Survival

10

"Christopher Howard, are you giving us permission to break into an LIRI lab?" I spoke loudly, eye brows lifted. Everyone else remained quiet. "That lab being under inspection by government jerks?"

"Yes"

It was short, it was simple.

I went to say something, but nothing came out. He actually smirked at me when I showed my clear confusion. We probably would have come to the conclusion to break in ourselves, but the fact that Kit, my father and the Director of LIRI, was actually telling me to do it, had me dumbstruck. He wasn't just telling me, he was practically ordering me to.

"Are you feeling okay?" I hissed out, and he laughed.

"Probably not, but we can't let them get the information they're looking for. Besides," Kit made his way towards me. He stopped beside me, practically breathing down my neck. "You need to know what's on the hard drive, and Karsten's computer may be the only monitor able to decrypt the files"

"It'll be easy Tory, we've done it loads of times" Hi said, shrugging like it was nothing. I continued to stare at my father, and he stared back at me. After a moment, Coop moved back to the door growling. His nose was inches from the door's surface, back bristling. He flicked his head to me, and I flicked my hand at Ben, who caught on. He joined the dog at the door, and pressed his ear to the side.

A small nod was given to me.

Someone was outside the door, listening. It was done then. We were breaking in tonight.

"Will you be staying late tonight?" I asked Kit, and he smiled.

"Yes, I'll make sure Whitney knows before she freaks again like last time" in silent agreement, the plan was struck between us. Call it a father-daughter thing, but whatever it was, Kit and I had it. We both tilted our heads to the side, before breaking apart.

"Let's go guys. We've got homework due for tomorrow" that gained a knowing smile as we left the room. As soon as the door opened, we were greeted by two men in black. They eyed us suspiciously, eyes moving to Coop who trotted out next to me. Coop snorted disapprovingly when they hesitated to move out my way. The boys and I had our full backpacks, the parents bunching up at our backs as though they thought the two men would pounce on us instantly.

I tapped my leg when Coop stopped, baring his teeth threateningly at the men. They actually flinched, and I spared a small smirk.

"Cooper" Kit snapped his fingers, and Coop came right to his side. I lifted an eyebrow at my father, who gave me a helpless shrug of his shoulder. That's the first time Coop has gone to him instead of me. The boys snickered when I rolled my eyes.

Tom left the building with us, he had apparently been about to leave the dock when Kit had come to fetch him. The boys and I took Sewee, and we laid out our plan for tonight. We only had about four hours before dark, four hours before we would be back to our old assignments. And to say we weren't even the slightest bit excited would be a lie. We were buzzing, but the worry dampened the surge of excitement.

When ten o'clock came, we met at the bunker. Last minute discussion, check-up and make sure the plan was drilled into our heads.

"Shelton will carry the flash drive, Hi you'll help him set everything up in the lab while Ben and I keep look out. Everyone got it?" I asked as stepped on the bobbing boat by the bunker.

"Got it Tor. Let's put some oil on these rusty minds" Hi said, shaking out his whole body. I was glad that I managed to find the courage to laugh. Coop wasn't accompanying us this time, and to say he was unhappy was an understatement. Creeping out the house had almost been disastrous. The boys had it easy, their parents knew they were leaving; I was stuck in the house with only Whitney, who did not know. It seemed Kit was in fact staying very late tonight.