DYSTOPIA | BOOK 2 of Death of the Future Series

TWELVE

In this field of work, anything was possible.

He was about to lean down after one more look around him when the door moved. Pushed vertically, the metallic door swung upwards before stopping in a ninety-degree angle. Michael took a step back, his fingers itched to grab the gun that was holstered around his hip. His shoulders relaxed when Elly popped out of the hole from the ground, a smile on her face.

"We were wondering what took you so long," she said.

Michael heard the worry in her voice. He huffed a breath, cracking a grin, relief washing into him. Elly made it. She was here. Looking tired and messy with her hair all over the place, but she was here.

"Want to invite me home anytime soon?" Michael joked when Elly didn't make a move to let him into the narrow path downwards.

She smiled. "Come on in. Everyone's been waiting for you."

She only moved after tossing one more look at him. That mere action sent alarms off in his head. Replacing the smile with a frown, he followed Elly down into the hole, the door closing just as he was four steps down the ladder. Blue lights glowed around him, dim but enough illumination for him to know he had at least a minute or so before he reached the bottom.

When his feet touched a metallic ground, he let go of the ladder. The blue lights died, changing into yellow. Elly stood close to him, her eyes searching his face. Michael almost didn't hug her back, taken aback when she tossed her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. He let himself be comforted by the familiar warmth, happy at the fact that his friend hadn't died. Or captured.

He let her go, loosening his hold on her when she pulled away. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He touched her face, smiling in assurance. She nodded at the unspoken words and took a step back, sighing.

"You didn't happen to have seen Min Seo on the way, did you?" Elly asked, her voice shook.

Michael's eyes widened.

His heart almost stopped beating.

He stared at her, his throat drying. That was it. That was what made his stomach churn and the panic that had been thrumming in the back of his head rush to the front of his thoughts. This was what made Elly look like that — as if something had gone wrong.

"Min Seo?" Michael echoed her. "What— Did she not arrive?"

"She's late," Elly said, rubbing her right arm. "Min Jae's going crazy in worry."

"Fuck." He pushed his hands through his hair. "Fuck."

Elly glanced over her shoulders at the door that was dividing them from the entrance to the inner bunker. "I hope she's alright."

Michael couldn't assure her that. Out of everything, they both knew that that was the last thing they could hope for. "Elly."

Her shoulders hunched, making her look smaller than her already-small-stature. "I know."

"Let's," Michael said, "let's go in."

Elly nodded, straightening her posture. Her eyes were at least two shades darker from worry and anxiousness, a look no doubt mirroring Michael's own face. But there was nothing they both could do for now. While there was the dangerous habit of hoping, he— they knew enough by now that it was best to assume the worst.

Because the worst was usually what happened.

An image of Min Seo dead, blood pooling underneath her with bullet holes littering her body flashed into his mind. The soulless look in those once warm dark eyes sent a shiver running down his spine. His stomach churned again and nausea threatened to make itself known.