Open fire

Part 41 "Back to the Dead forest"

Willow's POV*

You were minutes away from starting your mission and you were never really one to hide your nervousness. And Viktor coming to check on you didn't really help either.

"Hey guys" Niall said, Crystal and Sarah were with him and greeted you as well.

"Hey" Michael said, little sadness in his eyes.

"Are you ready to go?" Crystal questioned.

"As you can see" Sierra gestured to all the armor they put on you. You had ear pieces to communicate as well and some of the soldiers had cameras on them.

"I feel anxious for you" Sarah admits.

"So do Crys and I" Niall adds. You all looked at eachother like there was a barrier between you and all that could break it is you finishing your mission.

"I think I'm gonna cry" you half laughed.

"No, then we'll all do too" Sierra said, hugging you.

"Hey, hey, we wanna join" Louis says, Liam, Niall, Sarah and Crys agree.

"Wait for me" Michael adds.

"Me too" Luke smiles, hugging you all.

"Calum?" you question, looking at him. His eyes were a little glossy as his gaze went over your friends,

"Sorry, just... Just looking at something" he said and joined the group hug. After that you watched as Louis, Liam and Niall say goodbye to eachother. It was heart-wrenching, they were like brothers and it's hard to see Niall stay while they go and risk their lives for you. It's hard to watch any of these people risk their lives for you.
Luke hugged Sarah one last time and they may be very different, but without Luke Sarah would never know what's it like to hurt someone and without Sarah Luke would've stayed in his shell, too scared of everything. It took Michael the longest to finish kissing Crystal, you barely got him to get back. You watched him as he looked down on her with the most loving look you've ever seen, like he's leaving a piece of him behind and she's letting a piece of her go. It made you shed a tear, but with a strong will you parted with them too. With that you were off, you said goodbyes to Han and Seth earlier and just like the look of ground so far away from your feet the fear of failing was not just an illusion.

***

"Dead forest" you mumbled. You absolutely forgot that the center of your peninsula is surrounded by the dead forest, that place was creepy five years ago and still is.

"What's it matter?" Calum asks you.

"I just have a...a certain feeling" you answered, unsure of what that is.  As you looked down on all those broken, burned, dead trees, how much they've suffered, there must be a reason they're like that and something is telling you it's not because of humans a long time ago.

"Prepare to go down" you heard someone say. You hesitantly looked back at the people around you then back to the ground. You've never seen your home from this perspective, you're not really sure you want to either, it wasn't meant to be pictured like that. So many imperfections, but down there, on the ground, it's home. Since the barrier was open there were other people in this peninsula and in the air were other helicopters, no matter how much power your team had you just couldn't stop some corporations on exhibiting this place again. People on foot and without ID couldn't get here, police was making sure of that on the land. The water was too far down for anyone to get up to the actual ground, except certain places, but from what you could see they changed when the barrier went down. You were sure Tayla's people were somewhere, just awaiting for you, knowing every single move, strategy, thought that went into this plan. You could just pull all the hair out of your head from anxiousness, but no. You have to keep your head and mind in the right place, for your people, for the whole world. Charlie survived after the last attack, he's not in good shape though, neither are the rest who fought with him. They just couldn't protect the center anymore and that's okay because now you're here and this time Tayla won't get away with her game.