Legacy of Fire (The Blaze Trilogy - Book #1)

Chapter 28

In no time at all we’ve made it through the forest, across the city walls, and land hard against the smooth concrete of the East Sector. 

Rain patters against the pavement as we crouch flush against the wall, and the cloudiness does nothing to help the sight.

The Rearing Complex is an oppressive wash of grey. The space between the wall and the endless rows of bland buildings is an endless stretch of tarmac - not a spec of green in sight. The windows of the buildings are barred with heavy crossed of iron, and floodlights illuminate the dark corners. The places oozes of control and subjugation. And it’s where my ladies were sent after I was forced to abandon them. 

I push the thought back down.

Hale’s voice is tight as he speaks to us. “Okay, we’re hitting the Complex from the right side and working our way across. Our entry point is there,” He points to a door across the tarmac. “And once we’re in, we do a sweep. Hit the rooms one by one until we find where they’re keeping Calie. Noah and Mason, you two branch off once we find where they keep the Western children. There has to be thousands of them here, but unfortunately we can only risk taking a couple of with us for intel right now.” 

“The Complex will be cameras filled with cameras, so they’ll know we’re here the minute we go through that door - but if our intel from the Southern deserter is correct, then there aren’t many soldiers kept here full time.” Hale lifts his head, turning to face us. “Be careful, everyone. Kathu doesn’t know we’re coming… but he’s already proved he’s one tricky bastard.”

My heart pounds, and I can feel my blood boil in my veins. Kathu is sitting inside that building. If I get the opportunity to find him, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to take it. I look up to the faces around me, and a small twinge of guilt worms it’s way into my conscious. I’ll be disobeying orders… again. 

I bite my lip, hardening my resolve. I’ll split away from them at the end of the mission, and go find Kathu myself. Hale’s watching me, but his gaze isn’t suspicious or critical. He’s just looking at me with those forest green eyes, as if worried I might self combust right there and then. 

I squeeze his arm. “I’m stronger than you think.”

“Trust me,” he smiles. “I know.”

Then he says the word, and the team takes off towards the entry point. We race across the pavement, the glacier rain stinging my face. Mason jerks his hand sharply, ripping a massive chunk of pavement from the ground. He Pushes it forward, and the rock slab slams into the heavy steel door. It’s effortlessly ripped from the hinges as it crashes inwards. 

I get my first glimpse of Rearing. A pure white hallway us in front of us, illuminated by the low hanging pendant lights - their steel shades clinical and sharp. The eight-point star of the Consium patterns the floor, and there isn’t a window in sight - just row after row of plastic-y white wall. From the intense feeling of claustrophobia it brings, I’d almost think we were deep underground.

Noah shivers. “This place is rather… clean.”

And then all hell breaks loose.

A shrill alarm blares out of the loudspeakers around us, and the lights suddenly turn a sickly shade of blood red. Immediately I spot the small black camera that hangs in the corner, and I dispatch it with a quick blast of fire. 

We take off in a sprint down the hallways. “Don’t panic, this is expected!” Adrian shouts over the alarm. He taps his communicator, and a map is projected above it. “We’re in the right wing, and according to what I have here, there’s a huge gap a little further up.”