Chapter 21 – The Great Escape Part II
December 7, 2010 0132hrs Sand Island AFB
Rescuing my team while being stranded on a military air base with every able body looking for me and my team wasn't how I thought this week would start out. Kei, Grimm, Pops, Kirk, and Genette had left for hanger C while I stayed behind and thought of a way to help the others. I wasn't going to leave without them but busting them out was going to be a challenge. The first thing I needed to do is find a disguise so that I wouldn't draw too much attention to myself while I moved around the base. Secondly, I needed to disable base security to keep the digital eyes off of me. Thirdly, I needed to get to the armory so that I could prepare a Plan B. Finally, I had to rescue the others. I was only armed with my knife, a radio, a suppressed pistol, and an MP5 which only had one full mag. In addition to all of that, I had to recover my laptop and cellphone because they both contained information that could raise even more suspicion towards me. If I was going to complete everything that needed to be done in order to escape, I needed to avoid fighting at all cost while trying to hide in plain sight. I needed to be extremely clever in order to make my first move. I tuned into the radio and listened carefully to what was being said between all the guards. Every guard was spread out all over Sand Island, looking for us. I decided that I should head for the Barracks first. No doubt Hamilton had his people ransacking our rooms in order to find some dirt they could use on us or they were trying to plant dirt on us. Avoiding search lights, armed guards, and patrolling vehicles is a lot harder than it sounds. Speed and agility were vital when it came from moving from point A to point B. Along the way, I spotted a straggling guard walking towards the barracks and I tailed him while trying to keep a low profile. He stopped to smoke a cigarette while I hugged the wall of the barracks. I ducked behind the bushes and waited for the right moment to make my move. As the guard finished smoking, I tossed my gun in the dark area by a nearby tree and the guard became alert. He turned on his flashlight and cautiously made his way towards where my gun had landed. I looked around to make sure I was clear, moved in behind the guard, and put him in a sleeper hold until he passed out. I quickly turned off his flashlight and dragged his body into some bushes. I got dressed into his uniform, hid him away, slung his M16 across my back, holstered my knife and the suppressed pistol I had stolen earlier in my belt, and donned the guards cover on my head. I hated wearing hats but in this case, it was a necessity. Alright, here we go. My heart was pounding inside my chest as I started to head inside the barracks because I wasn't sure about the attention span of these guards. As I opened the door, two guards made a bee line towards me. I kept my head down, hoping that they wouldn't recognize me as I passed by them. They didn't. This was the last place they'd expect to find me but I still had to be careful, because this would be the last place I'd ever think about heading towards. I was exposing myself to the security cameras as well and I knew I had to deal with them next. When I got to my room, I saw a couple of guards ransacking the place, looking for things of interest. They had found my laptop and set it in a box. I could tell these guys were having a hay day in here. One guard found the care package my mother had sent me last month and started eating my sour gummy worms. That bastard! Another guard was looking through Kei's drawer and smelling her underwear. I wanted to kill both of these guys but this situation called for extreme subtlety.
"Hey, you," said a guard, pointing to me. Oh shit, oh shit, I'm made! "Take this box out to the truck."
He was pointing to the box that had my laptop, Kei's MP3 player, and the computer that was on the desk. I was about to pick up the box and head out of the room when I spotted Kei's book. I can't let anything happen to that. I grabbed the book when the guards weren't looking and I also grabbed my black sling bag before I headed out of the room. I made my way back outside the building and hid behind some bushes so that I could recover my laptop and Kei's book before I did anything else. After I placed both items in my bag, I left it behind as I placed the box in the truck. I could feel the eyes of some of the guards on me and I knew I was raising suspicion. I walked out of their view as quickly as I could and got my bag. That was easier than I thought. Once I was out of their line of sight, I headed towards my locker where I kept all my flight gear. I was surprised to see that no one was in there and I felt my spirit rise when I looked to see that my phone was still in my locker, but I couldn't get a message out to Lt. Colonel Harkin because I couldn't get a good enough signal from the satellite my phone was connected to. After I acquired my phone, I started to make my way to the security office, which was in building 2. Building 2 was connected to the control tower and was located next to hangers R-1 and R-2. Next to them were workshops 1 and 2 where the ground crews would perform maintenance on aircraft engines and other electrical equipment. Between them and hangers B-1 through B-4 was the ordinance hanger where all our aircraft's weapons were stored. Behind building 2 were two more warehouses that stored all spare parts to our aircraft and next to them were the gym and the armory. Four more warehouses sat a bit further east of the armory and they contained all the food and cleaning supplies for the entire base. The building that held Perrault's and Hamilton's offices, along with the other top brass of Sand Island, was located next to the brass's barracks. It was simply called Building 1. The motor pool was located between their barracks and another building, which housed the crew room, briefing room, and sick bay. The last building, which was just a stone throw away from our original hiding spot and the barracks, was the building that held the laundry room, the mess hall, the mail room, and the barber shop.
I kept head on a subtle swivel and tried keep a look out for anyone who I knew could help me or who might compromise my mission. Just keep working your disguise, Castillo. I safely made it to building 2 and I entered it. I kept my head down so that the brim of my cover obscured everyone's view of my face. I passed by some more guards and they all looked familiar, except for the chief security guard. He was a 1st Lieutenant who looked a couple years older than me. His blonde hair was longer than Osean military regs allowed and I figured by the way he interacted with some of the other guards that he wasn't part of the Osean military. He has to be with those other guys Hamilton brought in. I spotted a few more people whom I didn't recognize and I kept my distance from them as I continued to make my way to the security office. Once I was there, I spotted two guards watching the monitors. I opened the door and placed one hand on my pistol in preparation for me to draw on them. They were still watching the screens and I started scanning them, hoping that I could find where the others were. Sand Island didn't have a prison of any kind. When the Yukes tried invading, all enemy POWs were rounded up and taken to the mess hall. When I looked at the monitors that showed every angle of the mess hall, there wasn't anyone there. Where could they be? I stood behind both of the security guards and their body language suggested that they were extremely focused on trying to find us.
"Still haven't found them yet?" I asked.
"No, not yet, but they won't be able to hide once morning comes," said one of the guards.
"What about the RIOs? Have we found them?"
The other guard turned to face me when he answered and I gripped my pistol in my right hand but I didn't draw it just yet. "Yeah, they're being held up in…" began the guard but he stopped when he realized who I was. I quickly ran over to him, jabbed him in the throat with the barrel of the gun, and knocked him out by pistol whipping him on the side of the neck. The other guard tried to scramble for his radio but I shot it out of his hand before he could say anything into it. The guard froze in terror when he saw me pointing my gun at his head. He threw his hands up and he started breathing heavily.
