I could hear the ringing through the small speaker of the phone in my hand, then voicemail. I had tried all three of my family’s cell phones and even the home phone we rarely used. In the past I had asked my parents why they wasted money on a landline, but now their voices greeting me from the answering machine were the only comfort I had.
I paced back and forth in front of the desk, with Holly standing in front of me. She had her arms crossed and a frown on her face. We all awaited word from upstairs.
“Ryan…” she started.
I stared at her for a moment before slumping back against the desk in defeat. She was quickly by my side, squeezing my hand.
What was taking them so long? James had already said we were going. What could they possibly be discussing? He was up there with Aaron, Logan, and Lily. Mia was downstairs and Derek in the garage, presumably getting things ready so we could depart quickly.
Finally, a door opened and footsteps sounded. James led the way, followed by Lily and Logan. Aaron followed at a distance. He didn’t look happy. From what I’d gathered, he, Logan, and Michael had been close.
To my surprise, Aaron approached me. He put a hand on my shoulder.
“We got you,” was all he said.
“Thanks,” I said, startled by his unexpected physical contact.
“Let’s go,” James said.
We all fell in line behind him and piled into the elevator. The ride down seemed to take forever. For once I wished it would just fall. But then the time saved going down would be wasted climbing back up.
We arrived at the bottom and made our way to the ready room. They all geared up with a quiet proficiency. The only sounds were straps and buckles, weapons being sheathed.
I struggled along until Holly finished up her own gear and came to my aid. She again helped me get everything sorted.
The rest of them had already moved out and were waiting. I started towards the door when a giant hand grabbed my shoulder from behind.
“Here.” Derek handed me the sword he had shown me yesterday.
He helped me strap it on. “If Michael really is dead, no telling what we may run into.”
I nodded.
We made our way to the elevator. The ride back up seemed to take forever.
Finally, we arrived at the top and all climbed into one of the SUVs. There were eight of us, so it was a tight fit.
Well, not for me. I sat up front to help James navigate, since I knew the destination best. Aaron and Derek sat behind us. Lily, Holly, Mia, and Logan had all squeezed together into the back-seat.
We drove in silence for the most part. The only input coming from me: right here. Take that highway. Next exit in forty-five minutes. Take that road.
A drive that normally took the bus almost two hours barely took one. I appreciated James’ heavy foot.
As we pulled into my old neighborhood, everyone donned their helmets. I did the same and watched the familiar heads-up display appear. I selected the appropriate options to appear in the same fireteam as everyone else. Then, in front of me, schematics. An exact blueprint of my family home appeared. It had entrances, exits, rooms, and dimensions all clearly labeled. Flicking my eyes left or right caused it to spin, staring at a detail caused it to freeze, then zoom. Despite the anxiety tumbling in my stomach, I still found myself fascinated by the futuristic display.
“How close can we get before we’re in visual range of the house?” James asked.
“Pull up to that yellow house,” I answered.
“Right.”
He continued forward until reaching said house and stopped the car. Eight heart beats, eight sets of pumping lungs, and seven pairs of eyes hidden behind helmets, all pointed at me.
“You ready?” James asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go over the plan.”