“I know you guys are probably very tired, but we’re going to have to move as fast as possible,” said Aria, “once in the forest, we might be able to catch a break but not right now.”
“Understood,” said Kate, “Don’t worry, I can keep going for long enough. Hopefully.”
“Let’s move then,” said Aria.
Harry tightened the grip on his weapon. Let’s do this.
“For Earth!” said Harry, raising his voice a little now that they knew for certain the aliens weren't anywhere earby.
“For Earth!” echoed the rest of them in a half cheer, half whisper. The five of them charged up the corridor.
They half jogged, half ran all the way to the top of the passageway, huffing and puffing with the added weight of the rifles not exactly helping matters with their already aching legs.
They arrived at the fallen door. There were large claw marks all across it leaving deep gouges.They had certainly been in a very bad mood on the way down. The lights in the corridor were on, at maximum brightness like they’d been earlier.
“We take five,” said a panting Aria, “just to get used to this brightness or we might as well be running blind.”
Harry collapsed against the wall with a sigh, letting himself slowly slide down to the floor. Even with his stamina, it was getting harder to keep going. Luckily the gate wasn’t too far away from here. If we can even get to it.
The next few minutes passed in silence. Aria and Harry kept a close eye on the corridor in case any guards were coming that way. Kate reasoned from what she’d looked up that the guards would only take at most two minutes to get a message through and maybe another five before backup would arrive. It wasn’t going to be long before the place would be swarming with them. Harry hoped that Mr. Summers and the rest of that gang hadn't been caught with all this chaos spreading through the camp. On one hand, he'd love some help from them but he'd much rather get caught than have all of them caught working to help them escape.
Finally, Aria got up and gestured towards the corridor.
“It’s still clear, let’s get going now. I think that’s enough time.”
“No,” mumbled Kate from next to Harry. Aria didn’t seem to hear as she gestured for them to get up. Harry got to his feet quickly, trying not to fall over because of the awkward weight of the rifle. After helping Kate and Daisy up, they were once again ready to move.
They set off, heading into the light this time. Aria didn’t bother to hug the walls this time, taking them right down the center as she walked with purpose. Harry was strongly reminded of his mother’s walk from earlier when she’d gone off to inform Alex and the rest about the damage on the door.
Smiling at the thought, Harry picked up the pace as Aria broke into a quick jog as they neared The Hub. It was an entirely different sight than what they’d ever seen before.
The lights in The Hub were all tinted a harsh red. Orange lights were blinking all along the walls. The shrieking noise had stopped which meant that everyone had probably already been notified. It wasn’t looking particularly good for them and the feeling in Harry's stomach got worse.
“Am I the only one that thinks the lack of guards so far is a bad thing?” asked Kate.
“You’re definitely not alone Kate,” said Harry, “I don’t like this either.”
“Of course. We can be essentially a hundred percent sure that they’ve set a trap for us but then what choice do we have at this point,” said Aria, “come on, the faster we get to that gate, the higher our chances of pulling this off successfully.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, that really is all we can do,” said Ryan.
“Well, we promised this would not be a repeat of ’06, so let’s try and keep that promise,” said Daisy.
“Amen to that,” said Harry.
“Ancient Earth phrases for the win,” said Kate, cracking a slight smile before raising her eyebrows at their shocked faces. “What? It’s either freak out and cry or laugh. I think laughing is the superior choice. Like Ryan said. What else can we possibly do? We do this or we die trying.”
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