"Tell me what I need to know and I'll let you live," I said as I casually sat down in one of the other office chairs. I still had my gun pointed at him but it looked like I was just having a casual conversation with the guard. "If you don't tell me what I need to know, then I'm going to shoot you in every single one of your joints until you talk. Are we clear?"
"Alright, fine. I'll cooperate, but please, Captain, don't kill me! I have a wife and son," the guard blubbered.
"Just tell me what I need to know," I said and the guard nodded in terror. "Where is Hamilton keeping my RIOs?"
"He has them in the conference room of building 1, on the second floor."
"Is my sister with them?"
"No, Hamilton's got her somewhere separate."
"Where is she?" I asked as I felt my rage growing.
"I don't know," said the guard. "That's the truth, I don't know. You've got to believe me."
"What about the other members of my team. Does anyone have the slightest idea of where they're at or what they might be planning?"
The guard shook his head and I felt myself become a little bit relieved. I got up out of my chair and walked behind the guard. "I'm not going to kill you," I told the guard. "But I am going to hurt you. Sorry," I said and I struck the guard in the back of his neck.
I set my pistol down on the desk and set both of the unconscious guards up like they were still working. I then turned my attention to the security monitors, pulled out my laptop, and reprogramed all the cameras to run on a loop. I also managed to disable other key security measures around Sand Island like the electronic locks on hanger C and the armory. Once that was taken care of, I sent e-mail to Lt. Colonel Harkin telling him about Hamilton's betrayal and my run in with the 8492nd squadron over the Vladimir Mountains. As I was finishing up, I heard the door open behind me, followed by a gun cocking and being raised.
"Freeze, Castillo," said the person.
I discreetly grabbed my pistol and readied myself to shoot my way out of the building. I turned my head around and saw that the person who had their gun pointed at me was Corporal DaVaughn. He was one of the few people who believed that we were innocent when word got around about how we supposedly attacked the Yuktobanian College. Maybe I can convince him that we're still innocent. "DaVaughn, you have to believe me. We're not traitor, we're being set up."
"I seriously doubt that," he said.
"We're being framed by Hamilton. He sent people to kill us while we were RTB from Yuktobania today. We also found out that the President is missing. That's why this war escalated to what it is now."
"Bullshit, there's no way you're going to convince me that you're being set up and after what I saw what you and that bitch, Nagase, did to Hamilton, I have half a mind to kill you. The other half agrees when I heard about those five guards you killed."
"I didn't kill anyone," I said. I had to lie so that I could find out if DaVaughn had seen the bodies himself.
"I saw those guy's faces, they were all dead!" shouted DaVaughn.
"Did you know them?" I asked.
DaVaughn's eye's widened in realization as he let the reality of what I said sink in. "…No… I'd never seen them before."
"Because Hamilton brought them here to kill me and my team," I said. I turned around and pointed the pistol at DaVaughn. He tensed up really hard and I could see him shaking as he pointed his M4 at me. "Take a look at this," I said and I tossed him the gun.
"What is it?"
"It's the weapon I pulled off one of the guards I killed. It's an Mk23 SOCOM. The Osean military uses Sigs, Berettas, and Glocks. Why would an Osean security team need a suppressed handgun to keep order on this base?"
"This could be yours. I remember you said that you don't use a standard issued sidearm," said DaVaughn.
"I don't, my sidearm is a custom made Beretta M9."
"Nothing you say is going to convince me. I'm taking you in," said DaVaughn.
"If you were going to take me in, you would've called for backup by now. You've seen me fight against Nagase and you know that you'd need more than just yourself to get me to lie down. Or maybe it's because you want to believe that Wardog is innocent and you want to hear my side of the story before you make a decision on what you're going to do," I said and I could see him starting to hesitate.
"Don't act like you know me, Castillo."
"Really, then why haven't you called for help yet?" I asked as I subtly unbuttoned my knife holster. DaVaughn was even more hesitant now and I could see his hand tensing up around the trigger of his gun. I was ready to incapacitate DaVaughn, or even kill him if I had to. His dilemma became obvious when I saw him grit his teeth.
"If you're lying to me, I won't hesitate to kill you," said DaVaughn as he lowered his gun and tossed me back the suppressed pistol.
I finished disabling the security systems and we both headed out of the security office. DaVaughn had relaxed a little and slung his weapon over his shoulder. The other guards that I saw in the hallway earlier had all dispersed and started their rounds around the hallways of the building. I still kept my head down as DaVaughn and I made our way outside the building. No one seemed to notice who I was and I wondered how much longer I could keep this up. Eventually, someone would come across the guards I pacified and they might realize what I was up to.
"So where do you plan on going next?" asked DaVaughn.
"Now, I go prepare for our escape," I said. "This'll be a lot easier if we had some kind of transportation."
"Follow me," said DaVaughn and he led me out front to his buggy. I got in the driver's seat and we both headed to the armory. I thought of a list of things I needed and I could only think of two things, but I had to be careful with how I used them. Along the way, I kept listening in on base security's communications. They were all spread out all over the base but they had certain areas locked down tightly. Our rooms, the hangers, the docks, and the armory were all being heavily guarded. The armory was a building that was partially underground to keep the weapons and ammo at a regulated temperature and was located between the gym and a couple of warehouses, behind hangers R-1 and R-2. It housed every weapon and armed vehicle on Sand Island so getting inside was going to be tricky. We parked a good distance away when we arrived at our destination, I saw half a dozen armed guards posted at the Armory's entrance and two dozen more patrolling the perimeter.
"So what's your plan now…Captain?" said DaVaughn.
"Do you know any of those guys?" I asked.
DaVaughn took out a pair of binoculars and started to scan the guards' faces. "Those two over by wall of the armory and those guys by the bushes over there by the gym, I've never seen them before," said DaVaughn as he handed me the binoculars. I spotted the men he was talking about and I took a good look at them. I had never seen them before either and I figured that I could try to squeeze some information out of them.
"Alright, wait here," I said and I got out of the buggy. I left my M16 behind and I headed for the guards over by the bushes first. I was on the left side of the armory building, about twenty yards away from it. The two guards by the bush were unaware that I was sneaking up on them. I had to avoid the lights of other patrolling guards and vehicles. When I could hear both of the guards talking, I hit the deck and began to crawl towards them.
"They'll talk sooner or later," I heard one say.
"It's not like they can say anything to incriminate themselves."
"No shit, but after enough torture, they'll admit to anything to make the pain stop."
"Do you think their Captain will come for them?"
