Exposing ELE (ELE Series #3) by Courtney Nuckels, Rebecca Gober

to leave this horrible area. I focus my powers and walk us through the doors and into a short, empty hallway. No windows or cells dot this hallway. Within a few steps, we are at a new set of doors. This one looks like it has a type of keycard access panel that's lit with a red dot.
    Ignoring the security measures they put in place, I walk Tony through the reinforced doors. My back goes rigid, my muscles tense and Tony pulls me to the side, behind a pair of fake Ficus trees.
    This area is not empty. Not at all! There are dozens of guards coming to and from what I assume is a command center. Cubicles are set up in geometric patterns with computer workstations at each one. There are women and men sitting behind most of the computers. We stay silent and hide behind the little cover the trees offer. I just hope that nobody possesses the gift to see us.
    We wait a few minutes, observing all that’s going on. I watch the workers and the guards who are dressed in matching black uniforms, hustling here and there. Every once in a while a few people in blue surgical scrubs come and go from what I assume is a break room. I look around trying to best assess our plan of action, as does Tony.
    A man in scrubs approaches in our direction. I lean into Tony on impulse and he puts his arm around me. I hold my breath when the man gets close enough to see us. Seeing he has navy eyes, I let out a breath. He passes us without notice and opens a door in the corner of the room. Before he steps into the room, I catch a glimpse of several racks filled with surgical equipment and scrubs. I can tell that Tony takes notice of it too.
    “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” I ask Tony.
    “You tell me. You're the one listening to my mind,” he jokes.
    “Funny.” I look up at him and roll my eyes. “I'm thinking we may not be this lucky next time.”
    “True. We better go incognito then.”
    I nod my head.
    We wait for the guy to exit the small supply closet. Once he's far enough away, we make our move. I pull Tony into the closet. We look around at the medical supplies, scanning the shelves. There are several sets of surgical scrubs stacked on the top shelf. We both grab a pair at least one size bigger than we usually wear to fit over our clothes. We put them on as quickly as possible.
    “You ready?” he asks me.
    “Yes.” I say. I let go of our invisibility and do something I haven't done in a while: I reach for the doorknob. We exit the closet with the greatest of care to not draw attention to ourselves. Without the veil of invisibility, it makes me feel completely vulnerable. Thankfully, nobody even acknowledges our presence. We walk through the main room, taking time to peek in when we reach the break area. We both try to keep our eyes focused downward. I feel naked and exposed out in the open like this.
    Suddenly alarms are blaring and strobe lights are flashing. “What the heck did we do?”
    “I don't think we did anything,” he says, trying not to panic.
    All the people around us stop what they’re doing and begin running in the same direction. A guard yells out above the chaos, “Code Orange.”
    I glance at Tony momentarily and hear him say, “Just run with them.” I nod my head and we’re off. We follow the masses of people out into the courtyard that runs along the fence line towards the front gates. I immediately get nervous as the guards with guns begin pointing them in our general direction.
    We watch as all the people from inside form a barrier at the gates. Tony and I quickly line up alongside them, trying desperately to play the part.
    The alarms and strobe lights die off almost instantaneously and everyone around us stands stoically, not moving a muscle. Facing forward, eyes never wavering. The doors we came through open one last time and my stomach drops. Zack and Dr. Hastings emerge carrying massive assault rifles. I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat. They come to the middle of the courtyard and wait…