Magnolias Of The Sea

My Escape...

It took some time to avoid the marines on watch. It took even more time to figure out the layout of this stupid base. A left, a right, down, up, two rights- it was a maze. Finally, with a stroke of luck, I rounded a corner to find my destination. With bold letters on the door, it said, MarineFord Information Center.

"Bingo," I whispered as I slipped into the room. Right when I entered the room, I was greeted by three Marines who were looking over documents. Before they could react, I shot vines from my hands to restrain them.

"Halaman* restraint!" The vines wrapped around their bodies and their mouths. They tried to twist or scream for help but to no avail. I felt bad for the poor guys but the work I'm doing was important. I whistled for Yugo's cue to jump out of my bag. The red panda flew out of my bag and started looking through the papers. I joined him in the search by flipping through the documents that they had on the table. I found nothing. Then I opted to look through the filing cabinets. I could feel my heart race as time was ticking by. There was too much to look through and not enough time till Mister Smokes found out I left my cell.

"Dammit!" I slammed my hands on the drawer full of files until I heard a little squeak coming from Yugo. He held a slim file. From the title, I could already tell it was the right one and grinned. Phase 1 is complete. Yugo hopped off of the drawer he was searching through and went to my bag to dump the file inside. I then turned my attention to the squirming men behind us and started phase 2 of our plan. I cracked my knuckles in excitement. With the wave of my hands, the vines raised the men in the air. When they were ready to exit the room, I took out a bottle of rum out of my bag and popped it open. I poured the contents all over the place. The room now smelled like a Friday night out in some the bar before I lit a match. It caused the my hostages to mumble in terror as I smiled.

"Don't worry boys, it's just a little fire to keep us toasty," This only made the men struggle more as they mumbled for help. So dramatic.

"On the count of 3. 1...2..3!" Yugo immediately left the room while I dropped the match. We all exited the room with a moment to spare before the fire consumed the entire room. The men kept being yanked from left to right as the vines were following my lead. We took a few turns later before we heard people yell about a fire. I increased my speed as we descended to the lower levels of the building. We were about to make another turn until I heard footsteps coming our way. Shit! My head immediately turned to an empty room. Yugo and I rushed into the room with the hostages, while my hands go for the door and closed it behind us. As if on cue, a woman with a sword sprinted past the door. I waited patiently as the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance. Relief settled in my bones while I caught my breath. My eyes looked at our new surroundings with adrenaline pumping my veins. It was a meeting room for big shots. It was easy to tell since there was a big oval table and multiple chairs surrounding it. The room was vacant aside from all of us, and something told me that no one was gonna come in anytime soon. We'll only be safe for so long. We need to escape right now...but how? I scanned the room until I glanced at a wide window. It gave a lovely view of the city in the distance. I walked up to the window and opened it with ease. But my hopes were halted by what was down below. We were still four floors up. I contemplated how I'd get down before I heard the shuffling of my hostages behind me. I don't need to worry. I have three lovely helpers right here. A dumb grin sat on my face at the thought. My head turned to my new friends.

"I know we only met each other, but I'm gonna need your help," They all shook their heads 'no' at my request. I ignored them, of course, and turned my head to Yugo. He was already sitting on the windowsill, ready for my next move.

"Head to the ship. It's better if I move on my own for this one," He lifted his paw to give me a thumbs-up as he stretched out his wings. My furry friend gracefully jumped off the windowsill and flew to where our ship was. Once I knew he was far away from the marine base, I turned around to look at my new 'friends.' I lifted my hand and flicked a finger at the vines that were holding them hostage.