Someone was calling my name. The voice sounded distant and muffled, like hearing someone speak underwater. "Kae... Kae, wake up..." This shifted me to one of those mornings back at the sphere. Cent shaking my shoulder to wake me even though I was fully awake. Messing with him was fun because I enjoyed seeing him acting like a child at least once in a while. "What?" I grumbled on my bed. "I need your help with something." He said matter of urgency. I turned to see him and noticed a pile of small items inside a box. "What I'm a helping you with?" "With this." He pushed it forward for me to take a closer look at it. Vivi, who had been sitting beside me for quite a while poked my nose. "Get up lazy bone, mama isn't around so can you sneak in a few treats you brought for us last night?" she pulled out her school. "This place is a good hiding place for it." "Hey, I asked for his help first!" Cent started. "Mine isn't as complex as yours." Vivi retorted. "I don't care,

She stopped struggling and stared up at me with those familiar eyes. "Kae?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Is that really you?" Behind me, I heard Katseye and Jace moving closer with their weapons being drawn. "It's okay," I said quickly, not taking my eyes off Vira's face. "I know her. She's from my team." "Took you long enough." Jace commented which forced me to shift my gaze away from Vira and to him. "You... You..." the words couldn't form as I stammered the same thing over and over again. "Yes, we did." Jace answered. "And it was thanks to her I was able to get to you both on time." "You're welcome." Vira said. "Ummm, Kae?" I turned back to look at her and noticed that she's gesturing me to stand up. "Oh, my bad." I rolled off her, offering my hand to her. She took it and I pulled her up despite the throbbing pain from my wound this particular movement is causing which made me groan. The groan made Vira's brows furrowed and her eyes traveled down to my blood soak

As we tried to make a run for what looked like our impeding doom, a mutant landed directly in front of us with a ground-shaking thud, with dust and debris exploded outward from the impact. By the time the dust had settled, we saw that it was blocking our only pathway out of here. This one was massive, easily twice the size of the creatures from the others. Its carapace had evolved into overlapping plates that looked thick enough to deflect blades. Katseye remained frozen as she stared at the mutant slowly drawing it's face closer to her. She was whimpering with her body shaking in fear. Jace slowly and carefully brushed past me and Vira as he moved closer to Katseye. He held her hand, which made her shutter as he stepped forward. He gradually positioned himself before her and gently tucked her behind him as his gaze never left the creature. His weapon came up, steady despite the tremor I could see in his hand. "Walk back carefully." he said quietly, and that's what we d

The sector entrance was chaos incarnate. The refugees pressed against the barricades, their voices rising in a desperate cacophony. Guards stood shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing back the crowd with shields and shouted orders. The air smelled of sweat, fear, and too many unwashed bodies packed into too small a space. "Please! My family is still in Sector Seven!" "Let us through! You can't keep us here forever!" "I have children! Please, just let the children through!" The guards remained unmoved, their faces hard as a rock. They'd clearly been doing this for hours since we got here. Or maybe for days as there were some here before the others arrived. They had long since stopped seeing individuals. Just a mass of desperate humanity threatening to overwhelm their position. Then the guards spotted us. Specifically, they spotted Katseye. "High-Lord Casimir's daughter!" one called out. "Make way!" The barricade parted enough for our group to slip through. Behind us, the cr

As the guard was about to reach for the alarm panel on the wall. I moved without thinking. My hand found a loose piece of stone on the ground and threw it down the corridor, away from our position. The clatter echoed off the walls which made both men spun toward the sound with their weapons drawn. "There!" the guard shouted. They ran toward the noise, leaving the corridor momentarily clear. Jace pulled me in the opposite direction. "Quick thinking." Jace complimented me. "Come on, let's leave this place ." We sprinted through the same passages we passed few minutes ago. Behind us, the alarm finally sounded. They must have finally figured out that they have been played. The alarm was harsh and the wailing klaxon made my teeth ache. "They'll seal all the exits," Jace said between breaths. "We have maybe two minutes before this entire level is under lock down." I used my radar sweep which pulsed, hoping it will help us out in showing a shorter way out of here. Afte