"Pssh, I highly doubt that pussy would try anything. Plus, there's no way he'll be able to get to them."
"Weren't they were going to blow the plane when it set off for the mainland?"
"Yeah, then Hamilton will send a false investigation report about an engine failure or some bullshit story like that."
By the time I was in arms reach of both of the guards, I had learned that the Belkans were embedded deeper within the Osean military than I thought. I pulled out my knife and crouched behind the bushes. When the guards paused in their conversation, I popped up, grabbed the guard on the right, stabbed him in the throat, pulled him behind the bushes while I quickly spun around and pulled his partner behind the bushes, and held my knife at his throat. My hand was over the guard's mouth and I had broken his arm with my leg so that he couldn't fire his weapon to get anyone's attention. He was howling in pain but no one could hear him with my hand over his mouth.
"You're going to tell me where my teammates are and you're going to tell me within the next ten second or I'll snap your neck, understand?" I growled.
The guard nodded and I lifted my hand from his mouth, but as soon as I did, he yelled in an attempt to get the other guards' attention. I slit the guy's throat and quickly popped up from behind the bushes with the guard's rifle and stood where the guards stood.
"Hey, what was that noise," yelled a voice to my left. Think. He doesn't know what that noise was.
"It was me," I yelled back. "I slammed my finger in the chamber of my rifle. I'm fine though."
"Alright, carry on," said the voice and I saw him walk off.
I quickly moved back behind the bushes and hid both of the dead guard's bodies along with their weapons between them and the wall of the gym. Once that was taken care of, I discreetly made my way towards the armory wall where the next pair of Belkan guards was. I shouldered up against a dumpster as quietly as I could and waited for them to walk by, but they held their position away from me.
"I can't wait 'til we're out of here. Once these assholes are out of the way, our government can move in for the kill."
"Yeah, I can't wait either. I already picked out this house I'm going to commandeer. I showed a picture to my girlfriend and she said she loved it."
"You plan on killing the occupants yourself?"
"Sure, how else am I going to get the place?"
"So who lives in there now?"
"A family of four, last time I saw them. The kids were somewhere around three and six years old."
"Jeez, dude, that's fucking dark! They don't deserve that!"
"Did we deserve to have our land stolen from us all those years ago?"
"Still, you'd actually kill those kids!?"
Hmm, this guy has a sense of humanity. I can use him. I continued listening in on the guards as they argued and I spotted the one who was against killing the family. I used their arguing as a distraction while I snuck behind the guard who wanted to kill the family and I drew my knife and pistol. The humanist was still trying to argue his point after I killed his partner by putting a bullet in his head and it took him a second to realize what was going on. I dropped the first guard's body and quickly tackled the other guard to the ground, placing my hand over his mouth and my pistol at his forehead.
"You're against killing innocent people," I whispered. "I respect that enough to consider not killing you. Tell me where Hamilton is and I'll let you live. If you try to call for help, the last thing that'll go through your head is a bullet, understand?" The guard nodded and I slowly raised my hand from his mouth.
"Last I heard, he was over near building 1 but he was hauled off in an ambulance. He might be over in the sick bay," said the guard. Dammit, he's moving them to keep me guessing.
"If you're lying to me, I'll come back and finish the job," I said and I pistol whipped the guard upside the head. I took his belt off, tied his hands behind his back, and placed both guards in the dumpster I hid behind. With both guys out of the way, I climbed up onto the roof, opened the vent hatch, and infiltrated the armory. The vent shafts were just wide enough for me to fit through. I had to be careful so that I didn't make too much noise and alert anyone inside. I was able to catch a glimpse of all the guards in the place, including Master Sergeant Blick, the firing range supervisor. I continued crawling towards the main area of the armory where all small arms were held, but I could only get behind the front desk. I unhooked the vent cover and brought it up inside the vent with me. I saw Master Sergeant Blick sitting behind the counter, arguing with one of the guards about obtaining a gun.
"Piss off, that sidearm isn't yours," said Blick, casually.
"I don't care if it's mine or not, hand it over, Master Sergeant," demanded the guard.
"Unless you're Captain Castillo, I'm not giving it to you."
"Why, so you can help him?"
"No, so that way I can kill him with it."
I felt myself frown in disappointment, knowing that I might have to kill Blick. More importantly, why did that guard want my gun? These two continued arguing and it seemed like neither one of them was about to give up. I looked around the room I was over and I spotted the circuit board for the whole building. I could quickly jump down, disable all power in the building, and use the cover darkness to do what I needed to. However, I would alert the whole place and then they'd know that something was up. The only way for me to do what needed to be done was do all of this while remaining undetected by anyone, even while I was wearing my disguise. I back tracked through the air vents and found another vent cover that was directly below a dark corner in the vehicle hanger. The only thing was I now had to sneak all the way to the other side of the armory to get my supplies. The armory wasn't fully lit and I figured that I could use the cover of the shadows to my advantage. Right, let's get to it. I dropped down from the vent and took in my surroundings. I was in the vehicle hanger and there were guards patrolling the place. I didn't know exactly how many there were but I ventured a guess between ten and twenty. The hatches of some of the LAVs, Humvees, and tanks were open so I figured I could hide the bodies of any of the guards I incapacitated in there if I needed to. I was hugging the left wall of the armory when I saw a guard leaning against an LAV. He was a familiar face so I decided not to kill him. One thing that stood out about this guard was that he was nodding off. It wasn't until I saw this when I started to feel the fatigue that I had accumulated from the return trip back to Sand Island. My body was sore and my eye lids became heavier and heavier. Maybe I should hit the mess hall and get some coffee, but first, I'll do this guy a favor and put him to sleep. I walked up behind the Osean guard, kicked him in the back of his knee, causing him to kneel down, and I put him in a sleeper hold. The guy was out within seconds and I placed him in the back of the LAV he was leaning on. I shook off my exhaustion and pressed on forward. As much as I wanted to sleep, I had to keep moving to save the others. I knocked out a few more guards along the way and by the time I reached the front desk where Blick and the guard were arguing over my gun, I was having trouble keeping myself awake. Wait, what's that smell? I looked on the counter where Blick was sitting and saw a coffee mug sitting there. I'd never thought I'd welcome the scent of hazelnut coffee. That should keep me going for a bit longer. The guard was raging that Blick wouldn't hand over my sidearm and I could hear him from halfway across the armory. I was surprised that no one came over to investigate.I'd figure at least someone would tell the guard to shut the hell up or the guard would've held Blick at gun point by now… Speak of the devil.
"You better hand over that M9 right now or I'll blow you damn brains out," growled the guard as he leveled his M16 on Blick's head.
