“Soon after I escaped the capital, I broke into a lab in one of the nearby communities. I found it, and I thought it would be a good idea to have some on hand just in case I was ever captured. No matter what, I was never going to go back to prison again.”
“I understand,” Aerin says with a sigh. “I don’t like it, but I get it.”
We start moving again.
“We need to figure out our exact steps,” Aerin says. “I don’t want to leave any room for error. Once we get into the northern shaft, we need to know exactly what we plan to do, including contingency plans if we run into any more guards.”
“Do you think they tracked us to that shaft?”
“I don’t think they could have,” Aerin replies. “That said, I’m not swearing to anything, but I do think the north shaft is the best way. The only other option is to go to the southern shaft, but we’d have to clear out all the rocks that blocked the entranc
e. The north shaft is closer, and we should be able to get in and out without being noticed.”
“Are you sure you can find the shaft again?” I remember running from our campsite when I saw the fire but not a lot about the surrounding area.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Aerin points to the southwest. “It shouldn’t take us more than half the day to reach it. Spend a couple hours resting, and then go inside, grab what we need, and hightail it right back out again.”
“Sounds easy enough.” I stare at the ground in front of me and contemplate.
“You aren’t sure about it though.” Aerin looks at me sideways.
“I’m not sure I can just go there and do nothing.”
“What happened to taking care of everyone first?”
“I guess I don’t have all the answers.”
Aerin stops suddenly and turns to me.
“Talen, I’m behind whatever you decide to do, but I need to know what the plan is. I can’t go in there with a snatch-and-grab attitude only to have you decide to blow the place up with your father inside it.”
“Do you think we could?”
“Could what?”
“Blow it up.”
Aerin looks right into my eyes.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“I’m trying to decide if you’re serious or not,” Aerin replies.
“I am serious.”
“You want to try to blow up the whole complex?” Aerin looks away as she starts moving again.
“Could we?”
“Maybe.”
“With what explosives?” I ask.
“Use the geothermal generator.”
“You think you can rig it to explode?”
“That’s the easy part,” she says. “We just need to shut down the cooling tower. If we do that, it will blow itself up.”