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"She should drink, the little rat!"

"For Christ’s sake, I don’t know the dosage!" I shouted "We’ll just tie her up!"

Chloe looked chastened

"This isn’t a game," I yelled "These are people’s lives"

And a stupid sob came up in my chest, just as Ji as we tied her hands Not even "Thank you for not druggingher She just wandered over to Payton and stood staring down at hiirl was clearly psychotic

After Anna’s hands were bound, Astrid and I tried to wake up Jake

He obviously had retained so pill "juice" before he puked

"I know! I know!" Henry volunteered "When our y drink!"

"Sure, find one," I said

It was okay We had time to try it, even if it was a dumb, little kid kind of a solution

The cadets would sleep for at least eight hours We were out of danger But we did have to figure out what to do with the it Sheat her, because she looked up

"That was very brave, Dean," she said to me

"No," I said "I was scared"

"That doesn’t ht of Payton’s face after I’d shot him didn’t make me feel brave at all It made me want to throw up It made me feel low and dirty and ashamed

"What do we do now? What do we do with them?" I asked her

Henry and Caroline came back with the drink

I opened Jake’s mouth and tried to pour the contents of the little vial in

Jake choked and sputtered I think it was redients of the drink, but who cared

"I say we drag them up onto the roof and lock theuns"

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

ALEX

0 MILES

"Restricted area, boys!" a soldier said, barring us fro on the military shuttle

"Our mom’s in the Air Force," Niko lied "She told us to coo!"

"Oh, uh, okay," the soldier gru us past

We slipped onto the shuttle and the doors closed right behind us

The soldiers around us paid no attention to us Some of theuess It was chaotic

The shuttle opened up into the C terh the big glass bays, where you’d usually see a Jet Blue 757, ready to take people to NY or Atlanta or wherever, there were iant Airbuses painted coates, they had suess if anyone needed to coot sprayed down here There were also bins with clothing and gear near the entrances from the deconta purposefully every which way Many earing flight suits with air masks Niko and I were the only two people who didn’t seeo

"Hey!" said a voice, headed for us

"Come on," Niko said, and alked as fast as we could away from whoever it ho had noticed us

"You kids!"

We searched frantically for any sign of Mrs Wooly

"You’re Wooly’s kids!"

We turned then

It was Goldsht Wooly was putting you on a plane!"

"We need to find her," I told him

"Now is not the time!" he said "They moved the whole operation up"

"It’s life or death," Niko pleaded, grabbing his arm "Please, help us! Do you knohere she is?"

"Last I saw she was near gate 33" Goldsmith pointed "You better hurry!"

We had a direction now and we ran, darting into the strea

We ca, "Christopher Caldwell, I’ve known you since you were a kid! You’re gonna get in that chopper and you’re gonna run ot orders Orders!"

"They’re a bunch of kids, Caldwell, and they’re gonna be burned to a crisp A bunch of kids you could save Think about it They’ll give you a medal!"