Spy School: Why did you leave me? [EDITING]

[Chapter 20]

Nova Iguaçu Volcano

May 18

0930 Hours (9:30 AM)

Ben POV

I thought it was the end. The mission was a failure. Spyder had won. Until I heard a voice. I recognized it as Natalya's.

"Erica and Ben, on the right side there is a path to the bottom of the volcano, where the bomb is. You go. The rest of us will cover you," Natalya said. Then she took a circular cartridge from her pocket, and just before she threw it on the ground, she yelled, "the rest of you, on the ground!" Then she dropped the cartridge, and the air was filled with a smoke so dense we could barely see 3 feet ahead of us.

"This way," Erica said, pulling my arm.

"How can you even see?" I asked.

"I eat a lot of carrots," Erica replied. We approached the pathway. It was quite narrow. But we didn't have time to think about that. We just had to go. We started sprinting down the passageway. We sprinted until the path would no longer let us. By this time it was 9:50. 

"We're never going to make it," Erica said, peering down into the pit of the volcano, 300 feet below us. She took a rope from her belt.

"Attach this. We're repelling down," Erica said. I knew we didn't have much time, so I didn't question her. We leaned off the edge.

"On the count of three, jump off. Don't stop yourself. When you see yourself 50 feet above the ground, grab a hold of the rope and start slowing yourself down." She said. I nodded.

"1....

2.....

3!" She said. Then we both jumped off. It was a terrifying experience, like skydiving, except in skydiving you get 2 minutes of free fall. Here we got 2.3 seconds of it. The ground approached me faster than I thought. I grabbed the rope and pulled myself up it. My legs made contact with the ground. I fell back.

"You good?" Erica asked, untying herself. I nodded and stood up. I looked around, until I spotted it, the bomb. It was attached to a wall.

"Why that position?" I asked.

"So the energy can be transferred into the pillar on the other side." Erica said.

"Um... this might be a bit late... but do you know how to defuse it?" I asked.

"Not this particular model, but I can figure it out," Erica said. "Now grab that wire. Yeah, that one. And bring it here." 

For the next 8 minutes, we tried to defuse it. 

"Well, that's the best I can do," Erica said, standing up.

"How much time till we know if it worked?" I asked.

"30 seconds," Erica said.

"Ok," I said nervously. 

"Ben, Truth or Dare?" Erica said suddenly.

"We're about to die and you're asking this now????" I asked.

"Yes. Now pick," Erica said.

"Um...if we survive, dare," I said.

"I dare you to break up with Jessica," Erica said bitterly.

"Break up with.... Erica, Jessica's my sister." I said, confused.

Erica POV

Oh shoot. Jessica's Ben's sister, not girlfriend. He had a picture of his sister. He hugged his sister. He looks up to his sister. I felt so stupid.

"Why though?" Ben asked. I sighed.

He still doesn't get it. He probably never will. I looked at my watch.

"8 seconds," I said. Ben closed his eyes. I did too. But there was something else. If I was going to die, there was something else I had to do. I walked up to Ben, and before I knew it, my lips were on his. I was only half-aware of the timer counting down.

3....

2....

1....

I closed my eyes and waited for the blast, but it never came. I pulled away.

"Um....we survived?" Ben said awkwardly.

"Yeah," I said. Then I remembered something.

"What about everyone else?" I asked.

"We have to go," I said. We sprinted up the path of the volcano. This time, we knew the landscape, so we went up faster than we came down. In less than 15 minutes, we arrived at the top. There were about 20 Spyder Agents still standing, including Mr. E.

Until now, everything had been going well. We had stopped the bomb, and it was looking like we might actually defeat Spyder. Until of course, Mr. E pointed his gun at Ben. He smiled.

"Ben!" I shouted, as he pulled the trigger. I sprinted towards him, and just managed to push him out of the way so that the bullet wouldn't hit his chest. Instead, it hit his hand. He tumbled onto the ground a few feet away from me.

"Ben. Ben! Ben!" I said, shaking him. He smiled.

"I'm fine. It just grazed my arm," he said, sitting up. 

"Thank god," I said, relieved. But then I saw his arm. "We have to get medical attention to your arm," I said.

"But first, Spyder," Ben said. Then I turned around. I felt rage. But not angry rage. More like protective rage. I sprinted at Mr. E. He tried to aim his gun at me, but it was too late. I struck him straight in the jaw. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Then I proceeded to knock out the remaining agents. The rest of the gang just stared at me, their jaws practically hitting the ground.

Ben POV

After I got shot, Erica just went all out. She knocked the remaining agents out, and even managed to look good while doing it. I looked at the rest of the gang. Their jaws were practically hitting the ground. I smiled. 

And in that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay...

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

- Cookie