فصل 48

Chapter 48: Fireworks

The hours waiting for nighttime passed quietly. The bread, water, and fruit were long gone, and everyone was thirsty, tired, and hungry. As darkness fell over the jungle Ostin gathered everyone together to review the plan one more time. Just sitting together in the darkness already revealed a flaw in their plan. “The guards in the towers are going to see your glow,” Ostin said. “They’ll shoot you through the trees.” “Easy fix,” Taylor said. “Everyone who’s electric follow me.” She led them over to a spot near the edge of their camp where the ground was still wet from the rain the night before. She scooped up a handful of moist dirt and rubbed it over her hands and face. With the exception of Zeus, the rest of them covered one another with the dark soil. Jack and Wade said they were rubbing mud on for solidarity, but the truth was they loved the commando look.

As soon as the last of the light had vanished, they said a quick good-bye to Mrs. Vey, Tanner, and Raúl, then set off through the jungle in single file, Ian and Taylor leading the group. Zeus slowed their pace considerably. He was finally walking on his own, but he had to lean heavily on Jack. Had they not needed his power they would have sent him off with Raúl. Wade, Ostin, and McKenna walked at the rear of the column, carrying the dynamite.

They traveled east in an ellipse, making a wide swing into the jungle to avoid being spotted by the tower guards at the northeast corner of the interior fence. When they were past the compound they circled back in, crouching at the perimeter of the barbwire fence just thirty-five yards from the pump house.

The pump house was a simple adobe-brick structure with a tin roof and barred windows. A large pipe, nearly three feet in diameter, was visible on the east side of the structure. It rose up from the ground forming a loop.

“There it is,” Ostin whispered. He turned to Taylor. “Is group two ready?” “Ready,” Taylor said.

“We’re ready,” Jack said.

Ostin looked at Zeus. “You okay?”

He was clearly still in a lot of pain but nodded. “Let’s shut them down.” “We should test the wire,” Taylor said.

“Good idea,” Ian said. He and Taylor grabbed the barbwire about six feet apart.

“What number am I thinking of?” Ian asked.

“You’re not,” Taylor said. “You’re thinking about that fruit.” “It works,” Ian said, releasing the wire.

“All right,” Ostin said. “See you after the fireworks. Good luck, everyone.” * * *

While Taylor led group two back into the jungle, Ostin, Wade, McKenna, and Ian covered themselves with branches, then crawled on their stomachs under the barbwire closer to the pump house. Ian and Wade carried the dynamite on their backs but had to take their packs off to slide them through the fence. They all stopped about fifteen yards from the house.

“What’s going on in there?” Ostin asked Ian.

“There’s a guy sitting at a console.”

“Just one guy?”

“Yes.”

“Is he armed?”

“No. He looks more like a tech.” He turned back. “He looks like he’s sleeping.” “He’s about to get the wake-up call of his life,” Ostin said. “What else do you see?” “The right side of the house is nothing, just a kitchen and bathroom. On the other side there’s the end of that pipe with a bunch of lights and switches.” “How thick is the pipe?”

“About three feet.”

“I mean the walls of the pipe.”

“Oh.” He looked closer. “Maybe an inch and a half.” Ostin thought this over. “Dynamite blows down, so we should put the packs on top of the pipe, but it’s much more powerful in a confined space.” He did the math in his head. “For maximum explosive effect we need to stack the packs inside the loop.” Ian and Wade pulled a coil of fuse out of each pack, and McKenna wrapped the ends of the fuse around her hand.

Ostin looked at McKenna. “You don’t ever just spontaneously ignite, do you?” “Only a few times a day,” McKenna said, staring ahead.

“Really?”

She looked at him. “No.”

“Sorry,” he said.

Wade turned to Ostin. “Now?”

“Do it,” Ostin said. “Don’t forget to check the fuses.” “I won’t.” Wade slid his arms through both packs, then McKenna and Ostin covered them with brush.

“Good luck,” Ostin said.

Wade crawled on his stomach toward the pipe, moving about as fast as a turtle. In the darkness he looked like a slow-moving bush.

“Can’t he go faster?” McKenna said.

“He’s just being careful,” Ostin said. “We’ve got one shot at this.” When Wade reached the pipe he looked back at Ian, who gave him the thumbs-up. Wade checked the fuse connections again, then placed the packs in between the looped pipe and crawled back, though much faster. The four of them dropped back into the jungle, McKenna feeding the fuse out from her hand as they went.

“How’s our sleeper?” Ostin asked Ian.

“Still snoozing.”

“Good. Have you found Michael?”

“No. He’s not in the cells anymore.”

“What’s going on in the bowl?”

Ian strained. “It’s hard to see with all the electrical interference. But something must be going on. There’s a large crowd gathered up in the observation deck. The chute’s extended, so it must be feeding time.” He shook his head. “That’s strange, I don’t see a bull. Let me see what’s in the feeding station.” His expression changed. He quickly grabbed the barbwire. “We’ve got to blow it. Now!” “What’s going on?” Ostin asked. “What’s in the feeding station?” “Michael.”