Chapter 163: Drops

Chapter 163: Drops "You keep watch in cade theu come back before I’m ready or any one of those guards show up."

Kieran said with closed eyes as he sensed Jake’s ebtry into the room signaled by the sound of the door and his boots on the floor.

"Comeback? What do you mean, they only left like a couple of minutes ago. It is strange that the soldiers haven’t started theor patrols though"

"What is it?"

Jake threw a question as Kieran’s eyes burned into Jo’s sitting figure.

’I should get some rest then’

"It’s nothing, we’ll move in a few hours or so then. Just keep trying to see if the connection come back on"

Kieran said , returning to his meditative pose.

"Sure!"

That marked the end of their conversation and brought back silence to the space.

.......

"You guys can stop here. We’ll handle the rest ourselves."

The captain of the squad said to Orion and his teammates, followed by the nodding of a few heads among the soldiers.

"What do you mean, we didnt just come this far ti be meft behind!"

Lira said, unable to hold herself back despite the look she recived from Orion.

’There’s no way, we’re getting left behind after all that.’

"You brought us along to gain our trust right? Well, leaving us behind with no idea what we’re supposed to do is only gonna do the opposite"

"Wrong!"

The captains cold voice cut in, silencing her.

"The ckmmader suggested that we could take you along, and while we agreed to that to reduce the hostility, this is how far you can follow"

"Everything on the other side is strictly confidential and unless any one of you has a pass, going any further wi be considered a crime and by law we are required to neutralize any leakages!"

His voice took on a deep tone as he made his way to her, the pressure from the eyes of all the soldiers weighing heavily on her, increasing the imagine of the captain in her mind, making it not only difficult to breathe but stand too.

"You stay here. Is that clear, recruit?"

His stern voice came forth, standing right in front of her.

"Yes, sir. You don’t have to worry about any of us."

Orion’s calm voice came into the tense space like flowing water, placing his had on Lira’s shoulder to keep jer steady.

The captains eyes remained on his face which carried a small smile for a while before letting go.

"I’ll leave a couple of my men to keep an eye on you guys. Trust me, it’s fir your own good. Step into the fog without our guidance is plain suicide."

"Just follow instructions."

"Yes, sir."

Orion responded, his voice carrying no hint of disrespect or disregard towards the captains words.

"Hmm..."

The captain called out a few names and four soldiers stepped towards them while the rest merged into a formation and made their way into the thick fog of white smoke, their figures disappearing immediately after.

"You should take a seat somewhere, its gonna take a while for them to return!"

One of the soldiers said, before moving back with the others to take a seat at the other side of the space.

No instructions, no smiles, nothing, just silence.

Lira’s outburst and the captains reaction had clearly affected the soldiers attitude towards them. They might have been nice and hospitable towards them, but they were soldiers.

A status which demanded respect from recruits like them at every moment. What Lira had done was close to insubordination, an offense pushinable by military law.

The captain was kind enough to brush it off with some light scolding. Lira and the other guys on the team realized that and the position they were currently in.

"We should go back after this"

Jessie stated in a weary voice to Orion, followed by a nod from Alex, the other male on the team. Lira overhearing this only gritted her teeth in silence.

She wasn’t in any position to say things about their next choice of action, Orion’s grip on her shoulder was a clear enough message.

Forcing the bitter feeling down, she turned away, rubbing the sore spot on her shoulder.

"Not quite. I’ve still got some curiosity to satisfy back at the outpost. It’ll be over before you know it"

Orion chuckled at their reaction to his words, his eyes trained on the other side of the space where the four soldiers sat, their eyes turning to meet his. To which he simply smiled before looking away.

"Keep your gear next to you, and wait for the right time"

He whispered leaving the two slightly puzzled at his orders.

"Lira, on me!"

Lira complied, following him to where he sat whole preparing her mind for whatever he might have for her. Knowing Orion, that wasn’t possible, hut the least she could do was try.

"Sit!"

His voice gave no room for resistance as she complied.

"At ease, I’ll address those concerns of yours later. For now..."

.....

"Haaa..."

