Chase's head felt like a ragging hurricane.
A million thoughts crashed around inside, yet, the eerie quiet in the van had lulled him into a strange, uncomfortable numbness. He sat on the makeshift bench built into their getaway vehicle with his fingers interlocked and his face hiding in his palms.
All he could hear was the low sound of the van's tires rumbling along the frozen wasteland as Emily drove them to safety. They had lost the Jaegers a while back. Though, he had a feeling that wouldn't be the last time they would see the Atlas unit. They were relentless, hunting in fearsome packs like wolves.
And they had caught their prey this time.
The Jaegers wouldn't stop until their mission was complete. That meant capturing the rest of Chase's group.
His stomach churned at the thought of being put in cuffs just like his friends were.
With his jaw clenched tight, he kept his eyes on the grime-covered floor of the van. He couldn't bring himself to look at those around him. Still, he could feel their eyes boring into him, asking him questions and expressing their disbelief.
He didn't blame them.
He was supposed to be their leader. Their protector. It was his job to keep them all safe from harm. Safe from the Jaegers and Atlas.
But he failed. He let half of their group get captured by those soldiers. His stomach twisted into a knot as his fingers tightened around the metal bench he sat on. He felt his palms pressing into the steel as if it were hot butter.
Atlas had taken Kai, Mateo, Bella, Danai, and Cassie.
Cassie...
General North had hit the jackpot with her. The man already had one super weapon on his team in Orion. With Cassie in his possession, who knew what kind of creations his researchers and scientists would make with her DNA?
Her mysterious abilities were unprecedented. In fact, Chase had only seen them in action one time. It had been during the raid on the research center they found her at a while back. While he barely got to see them, and definitely didn't understand them, he knew she was a force to be reckoned with.
She was far more powerful than any Prime had ever seen before.
Well, that had been the case until he met Orion.
The man's golden eyes haunted the darkness of his mind every time he blinked.
He had never been beaten like that before—and he had seen defeat plenty of times at the hands of Monarch, Lycan, and Victor. But none of them had dominated him the way Orion had. The sheer ability, the raw power he possessed...
He was almost invincible.
Chase couldn't help but shiver at the thought. If Atlas had a super Prime on their side, then they stood no chance at getting their friends back. How could they? Storming into an Atlas base without Orion on their side would have been hard enough. But with him? Nearly impossible.
No.
It was impossible.
All they could do for now was put as much distance between themselves and the Jaegers as possible.
"We have to turn back," Victor eventually said, disrupting the silence swirling around them like the snow outside. "We can't just leave them."
Chase said nothing. He couldn't bring himself to speak. Not after today.
"G-Go back?" Isra stuttered. "Are you crazy?! We barely made it out of there in the first place!"
"I'm not leaving Bella behind," Victor shot back, his tone adamant.
"She's the only one you care about?" Emily asked from the driver's seat. "Not sure if you noticed, but four more of us got captured. What about them?"
"Look, you guys recruited me, remember? Bella and I were doing fine on our own."
"You would've gotten caught if it weren't for us," Emily shot back.
"Well, we're caught now."
She didn't say anything after that.
Chase couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Would he and Bella have been better off if he never brought them into his group? After all, it had been two years and Atlas never got close to them.
But he had been doing Director Shaw a favor. Atlas would've eventually found them.
And he promised the man he would help protect his son.
"What do we do?" Archie asked. His green, searching eyes were trained on Chase. "We have to do something. We can't just keep running. They'll catch up to us eventually."
He opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't find the words. Truthfully, he had no plan. He barely had a will to keep going. However, Archie was right. Running would only get them so far. Eventually, Atlas would catch up to them.
Orion's eyes penetrated his brain over and over again. He couldn't get them out of his head—and not in the good way.
Shuddering, he wrapped his arms around himself.
He didn't even want to think about fighting him again. He couldn't. How could he? Orion was too powerful.
He feared no one could defeat him.
Emily glanced at him over her shoulder. She wore a worried look on her pale face. He ignored her and dropped his gaze back to his muddy boots.
"There's a sanitation plant nearby," she finally said. "A sewer system is likely nearby. We can camp out in there until we figure out what to do next. Everyone okay with that?"
