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.‘Not all of us.We need to keep fighting here too.’I peered out between the choppers to the skid units, way over on the other side of the building.Only sporadic bits of cover between here and there, and even when we reached the skids, we’d still need to figure out how to open that door at the top of the ramp.‘Right,’ said Reeve, peeking out around the side of the storage unit again, ‘we’ve got work to do.But I don’t think Kara should be heading out on her own, either.Someone else needs to go with her.Someone with firsthand –’‘Me,’ said Soren.‘No,’ I said.‘How about Luke?’Luke gave me a weary look.‘Jordan, don’t even – You know I can’t.’‘Amy then,’ said Mr Hunter.‘Get her to a hospital before –’‘No…’ Amy murmured.‘Not without my mum and dad.’‘Not Amy,’ said Reeve.‘Look, I hate to be cold about this, but she’ll heal fine and we’re going to need her.We can’t afford –’Another round of gunfire spattered the storage unit behind us.Reeve jumped up and returned fire.The concrete shook with the sound of it.The guard fired again.Reeve cried out, lurching.He landed on top of me and I felt something warm against my arm.‘No!’ Luke shouted.Reeve rolled off me, landing on his back.Blood dribbled from his side.Kara rushed over to him, but Reeve weakly shoved her away.He winced and pulled the jumper up to reveal a ragged gash at his hip.‘Just – a graze,’ he grunted, struggling to sit up.‘Reeve, don’t – don’t move,’ I said breathlessly, eyes darting in search of the guards.‘You shouldn’t be –’I broke off.The blood flow had stopped.As I watched, the wound dried and scabbed over.In a few seconds, he was on his feet like nothing had happened.‘Reynolds is coming around the side,’ he reported, as I gaped at him.‘If we’re doing this, we need to do it.’‘Dad,’ said Luke, pulling his eyes away from Reeve.‘I think it should be you.’‘No,’ said Mr Hunter.‘No, Luke.I’m not leaving you out here on your own again.’‘You won’t be.I’m not on my own.And I don’t want you to go, you know I don’t, but –’ He broke off, swearing, as someone opened fire right behind us.Soren.He was backing away from the storage unit, shooting erratically in Officer Reynolds’ direction.Reynolds fired back, but stopped instantly as Soren rolled behind one of the missile launcher things.‘Going to get himself killed,’ Reeve muttered.Then, to the rest of us: ‘That security van over there.Ready? Go.’We ran, weaving between the helicopters.Reeve hung back to cover us.Gunfire exploded all around me, but I had no idea where it was coming from.It was all just noise.I didn’t stop running until I was around the other side of the van.Amy moaned again as Luke’s dad slammed into the passenger door beside me.Luke flew after them, breathing hard.‘It’s – open!’I saw where he was pointing, risked a look around the van and felt my heart skip a beat.Kara had just tried the door on one of the helicopters.And she was climbing inside.I couldn’t believe they’d left it unlocked like that.But I guess if you keep your secret helicopter inside a secret armoury protected by guards armed with semi-automatic weapons, you probably figure you’ve got security covered.Kara jumped out of the chopper again.She did a frantic circuit, yanking a bunch of red plug things out from the engines and exhausts and throwing them aside.Reeve leant out to lay down some covering fire.He swore under his breath at the sound of bullets tearing through glass.‘What in the world is Soren trying to –?’A giant, echoing groan boomed down from the roof of the armoury.The ceiling was moving, splitting apart.Rain streamed through the gap like a waterfall.I peered around again.Soren was way over the other side of the armoury, half-hidden in shadow.His hand hovered over a black control panel.He pressed another button and a metallic clattering sound joined the groaning of the roof.At the far end of the room, the door at the top of the ramp had just started rolling open.‘I take it back, kid,’ Reeve grinned, sticking out a hand to let Soren know where we were.‘We’ll make time for all the heroics you want.’Chapter 16WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 58 DAYSSoren weaved through the vehicles, firing an occasional burst from his weapon.Then Reynolds must have caught sight of him, because he stopped running and hit the ground behind some machinery.The rain hammered down louder and louder as the roof split further apart, drenching the concrete behind us, then the top of the van, and then pouring down on our heads.The sky outside was growing dark.I heard a shout from one of the security guards.And then another noise, something I hadn’t heard since the day I got here: the long, high drone of a helicopter powering up.Over my head, on the far side of the van, I saw the rotor spring to life, pushing the blades in a slow circle.I tried to steady myself, but my attention was sucked up completely by the whir of the engine and the spinning of the blades.Reynolds switched targets, opening fire on the chopper.Reeve shot back, pinning Reynolds down behind wherever he was hiding.‘Dad, please!’ Luke shouted over the noise.‘It can’t just be Kara.Go.People will listen to you.’‘Come with me,’ said Mr Hunter.‘They can listen to both of us.’‘I can’t!’Luke’s dad stepped away from the van, Amy still hanging in his arms.‘Why? Why can’t you?’‘I have work to do!’ he said, voice unsteady.‘Here.I can’t just –’Thunder cracked the sky overhead, swallowing up the sound of his voice.‘Luke…’ I said.‘I’m the only one who can bring you back!’ he shouted, and even in the pounding rain I could see that he was crying.He turned back to his dad.‘I have to stay.I have to.’I shivered, wet fingers slipping on my gas canister.If he stayed here and got himself killed because of me…Mr Hunter looked sick.He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, rain sliding down on his face.The noise from the chopper was shifting, the high-pitched whining overtaken by the whump-whump-whump of the blades.The downdraft swirled around us, like a blizzard to our saturated skin.‘All right,’ he said, sitting Amy down against the van, then shrugging off his backpack and handing it to Luke.‘All right.But I’m coming back, okay?’ He clutched Luke with both hands.‘I’m bringing help.We are all getting out of here.’Luke didn’t answer.He put his gas canister on the ground and squeezed his father into the same kind of desperate, crushing hug he’d given him when he first arrived here.I pulled Georgia’s camera out one last time, panning the armoury just as Reynolds fired at Soren again.‘Here,’ I said, handing the camera to Mr Hunter.‘Take this
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