Gifted Connections 4

“I think we have a game plan,” Greg commented with finality in his tone.

“I can get in there with Miranda,” Micah jutted out his jaw mutinously.

“You’re swaying on your feet,” Remy said gently. “Why don’t you go lay down for a little bit?”

“I can do a little bit more,” Micah maintained.

“Rest,” Will said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Micah swallowed and nodded. He apparently wasn’t happy with our decision. “Can I have some coffee?” he mumbled to Remy.

Remy’s chest rumbled with laughter. “Try your sisters and then mine. Tell me how you prefer it.”

I handed Micah my coffee, and he took a sip of it, grimacing slightly, and then he sipped Remy’s black coffee and made a hacking noise.

We all laughed at him. “I’ll take some like Blake’s.”

“I’ll have them off our network in three minutes,” Darren informed us. “After that, we should have approximately thirty minutes before they can get back on.”

Once they were off the networks, we were placing all the rooms and halls on lockdown. Effectively trapping each group in their areas. Once Darren saw us in our designated places, the locks would be lifted.

Terrance, Sam, Dawn, Marcel, Miranda, and Ford were going to be handling the insurgents located in the control room. Gavin, Sierra, Kade, Remy, Pops, and Jemmy would be heading to the cafeteria. Kade and Gavin would freeze the room while Remy and Pops carried our enemies down to their individual gift-free cells. Drake, Jaxson, Jace, Troy, Lincoln, and I were heading to the training room where most of our gifted individuals were being held. Victoria, Sierra, Ben, Mike, Taylor, and Rick were going to attempt to clear the hallways until we could get to them.

Noah, Greg, Herman, and Darren were staying behind and manning the monitors. Noah would come as needed.

“Team’s ready?” Darren asked. “Comms in?”

“Ready,” we all chorused in response.

“Radio checks,” Darren demanded.

Individually we did our radio checks.

“Sounds good, on my go. Three…two…one…go,” Darren called out.

We took off at a gentle jog. We had studied the plans repeatedly, making sure we were taking the quickest routes to our destinations. In a single line, we ran down the service hall, down to the service elevator. Our team was using the service area since it led into one of the boiler rooms behind the training area. They would never hear us coming over the sounds of the machines.

Once we reached the room, we wouldn’t be seen on the cameras. It was in a blind spot. Everyone acted like it was no big deal, but it made me feel uneasy, honestly. The room had two doors led out, and one of them was located right under the bleachers.

I took deep calming breaths as we stepped onto the elevators. I felt warm, gentle hands on my shoulders.

“You’re tight,” Troy murmured. “Relax.”

I looked up at him and smiled. “I’ll try,” I murmured. “No matter how many times we do this, I still feel tense and nervous.”

“It’s good to feel those feelings,” Lincoln spoke up. “Just as long as you don’t let those feelings overcome you.”

I bit back my initial caustic remark. We were in this middle of an unspoken truce. I didn’t want to ruin it.

The elevator came to a halt, and before I stepped off, Jace put a staying hand on my hand. “Wait…” he warned. “Okay, we’re good.”

“Thanks,” I smirked. I felt rusty. I knew we did simulations, but this was different. There were no restarts. If something happened to one of us, there were no re-dos.

The noise in the boiler room was disconcerting. It was loud, but that’s not what was getting under my skin. It was all the other creaks. I didn’t like surprise attacks, although that’s what we were doing to them.

“Okay, Jaxson,” Jace stated. “Bring on the dogs.”

Jaxson smiled grimly before a pack of wolves appeared. They were huge, and even I gasped before taking a hasty step backward.