Blick threw his hands in the air but he didn't seem all that worried. The guard was another guy whom I didn't recognize and by the way he was threatening Blick, along with him demanding my gun, I was sure that he was one of Hamilton's goons. I sighed in disbelief, put my holster on the back of my belt, and casually walked up behind the guard. I punched him in the kidney first and then followed up by ramming his head into the counter. I let him fall over on the floor after I surreptitiously removed his pistol from his holster and place it on the counter in front of Blick. I kept my head down and Blick was totally muddled as to what just happened.
"I was fucking tired of hearing this dumbass yell. I'd like to trade in my sidearm," I said.
Blick leaned forward and tried to get a good look at me but I kept my face partially covered with the brim of my cover. I had my hand placed on the grip of the suppressed pistol I was carrying in case I had to kill Blick. I really didn't want to because he reminded me a lot of one of my favorite teacher back when I was in high school. I needed to get everything for a plan B, and I knew Blick wouldn't give me what I needed.
"What do you need?" he asked raising one eyebrow at me.
"My sidearm," I said raising my head and showed my face to Blick.
"You got some serious kahunas coming here, Castillo."
"My main goal takes more. Now, am I going to have to hurt you or are you going to aid my progress?"
Blick gave me the stink eye and I was prepared to jump over the counter and knock him out. I saw him shoot a glance at the pistol I gave him and then he looked back at me. He's going to do it. As soon as I saw him reach for the pistol, I jumped over the counter and tackled him to the ground. Blick tried scrambling to his feet and he even managed to pull my knife on me. I quickly got up and I pointed the suppressed pistol at him, hoping that he'd give up, but he didn't. When Blick charged at me, I threw the pistol at him, which distracted him for a brief second and allowed me to knock him out soon after. I struck his instep with my foot and hit him in his floating rib and pressure point below his collar bone. When I saw that he was out cold, I hopped back over to the other side of the counter and dragged the other guard's body into the weapons locker. Once they were hidden, I grabbed my M9, a few blocks of C4, and a couple flash grenades. I was about to climb back up the vent when I remembered to grab the coffee mug that was sitting on the counter. I drank it as fast as I could before I climbed back into the vents and made my way towards the way I came in. I jumped down from the roof, dashed towards the bushes, and stashed the C4 and flash bangs I stole from the Armory in them. I had to make my way back towards DaVaughn or else he'd more than likely try to turn on me if I saw him again. I got up from behind the bushes I hid my supplies behind when I was blinded by a flashlight being shined on me. I quickly raise my hands to block out the guy's light while trying to keep my face hidden.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" said the guard.
"I had to use the head but I couldn't make it in time," I replied quickly and the guard advanced towards me. Crap, he going to make me. When he was close enough, he realized it was me and he tried to radio in my location but before he could, I hit him in the throat with the webbing of my hand and round house kicked him in the jaw, knocking him out cold. That was rather brutal. I hid his body in the bushes next to my supplies and started to make my way back to DaVaughn. I had to sneak by the armory's perimeter so that I didn't draw any more attention to myself. When I made it back to the buggy, I saw DaVaughn already in the driver's seat. I got in and we stopped by the bushes, picked up my supplies, and headed for the motor pool.
"So what's next," asked DaVaughn.
"Next, I set up my plan B," I replied.
I placed all the C4 and flash bangs in my bag along with my phone, laptop, and Kei's book. The motor pool wasn't as heavily guarded as the armory, but there were still a number of guards patrolling the compound. I still had to avoid being spotted as I placed C4 under some of the vehicles. I wasn't trying to disable all of them, but I was trying to make a big enough explosion to draw a lot of attention. I also didn't want any of the nearby guards to get caught in the explosion so I had to lure them away somehow. The motor pool was located near building 1. I was headed there next to try and find my sister. Maybe Hamilton will move the others to the crew room or something if I cause enough trouble, or maybe not. I still didn't know for sure where the rest of my team was. I also couldn't help but wonder what was going on with the others. If they hadn't taken over the hanger yet, then getting out of here was going to be a lot harder. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 0209hrs. I had to speed this up before the sun rose.
"I'm going to set everything up, but I need you to find out where the rest of my team and my sister are being held. Check hanger B and the second floor conference room in building 1 and then confirm that they're there. Once you do, I need you to check Hamilton's office and see if my sister is there," I said. "We'll communicate through radio channel F."
"Captain, why are you doing this?" asked DaVaughn.
"What do you mean?"
"All of this. You killing people trying to rescue you're team who're trying to evade capture. It's not like they were going to kill you before."
I turned towards him and sighed heavily. "Washington, there's a reason we're on the run. We just found out that the President is missing and that Belka is involved in all of this. Hamilton is the head of everything on Sand Island."
"Wouldn't it make sense for someone who held Perrault's position to be in charge of this 'operation' you think Hamilton's heading?"
"Perrault already tried killing Grimm, Genette, and Pops," I said.
"So then Perrault's in on it too?"
"No, he's just an asshole. Hamilton manipulated him to into thinking that we're traitors and now, everyone on the base is out looking for us. Hamilton's using the first five guys I killed as a reason to shoot me on sight. Anyways, Hamilton's overall goal is to drag this war on as long as he can so that Belka can prepare to make their move."
"So what is their move?"
"I don't know! I'm not making this up and yet, Hamilton is still manipulating everyone on Sand Island. Clearly it's successful," I exclaimed softly.
DaVaughn leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. He rubbed his eyes and looked at me like he was tired of listening to me. "So, after you rescue your team, where do you plan on going after you get away? Why don't you just turn yourselves in to the actual authorities?"
"Because we don't know how deep Belka is involved in all this. They could have people who are running your government. If we turned ourselves in, we'd be dead within a matter of days," I said. I didn't know what else to tell him. I gave him all the information I knew in a nutshell but I'm not sure if he believed me at all. "Look DaVaughn, I know you still don't believe me but you wouldn't be helping me if you didn't have some kind of hunch that you knew I was telling the truth. Eventually, everything will come full circle and you'll know that I was right."
"And if you're wrong?"
"Well then, find comfort in the fact that I'll be burning in hell," I said and I headed off to the motor pool.
