Heroes Not Wanted

Chapter 15: Saving the Eagle

      The plan seemed simple, in retrospect. However, to Hal's overworked and admittedly-terrified mind, there were so many horrible things that could go wrong. Not least of which that they all would get arrested and thrown into prison with Art, or even get disposed of quietly.

The group had split up. Silence and Brick were assigned to take care of the guards, while Hal and Storm would wait for their signal to go in. Much as Hal wanted to stay behind, he ended up with the more difficult job of going in with Storm. Granted, he'd rather be with a fully-trained super than two undertrained teens like Silence and Brick.

As Storm and Hal took cover in an alley and watched Silence and Brick approach the building with two guards outside, Hal was terribly afraid he'd be seeing them both get shot. With their dark clothes, it was nearly impossible to pick them out in the shadows as they came from opposing sides, Brick towards one, Silence towards the other. Hal found his breath catching in his throat watching them.

Silence stopped a few feet away from her guard, and Hal saw Brick's guard stiffen, frowning. Before he could do anything, Brick clubbed him over the head with his hand—and Hal knew just how painful that would be. When Silence's guard turned, yelling, nothing came out of his mouth. It was like he couldn't speak ... and Hal remembered her powers. He couldn't speak.

Silence grabbed him around the neck, squeezing with her forearm. The man thrashed, grabbing a fistful of hair, but the girl made no sound. When she released the man, he dropped to the ground, unconscious. After waving at Storm and Hal briefly, she ducked into the jail with Brick only a few steps behind her.

"And now we wait," Storm said, leaning backwards.

Hal hated waiting.

. . . . . . . . . .

Silence and Brick made their way through the jail, past the desk that they had been so unceremoniously kept from going further at before. This time, at three in the morning, it was empty. Silence grabbed Brick's arm, stopping him before he could blunder towards the desk in full view of the security camera.

She slid her hand into her pocket and produced the remote, aiming carefully at the camera placed in the corner of the room. After taking a slow breath to calm her nerves, Silence pressed the button and the camera sparked, shorting out. "Watch it," she hissed to Brick.

Her brother shrugged and plowed on, pulling Silence along with him. The two of them continued through to the cells, all of which were empty. "Where're all the prisoners?" Silence whispered to Brick.

He looked about as comfortable with that as she felt. "I dunno," he whispered back. "There should be some here, for the safety of Haven."

"Unless they've all been released," Silence replied. With that uncomfortable thought in both of their heads, they pressed on. Only villains were supposed to end up in the prison—villains and people who punched Guardian, but that was a given. If the villains had been released into Haven, that definitely qualified as "bad news".

Silence stopped at the hall with a sign pointing down that said "Solitary" on it. "Well, brother, this is where we stop," she mumbled. "After we take out these guards."

"You think you can do two with all three effects at the same time?" Brick whispered back to her, looking over her shoulder at the guards waiting down there.

"I've got to," she answered. "We don't have any other choice. If we did, trust me, I'd do it. Now be quiet. I've got to concentrate."

Brick obeyed, falling silent as he watched his sister with some concern. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before squeezing her eyes shut, concentrating on the two men at the end of the hall. Her head pounded as she struggled to overcome their sight, voice, and hearing. It was something she'd never tried to do before, particularly from such a distance. Already, she had a screaming headache.