Magical Mystery Tour

Chapter Sixty-Seven: John's POV

John's POV-
Dhani led us quickly into a large room full of weapons. He handed each of us a gun and a sharp knife. George took his without a thought, but I looked at the gun in my hand. I was shot by one of these and no I was required to carry one? Dhani looked at me and I sighed. We went on through the room and Dhani handed us vests and several gadgets before he led outside to where a helicopter was waiting for us. We all climbed in and Dhani signaled for the pilot to go.
After a few minutes of rising in the air and heading in the direction of Bellamy's hideout, Dhani started speaking as he handed out back packs that looked oddly like parachutes. "We have twenty minutes to get in, get Valeri, and get to the rendezvous point." He said over the sound of the spinning propellers about our heads. "They'll be able to hear us coming so we're dropping from about a mile away."
"Dropping?" George asked putting on his pack. It occurred to me suddenly why these packs looked like parachutes.
"Don't pull your parachute until you're positive Bellamy's watchmen won't see it. If they see it you're dead."
"How do we know if they'll be able to see us or not?" I asked loudly. Dhani rolled his eyes.
"You'll know." He said waving it off, "Now, I have no idea what the inside of this place looks like, so once we get in, we have to be careful. More than likely there will be guards all over. Our time starts as soon as our feet hit the ground so take off at a run." George and I both nodded and Dhani looked out the door as we seemed to approach Bellamy's hideout.  George and I looked down and I was shocked at how small the place was. It looked like a farm house of some kind. It couldn't be hard to get in and find Valeri. Dhani gave us a signal and then George was suddenly falling out of the helicopter like he'd been doing it his entire life. Dhani gestured for me to go and I took in a deep breath before I jumped.
I was falling so fast I barely had time to breathe. I looked at the building below us trying to figure out when to pull the chord for my chute. I saw George's yellow parachute pulled out before I quickly fell past him. I pulled my chute in a hurry and let out a quick breath as I was jerked suddenly. I looked at the ground and braced myself as I touched down. That was both thrilling and something I was never going to do again if I could help it.
I saw George and then I saw Dhani land. He ran toward me and gestured George over. He handed me some kind of ear piece and did the same to George as he put one in himself.
"We can't risk using telepathy to talk." He said seriously, "Use this if we get separated. I say we all take a different entrance. John you take the back, George get the side and I'll get the front. If you get the chance, use your powers. They won't hesitate to try and kill you." He was serious as can be and George and I nodded quickly. He took off and George and I looked at each other. I nodded to him and then he took off after Dhani. It was odd to me how quickly he was able to sink into this sort of thing. First to sign his name, first to except his weapons, first to jump out of a helicopter that was hundreds of feet off the ground. He was never so brave before. I ran on after them  and skidded to a stop when I heard noise inside. I had to find a way around back without being seen. I followed the line of trees around the house until I came to a barn. I walked around it slowly before I figured I better be armed. I drew my gun and walked around the barn quietly. No one was out here. I saw the back door on the second floor that you could reach via staircase. I carefully went up them and found the door standing wide open. I looked inside and saw several men standing around talking about something that seemed important.
"George," I said quietly, "where are you?"
"Downstairs, trying to climb through a window." He mumbled back. "Why?"
"I need you to make some noise. Get these guys downstairs." There was suddenly a loud thump from downstairs and one of the men frowned. "More than that."
"Hang on!" He growled. The next thing I heard was a gun shot and my entire body stiffened. That sound shook every inch of me and I squeezed my eyes closed. When I opened them again I saw all the men running downstairs. Perfect. I went inside and went through the doorway that led into a hallway. There were only two other rooms on this floor. Valeria had to be here somewhere. A small feeling of worry crept over me suddenly. How do we know Valeri is here? How do we know Bellamy was keeping her with him? I looked into the room closest to me and found a group of men sitting around a table playing cards. Did they care that someone was shooting at them downstairs? A radio chattered in the room and the men stood up quickly. I started to panic. I was in the open. I had to hide somewhere, so I went into the next room hoping and praying no one was in there.
I looked out through the cracked door and saw all the men scrambling down the staircase to the ground floor. I was safe for a second. I turned airing to see the room I was in and found it looked very much like a kid's bedroom. There was a bed in the corner and toys scattering the floor, and more importantly there was my Valeri standing in the middle of the floor looking up at me. I rushed to her and lifted her up off the floor carefully.
"Hi Daddy." She said as she kissed my cheek. I brushed her white blond hair away from her fa and marveled at how quickly she'd grown. Just a few days ago she was a little baby and now she looked like a toddler and she was talking. "I missed you!" I smiled a little and kissed her forehead. She looked so much like me. I didn't think she'd look like me at all.
"Dhani, I've got her, what do I do now?" I asked looking outside her room to make sure I was still safe.
"Get to the rendezvous point." Dhani said, sounding like he was a bit busy. "Be careful. I'll be there soon. You go on too George." I walked down the hall the way I'd come and hurried down the steps.
"Where us going, Daddy?" Valeri asked as I hurried around the back of the barn. I set her down to catch my breath and think of a way back to where we'd landed.
"We are going to go see Mummy." I said to answer her question. She grinned at me and I lifted her up again. I carried her through the woods, being careful not to run into any trees or people. I stopped when I came to a yellow parachute, but I didn't know whether is mine or Dhani's or even George's. I looked around and found George running toward us.
"Where's Dhani?" he asked panting. I out Valeri down and shook my head.
"No idea." I said looking around for the person who was supposed to be in charge. "We're running out of time." Valeri walked over to George and he looked down at her. She reached her arms up and he looked at his hands. I could see the heat coming off of them and he pulled the sleeves of his jacket over her hands before he lifted her up.
Dhani appeared suddenly and he stopped, "Our ride is this way." We nodded and followed after him quickly. I felt like we'd been running for ages by the time we reached a helicopter. Dhani opened the door and I got in quickly. George passed up Valeri and he climbed in next. Dhani got in and then the helicopter started up.
As we rose into the air, I heard yelling and then I heard the sound of gunfire. Dhani cursed and struggled to get the door shut as we rose higher and bullets pelted their way into the outside of the helicopter. The door slammed and I sat down next to George with a deep breath. Valeri hid her face in George's shoulder and whimpered. George started to comfort her, but he was still too hot from using his power. He kissed the top of her head in as much I comfort as he could offer.
"What took you so long?" I asked looking to Dhani. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.
"I was looking for Bellamy." He said, "Or Stryker, but neither of them were anywhere to be found." He sounded frustrated.
"He was broadcasting from a different location." George said remembering the feed we had seen, "I thought about that as I fell through the side window." I chuckled and found I just glad we were on our way back to HQ. More importantly I was glad to have Valeri back.
"Can I talk to Lilly now?" I asked, wanting to tell her we were okay and that we were on the way back. Dhani shook his head.
"No. When we land I'll tell Midge we're back, and she can get Serena and Lilly down to see you." He said calmly.
"Will she be able to see Valeri?" I asked looking over at her. She was slowly falling asleep. Dhani let out a sigh.
"For a second, Valeri will have to go to the infirmary for a check up to make sure she's not injured and her powers are okay." He said. "I'll tell Midge to bring Lilly and Serena to the infirmary." I nodded and leaned back in my seat. I didn't realize just how tired I was until then. I looked over at George and he looked back as he put his arms around Valeri now, holding her as she finally fell asleep.