LOVE BUG

CHAPTER 73: LOVE BUG

I messed around and tried to do the Rebels' logo (in the header) like I imagined it 😈  What do you think?

Once the black dots start to vanish from her sight, and her eyes get used to the bright lights around, Anastasia recognizes the hallways they have studied so many times on the map. They are exactly as she has imagined, exactly like any other building: all light gray, shiny and empty. Although climbing up the stairs to the 15th floor isn't as easy as running her gaze over the paper again and again.

The steps appear endless, and her heart keeps thumping faster to pump the adrenaline through her restless legs. That's surely why, even if the guys are fast – except Nathaniel who is careful to adjust his pace to hers, always seeking her gaze – she is easily following with her petite steps.

It is so different from the crippling worry that has invaded her minutes ago. Now, Nathaniel is with her, and with the hold of his hand, she feels safer, while it also makes her warier of the dangers around, creating a strong urge in all her muscles to make sure he is safe too.

The closer they are getting, the more this adrenaline rush, fueled by a mix of fear and determination, is tingling in her veins, and when she glimpses the air vent, it is sparking in electricity on the surface of her skin.

"Molly just sent me a text to tell me they got out of the Armed Forces' headquarters," Andy says proudly, while Sacha is working on the air vent, and Nathaniel is checking her harness for the millionth time already.

Yet she can still hear everyone's breath of relief after this announcement. A part of the Love Bug is done. A part of the team is safe.

"Perfectly on time," Hadi notes, and it is even truer as Sacha opens the air vent.

Everything has gone perfectly, exactly like they have planned, so far. Aren't they supposed to face holdups and small hazards? Or are they really the perfect team that has anticipated everything?

She would love to believe it, but she can't help the bad feeling crawling up her guts that it will catch up with them.

"Now, it's all on you. We're counting on you." Nathaniel's special handshake and meaningful nod to Sacha bring all the reality of the situation crashing on her.

They are about to enter this narrow air duct, and its material is interfering with the earpieces, so Sacha, who is staying here, will be the only one hearing Andy. He has to make sure the guards don't exceptionally enter the mainstream computer room and check that the area is safe to get out once they are done, or more exactly if – if they manage to reach the ultra-secured room and set the Love Bug.

The stakes are so high that it is dizzying, and Sacha might be the backup of their safety, but actually, each one of them holds the lives of the others. One mistake from one person, and they are all going down to hell.

It is crushingly heavy on the stray kitten's shoulders when her legs are already wobbly, and she will also have the Love Bug in her shaky hands, literally.

She has known all of this since the start, and it isn't like she hasn't repeated every step a million times in her head. However, it can never prepare for the D-day.

Anyone can talk, yet is she strong enough to act?

The feeling invading her is nothing like she has ever experienced. It is as freezing as dread, as overpowering as helplessness, and as stifling as panic. She is spiraling between those emotions, never grasping one in particular, so it is impossible to fight them, and even oxygen becomes unattainable in this vortex.