When The Clock Strikes Twelve

Chapter 14

The capitol glowed like some sort of monster, ready to swallow people through the large front doors. The light was the only thing visible in the entire city, and it nearly blinded Jaye as she swung herself over the wall. She turned away and focused on climbing down the wall, dropping to the ground in the capital city. The grass was colder than she'd expected, and the way it tickled on her ankles made goosebumps run over her arms.

Finally, everyone else was over the wall. They were panting despite all the practice they'd gotten at climbing. Zander waited for a moment before stepping under a streetlight and motioning them down the street, making his way to the glowing capitol building. Jaye remembered when Zander had explained the event happening at the capitol.

"The Queen had a raffle for all citizens. A handful of lucky people from each city got an invitation to meet with the Queen and voice their concerns. This is an excellent opportunity for us, because it means that people from every city will be witness to our revolution."

At the time, Jaye had nodded and grinned, seeing it unfold in her mind. Now, however, she wondered how they'd gotten so lucky, that their infiltration just happened to be on the same day that everyone was at the capitol.

Jaye shook the thought away, following Zander down the empty street. No one spoke, though the entire city was at the capitol. They couldn't risk getting caught.

Jaye tried to keep her breathing as quiet as she could as they crept through the city, eventually arriving at the gates around the capitol.

"Our job, along with Unit 2, is to arrive early, before Laurel, and round up any of the police in the west wing of the building. Someone else will be hacking into the cameras, and turning them off at twelve, an hour after the ball starts. That's when we'll go in."

Hopefully, whoever was shutting down the cameras had done their job, and no one noticed as they cut open the metal gate and slipped through, one by one. It was easy to pick the lock to the side entrance, and they pooled into the hallway, which branched off into many other hallways.

"We'll have to split up so that we can move quickly and quietly."

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but after a few moments, Jaye, along with Zaria, Aram, and Dalia moved down the hallway to the left and started creeping down the hallway, single file, their backs to the wall. Jaye led them through the bright corridor, until they finally reached a corner.

"According to what we know about the security, there will be an officer posted at every corner. We need to incapacitate them all so Laurel can get to the queen".

Jaye snuck up behind the man and slipped her gun out, pressing it against his waist. She whispered into his ear, "Don't move, or I'll shoot you." he stiffened and glanced down to his left, where another officer was posted. The second officer was staring straight ahead, and hadn't seemed to notice them.

The officer started to open his mouth, but Jaye pressed the gun harder into his side, and hissed, "Don't say a word."

The man gulped and nodded a little. Very slowly, so they didn't attract the attention of the officer down the hall, Jaye dragged the petrified man sideways and around the corner, until he was out of sight.

Aram sprang into action, pouring a small pill out of the bottle in his pocket. "Eat this." he ordered, pushing it up to his lips.

The man obliged, his face scrunching up from the taste. After a few moments, his eyes unfocused and he stumbled a little. Jaye felt a little pang of guilt for drugging the man, but she pushed it away. This was the easiest way to ensure they would stay out of the way for long enough.