The place was better lit than the armory and I knew the cover of night wasn't going to help me. I only had five blocks of C4 and I saw that there were more than fifteen vehicles in the area. They were pretty spread out and the area was too well lit to sneak around. I could cut the power in some areas so that way the guards won't become too suspicious of my presence. I could blow the nearby fuel tanks and use the distraction to draw them away. No, then the fire crews would move in and keep everyone back while they worked. My only option was to work with the lights on and avoid neutralizing anyone. I was approaching the front gate to the motor pool and saw one guard at his post. I couldn't hop the fence without anyone seeing me, so my only way in was through the front gate. I was fifty yards away from the gate and I shot out the one light that lit the gate with the suppressed pistol. The guard jumped a little and came out of his booth to investigate. I used the distraction to sneak up to the checkpoint and knock him out while he was trying to figure out what was going on with the light. With him out of the way, I got to work planting the C4 on the trucks and Humvees in the area. As I was rigging the last truck, I heard two guards approaching and I dove into the back to hide.
"Castillo's going to pay for what he did. I knew all five of those guys from basic," said a familiar voice.
"Wow, I'm sorry, sir. I can't imagine how you feel. Why were they dressed in tactical gear though?" said the other guard. I had a feeling that one of the guards was Belkan and the other was Osean. I peeked through the tarp that covered the back of the truck I was hiding in and saw that one of the guards was Reynolds; the guy I went to the shooting range with that one day in November. I didn't know the other guy but he was another familiar face.
"What do you mean?" asked Reynolds.
"Well I saw what they were wearing and no one would wear that kind of gear unless you knew you were going to have to fight a pretty serious battle," said the other guard.
"Well, the other security guard tried taking Castillo's knife away from him but threatened to kill the guy if he tried. It makes sense that they'd go in prepared."
"Well yeah, but over a knife? I've seen Castillo carry it with him everywhere he went and no one ever bothered him about it before. Why would they need to wear Kevlar to take his knife away?"
It was clear that Reynolds was being pressured by the other guard's questions. I saw him reach behind his back and pull his knife. He's going to kill this guy. I couldn't risk blowing my cover, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let this guy die. Reynolds could easily pin this guard's death on me too. I had to save him and with some luck, I could get this guy to help me. I saw Reynolds grab the guard by the shoulder and attempted to thrust his knife into the guards gut. The guard managed to catch it in time but Reynolds had already drawn his pistol on the guard. The guard was wide eyed and he knew Reynolds was going to try and kill him but I didn't let him get the shot off. I popped out from behind the truck and shot Reynolds in the head and the guard stood frozen in place, wondering if he was dead. He slowly opened his eyes and saw me standing there with my gun now pointed at him. I brought my finger to my lips telling him to keep quiet.
"You're, you're Castillo," he whispered.
"Shut up," I growled as I continued holding my pistol on him.
"What are you going to do?" he asked timidly.
"Rescue my friends," I said. "Now, if you so much as hinder my progress in any way, you're going to lose a limb. Otherwise, I won't hurt you."
The guard nodded and I forced him to help me load Reynolds's body into the back of the truck before we walked to the front gate. I no longer had my gun pointed at him and we walked towards the front of the motor pool like nothing suspicious was going on. However, I could feel how anxious he was and I knew he was going to try something sooner or later. I was an accused traitor and the fact that I killed Reynolds gave him enough reason to believe that I was going to kill him next, but I wasn't. When we reached the front gate, he saw the unconscious guard in the security booth and the guard that I saved rushed over to his side. I saw him relax when he saw the guy breathing and he turned to look at me as he stood up.
"I'm sorry about this," I said. The face the guard made when he I said that I was sorry almost made me want to laugh. I didn't though because I quickly hit both pressure point on each side of his neck and I kicked the pressure point on his ankle, causing him to collapse. I caught his body before he hit the ground and placed him next to the gate guard in the security booth.
"DaVaughn, have you found them yet?" I hailed over the radio.
"Yeah, they're in the building 1 conference room," he replied.
"What about Amanda, did you find her?"
"No, I don't think I could ask around about her without people becoming suspicious either."
"Alright, thanks anyways."
I ran as fast as I could to building 1 and saw a few guards posted at every doorway, checking the IDs of everyone who came and went. The main power was out but the backup power system was now activated and the lights that hung on the wall were now lighting the building. I wanted to detonate the C4 to lure the guards away, but I needed to wait until I rescued the others first. Maybe I could break into the building. I ran to the east side of the building and hid in the bushes that were planted along the wall. I peeked into the windows and saw that some of the rooms were occupied by officers and other personnel who were still working. The windows couldn't be opened from the outside and I found a room that was empty. There was a hot cup of coffee sitting on the desk and I knew whoever the office belonged to would soon come back. 0241hrs, I have to hurry. There's no other way. I busted the window open, unlocked it, and quickly climbed inside after I made sure no one on the outside was watching me. I hurried to the door and as I reached for the doorknob, someone was already opening it from the other side. I quickly pressed myself against the wall and waited for the person to enter. Once she was inside, I punched her in the back of her head, knocking her out. She was one of the Majors who were in charge of logistics and I had spoken to her only a hand full of time since I arrived on Sand Island. I picked her up, and set her on the couch to make it look like she had fallen asleep there. Sorry, ma'am, but I can't get caught now. I peeked out the door to make sure it was clear and then I headed down the hallway with my head down. I worked my disguise as best as I could while I made my way to the second floor of the building. I was almost to the conference room and I saw two armed guards posted at the door. I couldn't look inside the room without showing my face to the guards. As I walked by the room, I rubbed the side of my face so the guards wouldn't see who I was and I entered the room next door to the conference room. It was another office like the one I entered the building through, only there was someone already in there. He didn't recognize me until I got close enough to knock him out by slamming his head on his desk. I posed him like he had fallen asleep while working and I climbed out his window. I hung off the ledge of the window and jumped to the next window ledge so that I could look inside the conference room. They're here! Thank God. Nelms, Boldman, and Rockford were all inside and I could see that they were handcuffed to the table they were sitting at, while a 1st Lieutenant that I'd never seen before, interrogated them. There were also a couple of guards in the room with their guns pointed at my guys' heads. I had to plan this carefully if I wanted to get them out alive. I back tracked into the office I climbed out of, grabbed a paper clip off the desk, and slipped it under my watch band. I then walked back out into the hallway with the C4 detonator in one hand and a flash grenade in the other. God, forgive me if I kill any Osean soldiers in the next few second. I approached the two guards at the door and when I was in arms reach of the first guard, I punched him in the side of the neck, pressed the C4 detonator, knocked out the second guard by round house kicking him in the jaw, opened the door to the conference room as the vehicles from the motor pool exploded, threw the flash grenade, and stunned everyone in the room. The guards were all staggering around from the effect of my grenade and I disabled them as quickly as I could. I ran towards the nearest guard and choke slammed him into the ground. I quickly ran towards the second guard and jumped to deliver a spinning back kick into his chest. He flew back and hit the wall hard enough to knock him out. With those two out of the way, I jumped over the table and knocked out the third guard by running my foot into the side of his neck and I punched the last guard in the stomach hard enough to make him pass out. The interrogation officer had recovered from the effects of the flash grenade in time to try and put up a fight. He swung a right hook at me and I ducked to avoid it. I countered by connecting a right hook to his jaw and used the momentum of the punch to spin around and elbow the guy in his inner left thigh, causing him to kneel down. I then quickly grabbed the guy's head and knocked him out by running my right knee into his head. I quickly dragged the bodies of the two guards, posted outside the conference room, inside and placed them in the corner away from the door. The radio was erupting with chatter about how the motor pool was under attack and heard that a lot of the security from all over the base was headed that way.
