Read Epic: Book 03 - Hero for Free Online Page B

passing them in the hallways that way. He could slip into Room 14 from behind. Once he was there, he could wait until 0650. He’d be at the hangar for seven o’clock.
    He sat down at an empty table and began to eat. He wondered if Clarke had set him up. He wondered how long the captain had known Svetlana was coming back. He wondered if the unit knew, too. Dostoevsky had known. The Nightmen knew. Or at least, they knew a medic was coming. He wasn’t sure if they knew it was her. But that didn’t matter—Dostoevsky was the only Nightman who knew who she was anyway.
    Why send me to meet her? Then again, meeting Svetlana was partially Scott’s own doing. The captain had reached for his comm to call Max, and Scott stopped him. What was I thinking? Max should have been the one to fetch her. Scott should have let Clarke make the call. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself.
    It took only ten minutes to eat. The rest of his time was spent waiting and watching the clock. He was out by 0555.

    When the morning rush came and the operatives filed into the cafeteria, the hallways were left clear in their wake. The thought crossed Scott’s mind several times that he could have simply waited in his own quarters. But he wanted to see Room 14. He wanted to partake in its silence. He wanted the decent memories it would evoke.
    Arriving at the room, he pushed the door open and entered. The familiar smell hit his nose—the odor of habitation. Food left out in the lounge, and laundry piled beneath bunks. It smelled like a dorm. He missed it more than anything.
    Walking through the room, he was surrounded by miscellaneous symbols of the Fourteenth. The chess board. Travis’s comic books. Jayden’s cowboy hat. Only two mattresses were made, both on the same bunk. Varvara’s and Esther’s.
    As he sat on the mattress that used to be his, he ran his hand along its plastic coating. It had been one of the most uncomfortable mattresses he’d ever slept on. This particular morning it didn’t feel quite so bad.
    The bunks belonging to the Nightmen were in the corner. They slept as far apart from the rest of the unit as they could. Mingling was not a part of their lives.

    Scott sat on his bunk for half an hour, just listening to the silence, looking around, and remembering how camaraderie used to feel. He was unaccustomed to the room being silent.
    Six-fifty came. It was time to meet her.
    He fought the urge to remain sitting. She could find the room by herself; she didn’t need a map. He could stay right there, and it wouldn’t matter at all. He could let her come to him.
    He rose from his old bed. He’d told Clarke he would meet her. What other choice did he have? Giving Room 14 a final look, he set out into the halls.

    It was still dark outside, as he knew it would be. It was 0659. She was probably in sight, at least in the sky. He looked upward. Even if her transport was approaching, it was too overcast to make anything out.
    When he arrived at the hangar, it was 0702. He was technically two minutes late, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. It would take the transport that long to settle down.
    Technicians bustled about the hangar as Scott walked past. He cast his eyes to the strip. There were numerous transports arriving, some civilian, others not. Some were already perched on the ground. There was a chance she had already emerged and was waiting amid the throng of people. He might have to actively search.
    I should have asked Clarke which transport she was in. I should have been here ten minutes ago, too.
    She was somewhere, mixed in with the unexpected frenetic activity of the morning. He sighed, causing vapors to drift from his mouth. He looked at his watch. 0706. Where could she be? He pushed past a pair of technicians and hurried across the hangar.
    The heightened activity level didn’t make sense. Why were so many people about? Was it always this packed before sunrise? As a mechanic made his way past him, Scott grabbed him by the