"It's the only way out," I said, voice low but firm.
"We have girls with us," Sinn replied, the old reflex of a man trained in a world that still made that distinction.
"Sooner or later they find a way through that door," I answered. "And when one gets in—"
I let the sentence die. The wet sounds rising from outside finished it for me.
"Survey it first," he conceded.
I moved to the wall where Code waited.
Code climbed like the wall belonged to him. Fingers hooked cleanly into each hold, boots finding the chipped sockets with perfect precision. No wasted motion. His body flowed upward in steady, powerful pulls, shoulders rolling, back muscles flexing under his shirt, long hair swaying with each reach. He crested the top and rose to his feet on the thick concrete ledge, wind immediately whipping his hair across his face. He stood tall, arms slightly out, eyes closed, breathing deep like a man tasting real air for the first time in years.