"Captain," said Kyle. "You came for us."
"We're all getting out of here," I replied as grabbed the guards keys and freed my teammates.
"What was that explosion?" asked Michelle.
"A distraction I created so that I could get you out of here. Now, I need you to do exactly what I say or we all run the risk of getting captured."
"Where are the others?" asked Erica.
"I can't say right now," I replied as I tapped my ear and pointed to the ceiling.
"Okay, so how do we get out of here?"
I got up, walked to the window, opened it, and looked down. "Aim for the bushes."
"You can't be serious," said Michelle.
"Broken bones heal and bullets can kill. Your choice," I said.
Kyle was the first to see my reasoning and he jumped out the window without hesitation. Erica followed his lead while Michelle was still hesitant about jumping as she looked down. I argued and argued with her until I decided to just push her out. Kyle managed to catch her and I followed them out, more stylishly of course. I dove out the window and tucked and rolled when I hit the ground. I led the others away from building 1 and found a good place for them to hide in the tree line north of the barracks while I went back to get my sister.
"The others are over near hanger C. I need you to wait here while I get my sister," I told them.
"Captain, Hamilton has her under heavy guard. There's no way you'll be able to get to her without getting caught," said Kyle.
"Who said anything about me not getting caught," I replied.
"You can't go back. There's nothing you can do for her now."
I glared at him and I had to fight the urge to snap his neck. "There's always something I can do to help her. I'm not going to sit back and wait to hear that my last sibling died because I didn't try to save her."
"You have to leave her," insisted Kyle.
I got up to leave them and Kyle tried holding me back. I kept pushing him off of me and after he tried for a fifth time, I pulled my gun on him. "I'm not leaving this base until I know she's safe. Leave without me or don't leave at all. I've made my choice and now it's time you did too. Join up with the others or stay here with a bullet in your chest."
The three of them looked at me with fear in their eyes. I didn't know how else to convince them to leave without me. I was trying to look out for them but the way they saw it, I was wasting my life to save someone who couldn't be saved. I lowered my gun and headed back towards building 1. I scouted out the place first and saw that there were a fewer guards around the building. Once I saw my way was clear, I made my way to the window that looked into Hamilton's office. The blinds were closed but I could hear someone in there. I listened to them real carefully and came to the conclusion that she wasn't there. Her voice was being played back in the hopes that I would be led into a trap. I need to find Hamilton. After what Kei and I had done to him, I figured that he was likely in the sick bay. A security buggy drove by as I made my way back to the tarmac and I waved him over. He stopped next to me and I knocked him out so that I could commandeer his vehicle. I hauled ass to the sick bay and carried the unconscious guard with me. I told everyone who asked me what happened to him that I found him by the armory and when they asked me why I didn't call it in on the radio, I told them that my radio was busted and that his was missing. I fireman carried the guy all the way to other end of the sick bay and I kept my eyes peeled for Hamilton. As I continued down the hall, I started to get worried that I was wrong when I didn't see him in any of the rooms I passed. Then, I came up to my sister's office.
"Hold still, Captain." That voice…
"That's 'Major', you little bitch," said Hamilton.
I got you now you son of a bitch. I peeked into the office and saw four guards who I knew were part of Hamilton's posse. Amanda was bandaging up Hamilton's bloody face at gun point while his guards kept watch in case she tried anything funny. I readied a flash grenade and checked my remaining ammo I had for the suppressed pistol. I only had three bullets left and I knew I had to go loud and use my M9. I need to deal with the guards and get the hell out of here. I threw the flash grenade into the room, quickly walked into the office after it went off, threw guard's unconscious body at the closest guard, and quickly drew my pistol. My reflexes took over as I felt time slow down and shot each guard in the head before they realized what was going on, but I wasn't fast enough to stop Hamilton from getting a hold of my sister. He put his pistol to Amanda's head while he hid behind her.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," growled Hamilton.
"Come on, Hamilton. You've seen what I could do in a hand to hand fight. That's nothing compared to what I can do with a gun," I said.
"You won't do it. You wouldn't put your sister's life in jeopardy to kill me."
"It's not risking her life when I know what I'm doing."
"You don't have the balls to do it."
"I already rescued the others of my team and survived a dog fight against the legendary Belkan pilots your people like to boast about. I think I've earned the right to be cocky."
I could see Hamilton hesitating and I seized the moment to shoot his pistol away from Amanda's head. Amanda then elbowed Hamilton in the head and we both ran out of the room as he rolled on the ground in pain. As we ran out into the hallway, Amanda pointed out a number of guards headed our way and they started firing at us. We both ran as fast as our legs could carry us and I reached into my bag for the last flash grenade I had. I slipped it into Amanda's lab coat as we dashed for the exit, but we were cut off by more guards. They yelled at us to get on our knees and put our hands up. We had no other choice but comply.
"I left a surprise in your right pocket," I whispered. "Once I get free, use it. Just remember to pull the pin."
The guards told me to drop all my weapons and I dropped both of my pistols, my knife, and pack. They then forced me to lie on the ground and cuffed my hands behind my back. One of the guards pulled Amanda aside, but didn't put her in cuffs. I was forced onto my feet and the guards had removed the cover from my head to reveal who I was. Hamilton was storming down the hallway and made a beeline for me. Once he was close enough, he punched me as hard as he could in the jaw.
"You're good, Castillo, but you seriously didn't think that I wouldn't have my bases covered?"
"Not good, just clever," I replied. Hamilton struck me in the gut and kneed me in the head. I was leaning back against the wall and I slipped the paper clip out from under my watch band. "Damn, Amanda, he hit hits like you," I mocked.
Hamilton laughed sarcastically and proceeded to punch and kick me several more times. I was down on one knee because the pain was that intense. I spit the blood out of my mouth and Hamilton grabbed my hair to force me onto my feet. I guess I should've gotten my hair cut. He pulled my head back, pulled out my knife, and waved it in front of my face.
"Sir, that's going too far," said one of the guards.
