She Will Persist

26

Axel

"Step one: learn how to work with our disabilities. I'll learn how to work with seven fingers. Quinn has to learn how to see with only one eye, Lautaro with his ear and Lucky with your hip. Blitz you have to let your ribs chill, and same with Owen and your ankle, and don't stretch your top too much because that cut is still healing. And Axel, just... don't move. Like at all.

"Step two: utilize our skills. And I don't mean physical skills. I mean our smarts. Our wit. Harrison is the smoothest talker any of us have ever met, and you also don't mind taking a hit, so in my mind that equals the distraction. Axel, you've got the quickest fingers in this whole place, so you're gonna steal weapons, tech to get past the cameras, keys for one of the cars outside, a security badge, various bomb constructing materials, and a laptop. I'll disguise planning out the materials in my lab. Blitz and Quinn, we're gonna need a chemical detonator of some sort and several smoke bombs. Owen and Zach, the younger agents are terrified of you guys, and even though it's a little twisted, I'm thinking a little blackmail might be in order. Once Axel gets the keys, Lautaro you're going to get one of the vans up and running.

And once again, we have to work together. That's the only way we're gonna pull this off."

-

It's weird how plotting a rebellion puts a new spring in your step. It made my heart beat not just to keep me alive, but so I could live to get the hell out of this shithole.

There had been some close calls in terms of getting caught, including me having to shove a USB in my mouth before Hunter could see it. Harrison had done his job perfectly —talking back, sarcastic comments, just being himself really, and then taking hits from Flagg while I pocketed all the amo, guns, and knives I could from our training room. At night Quinn and Blitz combined their knowledge of what went boom and constructed the perfect smoke bombs for knocking out the guards that stood in front of Flagg's office so Owen could get in and check where Adira and James were.

It took about two weeks, but we did it. Our beds were checked every night so most of the time whatever I stole we had to keep on us the entire day. Every time I stole something we'd keep it passed around between the nine of us, quick switches in the hallways, cutting holes in our mattresses and pillows, taping them around our limbs beneath our clothes so no one could see them. What Flagg taught us was now being used against him.

Karma is one stone-cold bitch.

-

I looked up and into the mirror. So being a hairdresser when I leave the agency was definitely a no. But it didn't look awful. An improvement, that's for sure. I'd needed a haircut before we even went to Taranto, now it was about a month and a half later and it had grown close to curbing on shaggy. Same with Harrison, so after me, I passed him the scissors and we filled the shitty motel bathroom sink with our hair.

As for everyone else.. well.... we were all alive. That was the main thing.

"Isn't he going to find us?" Lucky's dark brown eyes were scared.

Cal licked his lips and sat down on the creaky bed. He placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "Not if we cut the trackers out."

"Come on!"

"Dude, no way."

"би тэгэхгүй."

"Fuck nah fam!"

"De ninguna manera."

"Mate, that's ridiculous—"

"No it's not," Cal shook his head slowly. "You all know I'm right. He and his whole crew could come barging through that door and drag us back to the agency if we don't get them out right now."