Lie in Ruin

Chapter Four

Raven still hadn't returned after the second hour ticked by. They were in a panic, and Optic had shut herself in her room. Flint was gone, out searching for his sister. After she didn't come back at eight, everyone was beginning to get worried. Raven was always punctual. Always. It didn't matter what had happened, if she wasn't there, something was very wrong. There had only been one other occasion, and she had been ambushed by a group of new spider species. They were herding around her, keeping her from getting out. They were massive, she couldn't jump over them or on them. They were packed together so tightly she couldn't squeeze between them. When the rest of the team found her, they had to hack through the remaining spiders. There weren't many, but they were stalling her. They concluded the species had a hive-mind, and they were waiting for back up. Raven had slaughtered nearly all of them and was coated in their burning blood.

Optic shoved these memories aside and controlled her breathing, which had turned quickly rapid. She cracked her knuckles, before standing up from her desk which she had been sitting at. She paced the room, running her hands through her hair. Somehow, Raven was always the one to get into trouble. She didn't understand it, it was like all the creatures and dark things wanted to whip her away. Her hands clenched into fists, her dirty nails digging into the flesh of her palms. Blood began to drip onto the carpet, so she quickly stopped. Looking at her palms, the crescents from her nails were swelling with blood. Blood on her hands- ironic, wasn't it? Raven's blood would soon be on her hands if they didn't find her. She'd die one way or another, everyone does die in the end, after all. But there wasn't much to be done about that, except prolong it.
But she couldn't do that if she just sat there.

Optic's eyes blazed with a fierce determination as she gazed at her door, then stamped towards it, tearing it open. "Gather what you can. Be prepared for anything. We're getting Raven back," She declared to the gathering of her team in the living room, who all looked up at her sudden announcement. Seeing the fierce, fiery determination that raged inside of their leader, they all nodded, and a kindle of hope sparked in their eyes. Flint, who had returned just before she made the announcement, and looked utterly hopeless, didn't change in demeanor. They had been lucky before, but what about now? His eyes asked this question, but Optic's own didn't meet his, didn't dare to.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all ready. They had gathered provisions, extra changes of clothes, their weapons, and a handful of other handy things. They all looked solemn, staring at Optic, who stood by the hatch that led out to the waste of City Seventeen. Slowly, they trickled over to her, the whole of her team. Gear, Flint, Soot, and Siren. It didn't feel whole without Raven, despite how hard she always tried to hide. They needed those eyes and ears in the shadows, they loved those eyes and ears. It didn't take them long to slip out of the bunker. The sun wasn't warm on Optic's skin, she felt cold down to her core. She hated the feeling that Raven was gone, slipped from their grasp into the abyss. Whatever had happened, they were either going to save her friend, or they were going to rip apart whoever or whatever had done this.

The sun continued to crawl slowly as they picked their way through City Seventeen. They saw a couple of scouts, some Optic's own age, and some younger than Soot. It sent a pang through her to see them in the varying states. She didn't meet their eyes, only glanced at them, and then away. She had to continue, she had to find Raven. Flint needed her the most out of all of them, he wouldn't know what to do once his sister was gone. He always tried to care for her, tried to care for every one of them. He always looked out the most for Raven, though. She didn't truly need him to hover like a mother hen, but for some reason, both felt a bit more secure when he did.

Soon enough, they were outside City Seventeen's boundaries. They stopped there- the sun was beginning to get lower. They had scoured the entire city, even talked to some of the leaders of gangs they were on good terms with. Most of them had members missing as well, but there didn't seem to be an obvious correlation between them and Raven, besides the fact they were out the same time as Raven and hadn't returned when they were supposed to. It was miserable to see those who had lost more than they had already lost, and there was most likely no coming back. The team quickly moved on from those groups, who probably would've ravaged their provisions when nightfall blanketed them.

"She has to be somewhere, she has to be somewhere. Where? Where?" Gear was muttering to himself, beating his forehead with his palms. He was almost as miserable as the groups they'd run into. He was beating himself up over not being able to find her, and they'd done their best to reassure him it wasn't his fault he couldn't figure out where she'd been spirited away to. If she had been spirited away anywhere except the jaws of one of those creatures.

"Gear, be quiet. It won't help if you bash your thick skull to pieces and turn your brain to mush," Siren murmured as gently as she could, despite her harsh words. She gently touched his elbow, and he lowered his arms with a sigh of defeat. He muttered something, before pulling away from her and beginning to rummage through his pack. Siren grimaced, and rubbed her arms, now looking sheepish and guilty. Optic ignored them, staring out at the destroyed roads and highways that led out and away from the city. Some destroyed buildings littered the area, and the grass underfoot was yellow, brown, and covered in soot and ash. It was a destroyed world, true and through. Humans didn't top the food chain anymore, most species had gone extinct, or were endangered. It made her shudder.

"There has to be something. Some clue to where she is. We'll find it," Flint murmured in her ear, gently resting his calloused hand on her shoulder. She nodded animatedly, and he sighed. "There will be something. Good or bad, whatever the outcome, we will find her. You know that, don't you?" He asked, staring into her face. Misery was wrought on his own, twisted his features with its cruel smile. She hated to see him like this, the thing he most likely treasured most had vanished into thin air, just like that. And he did nothing, could do nothing, until they found some way to retrieve her.

"We have to be ready for the worst," Optic's reply was simple. So, so simple. But it held more weight than she hoped, and tears began to prick at her eyes. Then, she couldn't stop them. They burned as they rolled down her cheeks, and everyone stared at her in surprise. In all the time they had been with her, never had Optic cried. The tears that were like an endless mountain stream twisted and dripped off her nose and chin. "Raven shouldn't be gone. I should've waited, should've done something sooner. I know it's my fault, and I'm aware you all at least harbor some grudge against me for it. Maybe you don't want to believe that you do..." She found it hard to continue. The words choked in her throat and held her like a vise, and she clenched her hands into fists. She couldn't continue, but she wiped away the tears that were still rolling silently. It didn't do much good, did it? Trying to slip everything into a cool mask just as Raven did. The girl was incredible, keeping everything tucked away and making certain her family came first.

"We will find her. You know that, don't you, Op? We'll find her, and she'll be okay. She won't get herself hurt, she wouldn't put us all through that. I bet wherever she's been taken, she's already torn down the walls and is coming back for us already," Soot put in, his hopeful, youthful, pudgy face appearing at her elbow. Optic tried to smile, but it was weak, and crumbled from her face too fast.

"We can only hope, Soot. All right, everyone," She quickly tried to divert the conversation, swiping at her puffy and red eyes. Pains till pricked at her heart, like a boulder had been settled on her chest that she was trapped underneath, and would only escape when she caved, or someone lifted it from her chest. She never got the chance to continue, though