Ten minutes passed.
We didn't talk. We didn't move. We waited.
The room was still except for the hum of the relay in Anthony's hand. Alexis stayed crouched beside Camille, adjusting the cloth over her shoulders again and again, even though it was already secure. Evelyn sat in the farthest corner with her arms locked around her knees, blindfold untouched. Sienna was beside me. She hadn't let go.
My boots were still leaving stains.
The blood was beginning to dry now, cracking against the fabric, flaking when I moved my hands. I didn't try to brush it off.
A sound outside broke the quiet.
Low. Rhythmic.
Rotors.
A minute later, wind struck the entrance as the hatch above the corridor peeled open and floodlights cut through the smoke. Dust and soot whipped past our feet. A rope was thrown down. Then another. And then they dropped in.
