Chp. 71 “Plan B”

~Andy’s POV~

I looked at Walker as he hung up the phone, which he had called Roger on to let them know they could move in. I was so nervous I felt like I was going to faint, and I knew it was because Avery would be tagging along. I was scared, but I was praying everything just went right.

I knew it wouldn’t take long for Taylor to bring them to the roof of the building, and I knew they would be getting into the F.P.S. any second now. They would come out on the floor they needed to find Pearce, and Roger was going to get the job done, notify us, and we were out.

I continued counting the seconds that passed by in my head, wondering if they were in the building yet. I closed my eyes, leaning against the wall for support as I tried to calm my heart rate. I knew it was no use though; I was panicking because I was afraid, and I wouldn’t be ok until we were clean out of here.

Then a deafening alarm sounded, and I immediately covered my ears at the loud sound that nearly gave me a heart attack. I looked at Walker and Max, who both seemed to realize what had happened.

Walker cursed to himself, “Fuck! The alarm!”

I looked at Max who was now scared, I could see it in his eyes, and we both understood we had now lost control of this plan. I looked at Walker, “What do we do?!”

He spoke, “Stay in here, just give me a second.”

I watched him as he slowly exited the room and shut the door, but not before I saw plenty of Agents rushing down the hall yielding guns at their sides. I knew it wouldn’t be long until they would realize Max and I weren’t in our cell too, and we would change from the hunters to the hunted.

We were fucked.

Walker never came back, and I looked at Max, “What the fuck do we do?”

Max grabbed my arm, pulling me next to him as he began opening the door to the security room. I saw chaos, as if the entire world was about to end, and I was now scared for Avery’s life. They were in danger, and I knew we had to find them. I figured Walker was gone because he must’ve been taken with the rest of the Agents.

We were on our own.

Then someone shouted at us from the hall, “There they are!”

My heart slammed in my chest as Max slammed the door shut, just in time to lock it while a giant man pounded on it from the other side. I screamed, “What the fuck do we do!?”

Max was leaning against the door, holding it shut just in case the man on the other side managed to break the lock. The door was the only thing separating us. Max spoke rather calmly, “Take us to Avery.”

I grabbed his hand quickly, closing my eyes and trying my best to focus. It was hard with the loud banging on the door and the alarm that was still sounding off, but I managed to find her. I focused on her presence like always and exhaled, feeling the rush of a new atmosphere around me.

“Get down!”

Roger’s voice pulled me into reality as I felt Max’s strong arms pull me down to the ground, hearing the whizzing of bullets fly past us. I looked around, realizing we were outside on the roof of the F.P.S., and I knew we were stuck up here.

I watched as Roger, Taylor and Avery shot handguns, and I was surprised at the fact that Avery even had a gun. Where the fuck had she gotten that?

I yelled, “We need to go!”

The adrenaline was rushing through me in this moment, and I felt my body heat up from the emotions I was experiencing. I was terrified, and as I pressed my back against this electrical box for protection I understood we needed to abort this mission.

Max and Avery were on each side of me, Avery shooting and Max trying to stay covered behind this box. I knew I needed to do something because at this moment we were losing the fight, bad. I glanced at Roger and Taylor, seeing them crouching behind another cemented form, hiding from the bullets that were flying past them.

Then Roger took his eyes off of the scene and looked at me, “You’re right, we need to go!”

And in the corner of my eye I witnessed something horrific, and I watched as Taylor’s body was soon an open wound. She dropped her gun as she fell to her knees, gripping her stomach as she fell next to Roger.

Roger stopped firing, pulling Taylor closer to him to shield her from the bullets that were still being aimed towards us. I knew I needed to go over there, I needed to help. I looked at Avery and Max, “Don’t let them get close.”

Their faces changed from something unreadable, but something inside me had changed in that moment. I was running on instinct, refusing my vulnerability to get the best of me. I darted from my position to Roger and Taylor, feeling a bullet rip through my shoulder as I bit my lip in pain.

The searing agony overtook me, and I fell next to Taylor and Roger, peering down into Taylor’s dull brown eyes. She was panting, and Roger’s hands were covered in blood as I took in the scene before me. I looked into Roger’s eyes, seeing a look that made me uncomfortable, and I knew exactly what he was telling me.

Taylor was going to die.

He whispered, “Stay with her, I have to help Avery and Max.”

I nodded, feeling the pain in my heart as I held Taylor’s head in my lap, continuing to press on her wound. She closed her eyes slowly, and I saw tears flow from the edges of them. I clenched my jaw in agony, feeling the skin on my shoulder heal as I watched Taylor bleed to death.

I whispered, “It’s gonna be ok. Keep looking at me Taylor.”

She knew she was dying, and she knew she didn’t have long. She was covered in blood, and now so was I, but I wasn’t moving. I wasn’t leaving her at this time, and she knew that. She continued panting from the pain, as if she couldn’t catch her breath.

Her painful cough echoed in my ears as I tried to focus on just her, but finding it hard because bullets were being fired and I was hearing screams of agony behind me.

Luckily none of those screams were from my friends.

