Shattered World (Shattered #3)

Chapter Fourteen

R ainer and I spent the night in the museum. By the time we had redressed, night had fallen and he decided it was safer here than anywhere else. I may have debated with his decision, but I never felt safer than when I was in his arms. The press of his gun against my hip throughout the night and knowing what he could do with the weapon also helped.

When dawn arrived, we were quick to replace as much of the fake bones and dirt as possible. Although the broken window was a dead giveaway that someone had been inside, we didn’t need them to know we had found the door.

The trip back to the hotel was boring, nothing out of the ordinary happening. If the reality of the situation, the happiness of finding the door, wasn’t sitting squarely on my chest, I could almost pretend that I was out for a morning stroll with the man I loved.

My joy only grew when we made it back to the hotel, Sasha and Warner already there. Everyone was safe. They wore frowns, clearly coming up empty-handed, but Warner’s gaze turned knowing when he took in my wide grin.

“You found it?” Sasha caught on quickly and Murphy whipped his head toward us from the front desk where he stood.

“No fucking way,” he uttered, letting out a loud whoop, his fist in the air.

Rounding the desk, he bounded toward us, pulling Rainer and me into a tight hug. Rainer wrapped an arm around his friend and I buried myself between them, unable to ignore the thoughts of how this would feel in an entirely different situation. One lacking clothes.

Unfortunately, a harsh tone ruined whatever fantasy was brewing in my head. Caroline stood at the entrance to her office, her eyes wide in shock. It was the first real emotion I had ever seen on her face.

“You found the entrance?” She said again, and pulling myself out of the embrace, I nodded.

“I did. What do we do now?”

Caroline didn’t respond, a single piece of hair falling out of her carefully crafted bun as she spun back toward her office. Shuffling through papers, I followed into the room, refusing to let her off the hook.

We had done as she asked. Risked our lives yet again, and now I wanted answers. I wanted to know exactly how she was getting us inside that bunker.

“Caroline. What is the next step?” My voice was firm, helped by the addition of the others in the room.

Mina, Aiden, and Elizabeth weren’t here, but the information would be easy enough to relay once we had it.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” Caroline muttered, but she was still rifling through papers, not looking up at me.

Stepping around her desk, I got right in her face, forcing her to meet my stare. “What is the plan?”

My demand snapped her out of whatever trance she was in, and she straightened, staring down her nose at me. “That is my business.”

A sharp laugh came from the back of the room, Warner crossing his arms over his chest. Rainer growled low in his throat, Murphy speaking for us all.

“They won’t tell you. They,” he pointed sharply at Rainer and me, “have the location. If you don’t tell us the plan, you’ll never know it.”

Caroline’s brows raised, her lips pursing in annoyance. This wasn’t her game anymore. Not when we suddenly had information she needed. Opening her mouth, I hoped she was about to explain her plan, but she never got the chance.

A loud siren pierced the air, my hands clamping over my ears to deter the noise. Caroline’s face drained of color, repetitive no’s spilling from her lips.

“What the hell is that?” Sasha shouted over the noise.

Caroline started shoving at my body, pushing me out of her office as she began explaining in a hurry.

“They haven’t done this in weeks. Not since the trains started to arrive. The sirens are a warning. When evacuations first started, they sent the guards out, going into every business and home to make sure no one was here that shouldn’t be.”

Just when I thought the road ahead was going to be an easy one, the damn universe had to throw a wrench into that. Because Caroline may be fine, but we sure as hell weren’t supposed to be here. Let alone the other people upstairs.

“Go upstairs. Hide. Do whatever you need to do.” Caroline pushed us the rest of the way out of her office, shutting and locking the door behind her, depositing a key into her pocket.

I didn’t move. We still didn’t have the plan we needed. But as the sirens continued to wail, Murphy grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the elevator.

The five of us huddled into the small box, the movement of the elevator too slow for the alarm still blaring. Stepping off and into the room, we were met with controlled chaos.

Worried looks and alarmed whispers spread throughout the room, but Matthew’s firm voice spoke over all of them.

“Caroline told me this may happen. I have a plan in place,” he assured all the others, although there was a slight tremor in his voice.

