Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Thirteen's POV

"I thought I told you to stay down." I hiss at Devin as I grab hold of the back of his shirt and pull him back down behind the fallen tree next to me. He loses his balance and lands awkwardly, shooting me a glare.

"I was trying to get a better view."

"You were going to get shot."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes. I do."

"Both of you shut up." Chase grumbles. He shoots us a glare before peering over the tree to look out at the base in front of us. He shakes his head. "No way we get in there without catching the attention of every guard on duty."

I look over at the gray building about a hundred feet away from where we're hiding. "Hmm," I mutter thoughtfully.

"What do you have in mind?" Cody whispers, looking over at me as I tap my finger against my knee.

"I'm thinking we should just let Lily handle it."

"Then we're definitely not getting in there without getting shot." Zack mutters.

"I don't think I brought enough of my grenades this time." Lily replies quietly.

"There is no way you didn't bring enough grenades." Devin chimes in. "I watched you grab at least three dozen."

"Yeah, that's not enough."

"I'm honestly terrified to see your definition what you consider enough." Chase interjects.

Lily sticks her tongue out at him before grabbing the duffle bag on the floor next her and sneaking around the fallen tree. "Be back in a little bit."

"You realize she's just going to blow up everyone and everything in that base." Chase deadpans.

I roll my eyes at him. "She's not that bad."

"I beg to differ."

"You decided to just let Lily handle it, which basically means she's going to reduce the building to ashes." Cody adds.

Cody barely finishes his sentence before there's a deafening explosion. Shouts echo out as the guards run towards the sound, abandoning their post at the door.

"Let's move. Now." I say and leap over the fallen tree with ease before sprinting the remainder of the way to the building.

"Back up." Chase orders before pulling his gun and firing at the lock on the door. He swings open the door and holds his gun up in front of him as he enters. Cody, Devin, and Zack pull their guns while I pull my dagger from its sheath.

"Split up. Chase with Zack. Devin with Cody." I order.

"What about you?" Cody asks.

"I've got Lily."

"Lily's not here." Devin replies.

"Boo."

Devin lets out a yelp and jumps away from Lily, throwing himself into the nearest wall before stumbling over his feet. Lily begins to bust up laughing, tears streaming down the sides of her face as she actually tries to stay quiet-or at least, quieter.

"Oh my gosh-your face." Lily falls backwards onto the ground, clutching at her stomach as she rolls around in another wave of laughter.

"You're not funny." Devin hisses at her, his hand over his chest as if to try and steady his racing heart. "Where did you even come from?"

"You're right, I'm hilarious." Lily agrees with him before completely ignoring his question. She pulls her crossbow off her back and loads it. Devin pushes himself further back into the wall. "Let's get going." She says as she walks off in front of us.

I follow quickly behind her and we take a hallway on the left while the boys keep going further. They'll split up when they reach another turn off. I'm genuinely shocked when Lily actually stays quiet, the only sound coming from her is the shuffling of her feet, and the occasional click from her crossbow.

If I'm being completely honest. Lily's silence scares me more than her normal personality.

She keeps her crossbow raised in front of her the entire time, and turns corners quickly. We peek cautiously into rooms but see no one, and nothing of use.

"She'd be kept on the lower levels." Lily finally whispers softly. "They'd want to keep her as far away from the door as possible."

"I kind of figured." I reply quietly.

"But it doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"They have to know she'd get out." Lily mutters thoughtfully. "Garrett would've had to know there was no possible way to get her to stay in that cell."

"Well there was also 'no possible way' for her to get caught either."

Lily shakes her head and shoots me a look and suddenly I understand.

"You think she's in on it." I whisper.

Lily doesn't make eye contact with me. "Why would Garrett take her? What purpose does he have for her? I mean, he would've known that there was no possible way they'd get her to go with them unless it was willingly."

I shake my head and push ahead of her. "You're wrong."

"What if I'm not? What then?"

"Then we're screwed." I say with a shrug. Lily gapes at my careless tone.

"Seriously? Do you even-"

"Lily," I hold up my hand to silence her. "I know my sister. Granted she's a major bitch, but she's not a traitor."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just trust me on this." I tell her firmly before continuing on quietly down the long hallway.

Lily grumbles a string of curses under her breath but doesn't push the matter further. Instead she mumbles something along the lines of 'I'm not saving your stupid ass when this all goes to hell, because mark my words, it will.'