No one replied.
"Alright then."
They continued their drive for another ten or so miles until Emily pulled them off the road and into a concrete ditch that led into an empty, man-made river. She carefully drove them along the stone path, only stopping once they arrived at a wide, metal grate that led into a sewer tunnel.
She parked the car and stepped outside. The others did the same. A now conscious Andre helped Archie into his wheelchair and carried him out of the vehicle.
Chase remained rooted to his seat. He couldn't move.
He didn't want to.
Anxiety had coiled around his entire body like an anaconda—slithering and tightening until all the air was gone from his lungs. Its vice-like grip held him tight and didn't show any sign of letting go. Panic slowly entered his veins like a slow-acting poison from the fangs of a viper. His brain was on edge, filled to the brim with petrified thoughts of their inevitable capture.
He still couldn't get Orion's face out of his head.
After setting Archie's chair on the ground, Andre turned and peered at the frozen boy.
"Chase," he said cautiously, "it's time to go."
As the others made their way over to the grate built into the nearby concrete wall, Chase remained in the van. His hands shook as he stared down at them.
"They're going to find us."
His cracking voice was just above a whisper.
Andre raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"
He lifted his head, his blue eyes full of tears. Andre frowned deeply.
"They're going to find us. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do. They'll always find us."
"What do you want to do then? You want to just sit there and freeze to death? You want us all the wait like sitting ducks while they track us down?"
Chase clenched his jaw and glared at the floor. His tears blurred his vision as they fell to the snowy pavement below.
"We have to keep moving," Andre said sternly.
The blond scoffed and shook his head.
Andre folded his arms, his brow creased, and his lips pursed.
Chase slowly stepped out of the parked vehicle and settled in front of the taller boy. They were nearly eye-to-eye, both of their expression's stoic and their stances defensive. Andre tilted his head downward and furrowed his brow.
"We won't outrun them," Chase told him.
"You don't know that."
"Look around!" He exploded, a geyser of anger rushing out from the pits of his being. Chest heaving, he whipped his head around. The snow continued to fall down in sheets around them, covering the landscape in nothing but white. "We're standing in the middle of a storm drain! Half of our crew just got snapped up by Atlas and we'll surely be next!"
The others stayed quiet as they watched the two of them. Isra and Archie watched on with frightened looks on their faces while both Emily and Victor appeared to be unimpressed with what was happening.
In a flash, Andre had both has gripping the collar of Chase's winter jacket. The blond stiffened in his hold.
"Let go of me."
"Get it together, boss. You're losing it."
"I said let go of me."
Andre released him, pushing him backward a bit in the process. Seething, Chase glared at the boy.
"You done with your temper tantrum?" Victor asked from off to the side. "You've got a team to lead."
"Yeah?" He threw a sneer his way. "What if I don't want to lead anymore?"
Isra blanched. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I already failed you all once." He jammed his hands into his pockets and kicked a rock that had been resting near his foot. It soared across the ground, disappearing from view moments later. "You all would be better off without me."
Emily stomped up to him with fury in her dark eyes. Fuming, she stuck a finger in his face.
"Don't you dare say that," she ordered. "Don't you dare. Understand me? Without you, none of us would've lasted this long. Now isn't the time to quit on us, Goldilocks. Now is not the time!"
He stared down at her, his eyes wide.
"You're our leader," Emily continued. "I know we just took a big hit, but we're all with you." She looked around at the others and they nodded along with her. Even Victor.
Chase blinked. He felt his chest tighten.
They were still looking to him. Even if he wanted to quit, he couldn't. People were counting on him. He had to make it right.
"We've got to stick together," she said, her tone softer now. "Especially right now. The Jaegers are after us. I don't care if you want to give up. We're not giving up. You hear?"
He stabbed his foot into the snow.
"I know you hear me."
"Alright," he grumbled.
"Alright what?"
"I'm not giving up."
She nodded at him. "Good." Then he gestured at the metal grate built into the nearby wall. "Now, would you make yourself useful and break that open?"