I felt Taylor’s hand gripping my arm, and I could tell she was in pain just by the way she was gripping me. She was trying hard to keep her eyes open, and I knew she didn’t have long. She moved her head over to look at me, and I saw a painful look in her eyes. I could see the life draining from them, and I held my hands over her seeping wound, attempting to save her just a few more minutes of life. Tears continued to roll down her face as she peered up at me, and for some reason she seemed happy that I was going to be the last person she ever saw.

She opened her mouth to speak and I listened closely, not wanting to miss what she had to say. A faint whisper rolled off of her lips, “I’m sorry…”

Then I felt her go limp in my arms, and for some reason I felt this god awful pain in my body. It covered me like a blanket, suffocating me as I felt the need to cry and scream at the same time. I let go of Taylor out of instinct, holding myself as the white pain covered my body. I felt like I was dying, but what had happened?

I hadn’t been shot, I was a Healer, so what was happening to me?

My breathing was heavy as I tried to find a way out of this pain, like I was running through a maze that never seemed to end.

Then it was gone.

The pain was finally over, but something inside me felt different, like a part of me was now missing. I looked at Roger who was sweating and I watched as Max shot another Agent with a bolt of electricity, sending him to the ground in spasms. I closed my eyes as I felt the pain of my friends and I, not understanding what had happened to me in that moment Taylor had died.

Roger pulled me over to him, speaking, “You need to get us out of here. Now.”

I knew he meant teleport us out of here, and I realized in this moment that we were the only people on the roof. I took in the dead bodies scattered on the building, and I felt sick to my stomach. I gagged, feeling the stomach bile rise in my throat as I leaned over and threw up, knowing I would need to get us out of here now.

The plan was over.

Avery and Max came over to me, taking in Taylor’s dead body and closing their eyes quickly from the sight.

Roger spoke, “We don’t have long.”

I grabbed all of them, knowing we should leave before anyone else came up here for us. I closed my eyes but for some reason I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t seem to find the trigger that would allow me to teleport. It felt as if I was trying to grab something that didn’t exist, as if the power was no longer a part of me.

Max spoke, trying to calm me down, “Andy, you need to focus. Get us out of here.”

I shook my head, trying again but realizing it was impossible. I couldn’t do it, and I felt as if the power was no longer part of me, as if it had broken and was inaccessible.

Roger’s fearful eyes looked at me, and I shook my head in denial. What had happened? Why couldn’t I teleport anymore?

I glanced at Taylor’s lifeless body, realizing the truth that had been behind the blinding pain when she had died. I felt my legs go limp as I fell to my knees, knowing that we were now stuck up here, and my friends were going to possibly die like Taylor had.

Avery grabbed my face, “Andy, please, focus and get us out of here.”

I shook my head, whispering softly, “I… I can’t. I can’t teleport.”

I looked up at Max who seemed to be the first to understand what had happened, and he spoke, “Holy shit.”

Roger looked at me, anger and fear laced in his words, “What do you mean you can’t teleport?”

I glanced at Taylor, realizing that when she had died some kind of bond between us had been shattered. Now I understood why Max and I worked well together, and why it had been so easy with Taylor to learn how to use my teleportation.

I didn’t absorb powers from different people, I shared them, and when those people died so did the power. It was some sort of bond we shared, and it was powerful when we were together, but I never actually took their power. It was just like I borrowed it for the time they were alive.

I spoke, “When Taylor died… I felt something in me break, like a bond of some sort. I lost her power.”

Everyone seemed to absorb it, but they didn’t quite understand, besides Max. He knelt next to me, speaking, “Are you sure?”

I nodded slowly, feeling as if the world around me was collapsing as I realized I had been fooling myself all along. I looked into the eyes of Roger, who seemed to know getting out of here alive was going to be near impossible.

Avery looked at him too, along with Max as we waited for him to tell us what we needed to do. He looked at me, shaking his head, “We’re going to have to get to the ground floor to get out of here.”

Max spoke, “You mean where we came in, in the first place?”

He nodded, reloading his gun and cocking it back, grabbing Taylor’s and shoving it into his holster. We would have to fight our way out of here because our plan had gone from ruined to complete shit. There were hundreds of guards and agents waiting for us, but there were only four of us.

How in the hell were we going to do this?

I stood, along with the other two of my friends, knowing fighting our way out was the only way out. Max and Avery looked at me, knowing that it was extremely dangerous, especially for them, but this was our only way out now.

Max grabbed my hand, “I trust you.”

I knew he was referring to me keeping him alive, but I was so scared. What if I wasn’t strong enough? What if I failed him and he got hurt, or worse, killed? And what if I lost Avery? Or Roger? It would be my fault and I would disappoint them, and I would have to suffer with it for the rest of my life.

Then Avery grabbed my hand, “Andy, you can do this.”

I looked into her eyes, seeing trust and love within them, knowing she was telling me the truth. She kissed me on the lips, reassuring me further, and Roger spoke, interrupting the moment.

“We need to go guys.”

Then he pushed the door to the stairwell open again, and we filed in behind him. This was it, this was our escape plan, because this was the best we could come up with.

But before we continued Roger looked back at me, “Cover my ass will you?”

I nodded, preparing myself for anything and gripping the dog-tag around my neck. I thought of my mother and everything she had taught me, knowing I could do this.

I was going to get us out of here.