∞ The Tethered Ones ∞

Chapter 52.1
(Original Ending)

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• Luna •

Luna and Amir left the house cheerfully Sunday morning. They found the stone to rescue their family from the facility. BARDA was their enemy, and once things settled down, she was ready to make their lives hell. She spent little time with her family since she wanted to finish the infiltration and return home. Liberty hugged Amir and Luna with the tanzanite, and the crew joined the training.

Everyone knew their plan, and failing on Sunday would be their last opportunity. They were already putting themselves in danger.

Ethan stood alone. Amir kept giving him predator's eyes. "The time period stays. We have fifteen minutes."

"And what if something goes wrong?" Cami anxiously twirled her hair.

Amir gripped Hisyl. At this point, they could all handle it for about a minute and a half. And the small tanzanite piece made no difference to Amir or Luna.

"We should be fine." Ethan tossed the rock back into the pile. "Most of us can handle it for more than a minute."

"But that's just a rock," Cami remarked. "We still have to deal with it being sprayed in our faces."

Ethan neared. "Nothing changes. These shards contain the same liquid chemical. All they made us do was physically handle it. Not to drink it or feel it on our skin."

"No. Something's wrong." She released her hair and faced Amir and Faisal. "Handling this is different. I'm fine with picking up a piece of Hisyl. I wasn't with you last time, but I'm pretty sure the spray was different."

Cami was right, but they had no choice.

Faisal grasped her hand and grinned. "Everything will be fine. Cam-Cam, you'll be fine. I promise."

"You call her 'Cam-Cam?'" Luna asked, and Amir grinned.

Faisal nodded. "She's my little Cam-Cam."

"What's your nickname for Faisal, Cam-Cam?" Amir asked.

"Teddy," she said.

"Anyway, moving on," Dominique said, eager to be done with this. "What Ethan said about Hisyl is true. I gathered it in the army, and they distributed it to everyone."

"What about those lasers? We have lasers to worry about," Vikram threw in, frowning.

"Yeah, that's another obstacle," Ethan said. "They won't be a problem, though. The emergency doors open when an alarm sounds, and we'll be fine if everything goes smoothly. Hopefully, none of us will set one off."

"That's a big hope," Zoe murmured.

Yes, it was a big hope, but Luna and the others were going all the way. But they had to do this.

After another brutal Hisyl session, everyone went home. Vikram, Ethan, and the Hales left. Cami walked into a house as Amir, Luna, and Faisal stayed outside, and he disappeared around the house.

Amir grabbed Luna's hand and sat on the fourth step, bringing her down between both legs so her back was against his chest. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I am," she said. After each session, he asked the same question. She loved him for it. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm okay. I just want this to be over with."

"Me too," she whispered. "I love you, A."

"I love you, Moon. Let's go see Sarah and the family. Then pray. I want to pray for a few more minutes than usual. This time, I don't want anything to go wrong."

She nodded. "Me neither. No matter what, we're going to get them out."

• • •

The group was dressed in camouflage for the next infiltration, with Luna wearing a long-sleeved green thermal and the Hales finding a few uniforms from when they were in the U.S. military. The tanzanite was burning in Luna's pocket, and the group learned about it and kept it to combine their powers.

It was quiet on the way to the lake, with Ethan not wanting to talk. Amir's energy was like a tornado, and he securely gripped Luna's hand.

But, along the way, she remembered Titus's last words to them: "Consider how many eggs you put in one basket. You never know if that basket is as secure as it appears."

All of them were in danger because of that. Their neighborhood might not be as safe as it seems, so would it be best to move their family to Salvation Estate? They would get out of one hellhole and go to another? She couldn't handle that.

The two cars reached the small factory at the end of the pitch-black access road in five minutes. Titus texted Ethan that everything was fine, so they all stayed still to conserve energy. Zoe and Faisal stayed in the SUV while the others left the field. Luna's cheeks were stained red for the rest of the excursion.

She hoped bugs wouldn't eat her.

"Does everybody remember the plan?" Owen asked, and they all nodded. "First, the guys, then the Khans, Layla, and the kids. We should then be back on the first floor and out the door."

"Where are we going to meet if something goes wrong?" asked Connor.

"If anyone is caught, everyone splits up and runs in the opposite way. Find the best way out of here and hide somewhere far away. That's the simplest way to flee," Owen explained. "Be prepared."

