"So... you know about the Extractor?" Katie said, not knowing what else to say.
"Yes. We do. Do all you government workers know about it?" Lana said with heavy cynicism. Katie could tell she had not earned her trust.
"Yeah, we just had a meeting about it before we heard Drake Merwin escaped," Katie said. She didn't expect everyone to gasp and nearly faint when she mentioned Drake escaped.
"I thought it was secure! Oh God, oh God, he could be coming here at this very second!" Astrid moaned. Jack was whimpering, Brianna mumbled something along the lines of "bring it, I can take him," and the rest of them were in petrified silence. Katie tried to calm them all down.
"We would know if he's walking up the front lawn, guys," she said, trying to not roll her eyes. Diana noticed.
"You weren't in there," she said. "You couldn't even imagine what he could do, what we've been through." Katie looked down at her feet.
"I know that, I'm not going to even act like I do. But I want to help you now," she said.
"Well, I'm up for rescuing Sam, Dekka, and Caine right now. Anyone else?" Quinn said. Katie shook her head.
"First I need to ask for permission," Katie started. She saw Brianna start to open her mouth and cut her off. "But, if they say no we'll leave tonight. I'm guessing at least one of you knows how to drive?"
Dekka was lying on a cold floor. She groggily opened her eyes and sat up. Caine wasn't in the room, but Sam was pacing.
"Hey, Dekka," he said. "They took Caine out and haven't brought him back, yet."
Dekka's head was throbbing. The last thing she remembered was being knocked out after they climbed down the ladder.
The pair heard footsteps thundering down the hallway. They were dragging something. Or someone.
"Toss him in there, with the other mutants," someone said outside Dekka's cell. The door clanked and open up, and a body was thrown in. The door was shut before Dekka could even see the man who was talking.
"It's Caine! He's alive!" Sam said as he knelt next to the body. There were bright red lashes down his back, most of which were still bleeding. Dekka heard him faintly whisper something.
"Shut up, he's trying to tell us something!" Dekka whispered to Sam. They leaned closer.
"Drake is with them," Caine said. Then he lost consciousness. Dekka must have passed out after that, also, because that's the last thing she remembered until the next day.
Astrid immediately got everyone into a huddle after Katie left to ask for permission. Astrid was almost 100% sure the CIA would say no.
"Okay, we need to make a plan now so we can leave as soon as possible," Astrid whispered to the circle of kids around her.
"Why are we whispering?" Quinn whispered back. Astrid ignored him.
"Jack, you were probably most likely to get a good look of the place. Here," Astrid whispered and handed Jack a piece of paper and a pen. "draw as much as you can remember."
"I'm not good at drawing," Jack whispered back.
"Just shut up and draw a freaking map," Lana snapped back. Jack grumbled and started drawing. It didn't take long for him to finish, because even he didn't get a good look of the place.
"What the heck is this?" Diana whispered, angrily pointing at some lines.
"It's supposed to be a door," Jack muttered.
"It looks like the freaking Big Dipper," Brianna said.
"Well, I'm not exactly Picasso-" Jack started to say. Astrid interrupted him.
"Shut up!" she yelled in a whisper voice. "Everyone else, add in other information. We all came down different hallways, so we should have an almost complete layout of the building."
Everyone else took turns drawing in their piece. Astrid added labels.
"So, we need to come up with a plan because it is very unlikely the CIA will agree to help us on a rescue mission," Astrid whispered once she was satisfied with the map. "I think I have an idea…"
Once the FAYZians finished coming up with their plan, Katie entered the room. Astrid decided she would trust Katie until given a reason not to. Just like innocent until proven guilty.
"Well, they didn't agree," Katie said. She rocked back and forth on her heels. "But, before we leave, we need to come up with a plan-" Brianna cut her off.
"Been there, done that," she said and held up the map. The kids had scribbled their ideas all over it. "Our first step is crawling outta here through the air vents, even if it's a little cliche."
Katie looked surprised, then smiled.
"Let's go, then," she said. The seven kids returned the smiled and silently cheered.