The sound of air escaping through his mouth brought a change to the stillness of the room and Kieran finally opened his eyes which flashed gold for a moment before returning to its original black color.

"Anything?"

"Not at all. It’s been about two hours now and I haven’t even heard the guards come close. We might have to go check."

"Your eyes"

Jake asked, playing around witha piece of rock in his hand.

"Back to normal. Communications?"

"Not available for now, I think it’s the fog messing with it. We’ll have to wait a couple hours for it to retreat before we can confirm that"

He said, sitting up while reaching for the hilt of his sword which laid beside him.

"Hmm. We can move out now"

"Sure!"

Jake said to Kieran, waving his wrist lightly as his sword flashed into the spacial storage on his wrist.

That was their cue as Kieran took the lead, stepping out of the warehouse, sneaking across the open field and jumping onto the open corridor on the first floor with Jake followed tightly behind.

"Whats in those rooms and why did you stop?"

Jake said, as Kieran who had been running nonstop without bothering to check any of the rooms suddenly stopped and looked on ahead with furrowed eye brows.

"Nothing. They’re all empty"

"What do you mean empty?"

Jake waked into a room on his left, coming out later and doing the same to couple more rooms down the hallway.

"They are empty."

He said in a low tone when he returned.

"Are you sure they left aby soldiers behind?"

Kieran asked once he returned.

"Yes, I saw them split off and leave the gates. Their total number is much, so only a few stayed back."

He repeated what he had seen, how he had seen it.

"I don’t sense any!"

"Don’t sense any, I literally saw them walk down the first hallway about an ho—"

Jake stopped taking and looked around, visbly tense as a small shiver went through his nerves.

"Can’t you feel it? Its quiet here, too quiet."

Kieran said, looking around the hallways around him. A familiar and uncomfortable itch reappearing in his mind. The unbearable feeling that he was missing something quite obvious, haunting him.

"It is."

Jake’s voice came in a whisper.

The air around them suddenly felt cold.

About 90% of their forces had gone out the outpost with Orion’s team. A percentage which didn’t amount to that many soldiers. Ignoring the odd distribution of soldiers, the outpost from the structure was a facility of sorts, yet everything was dead silent.

There was no sound of machines running, no sounds of shuffling feet from researchers which should be working within the building.

’Researchers?’

"Researchers?!!!"

"Huh?"

Kieran looked over in confusion at Jake’s sudden shout.

"Researchers!!"

He repeated again, with a hint of desperation and the light in his eyes continued to shine brighter.

"What is it?"

"Researchers! Did you see any?"

He asked, his hands latching onto Kierans shoulders.

"N-no?"

Kieran said, taken aback by his agitated state.

"Exactly! Hahaha, we were such fools!"

Jake said, bursting into laughter. He looked to have taken a heavy blow.

Kieran’s eyes remained narrowed and it took a moment for it all to sink in.

"Researchers..."

The word escaped his mouth, along with the weight of their situation settling in.

Looking towards his friend, Jake said the words for him.

"We fell into a trap! This is an illusion."

"No, it can’t be."

Kieran refuted, his tone carrying his disagreement.

"What do you mean NO???"

Jake shouted with reddening eyes.

"If it was, my eyes would have seen through it long ago"

"I haven’t seen any signs of an illusion being casted over us!"

Kieran said calmly, his fingers stroking the surface of the black railings

’No dust.’

"Are you crazy?"

Jake sighed after, shaking his head at Kieran’s stance. His words were quite logical and he had nothing to refute them.

"What then?"

He asked, pulling out his weapon and strapping it to his back.

"There is one place I can’t get a read on, the core area."

Kieran said, looking in a particular direction, his eyes piercing through the several buildings and walls between them, locking onto the swirling back dome which stood out like a sore thumb in his world of white and grey.

"We have to check that out!"

"Alright, lets— what was that?"

Jake paused, rubbing his shoulders at the sudden chilliness he had felt.

"It’s cold, we should head back to get some rest before the guards catch up to us!"

Kieran said, turning around.

"Yeah!"

Jake said following his trail.

All this while missing the trail of red blood which came from the glass digging into Kieran’s tightened fist.