“We need to move,” he whispered.

I pulled Owen closer to my chest, his small body warm against my heavy winter coat.

Major Hayes drew her sidearm, her boots silent on the dark linoleum floor.

“Reyes, take the back stairwell,” Hayes ordered.

“Get them to the medical clinic. It’s a hardened facility.”

Reyes nodded, his face pale under the red emergency lights.

We slipped through the heavy side door just as footfalls echoed down the main hall.

The cold air of the connector bridge hit us, smelling of ozone and wet wool.

Snow lashed against the glass panels of the enclosed walkway.

Jake kept one hand on my shoulder, guiding me forward in the dark.

We ran down three flights of concrete stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Owen whimpered, and I pressed my hand gently over his soft hair to soothe him.

At the bottom of the stairs, Reyes swiped a keycard against a metal reader.

A green light blinked, and the heavy steel door clicked open.

We stepped into the sterile, white-tiled hallway of the base hospital.