“What the…” Leo stopped short, looking around in confusion.
“There’s something I’ve meant to tell you,” Troy said with a wry grin.
“Did anyone else see that tall red-headed boy?” Leo rubbed his eyes in perplexity.
“You’re going to see a whole lot more, so brace yourself,” Jaxson said with a wicked grin. “It’s times like this I miss mine,” he sighed dramatically.
“Kade,” I called out, “Can you please get everyone back to the training room? I’ll see you soon!”
“Copy!” Kade responded back.
“Give them a minute,” Gavin stated. “Your man’s not going to faint, is he, Troy?”
“Why do I feel like I’m under the microscope?” Leo asked, shifting uncomfortably.
“There’s a reason I used to ask Jace to work for me on our more… testier clients,” Troy patiently explained.
“Man, those were the easy days,” Leo sighed. “Everyone was in such a good mood. No one was high strung and testy.”
“Because I used my gift,” Jace explained to him. “I can feel other people’s feelings and push feelings onto them.”
Leo looked around. “Is this a hidden camera show? Am I being recorded.”
“No.” Troy shook his head with a smile. “I’m just warning you that you may see something that you’re going to find hard to believe.” He nodded at Sam, Sierra, and Gavin.
Sierra took Gavin’s hand. Gavin and Sam started to move their hands like they were pushing something apart and the debris flew to both sides of the hall, leaving a clear walking path.
“What in the-” Leo started, then he started to laugh. “You guys really had me going for a minute. Is this a new movie Lincoln’s working on?”
Lincoln smiled and shook his head. “Nah, man. They’re gifted.”
“What?” Leo spluttered.
Micah decided to pop in at that moment. “There are people stuck in the kitchen, apartment 112, 117, and in-,” he blushed a deep red. “And in the girl’s locker room.”
“Micah,” Remy said sharply.
He turned with his guilty look once more. “I couldn’t sit by idly. I can help!”
“How many people?” I asked him as I gave Remy a shrug.
“Nine,” Micah answered after a few seconds.
“Then we’re missing thirty-six more,” Jace stated.
“Kade has twenty-four with him,” I informed them as I started to make my way to the martial arts gym.
“Terrance, Marcel, Yaris, and Spencer are on the hunt for people, too. They were headed to the top floor. Micah, can you tell them and continue looking?” Jace asked.
“Sure can!” Micah said excitedly as he transported back out.
“This is for real isn’t it?” Leo asked in a stunned whisper.
________
It took several hours to account for everyone. Luckily, we hadn’t suffered any losses. We had quite a few people critically and minorly injured, and the hospital staff and healers were busy at work.
I had never fully explored the bottom of the mountain beyond the simulation arena and greenhouses. I hadn’t realized that they had a contingency plan on top of contingency plan. They had initially built this facility to house any person deemed essential in case of a natural or man-made disaster. Several years ago, the government decided that they didn’t like the location any longer.