The Limit [Book 1]

Chapter 6

"Join... Black Angel?" Jace nodded grimly.

"A lot of the agents were rescued once as an Accused, the term we use to refer to the students we rescue from the Limit. Most of the older kids settle down somewhere quiet and away from civilization till the end of their days. The younger ones who have no one to take care of them are protected and raised in the facility. They are trained to be agents; though young kids are usually quite rare to be one of the Accused."

I knitted my eyebrows together, contemplating the idea, before setting down the glass of water. "What about their relatives? Family members?" Jace stiffened slightly, an unnoticeable movement if not for my experienced eyes.

"They live their lives believing that their children were killed by the government. Rescued Accused never see their family again, it'll be too much of a risk to the organization." My muscles locked in place, my gaze resting heavily on Jace.

Saf...

"Until when will I have to make my decision?"

"Until we reach the compound."

"... I see." Just then, the door to the other room slammed open and crashed against the wall. Both Jace and I sprung up from our chairs and whipped around to see Jordan with a look of mild panic in his eyes.

"Jace, we have a problem." With a speed so incredibly fast one would've missed it if they'd blinked, Jace was across the room and following Jordan through the door. I flung my body at one of the windows and lifted a corner of the shutters, hiding my body behind the wall next to the window. Peeking through the space created by the corner of the shutters, in the far horizon and through the trees, I could just make out a thin line of black uniforms. Startled, I quickly joined the two in the computer room.

"Shit, they're close enough to see the uniforms." Jace cursed, having heard me, and turned to the radar which displayed a great many green dots of different sizes approaching rapidly.

"Jordan, contact the others. Plans have changed, meet at the secondary safehouse and tell them to be careful. One wrong step on all our parts and we're all dead." It took the boy less than a minute to carry out the order before they both stood and filled a backpack with several items. Jace tossed me one with a simple command to collect everything I need. I nodded and left to fill up the bag with a spare change of clothes and a toothbrush.

I followed the two boys through another door and into a garage of some sorts, a green Humvee parked in the middle and several racks of guns on the walls. The two boys then began to load a variety of weapons into holsters on their belts and into the car.

"Can you shoot, Vera?" I nodded at Jace, having gone frequently to the local shooting range by the advice of my school teacher. She had recommended I learn in case someone had broken into our house. With the lack of parental guidance in my home, special measures had to be taken. "Good." He tossed me a simple sleek Beretta M9, much like the one I often used at the range. "Tuck that into your belt and choose anything else you think you might need."

I quickly surveyed the racks on the walls and made my way to a shelf of old-fashioned weapons, choosing a black sheathed kodachi and slipping it into the backpack. The three of us slipped into the Humvee and a loud creaking sound could be heard as the door in front of the car lifted to reveal the dense forest.

The car roared to life as Jordan jammed the keys into the ignition and the car heaved out of the safehouse and into the trees. With this particular Humvee being one with an open roof, branches of trees reached over and scratched at my cheeks as I watched the wood house become smaller. Through the rapidly thickening trees, I saw the group of uniformed military swarm the safehouse and break into it.

I felt Jace climb into the backseat from where he was in the passenger's, a loaded M4 Carbine in hand.

"What about the computers? Is there no evidence in them that directs the military to Black Angel?" Jace waved off my concern with a hand.

"Jordan erased all evidence before he left, all of the information is stored in a hard drive on his phone." I struggled to hear his voice through the roaring of the wind as my hair whipped around my head. "Now be ready, they'll be on our tails in an instant." I nodded and loaded my pistol, positioning the familiar gun in my hands steadily.

Jace reached over and pulled out a black mask from the back pocket of his backpack and tossed it to me. I watched as he slipped his own on, the only facial feature that could be seen were his piercing eyes. I put mine on, the fabric obscuring only my mouth and nose and fitted comfortably on my face.

The roaring of the Humvee was combined with the engines of several military approved vehicles that came into view in front of me. As they got into range of my pistol, I aimed the head of it towards a man that was peeking out of the passenger window of one car. The bullet went clean into the space between his mask and the top of the military issued vest. I watched as he fell through the window and was trampled by the back wheels of the car.

Jace shot down four men in the time it took for me to take down two more. The Humvee drove for another five miles before I heard Jace curse from beside me. We can't keep this up for much longer, severely outmanned and outgunned as we are. I was down to my last three magazines as well.

As Jace covered me, I surveyed the enemy ranks, spotting the large truck in front of the group. Taking a deep breath, I positioned the pistol in front of me and shot a bullet into the right wheel of the truck. The car swerved to the side and rammed into a thick tree, immediately releasing a stream of fire into the air and exploding against the other cars in the group.

Jordan drove the Humvee out of the forest and onto the main road, the military no longer following behind us. Jace let out a large breath and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Gook work, Clever." I scoffed and sat, swallowing in the echoes of the men that we left behind in the fire.

"Where to now?"

"Now, we follow our original plan. Meet with the rest of the team and figure out what to do with you guys."