Page 59 of Heart’s Prisoner

Lana felt herself being grabbed from behind. She looked again at her colleagues. "Ben, tell them. Show them the footage."

Ben stood there, pale and dumbfounded. He opened his mouth as if to form words as heads turned in his direction. "I, uh, I don't know..."

The officer stepped in front of her. "Sir." He gestured for Ben to come forward. Reluctantly Ben made his way through the groups of people. "If you have information that concerns this situation," the officer said to him in a low voice, "we need to look it over."

Ben glanced at Lana then turned back to the officer. "Yea, alright." He went back to his bag and brought it over.

The guards released Lana momentarily as Ben showed the officers the footage. The officers' expressions varied but they did well to keep their emotions hidden from the others.

"I think we should call the heads," one of them whispered.

"We are supposed to wait for their response on what to do next," hissed another.

"The others need to know."

They each glanced back at Ben and Lana. The tall officer spoke to Ben, "Can you send this file to us?"

Ben nodded and began working on his laptop.

"So do you understand now?" Lana said.

The tall officer glared back at her. "We aren't leaving this room. Not until we have confirmation that it is safe to move."

Lana shook her head in angry disbelief. "Then we are just waiting for the slaughter. You see those vents over there?" Lana pointed. "They can get through those."

The officers looked at each other and the tall one nodded. "Everyone please go back to sleep, everything is fine," the tall officer announced to those listening.

"You can't be serious," Lana seethed.

"Maam, we don't need panic. Go back to the wall," he said to her. The officer commanded the guards to take up heavy equipment and stash it over to the other side of the room to hide the vent.

A few grumbled but didn't argue as they were forced to move. Some looked at her with curiosity but remained silent. They did as the officers ordered and no one asked any more questions.

"Come on, Lana, just give them time. Some are still in shock, you know?" Ben said trying to gently coax her back over to their sitting spot by the wall. "And the officer is right, we really don't need panic right now."

Lana allowed him to lead her back to the wall, but she still wasn't happy. Far from it. With the revelation that Xerus was somehow alive, the words he spoke in their final moments together rang out like a death toll. He would come for her. She knew. And he would decimate anything and everything in his way. Forget the other specimens lurking around. If Xerus found out where she was, the others were goners. And even then it might not matter. He had said himself he would kill every human. She didn't want to believe it then and she didn't want to now.

But if she got away from everyone and they could make their way to the loading docks, they might have a chance.

Lana slumped down next to Dahlia who opened her eyes and gazed at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Lana fixed her eyes up at Ben who met her stare. She looked down at Dahlia. "I tried to warn people about what happened on twelve but the officers won't move us."

Dahlia groaned as she shifted herself into a seating position. "Why do we need to move? Aren't we safe here?"

"Not anymore."

"Lana–"

"They need to know, Ben," Lana snapped. Then said more softly, "I'm sorry but we can't afford any more secrets. People's lives are at stake."

Ben cursed softly. He took a seat nearby, putting his back to them and eyeing the officers while sneaking a hit from his e-cigarette. Lana turned back to Dahlia.

"Asset X is alive," she said in a low voice.

Dahlia's eyes widened. "That's not possible," she whispered.

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