Page 10 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

Eva started talking under my hand and I shook my hand. “I need you to keep your mouth shut.”

She made a zipper across her mouth and crossed her fingers. I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but I took it as a good sign.

New Guy nodded. “I’ve got the map up here,” he pointed to his head.

I really fucking hoped he was right about this. Johnny looked out first, then nodded to us.

“Alright, Joe. Let’s move out.”

“I think I preferred when you called me New Guy. I was Navy.”

I ignored him and started pushing the gurney hard down the hallway. We were running, just like you would see on TV shows. It should be exhilarating, that rush of knowing you were on your way to surgery and you only had so much time before the patient bled out. But this was real life, and instead of a patient bleeding out, we all risked getting caught in the hospital and killed by the men the governor sent after us.

“Take the next left,” New Guy hissed.

I started to turn the gurney, all of us looking like we were rushing to surgery. New Guy tossed me the keycard and I handed it off to Rae, who ran ahead to swipe and get the doors open. As soon as they opened far enough, we were shoving through.

“Hey! Where are you going?” a nurse shouted.

“Emergency surgery,” I shouted over my shoulder.

“Oh!” Eva called out, her hand shooting up in the air as she pretended to be in pain. “It hurts! It’s so bad. My shoulder! I mean, my eye! I need my boyfriend!” she shouted.

I glanced behind me and glared at Johnny. “That’s you, boyfriend,” I said through gritted teeth.

He ran to her side, grabbing her hand as he bent over while running. “You’re calling more attention to us.”

“But I should be in pain,” she said, still fucking high as a kite. “Oh! It hurts so much!” she cried.

“Next right,” New Guy shouted.

I turned the gurney, but came to an abrupt stop. We were at a dead end. “Where the fuck do we go?” I snapped.

“Fuck, I must have messed that up.”

“You think?” I turned on him. “What happened toit’s all up here?”

“I must have the map backwards.”

“No time to stop now,” I said, backing out of the hallway and turning in the other direction. The sign above directed us to more surgical suites. “I really fucking hope we don’t get arrested.”

“Up ahead,” Johnny pointed out, still holding Eva’s hand.

I could see security running in our direction. Given the chance, they would question us. We weren’t supposed to be exiting through this door.

“New Guy,” I snapped.

“Got it.” He ran ahead of us, throwing himself at the man. “You gotta help me! There were two men in the maternity ward. They were trying to steal a baby!”

“Where?” the security guard asked as New Guy pulled him away. New Guy turned and winked at us as we made it through the final doors to the tunnel, right before the alarm sounded to shut down the hospital.

Our shoes slapped against the concrete as we took off running at full speed, all three of us pushing the gurney as fast as we could. Up ahead, an SUV pulled up in front of the entrance.

“That’s Jack!” Johnny shouted.

We swung the gurney around as Jason jumped out of the passenger seat and yanked open the back door. Rae and I quickly helped Eva inside, then hopped in.

“Where’s the new guy?”

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