Snorting back a laugh, he shook his head and stomped over to the grate. As he wrapped his hands around the metal bars, he reflected over what just happened. While he still wasn't optimistic about their chances against Atlas, his friends weren't ready to give up on him. They still believed in him as a leader, despite his failure.
Perhaps there was hope for him yet.
He nodded to himself.
Emily was right. They couldn't give up. Not yet, anyways.
It was their job to get the others back. He owed it to them.
He sucked in a deep breath and yanked on the metal bars. They came out from the wall as if it were made out of tissue paper. After throwing the broken grate to the side, he stepped away from the newly made opening and gestured inside the dark tunnel.
"After you."
#
Once they had all piled into the smelly, shadowy sewer tunnel, Emily backed the van into the opening. Luckily, it was just tall enough for it to fit. However, they wouldn't be able to take it any deeper into the cavernous space. They grabbed what was left of the supplies they loaded into the vehicle, saddling it either onto Andre or the back of Archie's wheelchair.
After Archie made sure no one was in their vicinity for the next few miles using the device he had been tinkering with earlier that day, the group of Primes descended deeper into the sewers.
Murky water that smelled of rotten eggs, spoiled food, and other waste sloshed around their feet as they carefully moved along the narrow platform bordering the sewage. Chase led the team forward, his eyes narrowed as he navigated the darkness. The sound of their breaths and the wheels of Archie's wheelchair scraping the uneven ground echoed throughout the tunnel.
"God this place is awful," Archie whined while fanning his face.
"You can say that again," Andre added through gritted teeth.
It seemed like everyone was trying their best not to breathe through their nose. Even Chase had resorted to plugging his nose.
Hiding out in a sewer tunnel might not have been glamorous, but it was their only refuge from the Jaegers until they came up with a plan.
Chase's face fell.
They didn't have a plan. In fact, they didn't have anything except for a van with a few boxes of supplies. The odds were surely stacked against them. While they had narrowly avoided their demises multiple times since being on the run from Atlas, he didn't have the slightest clue on how they were going to make it out of this one.
After another ten minutes of walking, he heard someone groan with frustration. Chase glanced behind him.
"What?"
"Where are we even going?" Isra asked. "There's nothing in here."
"We're looking for a place to sit for a while until we can come up—" Chase was interrupted by a crack in the pavement, which nearly sent him crashing down into the brown water near his feet.
Before he hit the ground, he felt someone grab a handful of his shirt. They pulled him back onto the stone ledge. Blood rushed to his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he turned around to thank Andre.
Except it wasn't Andre who stopped him from falling.
It was Victor.
"Thanks," he grumbled.
"Don't mention it."
"I can't see shit," Emily said as she surged past him.
The sound of Archie's wheelchair screeching to a stop grated Chase's ears. He stopped and wheeled himself around.
Emily tilted her head at him. "What're you doing?"
"I've got an idea." Pushing his foggy, wired glasses further up his nose, he set his gaze upon the girl. "You've got superhearing right?"
"Wow, Archie," she replied. "We've been on the same side for half a decade and you don't even know what my powers are?" Even in the darkness, Chase could see her smile. He shook his head while trying to suppress his own.
Archie grumbled something unintelligible. "I was just making sure. Anyways, back to my idea. You know how bats are blind and use echolocation to navigatre? Well, I was thinking that you could do the same with your sonic yell and hearing."
"You want me to scream into the darkness like a bat?"
"Something like that."
She frowned. "You don't have another idea in that big head of yours?"
Chase nudged her. "Just try it."
Sighing, she nodded.
"Fine." As she took a few steps forward, he placed a hand on her shoulder to ensure she didn't accidentally walk off the ledge. She took a deep breath and then whistled. The high-pitched sound rippled through the air, tightly coiled sonic rings cutting through the shadows.
The sound faded as it soared down the passageway. Chase arched an eyebrow as he glanced down at Emily.
"Well?" Victor inquired.
"I...don't know?" Emily shrugged. "It sounded like it hit a wall. Maybe about a hundred feet ahead of us."
Rubbing his chin, Chase patted her on the back. "Good job. Let's keep moving, everyone."
