Page 20 of Atone in Darkness
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What was she thinking? He was right. Right now he was her only hope in this nightmare. Chase stood a better chance of escaping without her, but he’d still done his best to keep her safe each step of the way. She took one more look back toward the main hall and froze right where she was until another handful of guards walked past. Once they were out of sight, she shoved the door open and steppedoutside.
A hand clamped down over her mouth before she’d gone two steps. Her instinct was to fight until a familiar deep voice growled, “Relax. It’s me.”
When she went limp in Chase’s grasp, he eased up on his grip and stepped back. “Are you going to follow orders now?”
Doubts or no doubts, there was only one answer. “Yes.”
“Good.” He held out a jacket and a hat. “Put these on.”
Even in thedeep shadows where they stood, she recognized the hat and jacket as the types the guards wore. She didn’t ask where he’d managed to steal them in the brief period they’d been apart. Now wasn’t the time for unnecessary discussions. Besides, she really didn’t want to know.
When she’d done as he asked, he stood back and studied her for several seconds. Then he zipped the jacket completely and pulledthe collar up closer to her neck. After tugging the hat farther forward on her head, he said, “The disguise won’t hold up to close scrutiny. But if you keep your head down and your mouth shut, they might not notice right away that you’re female.”
Feeling mildly insulted by his assessment, she didn’t argue. “I’ll follow your lead.”
“Let’s go.”
The compound swarmed with guards piling up boxesof equipment and supplies to be loaded into several large trucks, which must have been brought in for the evacuation. The two of them kept walking, aiming for the gate at the front of the compound. Chase slowed down to watch what was going on around them.
“They’re also carrying boxes out to the trucks parked outside the wire. Maybe we should help.”
They veered off toward a haphazard stack ofcartons sitting near the security office at the front corner of the compound. He picked up a box and thrust it into her hands and reached for a second one for himself before following the line of guards heading for the gate. A man with a clipboard checked the number on the box against a list.
Chase muttered, “Where do these go?”
The man didn’t bother to look up at them. “Follow the line up tothe second truck from the front. The guy there knows where to stow them.”
They had to keep to the edge of the road as the already loaded trucks from inside the fence rumbled past. The twoof them walked past a line of three school buses to where six more trucks sat waiting. When they reached the man directing the line of foot traffic, he pointed at the third truck. “Stick those in the back endand then find yourselves a spot on one of the buses.”
Night had fallen. The light from the camp didn’t carry very far along the gravel road that led to the compound, which made it difficult to see any real distance. After handing off her box, she followed Chase back along the narrow shoulder between the buses and the surrounding forest. When they reached about the halfway point along the lineof vehicles, Chase looked behind them. Then, with no warning, he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the trees alongside the road.
The unexpected move startled her, but she managed to bite back her protest. He maintained his grip as he towed her along behind him. Her temper flared hot. Why hadn’t he stuck with the plan to steal one of the vehicles? Failing that, they might have been able tohide in the back of one of the trucks. Right now, he didn’t show any interest in explaining his actions, only in putting as much distance between them and the camp as possible. She had no idea how he could see where he was going, but he moved through the undergrowth without hesitation. She wanted to protest, but the pace he was setting left her struggling to keep up.
Finally, after about tenminutes, he paused and cocked his head to the side to listen. The only sound she could hear besides the pounding of her own heart was the heavy rumble of the trucks pulling out of the camp.
“I thought we were going to try to steal one of their vehicles.”
She pitched her voice to carry no farther than her silent companion, but she still managed to lace her words with her frustration. “Why thechange in plans?”
“I got a bad feeling.”
“About what?”
He remained poised as if ready to take off running. “The trucks were all top of the line and new looking, but those buses looked like they’d seen hard times. You know, like they’d be disposable.”
“What was that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not sure. It seems weird the trucks leave as soon as they’re loaded, but all those guards sitting inthe buses are going nowhere fast.”
Gradually, the sound of the trucks faded away. A few seconds later, the night sky lit up as a fireball exploded in the distance. It was followed by another and then another, the explosions coming so close together that she lost count. The earth beneath their feet vibrated, making it hard to remain standing. Only her companion’s strong hold on her arm kept herfrom falling to her knees.
A terrifying silence followed. It lasted but a heartbeat before the screaming started. The agonizing sounds ended with a volley of gunfire. Men shouted, but she and Chase had come too far for her to be able to make out the words. It wasn’t difficult to realize that some voices rang out angry and scared, while others were cold and precise as if barking out orders punctuatedby sporadic gunfire.
Fear tasted bitter. “If they knew an attack was coming, why didn’t they warn us that was the reason for the evacuation?No one seemed worried or in a particular hurry to leave.”
Although she couldn’t see Chase clearly in dim moonlight, she sensed the tension rolling off him in waves as he whispered, “That’s not it. The sons of bitches you worked for are cleaning house.”
