Chapter 94: Lexa

Echo, Bellamy, Morrigan, Ash, Viv, Samiya, and I head down to level three. When the door opens, we are met by three guards, which Bellamy takes care of quickly. As we exit the elevator, the hallway is lined with doors with a small square window about head high. When I look into the first window, I see a girl who looks to be between 13 and 16 looking back at me. Then, door after door, I find girls and boys looking back at me. Soon, an announcement starts to play over an intercom system saying, 'All recruits are to prepare for lockdown. Move away from your doors and sit on your bed, and await further orders. No talking.'

As this is playing on repeat, I continue down the hallway looking in the windows. Now they are all sitting on their beds like the recording is telling them to. We try all the doors, but they are locked. When we get to the end of the hallway, we are met with a couple more guards. I surprise them by throwing my knives, hitting them in the throat dropping them instantly.

Ash, Viv, and I take a right while the other team heads left to clear the offices and find a way to open the doors. The office on the left was empty, so we moved on to the guard's office, where we found only one more guard. However, he is quick to drop his weapon and surrender.

After I get him zipped tied, I ask, "How many more of you are there on this floor?" He doesn't answer. "It would be better if you were to cooperate with us." Still nothing. I pull out a knife and approach him. "How many?" Nothing, I slice him across his forearm.

He screams, then says, "There are only six of us on duty right now."

Ash looks at me and says, "He makes the last one then."

I nod, "How many guards are on duty topside?"

He looks at me and growls, "Usually, around forty, and the alarm has been triggered, so you can expect company soon."

"How do we unlock the cells?"

"Doesn't matter. They won't listen to you." He speaks.

Ash looks around the room and finds a control panel with labeled switches. One of which is labeled cells and another one label intercom. She pushes both of them. The announcement stops playing, and another one starts, 'Please stand at attention and await orders, doors opening.' He starts to laugh and says, "You won't get out of here alive." I punch him knocking him out.

We walk back out into the hallway and meet up with the other three. They inform us that the kitchen is clear, and they didn't meet any additional resistance. So I say, "We have neutralized all the guards on this level. You three see if you can free the kids in the cells. We're going to find the nursery."

Samiya speaks up, "Alexandria, I must go with them to see if I can find at least my youngest daughter. Please!"

"Sure, go with them. Bellamy, meet us back at the elevators in ten minutes tops."

"Got it, Lexa," Bellamy replies.

Ash, Viv, and I head past the guard's office into the next hallway, where we find the nursery. When we enter, we see five nurses and ten babies. The nurses jump up and put their hands up in surrender. I say, "Who's in charge?" No one answers. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. I just need some information. Now, who is in charge down here?"

A male nurse steps forward and says, "I am head of the night shift. My name is Jack. What do you want?"

"Are these babies safe for transport, and is there a way to transport them all?"

"Yes, all of these are fine for transport, but we only have a couple of strollers. We don't usually move them all at once."

I think, fantastic. How are we going to move all of these babies plus any toddlers we find? "Get the strollers and load up as many as you can into the strollers. Viv zip tie all of them except Jack. Ash, follow me into the next room, so we can see how many there are in there."

We move into the next room, where we find five more nurses and about twenty children ranging in age from around two to ten. I look at the nurses and say, "We won't hurt anyone as long as you cooperate with us. How do you transport these children?"

An older woman speaks up, "We usually only move one or two at a time, so we carry them if we need to. What's going on?"

"We are here to rescue these children."

"You can't do that. They are special and need constant monitoring. What makes you think they will leave, anyway?"

I walk over to one of the older boys in the group and ask, "Would you like to leave this place?" He looks at the nurses and doesn't speak. "We're here to help. If you come with us, we'll try and find your mother. I'm sure she is upstairs right now with the rest of our group, waiting on us to lead you all out of here and to a better life. Would you like that?"

One of the girls speaks up and says, "They won't let us leave, and if we do, they will find us." She points to her arm and says, "We all have GPS trackers in the implant that controls the medicine they keep us on."

I look over at the nurses, "What kind of medicine are you forcing into these kids?" No one answers me. "I said I didn't want to hurt anyone, but if someone doesn't answer me, I will. Now, what are you giving them?"

The older woman says, "It is a cocktail that Dr. Patton came up with that keeps them compliant. I don't know exactly what it is? All I know is that it isn't harmful to them."