With her at his side, they resumed their trek through the sewers. Along the way, they continued to use Emily's newly discovered echolocation ability to detect whether they were approaching the end of a tunnel. They also used her to figure out which way to go whenever their path split off into two or more directions. The more she used her power, the more precise she got.
Eventually, they came across an area where the river of muck stopped. It was interrupted by a stone platform that stretched for quite a while. A ladder leading up to a manhole cover was positioned on one wall while a dusty, cobweb infested power grid was nailed onto another. Generators, covered in dust, were placed around the place, along with a few wooden crates.
Chase's face lit up as he looked around.
It was perfect—even if just for a night.
Finally, some luck.
The others fanned out, taking up their own spots on the concrete ground. Archie wheeled himself over to the fuse box and rummaged through it.
"It's out of commission," he announced, "but I might be able to get it back up and running. I brough a few tools with me."
But, other than that, it was perfect. At least for the night.
"Hey, Emily, give me a hand," Archie said. "I need one of your electro-arrows."
"Nuh-uh," she replied. "I'm not wasting these. I only have a few left."
"Well, you're not shooting at anyone right now and I'd like to have power in here before night comes if that's all right with you."
She cursed under her breath before stomping over to him with one of her blue-tipped arrows in hand.
Andre and Isra stood by one of the generators, trying to see if they could get it to turn on. As Isra fiddled with the control panel of one, it cut on by itself. She turned to Andre and grinned.
"How'd you do that?"
"Guess I'm just lucky."
Chase still wasn't sure how her control of probabilities worked, but he was just glad it helped them get one of the generators on. Now they had access to heat for the night. Freezer to death in a sewer in the middle of nowhere would have been a horrible way to die.
While the others made themselves busy with setting up their temporary base, Victor stood off to the side with his eyes fixated on the manhole cover in the ceiling. Chase cautiously made his way over to the man.
The two of them stood side by side, both of their gazes set on the ceiling.
"We have to get Bella back," Victor eventually said.
"And the others."
Victor rolled his eyes. "And the others."
Chase nodded. They would get the others back. He just needed to come up with a way how.
"I suppose you don't have a plan," he said to the ex-Kismet assassin.
Victor snorted. "Do you?"
"Not exactly."
"Figures." He looked around before leaning in toward Chase. "I'm still not convinced you're the right person to be leading us."
He stiffened at his words.
"But the others seem to still have faith in you," Victor continued. "And if they do...well, then you must be doing something right."
Chase relaxed and nodded at him. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he decided to take it as a compliment. He was willing to take whatever kind of praise he could get from the man. The two of them weren't exactly friends. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be. But he would've liked if the two of them could have found some common ground.
Hopefully, this was the beginning of a fruitful partnership between them.
As they stood in silence, an idea popped into Chase's head. Victor noticed the blond's eyes widening and squinted.
"What?"
"I do have an idea. But you're not going to like it."
"Try me."
Chase exhaled.
"We're going to have to break into The Acropolis."
Victor flinched backward. Then he shook his head. "No."
"Hear me out—"
He swiped his hand through the air. "We're not going there."
"But that's most likely where they'll be taking everyone before they either get sent to The Vault or wherever General North wants them. If we want any chance at rescuing them, it has to be there."
"I broke into The Acropolis once," Victor said. "I'm not doing it again."
Chase rolled his eyes. "You didn't break in."
"Whatever. You know what I meant."
"We have to do it," he continued. "It's the only way."
Sighing, Victor dragged a hand down his sharp features. "Fine. But we can't make the trip to Oregon in that van. Not with the Jaegers still on our trail."
"How else are we going to get there then?"
Victor fell silent. Now it was Chase's turn to narrow his eyes.
"I have an idea," he elaborated, "but I really don't want to do it."
"Well? What is it?"
He shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
Chase folded his arms. "Victor..."
As he ran a hand over his pale face, he sighed. For some reason, he looked more nervous than before. That was never a good sign.
Chase could feel a hint of apprehension invading his already taut muscles. He shifted his feet uncomfortably as he waited for Victor to reveal his idea. Finally, the man spoke again.
"We have to call him."
"Call who?"
The black-haired Prime took another deep breath.
"We have to call my father."