We’d completely missed a door in the darkness. A guard had come out of it just as we were passing and had literally walked into us. For a second, he just gaped at me. Then he pulled out his gun and raised it to fire.

22. Danny

22

DANNY

Time seemed to slow down.

When the guard had rammed into me, I’d gone staggering sideways. I was trying to regain my footing and at the same time turn around to get the tranquilizer pistol pointed at the guard, but it felt like I was wading through syrup. The guard was looking right at Erin and he was bringing his gun up to shoot.

I wasn’t going to be able to get a shot off in time.

Erin locked eyes with me, her mouth open in a silent scream. I’ve never in my life felt more helpless. My chest contracted, waiting for the shot to ring out….

An arm like a tree trunk cinched tight around the guard’s throat and he was lifted clean off his feet. He kicked and pawed wildly at the arm but it wasn’t letting go. Colton!

The guard’s movements slowed and he went limp. My heart started beating again. Whew.

Then the gun slipped from the guard’s fingers. It fell towards the floor and Colton had his hands full. We all tensed for the crash of metal—

Cal dived and caught the gun just before it hit. Everyone slumped in relief.

As Colton hid the unconscious guard in the shadows, I went over to Erin. My legs were shaky and I felt like I’d aged ten years. I wished I could talk to her properly, but I had to somehow do it silently. Are you okay? I mouthed.

She just stared, panting with fear. I wanted to just scoop her up into my arms and carry her the hell out of there. But the best I could do was to put my hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes, letting her know I was there. You’re okay, I mouthed. You’re okay.

And gradually, I felt her breathing slow. She tentatively nodded. I’m okay.

I squeezed her shoulders, overcome with emotion. She was just a little thing but she was turning out to be braver than any of us could have imagined.

We moved on and when we reached the next junction, we could see JD’s cell in front of us. But there was a problem. A guard was patrolling in a circuit around the block of cells. Bradan timed him twice around and then showed us his watch: we only had a three minute window when he couldn’t see JD’s cell. If we weren’t out of there before he got back….

As soon as the guard had disappeared around the corner, we hurried over to the cell. Gabriel picked the lock in seconds and we slipped inside.