43
I carefully turned around to face Hudson Blake standing right behind me.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, shrinking back. "I'm so cold. I just wanted to borrow a coat..."
Simon Harper lay still nearby, the blood under him already darkened.
Hudson glanced at him briefly before looking away. "Get back to your original spot."
Under his gun, I slowly walked back to the corner and crouched down.
On the other side, Ethan Jackson and his group hesitated for a moment before finally giving me a nod of agreement.
I took a deep breath, going over every step of the plan once more.
Focusing intently like this, my fear slowly began to dissipate.
Anne was the last to learn about the plan but the only one who knew it in its entirety.
"No," she immediately rejected it, "it's too dangerous."
"I know, but there's no better way. Besides, I think I can pull it off," I said.
Her face was pale, and it took her a while to respond, "Then I'll do it instead. Let's switch roles."
I knew she would make such a request.
"Anne, you know my mobility is terrible. I can't do your task; I would mess it up."
"But... but..."
I gently held her hand, "Trust me."
We've been through so many life-and-death situations that we shared an unspoken understanding that words couldn't convey.
Finally, she made up her mind, "Alright, I'll handle outside. You be careful."
I was about to go over the details when a girl with round glasses suddenly squeezed beside us.
"What are you planning to do?" she asked.
"I don't understand what you mean," I frowned.
This sudden unknown factor set off alarm bells in my mind.
She reconsidered and rephrased her question, "How can I help?"
At that moment, a flash of lightning split the sky.
It was barely past eleven, but the sky was as dark as dusk.
There was no time left.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Emily Heath," she replied. "Heath like the flower."
"Follow my instructions," I briefly explained the plan to her.
She gave me a long look and didn't say anything else.
Another flash of lightning cut through the clouds. After a long moment, thunder followed.
The temperature kept dropping. The rain hadn't started yet, but the cold was already unbearable.
"It's going to rain," someone reminded us. "Should we go inside?"
"But... I'm scared..." Emily Heath said, looking at another short-haired girl.
"He said observing was optional, right? If we stay out here, we'll get hypothermia," Emily turned to the group, "If we go in together, we can watch out for each other."
"I agree," a boy next to Ethan Jackson stood up, visibly nervous and shivering as he spoke.
One by one, more people spoke up, while others still hesitated, torn between following the group and staying out of the warehouse.
Emily walked over to Hudson Blake, "Sir, aren't you coming inside? It's about to rain."
Hudson glanced at her without speaking.
Impressive.
I thought to myself.
This girl had not only remarkable composure and courage but also understood my intentions.
"Plop."
The clouds finally broke, and raindrops the size of beans began to fall.
With Emily taking the lead, the crowd started moving toward the warehouse in small groups.
However, Hudson still showed no intention of going inside.
Soon, only Anne, Old Grant, Ethan, and I remained on the platform.
Almost the entire assembly point was in the warehouse. What was he waiting for?
Was he worried about Ethan?
The situation reached a stalemate.
"We're out of time," Anne urged quietly. "I can handle it alone. Let him go inside."
With no other choice, I signaled Ethan to enter the warehouse. I wanted to leave someone to help Anne, but it wasn't going to work out.
Strangely, even after that, Hudson still didn't move. It seemed he was determined to follow Lucas Westwind's orders to the letter.
"Sir..."
My voice trembled from the cold, and I wiped the rain from my face.
"Everyone else went inside. Aren't you going too? If something goes wrong in there and Lucas gets angry, we'll all suffer."
Hudson looked at me, then at the two remaining people. Anne sat hugging her knees in the rain, and Old Grant stood nearby on his bad leg.
Something in my words seemed to affect him.
He hesitated for a moment, then finally raised his gun and walked with me toward the warehouse.
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