Melinda Metz - The Intruder

"Run!" Max yelled.

"Nice shooting, Tex," Alex called from behind Adam as they all raced toward the rock formation that hid the opening to the compound. Adam smiled. Or at least he thought he was smiling. He couldn't quite feel his lips anymore.

When he was about a hundred feet away from the formation, Adam slammed to a stop. He watched the others run past him and take up their positions. Then he waited. If Max was right, in a few minutes a couple of guards would come out to check on the camera.

This could be my last minute in the sun, Adam thought. But he couldn't feel the warmth. Even the New Mexico sun wasn't strong enough to penetrate his cold skin.

Come on. Come and get me, Adam thought. Just standing here, passively waiting to be led back into his prison, was the hardest part of the plan.

It shouldn't take them too long. It had only been a week since Michael and Isabel had broken into the compound. The guards would still be extra alert.

Adam heard a low humming sound, and the rock formation slid apart in one smooth motion. It was time. He waited until he could see the guards moving toward the opening, then he ran toward them.

"Stay where you are!" one of the guards barked.

"I want to come back!" Adam cried. "I want to see my father!"

"We're coming out to get you," the other guard called. Adam noticed that she had her hand on her electric prod.

"Okay. Hurry! I'm scared!" Was that too much? Adam thought as the guards hesitated.

No, they were moving toward him. Side by side, they stepped through the opening in the rock formation. And Max and Isabel attacked. The guards never saw it coming. They fell to the ground, unconscious.

Adam raced up to them. "Help me move this one inside," Alex said. Adam hoisted the guard's legs and Alex grabbed her shoulders, then they carried her into the massive elevator just beyond the entrance.

Alex knelt down and quickly bound the guards' hands and feet with duct tape. He slapped a couple pieces of the tape on their mouths. "I love this stuff. You can use it on anything," he said.

"They can breathe and everything, right?" Maria asked, staring from Alex and Adam's guard to the guard Max and Isabel had just finished restraining.

"They'll be fine," Max reassured her. He hit the elevator button, and they started down.

Adam slid his hands under his armpits, trying to warm up his hands. How deep underground were they already? Ten feet? More?

The elevator continued its smooth descent. Finally it came to a stop with a tiny bump. The doors slid open.

Adam heard pounding feet. He scanned the small parking lot and saw a guard running away.

"We've been spotted," Max cried. "He's going to sound an alarm!"

They were here. Michael could feel them. Isabel, Max, and Adam. Coming to the rescue.

What were they, insane?

Michael sprang up from his cot and started to pace. They needed him. Something had already gone wrong. He'd just gotten a jolt of fear from all three of them.

He shot a glance at the two guards outside his cell. They clearly had no clue anything unusual was happening in the compound. At least not yet. That was something.

Michael took another lap in the small space to the right of his cot. He wished Cameron would get back. He didn't like the idea of her being out in the corridors right now, even with her guard escort. It would be way too easy for her to get caught in some kind of crossfire situation.

And he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, sitting in this cell. He wasn't exactly going to be able to back up Max and the others from here, either.

His eyes flicked back and forth between the two guards. Was there some way he could take them both out?

You decided your first day in here that there was no way to handle two guards at once, he reminded himself. Don't do anything stupid, or your friends are only going to have a corpse to rescue.

"I'll get the guard. You go on," Isabel exclaimed.

She took off across the parking lot. She heard feet pounding behind her and threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Alex. Good. She might need some kind of backup.

The guard had to hear them, but he didn't turn. He kept running, veering off onto a long corridor. What was he doing? Why wasn't he trying to stop them?

Suddenly Isabel knew why. She spotted an intercom on the wall. The wall about six feet from the guard.

She pushed herself to run even faster.

Too late. The guard reached the intercom. "I have a situation here," he barked. "There-"

Alex shoved past Isabel and hurled himself at the guard's knees. They both went down.

Isabel reached them a second later. She saw the guard go for his prod. Without hesitation she slammed her foot down on his wrist. She heard a bone crack, and the prod rolled out of the guard's hand.

An instant later she heard the guard's machine gun clatter down the corridor. Knew Alex would be a good guy to have around, she thought. She threw herself down on her knees and pressed her fingers against the guard's forehead. Yeah, he was unarmed. But that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.

She pulled in a few deep breaths and made the connection. Images flashed through her brain. A boy proudly displaying his hall monitor badge. A parrot in an enormous cage. The boy at an even younger age screaming as a clown handed him a purple flower.

Isabel heard a second heartbeat join hers. She was in. Now she just needed to find a good vein in his head. Their head. She chose a medium-sized one near the brain stem and concentrated. She could feel the pain she caused him. God, she hated doing this.

The connection broke. The guard had lost consciousness. Alex tossed her a roll of tape, and Isabel started to restrain the man. She froze as she heard the intercom crackle. "What kind of situation?" a voice demanded.

"Keep going," Alex said. "I've got it." He pushed down the intercom button. "There was some kind of power surge down here. One of the surveillance cameras went down for a few minutes, but it's back up. I'll do the report."

"Valenti will want a copy," the voice answered. "Make sure he gets it today."

"Roger that," Alex said.

"Roger that. Your dad would be so proud." Isabel slid a piece of tape over the guard's mouth and shoved herself to her feet.

"You okay?" Alex asked her.

"Yeah," she answered. "I want to keep going this way. I started feeling Michael a little more strongly once we turned down this corridor."

"Adam knows where Michael's being held," Alex reminded her.

"But this feels like the right way. Maybe they moved him after Adam escaped," Isabel answered.

"Let's check it out, then," Alex said. They started down the corridor.

"Thanks for coming with me," Isabel mumbled, without looking at him. Now that they weren't fighting for their lives, it felt a little strange to be paired up yet again.

"No problem," Alex answered.

Isabel tried to zero in on exactly where the feelings from Michael were concentrated. "I think he's somewhere to the left of us," she said. The corridor continued on in the same direction as far as she could see. But there was a door on the left a few feet away. Isabel didn't think Michael was that close. But maybe if they cut through that room, they'd find another passageway.

She rushed up to the door. It was one of those massive metal ones she remembered from the last time she was in the compound. She focused on the molecules and gave them a shove. The door squealed open.

"I know it's old-fashioned, but I always appreciate having a door opened for me," Alex said as he stepped through.

Isabel followed him, and her breath caught in her chest. It was like walking into one of her nightmares. There's a door on the other side of the room, she told herself. All you have to do is walk over to it. Don't look at anything. Just move.