The group moved across a field on a cloudy night without moonlight. Amir hosted Luna since nobody wanted her to trip and hold them back. Two soldiers at the barrier surprised them when they reached the woods. Connor took both of them out, while Owen broke the first keypad. As they ran across the lawn, the eight of them looked like silhouettes hidden by tanzanite.

Ethan put the password into each of the three doors.

Invictus.

All of the practice and training had led up to this point. Did it mean anything at all? Amir looked at her quickly.

She reached into her pocket and grabbed the stone with her fingers.

Amir was the first person to go through the door, jerking when the air puffed out. Vikram and Connor then ran to get the key card from the front desk and typed in the code.

0976.

Ethan was right that going through the hisyl spray would still hurt as much as going into the fiery pits of hell.

The group walked through the hisyl-covered entrance. The spray made men wince and grimace. Luna didn't feel much at all.

As Ethan made his way through Ramsey Sanitarium, Luna and the others fell behind. Small lamps illuminated the shadows along the tunnel's red walls. While she looked for the emergency exits, it was too dark for her to see. Luna was frightened by the gleaming, wet ceiling.

"Hellion," said Ethan in a calm voice. "It has the potential to harm a person's muscles."

Unless they remodeled, he wouldn't know. As they ran through the tunnel, she felt the tanzanite against her skin and activated her electric ability to prepare for the powerful energy burst.

The energy boost for her and Amir was less potent. Her heart plummeted as the long tunnel neared its end. Hellion weakened stone.

The passageway parted. The elevators were in the middle. Owen and Dominique entered the space and checked the area.

"Clear," he said, and then he disappeared so quickly that Luna couldn't see him press the elevator button until he was back with the group.

They ran into a steel elevator, which was password-protected with the same key card. Luna noticed blackish-white glossy pieces in the flickering overhead light. Amir smiled at Luna as she swayed and raised her head. The elevator seemed to be the world's slowest, and Luna thought she could solve geometry faster.

Amir squeezed her hand as if he knew how worried she was.

She stood on her toes and cupped Amir's cheek, bringing his head down to hers. She kissed him passionately and without remorse.

"For our family," she said, taking a step back.

His chestnut eyes gleamed with promises that cooled her. When the elevator doors opened, a small waiting area was visible. Bare walls. Clear ceilings. Pristine flooring.

They had entered the psychiatric hospital.

"Lovely scenery," Vikram said.

Owen laughed.

Connor reached the door. No one was aware of what lay on the other side. They had zero understanding of this code.

But they were already there. A sense of apprehension filled her soul.

"Be careful," Dominique urged. "Take it slow."

Owen nodded. "I'm not familiar with anything. Ethan?"

He joined him. "There should be another tunnel, but this one should be shorter and bigger, and the doors should be on the left. Rooms have beds, tiny tables, and toilets. About fifteen rooms. I don't know how many rooms are being used."

Others? Luna sympathized. She faced Amir. "We can't just abandon them."

Ethan interrupted him. "We're out of time, Luna. Taking too many will slow us down, and we have no idea how they are. We also don't have enough space in our vehicles. They'd be caught on foot."

"But—"

"For once, I agree with him." Amir met her shocked stare. "We can't, Moon. Not this raid."

Luna was upset when she couldn't run down the hall and let people go since they had a short window of time and hadn't made any preparations. It was worse than gruesome cliffhanger book endings, people refusing to cooperate while having their pictures taken, and waiting for a garden to grow. Leaving the facility knowing innocent people were there would haunt her forever.

Ethan breathed and entered the final code.

GENETICS.

Several locks sucking back into place disturbed the silence, and a right-hand door light flashed white.

As he inched the door open, Owen moved to stand in front of her. Connor was suddenly behind her and she was protected. What the . . . ?

"We're clear," Ethan said, relieved.

They found another Hisyl shield inside. Now they had two more to get the others through. It would be tricky.

Like Ethan said, the tunnel was shorter, wider, and white. She stood still. They had succeeded and got there. Her stomach wrenched.

Luna hardly believed it.

She experienced the rush of the stone at the same time that she was both happy and anxious, but it crested before abruptly dying down. Hisyl and Hellion were everywhere.

"The fifth cell is Jamal's," Owen stated as he ran down the corridor to the last set of doors. "His name's above the door."

Dominique turned again and grabbed the hisyl-covered door handle, holding her breath. Nothing came out.

