Ascendance

12

I stare at the laminated paper map they gave us of the facility. I looked at every insignificant detail, every bend and wall. There could be a chance that everything goes wrong and we need a back up plan. Brendan seems focused on his own map. 

"Are you nervous?" I ask, slightly leaning towards him. I hope he doesn't think badly of me. 

"Yeah, I imagine you are too." Brendan says, looking at me with warm hazel eyes. "Especially since it's your parents." 

"I either give my parents back or it fails miserably. Hopefully the first." I say, looking down, feeling my eyes get hot. 

"We'll get them back." Brendan takes my hand and squeezes it, trying to comfort me. 

"I hope so." I see Lexi, Zander and Ruth, a girl from my bartending class. 

"Hey, Erika!" Lexi shouted, waving at me. We were all in uniform and loaded up on weapons. 

"Hey!" I exclaimed, waving back. 

"Seems like we're in the same squad, isn't that cool?" Lexi seemed genuinely excited. 

"I guess." I try not to rain on her parade but I think she can tell I am one mistake away from having a breakdown. The trucks start to move. I can't help but to feel extremely antsy. I noticed Kyra was in the corner, staring at the wall of the chamber. 

"So Erika, how's life been, well, before your family got kidnapped?" Ruth asked. 

"Well, it was okay. Now I feel like I'm losing my freaking mind." I take a deep breath. We finally stopped at what seemed like a shipyard. There were people lined up in uniform and waiting to be called to the deck. From what I could see when I was on my tippy toes, they were assigning squads and telling them where to go. They were calling everyone by full government names. Oh boy. 

"Erika Jimenez-Aragon!" A man called out my name, butchering the pronunciation. I walk up to the deck and he assigns me to Squad 834. I'm put in a launching platform but I can still hear the intercom. 

"Brendan Howard!" He calls. "Kyra Alainah Stevenson!" 

I see Brendan and Kyra running down the stairs. At least we'll be together. I can't say that we're friends exactly but we have saved each other's asses a few times. I am glad to have them and the others with me. 

"You know, it's funny how we've saved each other's lives but we don't know anything about each other." Kyra pointed out as Lexi, Zander and Ruth got on board. 

"You're right. But maybe we'll get the chance to do it later." I responded.

We finally reach what seems to be an opening to the underwater base after a few hours. The floor opens up and we jump into knee length water.I notice there's some little waterfalls to the side. I pull on my goggles and turn on night vision. Everyone else does that as well. 

"Today, squad. We're going to find a way into a vent before entering the main vent system. We'll place these things," Kyra shows us a black round thing. "In the main areas like the office, meeting room, prison cells and their weaponry room. We'll also go through the main system and join the others to fight if it comes down to it. You guys understand?"

We all nod. Kyra and we walk down until we find a giant vent. She unscrews the hinges and we enter. I want to scream and pull my hair from how small it is in here. I heard strange sounds coming from around us. I notice the cephalopods coming out of the water. Suddenly we all fall, hitting the gross water. How long have they been there? Even better, weren't they supposed to sent a scout to make sure we were safe? 

I notice one of the cephalopods is in that weird octopus form. It smiles brightly as it holds a pen with a red button. 

"Run!" Kyra yells at us. 

All I remember is the sound of a blast and my face hitting the wall. 

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As the dust of the explosion cleared, the Leader saw them. They all had burned skin and blood seeping from wounds. He smiled. Erika must be among them. He slipped over a girl with a burned head. She groaned. He took out the stolen photo of Erika and her family.

The girl didn't even remotely resemble Erika. The girl was the right skin tone but she was too old to be her. The Leader moved on to the next. The next one was the right coloring but too short and skinnier. The other was nowhere near similar. 

He looked at the two men. He recognized one as the same description as the agent who took Erika. He slapped him awake. 

"Where the hell is she?" he snapped. 

"Who?" He asked, his eyes half-way open.

"Stop playing games with me, boy! Where the hell did Erika Jimenez go?" The Leader yelled, kicking his head. 

"Erika?" The man's eyes lit up. The Leader felt disgusted that someone cared about her. 

He dropped him and kicked him in the ribs. The Leader continued walking, stepping over cephalopod corpses. He saw a pool of blood. He saw bloody boot prints and drops of blood going down the tunnel. He saw blown out cameras. Someone had rescued the girl before the dust cleared. He looked at the young man and kicked him again. 

"I want you all to search for Erika Jimenez and whoever saved her. I will not let her leave here alive." 

The men nodded. 

"What do we do with them?" One asked, pointing to the injured soldiers. 

"Chain them together and throw them out into the sea." The Leader said, wrinkling his face at them. He crumpled Erika's photo in his hand. He hoped that the Founder would be watching all of this go down. He wanted him to see the last heir to his lineage die by his hands.