I look back to the girl, "What's your name?"

"Shiloh."

"It's nice to meet you, Shiloh, I'm Lexa, and that is Ash. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of time, but we will disable the GPS trackers and take care of all of you once we are out of here. Can you get the rest of your friends to come with us?" Shiloh looks around at the older kids and says, "Anywhere has to be better than here, guys. You have all seen what they expect us to become. Wouldn't it be better to escape? So everyone grab one of the younger ones and follow me."

Amazingly, they all follow Shiloh's instructions. A nurse steps in the way, and Ash grabs her and zip ties all of their hands. Before leading the group of children down the hallway towards the elevators. We stop by the nursery and look back inside; Jack has three old-school baby carriages, each with two babies inside. That leaves four more that we will have to carry out. I press my com button and say, "Bellamy, how are you all doing?"

He replies, "Not great. They won't budge no matter what we say. But, hold on, here comes Samiya. It looks like she has found her daughter. The resemblance is uncanny. She also has a boy and two more girls with her."

"Alright, we are running out of time. I guess we will have to leave them. I need you to send Samiya and Morrigan down to the nursery. We have four babies that need to be carried out of here. It seems they don't have many strollers. Raven, how is the download coming?"

She replies, "Almost finished. Reed and Jose are upstairs with the pregnant women."

Reed says, "Lexa, you need to hurry. We are holding them off right now with help from Lincoln and Logan, but they just keep coming. We need to get out of here and fast."

"Alright, Bellamy is coming up with some small children, and we will be right behind him with the babies. So, Raven, get what you can in the next five minutes and then get upstairs."

"Understood."

Samiya and Morrigan make it to the nursery with the four teenagers in tow. Samiya says, "Alexandria, this is Zaria, my youngest. What do you need from us?"

"I need for you, Zaria, Morrigan, and Viv to grab a baby. Then, the other three needs to push a carriage and follow me, quickly."

Within a few seconds, we are on our way to the elevator. Bellamy and Echo have already taken up all of the younger kids. The elevator opens, and we all cram onto it. Once on the main floor, I see a crowd of people. I can't believe how many are here. There must be at least 15-20 pregnant women in all stages of pregnancy. There is no way we are going to be able to fit everyone on the fishing boat. I hope that we are lucky enough to find a boat at the dock on the river, or else we're screwed.

I hit my com button, "Raven, get your team up here now. We are going to need to find more transportation."

She replies, "On the way. It looks like there is at least one boat at the docks down on the river. I can't tell how big it is on the security feed, but it is there. Worst case scenario, the van we came in on is still parked beside the building."

A few minutes later, Raven and her team join us. I walk up to the doorway, where Reed and Jose have been holding off the enemy. I look out and see about ten dead bodies. "Reed, what do you think?"

He shakes his head, "I'm not sure. I know there are plenty more out there, and we will need to clear them out before attempting to take any of them out of this building. Lincoln and Logan have been taken out anyone that they can get their sites on."

"Aright, send up the flare and throw out some smoke to give us some cover. Morrigan, Echo, Raven, and Sofia hold the doorway and wait for us to clear the way. The rest of you follow me. Take out as many as you can while under cover of the smoke. Once it clears, take cover, and we will regroup over coms."

Everyone nods and falls in behind me. I throw the smoke and flare, draw my swords, pull up the hood on my suit, which is equipped with a gas mask, and rush out. I hear shots fired in the distance that I assume are our snipers. We flare out and begin cutting down the enemy one by one under cover of the smoke. It only takes a few minutes for it to dissipate, and we have to take cover.

I duck behind a couple of barrels and say into my com, "Everybody good?" Everyone checks in one by one. "Can you see now what it's looking like?"

Ash says, "I have taken the guard shack by the dock. A pontoon boat docked down here should hold most if not all of the women and children. From here, I have a good line of sight all the way up to the house. Lexa looks like you are in between two houses. The one closest to the river has four guards inside. I think I only see maybe one left in the other house. Reed, Jose, the house near the van has five guards, and the one close to the river is empty thanks to the snipers."

"Alright, Reed and Jose, take out that house. I will cover you from my location. Jordan, Viv, what is your location?"

Viv says, "Jordan and I are behind an abandoned truck on the right side of the main house. We can see Lexa's position, and there is another building farther to her right, but it looks like the snipers have taken care of it."