I spotted Mina rushing toward us, stopping at Sasha’s side. “Elizabeth and the twins are in their room,” she whispered and Murphy nodded, taking off in that direction.

My gaze scanned the room, looking for one face in particular, but he wasn’t there.

“Aiden?” I asked Mina breathlessly, my heart locking up in my chest.

“He’s at the train station. Far away. He’ll be okay,” Mina assured me and I nodded, although her words did nothing to stop the tremors skating up my spine.

Matthew finally noticed our little group and made his way over. “There is a hidden room on the floor beneath us. There is no key card, only a singular key hole. We should be safe there.”

He held up the key, the others in the room already heading toward the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall.

“And if they break into every room?” Rainer asked with a sneer.

Matthew’s gaze dropped to the gun at his side. “Then I hope you know how to use that thing.”

There was no more time for words as we scrambled with the others down the stairs and into the small room. As Matthew had described, it was hidden in the back, unsuspecting. From the outside, the door was slimmer than the others, looking more like a supply closet than the sprawling room that lay behind.

Everyone crammed inside, the space tight with so many bodies. Murphy and Elizabeth were in the back, the twins holding tight onto their mother’s legs.

I pushed through the others, making our way to them. Murphy pulled me into his arms, two little arms wrapping around my leg. Looking down, I spotted Stephanie, my hand running a soothing hand over her head.

Matthew shut the door behind him, locking us all inside. An eerie silence fell over the room, no one daring to utter a word, most of us too scared to even let out a single breath.

Minutes turned into hours, the sirens still echoing throughout the room. My heart started beating a normal rhythm as more time passed without anyone entering.

But that only lasted for so long. My eyes squeezed shut at the first sound of footsteps against the floor outside. The thudding noise matched the rhythm of my heart, my hand wrapping around Stephanie protectively as Murphy pulled me closer to his chest.

“Rainer,” he urged, and my eyes peeked open to see Rainer and Warner shuffling through the crowd of teary faces.

With their guns poised, they stood before the door, ready to face down whatever waited on the other side. The thudding pounded down the hall, falling silent right outside the door. The knob twisted, refusing to budge, and I held my breath, waiting.

The door began to shake, my hand clamping over Stephanie’s mouth as she let out a terrified squeal. Splinters of wood flew through the air as the door fell open, six masked men on the other side.

They didn’t have a chance to blink, not with Rainer and Warner on the other side. Consecutive shots rang through the air, the bodies falling to the ground in an instant.

We all waited for others to arrive. But after we stood there for another hour, the six bodies bleeding into the floor, I finally realized that was it.

Releasing Stephanie, she slumped into her mother’s arms. Warner and Rainer stepped over the bodies, scanning the hallway, before ushering everyone out of the room and back upstairs.

There were no more rushed steps, everyone shaken and wary as they stepped over the bodies and made their way back to the safety they thought they had. We followed the others, but when we reached the top floor, I knew we needed to head back down.

Surprisingly, Rainer agreed, but only if he went first, making sure no one else was inside the hotel. Our small group meandered down the stairs, deciding that was safer than the elevator.

Rainer canvassed the floor, nodding for us once it was deemed safe. Immediately, I headed toward Caroline’s office, not the least bit surprised that she wasn’t here. I jiggled the knob, pulling with all my might, but it didn’t budge. My mind sprung to the image of the key she had pocketed.

“Back up, Alessia,” Warner muttered, pushing me away from the door.

Lifting his foot up, he kicked with all his might, the door not moving an inch. Rainer and Murphy joined him, the three of them throwing their bodies against the door, but still, it didn’t move.

“What the hell?” Sasha whispered, reading my thoughts exactly.

The men upstairs had easily knocked down that door. Why couldn’t these three do the same?

“Fuck. It’s reinforced,” Warner stated, and the other two shared a desperate look.

Murphy and Rainer tried one last time, but Warner shook his head. “There’s no use. There’s no way we’re getting through that door without a battering ram or a key.”

At that moment, the front door swung open, and Rainer turned with his gun held high. A relieved breath escaped me when Aiden walked inside, his hands raised.

“What did I miss?” He asked, taking in our ashen expressions.

What did he miss? I wanted to laugh, no humor in my bones. Fucking everything. Because Caroline was gone, most likely not coming back, and with her, so was our one chance.