The Algorithm

Chapter ten - Thunder in the Desert

Marinette and Adrien's ribs were aching and their mouths drier than ever. They had had nothing to eat or drink in hours and the sweat they had perspired while jogging did not help quench their thirst. They had arrived in a large garage, it was filled with storage creates and Akuma soldiers running wild.

"You two!" An armored man yelled while pointing at Marinette and Adrien. The blue eyed girl stood at attention while Adrien made a poor attempt to copy her stance, luckily the soldier didn't notice Adrien's clumsiness. "What are you doing standing around?" He scowled. "I need you to do a perimeter search! Get to the ATVs!" He ordered. Marinette and Adrien shot him a quick nod and moved to the far wall where a line of four wheelers were parked.

The group of thirty soldiers were climbing onto the vehicles and one by one, pulling out though the large garage door and into the desert. Marinette was wrong, this was the same Akuma facility where they had tortured her as a child. They were in the Great Victoria desert, and fear gripped Marinette's heart as she realized she might be trapped in that place again if they don't escape now.

The land outside the large opening was desolate, with nothing but a small sandy dirt path surrounded by weed-like grass. The ground was orange and the air was unbearably humid, only made worse by the thick, black uniforms Marinette and Adrien were wearing.

They both ran, even though their legs protested the effort, to the ATVs lined up against the walls. As they approached the vehicles, Marinette gripped Adrien's upper arm and whispered to him. "Listen, these soldiers are doing a perimeter search, once the group starts to disperse you need to stay close to me, we will break off and ruff it until Trixx gets a search party assembled to find us."

"Get moving!" The hollering soldier from before yelled. Marinette and Adrien listened to the order and climbed onto the ATVs. Adrien had a little trouble in the beginning but the controls were self explanatory and soon he was trailing behind the herd of vehicles. They were widely spread out and Marinette was a few meters to his left while the rest kept their distance. Just as Marinette had said, once they reached a certain distance from the facility the soldiers broke off from the group.

Now that Adrien could see the facility from the outside, it looked almost invisible, it was painted to blend into the dessert so well. Large building was built next to a rock formation that could be seen as a small mountain and was masked in blends of orange and red. No wonder GUARD had such a difficult time finding them, they melted into the surroundings so effortlessly.

As the herd of four wheelers decreased in size, Marinette saw their opportunity. She waved her hand slightly at Adrien, he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and followed her as she broke off from the group. They drove over the sandy path and through thickets of tall weeds, until finally the vehicles ran out of gas and couldn't carry them any farther. "Now what?" Adrien questioned, removing his helmet, sweat dripping down his forehead which he dabbed away with his sleeve.

"Now we pray that that storm over there hits us and we get water." Marinette said, gesturing to clouds in the distance that blanketed the sky in a thick grey. "Until then, I say we find shelter from the sun and wait until nightfall." And that is exactly what they did.

They walked for a while, covering their tracks with handfuls of sand, until they found a cave in the middle of a rock formation. It was small, very small, they had to crouch into fetus positions while laying on their sides to fit. But it was dark and cool.

After a few hours, nightfall was beginning to hit and stars started to fill the pink sky. "It's beautiful." Marinette said, as they watched through the opening of their tiny cave.

"Yeah, you can't see stars like this in the city." Adrien responded. Marinette had always loved the stars, she could do without the darkness but anyone would be a fool to think stars were not magnificent. She remembers her first night free from the veteran refuge, the sky was a light navy and it was just her luck that a meteor shower was taking place. Comets shot across the outstretch of blue and the moon was a bright ball of light protecting her from the darkness she feared so much. Even without her memories she knew the stars existed but couldn't remember ever seeing them in person, only the word star was etched into her mind but now she loved them.