Nothing Without You | Eric Coulter [2]

twenty-seven

NESSA

While moving in the middle of the night, cast in darkness was not ideal, it also had its pros.

We were concealed by the shadows as we moved as stealthily as we could.

Eric and Zeke had broken off from the group. With Eric's knowledge of the Erudite territory, the two had gone in through a second-floor window, climbing their way up the side of the building with a grappling hook and a long rip attached to it to open a hidden back door for the rest of us to enter through.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried my best to stay hidden in the tall grass with Uriah beside me.

As if he could sense my nerves, Uriah reaches over and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze and just as he does, the door swings open and Zeke pops his head out to signal us in.

We shuffled out from our hiding spots, moving as silently as we could until we were past the door and finally in the building.

I'd thought making it past our first hurdle would've helped ease my mind a little so that things would go smoothly tonight. On the contrary, the silence that falls upon us as we move as a unit through the hallway only sets my nerves off even more.

Zeke stops us at the end of the hallway where it opens into another long hallway that leads down towards both our left and the right.

Slowly, he peeks past the wall and holds up two fingers, signalling that there were two guards standing guard there.

He looks to Uriah, who jerks his chin at him with a steady nod before the two rush forward, putting the guards in identical chokeholds until their bodies go limp.

The Pedrad brothers carefully laid the bodies down, careful to maintain the silence that was giving us the upper hand so far.

"Okay," Zeke whispers, "This is it, we're going to have to split up. Everyone clear about what they're supposed to do?" We all nod in response.

"Good, be careful." Satisfied, Zeke breaks off from the group with Lynn and heads towards the right.

Uriah, Eric and I do the same, heading in the opposite direction with our guns drawn at the ready and our eyes darting around on high alert.

We kept walking, passing closed doors that we checked to make sure they were empty behind until we reached the end of the path.

The tension was thick in the air, with the lingering reminder of how high the stakes were tonight.

I can see the way Eric's shoulders stiffened even more the further into the building we went, the impending threat of violence looming over our heads.

My mind keeps threatening to wander to Zeke, Lynn and Tobias with worry for all of their safety.

We've already lost Marlene. I just hope we didn't lose any more of us along the way.

Just like the last time I was here, the hallways quickly started blending into each other with how similar they looked and wondered if this was some well-thought-out psychological tactic the Erudites had put in place to confuse potential intruders.