“Can I ask a question,” I ask quietly once Walker punches in the code and we enter the viewing room.
She eyes Cole suspiciously but gives me a curt nod, “Yes.”
“Did the guy from yesterday, 1029, get infected? Did the antivirus work?” It’s the last bit of hope I have.
“The antivirus did not work. He’s infected.”
“Oh,” I say, feeling a crashing sense of responsibility. Shouldn’t I? I could help and I haven’t out of a sense of loyalty to my father. Wyatt and Chloe will die. It will be my fault. And to what end? I’m not even sure who the bad guys are here. I take a deep breath. “I think I’m ready to talk to Colonel—”
“Shut up,” Walker says cutting me off.
“What?” I ask.
“Don’t you dare. Not now.”
Cole jumps in and says, “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“You have no idea what we want,” Richardson replies. “Which makes you two the luckiest bastards ever.”
“What?” I ask completely confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Alex, for once in your life, shut up. For real,” she says, eyes slipping from me to the door. The lock disengages and Erwin walks in brushing past Richardson. His shoulders are back and a smug look on his face. God, I hate him.
He smiles and it’s all I can do not to rush over and kick him in the gut.
“Glad to see you so early—thought this may not be a good idea on a full stomach…” He stops mid-sentence and grits his teeth, moving his hand to his neck. Richardson’s hulking figure steps out from behind him and he drops an empty syringe on the floor.
“Son of a…” Erwin says gripping his neck. His eyes turn unfocused and glassy before he falls with a thud to the floor.
“Quick,” Richardson says, his expression more lively than I thought it could get. He bends to lift Erwin off the ground. Walker follows suit pulling black zip ties from her pocket. Cole and I watch, stunned, as they secure his arms and ankles.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“What did I tell you?” Walker snaps.
“Shut up?”
“Bingo.”
The two soldiers struggle with Erwin’s limp body, eventually shoving him in a small closet at the back of the room. I have no idea how long he’ll be out. If it’s the same drugs they used on me when I was captured it could be hours.
Richardson rams his shoulder against the closet door, pushing back against Erwin’s weight in the tight space. Cole sighs and quickly thrusts his own body against the door and the door snaps closed with a click.
“Thanks,” Richardson says straightening his uniform.
Cole shrugs. “No problem.”
Walker tucks a stray piece of red hair behind her ear. That one loose hair is the most flustered I’ve seen her. It humanizes her. I grab her arm. “What is going on here?”
“We’re breaking you out—and your friends.”
“You’re kidding,” Cole says. Richardson nods. “How? Why?”
“Why?” Walker says checking her watch. “We’ll discuss later. We’ve got fifteen minutes before Erwin’s next meeting and we’ve got to be off the base before then. How? Follow directions. All of them.”
“Fifteen minutes?” I croak, trying to absorb everything.
Richardson removes two guns from his back and hands each of us one. “Take these but try not to kill anyone, okay?” he says.