"Okay, the rest of you cover us if anyone else emerges. On three. One…Two…Three, go."

I decide to go into the house on the river since it only has one guard. I don't see him, at first, when I look in the broken window near me. But, he soon comes into view. I dive through the window into a roll, coming up quickly in front of him, slicing his throat before he can fire a shot. I check the body for weapons, finding a grenade.

From here, I use my speed to run to the next house, where I flatten myself against the wall. I guess the guy in the window sees movement from one of the others because he sticks his gun out the window close to me. I grab the barrel of the weapon and yank it out of his hands as he reaches for his handgun as I drop a grenade inside the house and run. Finally, I get to the corner of the main house before the smaller one explodes.

I wait a few seconds, listening for any other movement or gunshots. When I don't hear anything, I say into my coms, "Is everyone okay?" Again, everyone checks in. "Ash, how does it look from where you are?"

"Everything looks clear from here."

"Raven, how about from where you are?" I ask.

"Clear from what I can see."

"Alright, Ash, you keep eyes on us from there. Reed, you head down and get the boat ready. Jose, climb up on the truck so that you can keep watch from there. Everyone else back to the main building for escorting the women and children."

A few minutes later, the rest of us are leading the women and children towards the dock. Bellamy, Echo, and Raven are leading the way while Sofia and Jordan cover the right side. Morrigan and Viv cover the left, I've got the rear, and Lo leads the younger children behind the women carrying a baby. Samiya, Zaria, and the boy are in front of me. All of them have found guns and are actively watching the perimeter. Zaria and the boy really look like they know what they are doing. I can't help but wonder what they have already been taught at such a young age. Some of the younger children have begun to whimper some, but surprisingly no one is crying, not even the babies. The women are walking along like zombies, very slowly.

I can see that the front of the group has reached the dock. Pav says into the com, "Lexa, I'm loading ten of the women on my boat now and then heading out. It should only take about ten to fifteen minutes for me to drop them off at the island, and then I will head back."

"Sounds good, Pav. See you soon."

Reed says, "Lexa, we are loading the remaining women on the pontoon now. I think that everyone should fit."

I continue to bring up the rear and make it to the docks a few minutes later. Reed is loading up the last of the children and babies as I arrive. "Jose, come on. We need to go." I see him jump down and start to run towards us. As he jumps aboard the boat, I see movement coming from the doorway of the main structure. I yell, "Reed, we need to go. I see movement headed our way."

He replies, "Just about ready. We just need to push away from the dock, and we are on the way."

"Got it." I run up the dock and start pushing the boat away. Just as I'm about to jump on, Zaria starts yelling, jumps from the boat, and runs past me toward the main structure. Before I can do anything, Samiya and the boy follow. Ash is yelling for me to jump, but I can't leave them. "Just go. I'll take the van and meet you at the rendezvous point for plan B." Ash looks like she is about to jump when Reed kicks the engines too high and speeds away.

Ash says over the coms, "Lexa, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I can't leave them. You saw the uncanny resemblance; I have to know. I will be fine. Tell Clarke that I love her and will see her soon." I take off running after them. When I catch up with them, Zaria is embracing a young girl that couldn't be more than 11 or 12. I look at her and say, "What the hell? We need to go now."

Zaria replies, "Sorry, but I couldn't leave her."

I look at the little girl and realize that she is much smaller than a typical child her age, and she looks like she has been beaten repeatedly. "Why didn't she come with us, to begin with?"

The little girl looks up at me and says, "The older kids wouldn't let me. They said that I had to follow orders, but…I wanted to go with Zaria. So I finally fought my way free."

"Fine, but we need to go." I can hear vehicles in the distance.

The little girl says, "We can't leave Dakota. She is in the secret bad room. Zaria, we can't leave her! They will kill her!"

Zaria looks at me and says, "She's right. We can't leave her. They all hate her, and I'm not sure what they do to her because she doesn't talk to anyone."

"Fine, but we need to hurry. I can hear more vehicles approaching. Samiya, you, Zaria, and him cover the van and be ready to go." I look at the little girl, "Can you show me where Dakota is?"