"Shut the fuck up!" yelled Hamilton.
He smiled and tried to stab me in my shoulder, but he wasn't expecting me to push the knife away and turn it around on him. I now had the knife at Hamilton's throat and I waited for Amanda to make her move. All the other guards had their guns leveled on me and Amanda quickly threw the flash grenade. We both covered our eyes before it went off and then I grabbed my knife, M9, and bag before we darted past the guards and ran out of the building. We both hauled ass towards the tree line where I last saw the others. The guards started shooting at us but they couldn't hit anything in this darkness. Tracers were flying by us like fireflies in the night.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, we're so going to die!" exclaimed Amanda.
"Shut up. Just follow me and we'll be alright," I shouted and we continued running through the tree line, north of the island.
We continued running through the woods for a couple more minutes before I was sure we had lost the guards. We then headed behind hanger C and we couldn't see the others. However, there were guards patrolling around the hangers. Kei and the others couldn't have made it into the hanger without drawing the guards' attention. This was a two person job. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 0259 hours. I observed the patrol routes of the guards and saw that there were no blind spots that I could exploit.
"Dammit, we can't…"
"Shush, did you hear that?" said Amanda suddenly.
I paused for a moment and listened carefully to my surroundings. The sound of a branch snapping was enough for me to draw my knife and pistol and I started to cautiously move through the woods. I was nervous as all hell and I tried to breathe quietly because I felt like whoever was there could hear me inhaling and exhaling. I kept Amanda close to me as I made my way to where the sound came from, but I couldn't see anything in the dark. I had to rely on my instincts and other senses. The sound of someone dropping down behind me was enough to trigger my fight instinct and Amanda dove for cover. Whoever it was knocked the knife out of my hand and I tried swinging a left hook, but he ducked and countered with a round house kick. I ducked as well and tried elbowing the person but he locked arms with me for a split second before I was able to push him back far enough so that I could get a better grip on the person and strike him in the chest with my knee. After I hit him in the chest the second time, the guy managed to twist out of my grip and attempted to elbow me in the head. I blocked the attack and he tried to back hand me. I ducked again and attempted to tackle the person to the ground but he put me in a head lock and we scrambled on the ground for a bit before I was able to get loose and grab him from behind. He tried to elbow me again, but I blocked it again and managed to restrain him. He managed to break my hold and attempted to wrap their arms around my neck. Whoever it was couldn't get a good enough hold on me and I was able to toss him over my shoulder and draw my gun, but he did the same thing after he rolled on the ground and turned towards me. We were both breathing heavily and I could barely see the person's face. The sound of his breathing made me realize he was a woman.
"Kei?" I whispered.
"Antonio," she replied.
I lowered my gun and so did she. I moved in to hug her and she did the same thing. Amanda got up off the ground and I heard the others get up from their hiding spots and gather around us. Everyone from my team was here I felt myself smile, knowing that they were all safe. Pops had made his way past us and started looking towards the hanger. I could see that he was trying to think of a way to get inside, but under these conditions, we couldn't get in.
"Not so heavily guarded, eh?" I said.
"Well, I'm out of ideas," said Pops.
"Kei and I will take care of it," I said and Kei looked at me in surprise.
"Wait, what?"
"You and I have to clear the way for everyone, but we have to do it fast. Hamilton has everyone on the island looking for us even harder than ever. We have to get in through that side door there," I said to Kei.
"No way, Captain, it's too dangerous," said Michelle.
"That's what your boyfriend said when I went back to rescue my sister, and yet, here we are," I said. "Will you just learn to trust me already?"
"You pulled a gun on me you son of a bitch! How can I trust you after that?!" exclaimed Kyle.
"We're all alive, aren't we?!" I snapped. "When it comes to infiltration and sabotage, I know what the hell I'm doing. And before you ask, there's still a lot you should know about me, but I'm under orders not to tell you."
Everyone except for Kei looked at me, wondering what I was talking about. I couldn't tell them now because we were running out of time. We had to hurry up and escape Sand Island before the sun rose. I took off the blouse jacket of my disguise so that it wouldn't restrict my movement. The night breeze felt great on my arms but I couldn't enjoy it for long. Kei and I quickly made our way towards the hanger and we both dove for the ground when a guard shined his flashlight in our direction. My heart was racing because I knew Hamilton would send everybody here to kill us if we were discovered. The guard turned his light away from us and I could hear Kei breathe a sigh of relief.
"So what's the plan?" asked Kei as we slowly crawled forward.
"We have to take out those two guards right there," I said pointing at them. "Then we quickly take out those three, there. And then we have to take out that one."
"They'll see us," protested Kei.
"Only if we don't move fast enough," I whispered. "We can do this. Just move quickly and quietly and we'll get everyone out of here."
Kei nodded and we both got up to get to work. I looked over at Kei as she sprinted towards the first two guards I pointed out while I sprinted towards the next three I called out. When she was close enough to the guards, she ran her fist into the back of one guard, hitting his Kidney and causing him to collapse to the ground in pain. Kei then wrapped her arm around the neck of the other guard and rolled him over her back and they both fell to the ground while Kei put him into a sleeper hold until he passed out. The guard she hit in the kidney was still writhing in pain on the ground and she quickly hit him in the back of the head to knock him out. While she took out those two, I was quickly approaching my three guards. I ejected them magazine out of my pistol and threw it at the head of the guard who was facing towards me the most. He held his face in his hands and the other two guards quickly turned their heads to try and find me, but before they had a chance to react, I was already in the process of neutralizing them. I drop kicked the guard on the right in the chest and grabbed the other guards head in midair as I fell to the ground. The guard that I had drop kicked had gotten the wind knocked out of him and the second guard was knocked out after I brought his head down to the ground hard. I quickly got to my feet and knocked out the guard I had hit in the head by squeezing the two pressure points in his arm and hitting him on the side of the head. Kei then dashed past me to knock out the final guard that I had pointed out. The guard had just spotted Kei and when she was only inches but she knocked his ass out. She put her hand over the guard's mouth, hooked her leg behind his, and slammed his head against the ground. I took a look around and gave Kei thumbs up to signal that we were clear. Kei picked up the guards we had just knocked out and carried them over to where the others were hiding. Everyone else helped us hide the other bodies. We took their pistols and flashlights and then we headed for the side doors of hanger C, but the doors were locked.
"Just shoot the lock off," said Michelle.
"And let the other guards know that we're here?" said Grimm.
"Right, then kick the door in."
