Chapter 27 - Clover

CHAPTER 27 - CLOVER

" K eep going!" Ike passes me as we run down the hallway, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with him.

I'm faltering. So out of breath, I'm gasping. Not because of the running, though. Because I can't get the image of those dead men out of my head. I might be in shock.

"Come on!" Ike insists. He's gripping my arm so tight now, I'm sure there'll be a massive bruise when this is all over.

If it ever ends, that is. Because right as I think these words, an alarm starts blaring. It's not close, because it's not that loud. But an alarm is an alarm.

"Run faster!"

"I am," I yell back. "I'm running as fast as I can!"

"That's Collin's alarm, Clover! Which means they're leaving Riggs somewhere Collin can get him. We don't have much time and I still have to convince everyone up top that getting you out is worth the reprisal!"

"What? What's that mean?"

"It means that they might not help us."

"But they're your people!"

We come around a corner and slow as an elevator comes into view. "Doesn't work that way. I'm in charge down here, but ever since Collin came back and that shit with Lowyn?—"

"They demoted you! You're not in charge up there!"

He shoots me a warning look, but doesn't deny it.

"So… all this is for nothing?"

We stop in front of the elevator and Ike pushes the call button. "No. It's the middle of the night. If we can get up top without making a commotion, no one will even know we're there. I've got a truck hidden in the woods for emergencies. Don't worry. It's gonna work."

"‘Don't worry, it's gonna work?'" My mouth just kinda falls open and doesn't recover, that's how stunned I am. "That's your plan?"

"It got us this far, didn't it? We're home free now. All we gotta do is?—"

And this is when we hear her .

"I'm coming to kill you, Ike Monroe! I'm coming to kill you!" Hattie Miller is yelling at the top of her lungs. It's close, too. A few hallway turns away. And she's not alone. There is a thunder of boots as a group of people come running towards us.

Ike and I both look at the elevator, but there's no ticker thing at the top of it letting you know what floor it's on, or how soon it'll be here. It's a thousand feet to the up-top. And even though the elevator I came down in was fast, there's no sign that this one will be here before Hattie.

Ike grabs me by my shoulders and spins me around to face him. "Listen to me. I'll hold her off. As soon as the elevator gets here, you get in and leave."

"What about you? Hell, what about me ? I don't know where your stupid hidden truck is!"

"Ike Monroe!" Hattie bellows. And she is dangerously close now. "I'm coming for you!"

Ike shakes me. "Listen! When the doors open up top, the stairs that go up to my house are right across from it. Go up, leave my house, go right. There's a stable at the end of the village. My horse is in there. He's a big buckskin, can't miss 'im. You take him home."

"What! I can't?—"

"You have to! You can find the horse, there's no way in hell you'll find the truck. His tack is next to his stall. You ride him down the trail behind the stable. Eventually, you'll come to a highway. There's a barn there. Don't stop. Cross the road and head back into the woods."

"Ike Monroe!" Hattie is right around the next corner now. But she's hanging back, being careful. As she should. Ike Monroe has already knocked her out once and killed four men tonight.

"There's a trail in those woods." Ike shakes me again. "Are you listening?" I look up at him and nod my head. "That trail comes out by the waterfall at Sleepy Creek."

"I know where that is!" My words are breathless.

"You'll find your way then."

"What about you?"

He shoots me a crooked smile. "I'm right behind you. But don't wait for me. Just get up there and go! Otherwise, Riggs is dead. And Collin will be the one to do it."

And just as he says this, the elevator doors open with a ding and Hattie Miller starts shooting.

Ike presses something into my hand, pushes me inside, pulls his gun, and starts shooting back.

Bullets come flying at me, pinging off the walls and shattering the mirror inside the elevator. I put my hands over my head, crouching down near the call buttons, then remember I need to push one to make the doors close.

I look up, press the top button, and then huddle in the corner as the bullets keep coming. They pelt against the closing door and the last thing I hear is Hattie Miller screaming, "I'll see you up top, Clover Bradley! I'll see you up top!"