Long Run

Chapter 5: Wiped Out

"How is it?" A crispy voice said.

"Master." Another deep voice spoke, it was a tall bulky man who was standing below a fleet of stairs with his head lowered but his scarred side profile was impossible to miss. His black boots fitted perfectly with the dark marbled floor and so did the dark walls of the room. "Most of the cities are now within the context of phase one and although we are almost done, the preceding team needs to be properly equipped in the face of stronger opponents." He briefly explained.

"Oh really?" The voice answered lucidly. "Then why is the team not aware of the consequences of not completing their work?" The voice sounded amused.

"I—I really can't say, Master." The tall man admitted.

"Jadyen, if you don't know, then why are you supervising the team?" This time, the voice bellowed. "Now that I think about it—your incompetence has made me realize that you are of no use to me anymore. I would send you in for proper discipline." Jayden, the tall man, gasped, both his blue and hazel eyes widened in terror. Being sent in for discipline was far from its literal meaning, it has been the worst nightmare for many of his predecessors as it cast fear into their souls. He abruptly fell on his knees with the hard floor grazing them as he cried, unaffected by the abnormal chill of the cold ground.

"Master, please grant me a second chance! I will do all that you command!"

"Why should I give you a second chance when you haven't played your role right?" The voice questioned, as the sound of footsteps descended from the stairs. Soon, a pair of silver boots appeared before Jayden's sight but he dared not raise his head.

"Not only have you failed to guide the team but you've also failed to bring back a report concerning project 01. Do you still think you are deserving of another chance?" The boots took a turn around Jadyen as the voice continued to say, "I might forgive you—if there is news about project 01, but I doubt that there is any."

Jayden shivered, his outstretched hands were withdrawn in trembles. He did have news but he was afraid that it wouldn't be enough since he had no evidence to back the report and also, if he doesn't tell, his petty life might be endangered. He had to summon a bolt of courage before he said, "I—I have some information—" He carefully raised his neck only to catch sight of the boots frozen beside him and the fear in his heart intensified.

He couldn't continue speaking and the voice must have been furious.

"And—"

"Although the information is incomplete, I think it's 62% accurate." He clearly struggled to spit out those words.

"You think?"

"I know, I know!"

"So?"

"I have found the estimated location of project 01 but the tracking device seems to be disabled. It was ineffective even after Mr. Cori tried." Jadyen said, fidgeting as he fumbled with his hands. He wrapped an arm around himself as he felt that he was getting too cold.

"Mr. Cori helped?" The voice sounded confused, "I thought he said he wouldn't meddle with any of our current situations but he helped in tracking down project 01? Isn't that strange?" The voice continued to talk to himself.

"I think Mr. Cori helped because he was the biggest contributor to the creation of that project." Jadyen answered and he instantly felt a gaze flashed his way.

"What is the location?"

"One of the communities in Vel city. "

"Oh, I see." The voice suddenly became stern, "I forgive you but you must find the true location in the next four days, otherwise you can just end up as a test subject."

"Thank you, Master. I will do as you say."

"Which hall is for the event?" Elias asked, walking behind the duos in front. He noticed that they kept going up the stairs even when they've passed many halls already.

"Hall 13." Ana answered, she ran her fingers across the stairs' frame. One nature of hers, her obsession with buildings.

"The wood is very smooth but not well polished, it must have worn out over the years." She complimented, finally pulling her hand away. She clapped her hands, dusting the nonexistent dirt from it. She was surprised that Elias hadn't teased her already so she turned only to see them staring at her bewildered. "What?"

"Are you really in a hurry to get to the hall?" Elias asked. He arched a brow as he stared at her with his shiny dark eyes. Ana noticed that his black hair had grown out, she didn't seem to have seen it during their time at the beach.

"Of course." She looked away and Lucas' anxious face came into her view. Glancing at the golden watch on her right wrist, she realized that they were running out of time. "Let's go." Ana said as she eyed Elias before turning towards their destination. Hall 13 was along their path but two halls in front, they had taken three stairs to get there.

Soon, they arrived at the hall and they stood in a straight file before the massive door. Each hall was alike with similar door designs. As she stared at the wooden door with a heavy metal handle, Ana felt a pang of pain and she placed her right hand on her chest, above her heart. She couldn't figure out why she felt that way but she had a bad feeling that something was about to go wrong.

But what?

"Oh my goodness!!" Both Lucas and Elias exclaimed. The sudden noise which brought Ana back to her senses, made her realize that they had opened the door and they were both staring ahead into the hall room. The look of horror written all over their face frightened Ana so bad that her whole body began to tremble. The pain in her chest intensified and tears fell from her eyes. Why? She now knows why.

"What happened here?" Ana looked into the far end of the hall, there stood a well decorated stage before many seats. The deco of the hall remained a huge contrast to the seated guests.

The same gaze of horror and fear was displayed perfectly in their eyes.

For a moment, Ana thought she saw them struggling while climbing over each other to get to the door. Those behind even had a glint of despair brewing within their dark orbs. She was still hallucinating when Elias pushed past her to check the people, Lucas followed too. Elais crouched down beside an aged looking man, he placed a finger underneath the man's nostril and a minute later, he deduced.

"They're dead."

"What?!" Standing above him, Lucas exclaimed. "How is that possible?"

"I have no idea," Elias turned again back into the hall, "just to be sure, let's check the others." He'd had a premonition that something was about to go wrong but he never expected this to happen instead, he could only hope silently that Hadley would be okay.

"Elias," Ana called, her voice shaky and Elais saw the fear in her eyes. "Would they be fine? They are all not dead, right?" Dad will be fine, right? That was what she wanted to say but her mouth felt heavy to even spit it out. Her eyes were so clouded that she didn't even know when a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I guess so." Elias was solemn. His expression was dull and frightened witless.

"Why don't we check first?" Lucas hurried, his hands had formed a warp around himself. He was chilled to the bone but as a man, he had to stay strong otherwise, he might have broken down to tears already. He had a bad feeling that his parents wouldn't be spared from this either but like Ana, he still wanted to hold onto the last straw of hope that— they may still be alive.

"Okay," Ana nodded frantically, her head looked like it had lost a few screws and it just slided back and forth. Lucas also nodded but his head was more stiff than usual. With trembling hands, Elias led them forward.

The hall was so wide and huge that the ceiling was many feet above the floor and the end seemed endless. It took a very long while for them to check each person even after splitting sides.

The more they came closer to the center of the hall, the more frightened they got.

"They really died. All of them." Lucas sucked in deep breaths. In as much as he didn't want to believe, the facts were all laid down in his presence and he could not change a thing about it.

"Yes." Elias said, his hands hung weakly by his side and the edge of his eyes was rimmed with tears that he wouldn't let fall. He too had eventually succumbed to his fear especially after they had seen the lifeless face of Mrs Liam.

He, who was the forefront of the team, had fallen much less the others.

"If this happened to even Mrs Liam, how would our own relatives survive it?" Lucas had broken down completely and had wept his eyes out. She wasn't even his mother but his heart ached terribly when he thought of his own.

Ana had walked far away from them and she was bending beside the stage. Although she had witnessed Mrs Liam state, she still chose to believe that her father would be alive and okay. And unlike them, her mind was crowded with only one thing. To find her dad.

She took a turn around the stage and her body froze in place. The only part of her body moving was her trembling right hand as she called.

"Guys, you need to see this."