Kei rolled her eyes, pulled the bobby pins out of Michelle's hair, and began to pick the lock. That is so damn awesome. Pops tried to tell everyone else to keep an eye out for any guards that might try to sneak up on us, but Kei had already unlocked the side door of the hanger and we all headed inside. The hanger was dark and we could only see where we shined our flashlights. Pops' training planes were T-45 Goshawks and he was right when he said that he maintained all his planes well. We prepared to go for our final flight as the Sand Island squadron, but there were only three G-suits in the hanger. That wasn't the only problem. There were seven of us, eight if we counted Kirk, and we all couldn't squeeze into these planes.
"We have to find another plane we can use to get out of here," I said.
"Don't be foolish, Blaze. There's no way we can get to the other hangers with all those guards out there and we're out of time. We have to leave now!" said Pops.
"I'm not leaving anyone behind," I growled.
"We have to, or else we're all going to die."
"No…"
"Captain, I know this must be hard for you to accept, but we don't have a choice. Someone has to stay," said Erica.
I didn't want to accept it, but they were right. We had to leave someone behind and I knew who it had to be. "Dammit," I muttered to myself as I clenched my fists. Kei walked up to me and she placed her hand on my shoulder, only this time it didn't calm me down. I looked at my sister and she realized the choice I had to make.
"No," she said quietly in shock. "No, no, no, you can't!"
"I'm sorry, Amanda," I said trying to keep my grief under control. "You have to stay."
"There has to be another way!" she argued.
"There isn't. We're risking our lives trying to escape of Sand Island like this. I don't want you dying along with me."
"We have to go, now!" insisted Pops.
"You're not going anywhere," said a voice from the dark side of the hanger.
Kei, Kyle, Erica, Michelle, Grimm, and I all raise our guns and flashlights in the direction the voice came from. I was shocked to see Senior Master Sergeant Rachel, Mariah, and Adam all pointing assault rifles at us. Pops seemed like he was surprised most of all. I liked Pops' ground crew but the fact that they were holding guns on us made me uneasy. The look in their eyes suggested that they didn't want to believe we'd betray our own country.
"How did you get in here?" asked Pops.
"We knew you'd try to use your training jets to get out of here," said Rachel.
"And now we're going to take you in," said Adam as he raised a radio up to his mouth.
"You honestly think I won't kill you?" I said, trying to discourage him.
Adam froze in hesitation while Rachel and Mariah held their guns on us. "You're bluffing."
I pulled out my blood stained knife and tossed it at their feet. I could see their faces when they saw the blood smear on the ground. "That blood belongs to a few guards I had to slip by in order to help me and my team escape. So if you still think I'm bluffing, try calling for help. You'll see how serious I am," I yelled.
Everyone in the hanger just gawked at me as I leveled my pistol on Adam, waiting for him to make his move. Nobody moved a muscle as Adam and I stared each other down. My finger was only a hair away from sending a bullet into his head. I told my team I was going to get them out of here and I was bent on keeping my promise. It wasn't until I thought about this that I had realized what I was doing. I had killed several people in cold blood; I pointed a gun and a member of my own team, and now this. I started to feel guilty about holding my gun on Kyle and now I was doing it to Adam. My hesitation grew and I had to keep it from showing if I was going to stop his call for help. Adam could only glare at me while he debated within himself on whether or not to rat us out. Please, don't keep us from doing the right thing.
"You're not kidding, are you?"
"No, I'm not. So don't make me do it," I said.
"Alright, you win," said Adam as he lowered the radio from his mouth.
I lowered my gun and told the others to hurry up and finish preparing the planes for our escape. I grabbed Amanda and headed towards the back of the hanger while Rachel, Mariah, and Adam helped the others. Once I was out of earshot of everyone, I sat down with Amanda on the work bench and looked at her.
"You have to stay here," I said calmly.
"They'll kill me if I stay," she argued.
"No, they won't. Hamilton was using you as a way to get to me and my team. If he knows I'm dead then killing you would seem pointless. He still has Osean eyes on him and he wouldn't throw his position away just like that."
"I'm still scared," sobbed Amanda as she wept on my shoulder.
"I know you are, but right now I need you to be brave."
"Blaze," whispered Kei. "We're ready to go."
I released my sister and got up, but she grabbed my sleeve. "Please don't leave me, Anthony! Don't leave me alone!" begged Amanda.
I flashed back to the day of the Curtis attack. Those were the exact same words she said when I left her to find the rest of our family. I no longer wanted to leave with the others. I wanted to stay with my sister. I couldn't leave her alone again. I saw her as the frightened little five year old girl that I had always viewed her as, but now I saw it more than ever. I didn't know what was going to happen and I feared for her. I looked back at Kei and she now knew that my dilemma had returned, stronger than ever.
"Kei… I can't leave her," I whispered.
"I know, Antonio, but we need you."
"I can't, you have to get the others out of here."
"I'm not leaving without you."
"Go without me," I said raising my voice with tears in my eyes.
"No, I…we need…"
"NO! NOT AGAIN!" I shouted as I stood up and stormed towards her. I was shaking from the anger, fear, and sadness I felt. Kei looked at me in terror and understanding while everyone else just looked at me in terror. Nothing could stop my tears from showing as I tried to catch my breath. "I have to make sure she'll be safe."
"She'll be safe," said Rachel. "I'll make sure they won't do anything to her."
"Rachel…" I began.
"I know what it's like to leave someone you love. Family is one of the closest things you can keep to your heart," said Rachel as she grabbed a chain around her neck that held her husband's wedding ring. "I'll keep her safe, I swear."
"You can trust her, Blaze," said Pops.
"I'll keep you safe, Amanda," said Rachel.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and pulled out my phone. "Listen, if she can't get hold of Lt. Colonel Nathan Harkin, try contacting him with this. The pass code is 2212 and if you can't get a signal by the time you wake up, try contacting him at this number using a regular phone," I said showing Rachel in the notes section of my phone.
"Anthony, please don't go," begged Amanda again.
"I have too" I said and I hugged her. "Whatever happens, just know that I love you."
"I love you too," she replied and I put her to sleep.
I know sis. I picked Amanda up and took her to the back storage room of the hanger and set her down in the corner. I didn't want to leave her like this. I wanted to make sure she was safe before I left with the others.
Everyone climbed into the cockpits of the T-45s and Pops placed Kirk in Genette's lap. Pops had developed a special harness for Kirk so that they could fly together from time to time. It pissed me off that we were taking Kirk along with us instead of my sister, but I had to trust Master Sergeant Rachel. Before Kei and I strapped ourselves into our planes, we had to knock out Rachel, Adam, and Mariah so that they had a chance to be proven innocent. I placed them in the same closet as Amanda and I took one look back before I made sure everything was set for us to go.