She nods, and we head back into the house and to the elevator. She presses floor number two as I scan the security card. I just hope that none of the guards have been able to escape and that we can make it out of here before the reinforcements show up topside. As the elevator door opens, I pull the girl behind me while I check the hallway. Luckily, it's clear. I follow the girl down the hallway and into the labs. Once in the second lab, she walks over to a file cabinet and says, "She is in there. There is a door behind the cabinet."

I push the cabinet out of the way and find a door with a security scanner and a deadbolt lock. I try the card, but it doesn't open the door. I look at the girl and ask, "Who has the card for this door?"

"Dr. Patton." She says as she points to the unconscious doctor in the other room.

I walk over to him just as he wakes up. He starts kicking and screaming as I approach. I look at him and ask, "Where is the card to the room?"

He says, "I'm not telling you anything!"

"Fine!" I punch him in the face, knocking him out. Then I search him until I find it. When I open the door, I see a body crumpled in the corner of the small room. She's semiconscious and looks like she has been beaten. The girl runs up to her and calls her name. She looks up, but you can tell she doesn't really see anything. She has that far away look in her eyes that you get when you are drugged. As I walk over to her, I see dried blood on the floor and walls, along with chains attached to the back wall. The room reminds me of the room that Omar kept me in for my 'punishment sessions.' Her shirt is ripped, and her pants are unbuttoned. I reach out to help her up, but she flinches, pulling away.

I say, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to get you out of this place. Do you think you can walk?"

She just stares blankly at me. Finally, the little girl says, "Dak, it's okay. She is going to get us out of her. Can you walk?"

She tries to get up but is too weak. "I'm going to help you, alright." I reach for her slowly, and this time she doesn't pull away. I help her to her feet. Then put her arm around my neck and my left arm around her waist to support her. Then we head back to the elevator.

We make it to the elevator as the doors open. Inside are four of what looks to be the older kids. I feel Dakota tense up beside me as she tries to ready herself to fight. They look at me, and then the girl before one says, "Jasmine, we told you that you need to follow orders."

She says, "And I told you that I was going with Zaria. Now get out of our way, Nicky."

While Jasmine has their attention, I whisper to Dakota, "I'm going to sit you down so that I can take care of them." She shakes her head no. "You are in no condition to fight. I will be fine." She just looks at me. I gently sit her onto the floor so that I am ready to fight.

Nicky just smiles at Jasmine and says, "Get them, boys!"

All four of them rush out of the elevator running towards us. "Stay with Dakota. I'll take care of them." I take off at a sprint running right at them, and at the last minute, I slide on my knees as they run past me. As I do, I throw two of my knives, hitting the two in the back of the group in the legs. They fall but get back up. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if you make me."

Nicky says, "The only way you are getting out of here is if you do."

He comes at me with a front kick. I sidestep him and catch him with a spinning elbow to his temple, knocking him to the ground. As he attempts to get up, I throw a hammer kick to his head, knocking him out cold. The other three circle up around me. Two rush me, grabbing for my arms. I run towards the wall, jumping taking two quick steps along the wall, and launch myself off of it catching one of them with a superman punch to the side of the head.

As I land, I'm tackled from behind hard. He grabs a handful of my hair and uses it to slam my face into the floor. I see stars for a moment before I'm able to turn onto my back. I buck my hips, trying to get him off, but he is able to land a few punches before I tie up his arms and get him in an armbar breaking his arm. Then, while he is rolling in pain, the last one approaches me.

He has his hands up high in a fighting stance as he cautiously moves forward. I take a quick step and throw a double flying knee. The first one hits him just enough to push him back so that the second one nails him under the chin, sending him flying into the wall, hitting his head. I run back to Dakota to help her up again. She looks at me with wide eyes. "I told you I could handle them." She smiles. Jasmine opens the door of the elevator. A few minutes later, we're on the van speeding out of the gates. We make it through the gate and onto the dirt road. Just as we start through a cluster of abandoned houses, I see two vehicles approaching fast. I make it onto the paved road that runs through the village just as they start shooting at us.

I yell, "Does anyone have a gun to return fire?"

Zaria says, "We are on it!"

She opens the side door and begins firing at the lead truck while the boy holds her to avoid falling out. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for her to hit one of the tires on the lead truck, and it flips, bursting into a ball of flames. I'm almost to the fork in the road that would lead to where Pav left the jeep when Zaria yells, "Incoming!"

There is an explosion off to the right near the van. I say, "What the hell was that?"

Zaria says, "Grenade launcher. Here comes another one."