I don't know why but I can't breathe properly. "War in the Afterworld? What does that even mean?"
Colton shakes his head. He's out of breath. "Somebody has to fill up those tunnels. We can't let demons come up here and take us. The reason nobody knew about it is because there's too many of us. Taking a hundred out of a billion isn't noticeable."
Nick's eyes narrow. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, you're not. Everything is going to be fine." I assure him.
"Don't lie to him." Colton sends me an annoyed stare.
I glare at him. "How could they possibly know that he snuck in here? Like you said, there's tons of people here, if demons can't be detected then Nick shouldn't be either."
"It's the board. They know everything, I just know Carter is going to tell them. This can't be good for me. They're going to send voyagers out like soldiers and lock down every single building there is until they find the demons." Colton rambles.
"All because of Nick?" I inquire.
"No, because of all of the prisoners we saw down in the Underworld. The board is going to find a way to rescue them." He stares at the ground as he speaks. I don't know why he's so worried about this.
"Who's the board? And why are you so concerned about this? There's nothing you can do."
He looks up at me, his eyes drenched in fear. Colton clenches his jawline and balls his hands into a fist. "The board is a bunch of people who basically run the Afterworld. Part of Carter's job is to give a permit to people who wish to go to the middle world or underworld with a voyager. The other part is reporting problems to the board. If he hears about this, he will have no choice but to tell the board everything, how Nick got here and how many people were in the Underworld trapped in a cell."
"That still doesn't explain why you're in distress." I state.
Nick looks like he's about to throw up.
"Who do you think is going to have to go rescue all those people?"
T H I R D P E R S O N
The others remain silent, too nervous to contribute a word. Carter stands in the corner, his hands clasped together.
"How many did you say there were?" Pierce prompts, his voice shaken from distress. All seven of them are uncertain things in the Afterworld would ever be the same. They don't want to be the ones to break the bad news. Pierce is the only one among them who haven't been told what happened.
"At least a hundred, sir, that they saw. It could be a couple thousand total." Abraham says quietly, unhappy with his own response. He looks over at Carter, who nods in agreement.
"Is this source reliable?" Pierce asks the table, and every single member nods.
"I personally know the voyager and his company, sir." Carter adds, his voice a little distorted from all of the nerves in his body. His palms are sweaty and he wishes he wasn't here at that moment.
A vein pops out of Pierce's forehead. "This is unbelievable. Get all of the voyagers you can get to go down there and save them. We cannot let them overpower us." Pierce rubs his temples. "The demons aren't going down without a fight, so this might mean we have to shut down everything. Tell everyone."
Carter's head tilts downward in disappointment. He hates when Colton is right.
"I don't care if some voyagers are killed by demons, a few reincarnated voyagers isn't going to hurt us. If we continue to let this happen, they might plan to invade the Afterworld."
"We can't just tell everyone, that will invoke panic. The Afterworld will be a mess. We cannot tell anyone, not even the voyagers." Julius contributes in his high-pitched voice.
The room is silent, everyone is shocked at his words. "Sir, with all due respect, most of our voyagers aren't equipped for a mission like this. Things have changed, our need for voyagers has decreased. They all have much less experience." Abraham says.
"Then we'll send the best."
"It's just not that easy. How do you differentiate the best from the worst?"
"Word gets around. We'll make a team with a general to lead them. Carter over here seems to have a pretty good idea as well." Pierce says, turning to Carter. "You've told me a lot about your friend, he seems to have a good reputation."
The room is in disagreement with Pierce's plan. Carter doesn't want to be put in the spotlight.
"Who will lead them? Without our help they'll be lost down there. We'll need years of planning before this goes down."
Carter nods in agreement. "Sir, we would need almost every single voyager to go down there in order to save every individual, this cannot be done in less than a year. Plus, shouldn't we worry about how Nick Miller got to the Afterworld in the first place? The Underworld might already be invading and we have no idea."
"That will be dealt with by us. We will create a new system for better voyagers." Pierce counters. Carter rubs his forehead in frustration. "This army will be trained for a month, that is the most I'll give them. From now on, voyagers must have more experience before they can become a stage three in case something like this happens again."
Abraham narrows his eyebrows. "Sir, you can't just force every single voyager to do something this dangerous."
Pierce visibly becomes more angry. "Something must be done!" His voice echoes in the large room. "This will happen. Their job is to serve and protect the people in the Afterworld, if they don't make it back then so be it. And we will just tell them that they've been given a task, we won't treat it like a draft. That way they'll have to partake."
"The afterworld is supposed to be fair. It would not be fair to kill a bunch of our own." Abraham clenches his jaw.
"They signed up for this when they became voyagers." Pierce replies coldly.
"Alright, but half will be sent down to do rescues. We have them take the tunnel up here with the victims. The other soldiers will remain in the Afterworld looking for tunnels. We'll find that kid too, he's one of the only ones who has made it out of the Underworld. Maybe he can accompany the army too." Julius suggests.
Cater knows that Julius is the wisest of all of the members, but Pierce has the most power. That makes him dangerous. With the amount of anger he is experiencing, he might not make rational decisions. The plan to basically kill a bunch of voyagers isn't going to solve anything, it's just going to make everything worse.
If Julius doesn't have a better idea, then they're all screwed. Carter just wished that his closest voyager friends didn't have to be a part of this. As a stage four, he has to consult with voyagers. Many of them have become friends. Many of them will go to save people. Many will not return.
"No, he's a stage one. We cannot have people taking the tunnels up to the Afterworld, we send a team to close them right now. Before the voyage." Pierce counters, letting out a loud exhale.
Carter's eyes widen. "Sir you're not suggesting that the voyagers..."
Pierce nods. "I am. It's our only choice."
"Who will lead such a large group? How will we come up with an elaborate plan in such a short time?" Julius adds on.
Pierce shakes his head "I can only think of one that's fit to be general, the one who started this all."
Carter's heart drops.
"It'll take a lot to get him to abide by our commands. He's caused a lot of problems up here. But you get him out of them, don't you Carter?"
Carter shakes his head to himself. He tries not to think about the fact that his closest friend's future could be damaged by his own actions. He can't save his ass this time.
But the board had to know. It's his job.
Abraham ignores Pierce's statement. "How are you going to get him? How are you going to get an entire army of voyagers to go? We don't even know how to save them. We'll need many of them to stay up here and protect the rest and find every shortcut that can be taken to get here which means that our army will be small. We need more numbers."
Pierce nods. "I know. It's going to be difficult. That's why we need a leader. We send the majority down to earth, a group of roughly ten will search for the tunnels with us. It is probable that we don't find them."
"How will you get the leader if he's so hard to manage?" Abraham prompts.
"We'll threaten the ones he loves, then he'll do it. We force him to save the prisoners, that way he'll do his best."
"You're sure?"
"I know he will, and I know who to target. Right Carter?"
He looks down in disappointment with himself and nods. He doesn't want to be a part of this. He begins to think that he shouldn't have told them, but again, he didn't really have a choice.
"Who is he, sir?"
Pierce pauses clasping his aged hands together. He smiles, for he knew every single member at the marble table would know his name. After all, he and his "partner" are practically famous in the Afterworld.
"Colton Stallard."
OH MY GOD IM PUMPED HOW BOUT YOU