Ethan entered the room, shaking and stuttering. "Baby?"

Luna noticed a slender dark form sitting on a narrow bed in front of Ethan. She almost cheered as Jamal appeared, but he was not like the pictures she'd seen. She worried that Jamal wouldn't recognize his family and that he would instead be the damaged person BARDA had made him. However, Jamal's dark eyes weren't empty, and they didn't mirror Lily's scary blank stare.

Recognition lit his gaze.

Time paused for those two, then accelerated. She believed Ethan would collapse as he lurched forward. His hands moved uncontrollably at his sides.

Ethan mumbled, "Baby."

Jamal jumped from the bed and looked around before focusing on him. "You're here?"

He nodded, and then they moved in unison, rushing forward and crossing the gap at the same time. Ethan held him, his face in Jamal's neck. Their voices were thick with emotion, too low and too fast for her ears to follow. She knew they wouldn't let go.

Ethan only spoke to Jamal. Luna felt intrusive as they began to kiss, but she was unable to take her eyes off them. Their reunion was beautiful, with Ethan kissing his upturned face and wetting his cheeks.

"Love," Cami whispered, blubbering. "It's beautiful. I can't wait to tell Faisal how much I love him."

Luna's eyes stung as tears swelled. Happy tears blurred her vision. Amir gripped her shoulder. She sniffed.

"We have to get going." Amir's tone was urgent, reminding everyone that they were running out of time.

Pulling apart, Ethan grabbed Jamal's hand and turned around, his mouth full of questions.

"What's going on? Who are all of you? How did you get in here? If we're caught . . ." Ethan, who was smiling like an idiot, tried to stop him, but he just kept talking.

"Our family," Ethan whispered. "We have to get them out, but we have to go through another door that will hurt."

"Hellion and Hisyl," Jamal said. "It's brutal."

Dominique returned with a prone dark-skinned Tethered Soul. A reddish stain emerged across Kai's jaw.

"What happened to him?" Owen asked.

She shrugged. Her lips were drawn tight and pale. "Kai didn't recognize me. His sister. I had to do something."

Luna's heartbeat quickened. Dominique's eyes appeared bleak when she looked at Jamal and Ethan. He lied, cheated, and tortured for the man he held. Someone he'd moved heaven and hell for. She hated feeling sorry for him again.

But she did. His amputations and kidney removal showed his affection.

Jamal looked up and stopped asking questions. "We can't—"

"We must leave." Dominique cut him off and stalked past the group. "We still have to get the others, and we're running out of time."

They were. Luna smiled comfortingly at both brothers. "We need to move quickly. Everything can wait."

Jamal was shaken. "We can't."

"We need to go, Jay." He nodded at Ethan's words, panicking.

"Where's the staff?" Kai slurred.

"The majority of them were locked inside the door they were standing behind thanks to our friend. They won't be a problem," Dominique explained.

Luna smiled, knowing Titus was involved. T-Virus.

Adrenaline increased due to urgency, and everyone immediately began running down the hallway. Maryam, Nasir, and Adnan Khan's door appeared around a white corner.

Amir and Vikram ran ahead while Connor entered Nasir's room code.

Amir helped his father, who had dark bruises on his cheeks.

He whispered, "Amir?"

"Dad, it's me," he said, holding him up and sobbing. "We're here to get you out."

"How . . . how?"

"I'll tell you later. Mom is next door to you." Amir and Vikram's strength helped him stand.

Luna went forward and supported her father-in-law. He wore all-white and a tight tank top.

Luna saw Connor and Cami holding Adnan and Maryam as the group turned the corner. Adnan's body was filthy, and hers was little like she hadn't eaten in days.

"He has been sedated," Connor advised. "His chart said that was twenty minutes ago."

"Those assholes," Owen muttered. "Pardon my language, but they're so gonna get it once we're out of here."

"Luna?" Maryam said. "Amir?"

Nodding to her, they smiled. Tears streamed down everyone's cheeks as they looked at one another. Owen stated, "We need to move."

"Titus said one minute left," Ethan said.

They ran across a threshold to a bank of elevators. As it descended, they stood quietly.

Luna breathed as she and the others rushed to the children's area. Chemnisol nozzles lined the Hellion-covered hallway. She nearly vomited. The workers sprayed children daily, making her sick.

When Owen arrived at a set of double doors, he punched the code into a panel on the wall, and the door opened.

However, the lobby was no longer empty.

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