Lambent ↠ tst / newt [2]

xiv.

chapter xiv:

☇collapsed compound

Kiara

THE HELICOPTER CIRCLED THE BUILDING, Janson's voice echoing all around us. "Return them to us unharmed, and we'll consider this a simple misunderstanding," Janson voiced through the megaphone. Not likely, I thought.

"Or you can resist, and every last one of you will die." There it is. "It won't be long before the Flare wipes out the rest of us. The hope of a cure lies in your hands. The choice is yours." My eyes flicked to Jorge and Brenda, unsure of where to go next.

"Go get the kids. Take Kiara with you," Jorge told Brenda, not taking his eyes off the plane outside. "What are you gonna do," she asked. He turned his head to us, a sly smile on his lips. "I'm gonna play 'em my favorite song."

"Oh shit," Brenda muttered. She grabbed me by the arm, dragging me after her. Brenda pulled a gun from her waistband while grabbing a pack off a table nearby. She revealed another gun from one of the side pockets and handed it to me.

"You're gonna need it," she said. I took the weapon from her hand. Brenda ran down the loft stairs and I followed. As we reached the bottom, I noticed the chaos of the residents of Jorge's building.

"Where are we going," I asked Brenda, pushing past any people in my way. "To get your friends," she replied. I nodded, glad my friends were okay. I ran after Brenda as we went down another stairwell.

We reached the bottom, and Brenda stopped me. I heard Barkley's voice up ahead. "Janson, I got 'em for ya. I'm bringing 'em down. Don't shoot us." Just the sound of his voice made me want to squeeze the life out of that bugger.

"Come on. Let's go." No one responded, so Barkley repeated himself, with more force. "I said let's go." Suddenly a shot went off, and grunting ensued afterward. Brenda and I appeared around the corner, but no one saw us.

"You little bastard," Barkley shouted at Thomas, pointing a shot gun at the boy's chest. Brenda raised her gun up and put a bullet through Barkley's heart. The others all flinched, thinking that one of them was shot, only to watch as Barkley fell.

They looked up, noticing me and Brenda. I smiled slightly at them. "Okay, come on," Brenda said, turning around and leaving. I began to trail after her, when I realized the group wasn't moving. "Come on, let's go," Brenda called to them.

That snapped them out of their daze. The others raced after Brenda and I. I let most of the group pass by, holding up the rear. Teresa wasn't moving, so I came over and grabbed her. "Terry, we have to go," I said, shoving her to the rest of the group.