I ignore her and push open the door at the end of the hallway. It opens to reveal a staircase. I motion for Lily to follow. "Found the stairs."

"I didn't realize they were lost." Lily mutters sarcastically. I continue to ignore her.

I move quietly down the stairs with Lily close behind me. There's a long dark hallway in front of us. There's one light right in the middle of the hallway, but it barely lights up anything. It does however, light up enough for me to see a shadow move across the other end of the hallway.

"Lily." I whisper as I point down the hallway and stay pressed up against the wall. Lily nods at me, letting me know she understands before moving around me. She unhooks a pair of goggles from her belt and places them over her eyes. She hits the button on the side and the thermal imaging powers on. Getting down on one knee, she places her elbow on top of her knee and steadies her crossbow.

"I can see two separate people. Both on the other end of the hallway. Both are facing this way, but it's doubtful they see us. You want me to stun them, or take them out?"

"Stun them for now. If Lydia's not down here we're going to need to know where she is. They might come in handy, and if not we just kill them afterwards."

"Copy that." Lily says with a little mock salute. She gets scarily quiet as she lines up her target, her attention solely focused on the other end of the hallway. "Three...two...one-oh crap."

I don't get the chance to ask her what's wrong and she's already fired the crossbow, but I figure it out pretty quickly on my own after there's a shout of pain followed closely by Devin's shout of, "It's us! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Oops." Lily mutters as she takes the goggles off her face and clips them back to her belt.

"Who did you hit?"

Lily gives me guilty look. "I'm pretty certain it was Cody, since Devin's the one still yelling."

"What kind of arrow did you hit him with?"

"Well you said not to kill him so it was just dipped in a sedative."

I groan and run a hand down my face. "How long will it last?"

Lily just shrugs innocently. "Not sure."

"Great." I mutter sarcastically as I walk over towards Devin's shouts.

"You killed him! Cody! Cody! Wake up! Don't go into the light!"

"Relax drama queen. It was a sedative." Lily says. "He'll live."

"Forgive me if I don't feel inclined to believe you." Devin replies shortly. "You're the one with a pet alligator, explosive arrows, poison-"

"That's Ev."

"The point is," Devin continues. "You have death written all over you."

She looks at him blankly for a second before a barely contained grin appears on her face and an evil laugh escapes her lips. "Thank you."

I roll my eyes and ignore the both of them. I lean down next to Cody's unconscious form. Making sure Lily isn't paying any attention to what I'm doing, I check his pulse just in case.

"You have no idea how long he'll be out for?"

Lily shakes her head.

"And you don't have any way of waking him up?"

Lily shrugs her shoulders.

"What is that supposed to mean? It's a yes or no answer, not a shrug."

"Well I mean," Lily starts as she leans over Cody. "I could try slapping him, that worked last time." She shoots a glance in Devin's direction.

"Hey, as long as it's not me you're slapping, I'm all for it." Devin speaks up.

"Slapping people, is not the universal solution to solving problems." I tell her firmly.

She rolls her eyes at me. "I know that." She agrees. "That's why explosives were invented."

"You really should've left her in that hospital longer." Devin whispers to me while Lily twirls an arrow around in her hands.

"It wouldn't have helped." I dismiss him. "Help me." I tell him as I struggle to try and get Cody into a sitting position against the wall.

"How did you two get down here?" I ask Devin as we finally get Cody into the seated position.

"We fell."

I give him a look of confusion which I'm sure he can't see in this dark hallway. "What?"

"Fun fact," Devin says offhandedly. "There's a trap door around the corner there. It falls down into this empty room, and I'm pretty sure it use to be a cell of some kind. We stepped on the trap door and it collapsed beneath us."

"So the only other way to get down here would be the staircase we used." I mutter thoughtfully. "Lily." I call out, catching her attention.

"Yeah?"

"Guard the stairs, and make sure to warn us when someone's coming down."

"Shoot first, ask questions later?"

"No. We don't need you killing someone else on our side."

"I haven't killed anyone," She pauses as she turns to me with a deadly look on her face. "Yet."

"She is honestly the only thing I'm genuinely terrified of." Devin mutters more to himself than to me.

I smile to myself knowing he can't see me. "I couldn't agree more." I whisper quietly.