Chapter 124

The moment Josie had given the order to infiltrate the building, Rain and the others had moved forward, completely prepared to knock through the door in front of them. It came as quite a shock when they realized the door was unlocked. It made absolutely no sense to Rain. Why would the Mothers want to let them into such an important building?
Unless… this was a trap.
The soldiers took up positions in the hall near the door, waiting for everyone to make it inside of the building before they moved any further. They had been given orders not to speak so that they wouldn’t be heard, so all Rain could do was catch Adam’s eyes. She could tell by his expression that he was also concerned about how easy that was. Josie was the last one in, so there was no time to catch her attention before they were all sitting ducks in the hallway.
Rain didn’t trust the Mothers one bit. She was fully expecting them to jump out into the hallway and start shooting or for some sort of toxic gas to come down into the hall from the ceiling.
Josie gave the order for them to all move forward, so they did. Rain couldn’t help but watch the ceiling, fully expecting some sort of smoke to come billowing toward them at any moment. The further down the hall they got, the more confused she became. Where were the Mothers? There was no way they’d just let them waltz into this building unencumbered. They had to be there somewhere.
At the first intersection where another hall crossed the one they were walking in, Josie gave a signal for the group to break into two. Rain was sent with Seth, Adam, and a handful of other soldiers down the hallway to the left while Josie took the others straight.
It was clear from the gestures that Josie had made that Seth was now in charge of their group. While it made sense for him to lead because he was the most skilled of all of them, he also had no idea what he was walking into. The commanders had asked detailed questions about the layout of the building and had all of the troops headed to Gretchintown study it, but that didn’t mean that Seth was truly familiar with the building.
Rain knew where they were headed, though. If they continued down this hallway, first they’d reach IW--the Insemination Ward. Beyond that, they’d come to the medical lab where the fetuses were kept. Through that large room was one of the few access points where one could reach The Bridge. As much as Rain had always wondered what the Bridge looked like, she didn’t want to find out at the moment, not the hard way, anyhow.
Seth kept them moving, flattened against walls, guns at the ready, some of them walking backward in case they were attacked from behind. Rain was facing forward, on Seth’s left with Adam across from her. The troops behind her were unfamiliar to her. She had to stay focused on what she was doing. The moment a brown uniform appeared in front of her, it would be time to start shooting.
They made it all the way to the door that separated the Insemination Ward from the main medical building. Rain assumed it had to be locked, but Seth was able to kick it open. They entered in their combat formation, each of them covering one another in every direction.
Once again, the halls were deserted. It was so odd, surreal, almost. Where the hell were the Military Mothers?
Seth turned right down a hallway Rain had never been down before. If they had gone straight and to the left, they would’ve ended up in the area where the dressing rooms were with the rooms that were used for the insemination along the right wall, perpendicular to the hallway with the dressing rooms. There were some other halls up there as well that Rain had never been in. She had no idea where they were going now.
A glance at Adam let her know that he did. She had to assume that he and Walt had been the ones to tell the commanders about this hallway and where it led. His face was a bit more pale than usual, with a bit of a green tinge as they marched along, still at the ready.
She had to assume that they were headed to the part of IW that he and his fellow Dicks were familiar with, their holding rooms, their training facilities, and the cafeteria. It would be difficult for him to come back here, she knew that for sure. But there was nothing she could do at the moment to make him feel better, not even reach across the hallway and squeeze his hand. All she could do was hold their formation and continue to shuffle along, wondering where the enemy was.
Josie’s voice came over the comm Seth wore on his shoulder. They all had one, but it was only his that emitted her voice. “We’ve reached point one,” she said, something Rain didn’t understand but Seth seemed to. “No Mothers in sight.”
“Copy,” Seth said, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. “Advancing on point two now.”
Rain desperately wanted to ask what point one was, but again, there was no time, and she was a soldier at the moment, a cog in the wheel of war. She had to keep moving forward with her fellow cogs or else the entire machine would fall apart.
Another set of doors stood in front of them, thick metal doors that seemed to indicate not just anyone was allowed to go through here. Rain had to believe that the second they made it through those doors, assuming they could even blast their way in, the Mothers would be waiting on the other side, opening fire and annihilating all of them.
Again, Seth used his foot to test the door. Miraculously, the door on the left, the one he’d kicked, swung open far enough for them to see into the hallway. It appeared to be empty. Seth motioned for them to move through the narrow space, which they did, crowding together to squeeze through.
The lighting changed here. In the part of the building she was more familiar with, the lights were bright, and there were several light rods in each overhead case. Here, there were merely bare bulbs that hung from the ceiling spaced out so that there were plenty of areas full of shadows. The walls weren’t the pristine white of the other part of the building. Instead, they were a dull gray.
Rain stole a glance at Adam and saw that his jaw was tensed up like he either wanted to punch someone or run away. She couldn’t blame him for being anxious to be back here. Nothing about this was easy for him or Walt--or any of them, for that matter. They were back in the same place they’d been held prisoner and tortured for the vast majority of their lives. It would be traumatic for anyone to be back in that situation.
Every step forward that Rain took, she was certain they were about to be fired upon by a thousand angry Military Mothers. Her heart was pounding in her chest as their boots fell on the cement floor, echoing slightly despite their care.
Seth led them down a hallway, turning to the left. Ahead of them, there was another door. Rain had never seen it before, but judging by the expression she saw on Adam’s face, he had. He knew this place better than anyone else on their team, except for Walt, who was probably living his own hell, yet Seth was the one driving them on. At the next door, they slowed for Seth to test the barrier to see if they could get through without having to blast their way in.
Seth’s boot raised off of the ground. He extended his leg, taking aim for the door on the right, preparing to test the barrier to see if it was locked.
His foot never made it to the door. Before Seth could even give the door a kick, it came flying open, slamming into his leg and knocking him to the ground as the other door flew open as well. Rain and the others immediately opened fire the second they saw brown uniforms and heard the familiar sound of gunfire hailing in their direction.
It was exactly what she’d been afraid of the entire time they’d been advancing through the Insemination Ward. The Military Mothers weren’t retreating or trying to hide to keep from being injured. No, the Military Mothers were luring them in, and like a greedy rat swiping at a piece of cheese, they had fallen for it. The cat’s claws were extended now, and Rain couldn’t help but think she was about to find herself in the belly of the beast.