notion • john murphy

44 - PROBLEMS

"We need to help them, Luna, please." Raven begged. "I know what to do, but my leg—Look, I can't do it myself." She paused. "Sayah?" She looked over to the girl hopefully.

Sayah didn't hesitate, glancing at Luna once. If Luna wanted to leave, then she could. But Sayah was not letting her people die by some pathetic drone. She nodded, eyes stern. "What's the plan?"

"What do we have to do?" Luna added in quickly and a proud grin broke out on Sayah's face.

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"Are you sure about this?" Luna questioned Raven as she stood beside Sayah.

   "I'm sure." Raven nodded. "If you two—or even one of you—can get it, I can hack it."

   "Alright, I'll go—" Sayah didn't get to finish before Luna was sprinting off past the line. Sayah's eyes widened.

   "Luna! What the hell!" Sayah yelled out, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides as she watched Luna race towards the broken drone. Raven fired shot after shot at the drone that followed Luna quickly. This plan sucked.

   "I should go in—"

   "Don't." Raven stopped her, pulling her back. "Luna's got this. The trees, Luna! Use the trees!"

   Sayah let out a shaky breath as Luna raced through the trees and Raven continued shooting. Then suddenly, Luna was making her way back towards them, the drone following closely behind her. It fired several times just as Luna grew close and Sayah pulled her in the first chance she could reach her. She landed tightly in Sayah's arms.

   Sayah grabbed the drone and placed it down on a rock—more important matters—before pulling Luna into her arms. "I swear to God, you ever do that again, I'll kill you myself." She let out a sigh of relief.

   "Good luck catching me," Luna replied, pulled away with a grin. Sayah shook her head at the girl, eyes wide but soft, before turning back towards Raven.

   "Still taking fire," Miller's voice came through.

   "We're almost there." Abby's voice responded.

   "Save your friends." Luna said to Raven and Raven got to work.

   "I just need to access it's core programming." Raven said as she fiddled with things Sayah didn't fully understand. She hoped she'd never have to do a lesson on how it all worked—she'd probably fall asleep or go insane. "The drones are protecting Alie's facilities like guard dogs." Raven remarked as she pressed some keys on what looked like a small computer.

   "Can you stop them?" Sayah asked the girl.

   "We need you, Abby." Miller's voice cut through the static.

   "Yeah, there must be a way." Raven answered.

   "We can see you," Abby's voice replied over the radio.

   Raven fiddled some more and a loud beep was heard. A grin spread on her face.

   "The drones just fell out of the sky." Abby's voice crackled. "What happened?"