Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 27: Trapped in Atlantis

After barely avoiding death from the jaws of Boris, Marina lowered the UFO close to the ground between the decrepit buildings of the Residential Zone.

It took a while for everyone, Callie especially, to calm themselves.

After Akikta's heartbeat slowed, he spoke. "Now what?"

"Now we find the others," Marina responded.

"How?" He questioned, knowing her headphones broke way back at the Rejuvenation Zone, which was currently up in flames—if not already reduced to ashes.

"Ricky, do it," Marina instructed, with Ricky nodding in response and then opening his mouth.

It looked like he was about to scream, but nothing came out. After a second of hanging his mouth wide open, Ricky closed it and stared ahead.

"What was that?" Akikta asked, but Marina held up a finger, signaling him to be quiet.

After a moment of silence, Ricky pointed his fin to a random broken road. The road in question had a ceiling made of destroyed buildings hanging over it like a canopy. Marina piloted the UFO through the road, moving at a glacial pace.

"What just happened?" Marie was the first to ask, which Marina happily explained.

According to Ricky, he and his brother share an exact genetic mutation within their DNA. This mutation allows them both to speak through extremely high-pitched sounds that travel vast distances. The thing is, these high-pitched sounds are on frequencies that no other living thing can detect.

The best way Akikta could understand was by imagining two men living in a huge valley, but on opposite ends from each other. Instead of using a phone or at least mailing letters to one another, the two communicated by screaming and listening to each other's echoes. What made their screams special was the fact that no other animal, no matter how close they were to either man, could hear them—so long as they screamed at a perfect pitch.

Apparently, this was how Rick and Ricky communicated with each other through Atlantis. Akikta wasn't sure how their sounds traveled through all these solid structures, but he determined it was best not to question it.

After a few minutes of slowly hovering through the ruined landscape, the group came upon a large observatory-type building. There were cracks along the observatory's walls, and the massive telescope that Akikta was so used to seeing on observatories was not present.

"They're in there," Ricky stated as the group peered up at the ruined observatory.

There wasn't any way to get inside, at least not from the bottom on their side. The other side of the observatory was blocked off by a massive wall, which wasn't actually a wall, but rather the rubble of multiple destroyed structures. Thankfully, there was a small crease in the makeshift ceiling, allowing the group to hover through and get above the ruined sectors.

They were met with red skies, and a terrifying black serpent in the distance—Boris. He was moving in their direction. While he obviously hadn't seen them, they didn't want to stick around for that to change.

Luckily, the observatory had a small panel missing, which served as an opening for them to get inside. The UFO quickly darted into the building, and they got a good look at the circular area below.

The whole building looked just as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. To make matters worse, this was the first building Akikta had seen where the interior lights didn't work, so the only light source was the red sky seeping in from the broken roof panel.

A sudden scream caught the group off-guard. "YOU'RE BACK!" it shouted from below. The voice was Pearl, who jumped enthusiastically at their return. Akikta saw Marina smile wide, wider than she usually does.