the next split, you should be almost there." Kate's voice says in my ears. Her voice comforts me; it reminds me that there are other people watching. There's a whole world waiting for me to come back to.

We veer to the left down a dark hallway, and we pause. I can hear shouting somewhere nearby, and I grab Seth's shoulder. "You're really close to it. Stay in position."

I follow Kate's command and press up against the wall. Suddenly, there is a loud clanging noise, more screaming and shouting. I push myself off the wall and begin to run down the hallway, Seth hot on my heels. As I draw nearer to the commotion, I recognize that the voice belongs to Jasper. We take another turn down a hallway, our guns raised—

And run straight into Celeste.