Chapter 24: Opaque
I took a second to clear my head. I had to assume that Silence was safe, but we still had to get to the helicopter that was our way home. We were all tired and Arch could not walk on his own and was leaning on Chrono
“Nobody gets left behind. Period. If you need help you speak up.” I brought up the map of the area on my watch. I took a good look at our surroundings, but it was difficult at night to determine where to go. Sharp pains in the back of my head weren’t helping anything.
“Where do we go?” Shift asked looking over my shoulder at the map.
I tapped my headset twice, "Acumen.”
“Go ahead.” he said.
“Is there any way we can make figuring out where to go easier?” I asked.
“Turn the dial on the watch to the C. It will point you in the direction of your ultimate destination using a GPS connection. You will have to find your way around any obstacles.” Acumen said.
I did as he said. The map vanished and a small arrow appeared on the screen of the watch.
I took a deep breath, "Are we ready?”
Everyone gave their nod in ready. Chrono got a good grip on Arch and we followed the arrow into the trees.
“I don’t think it’ll be long before we have company.” Blackout said.
“We keep moving and maybe we can avoid them altogether.” We maneuvered slowly through the trees. I looked down at my watch, under the arrow it read .98M which I assumed M was for miles, "I think we have about a mile.”
We exited the woods and waited at the edge of a four lane highway. We waited for a good enough break in the cars and in pairs we bolted across the road. When we got to the other side, we slid down into the ditch and took a breather.
“How do you feel?” I asked Arch who was sitting at the bottom of the ditch.
“Like I was hit by a bus.” he said. Blood was smeared across his face from him trying to wipe it off. "I think that I can walk now.”
I watched the clock closely and when five minutes was up, I got everyone up. "Let’s get back.” I said. I felt personally responsible for the whole group and I was desperate for any information telling me that Ryder was going to be alright.
We crossed a small field and cut a gap in a chain link fence that led into a small subdivision. The houses were all dark and there were hardly any cars in the driveways.
“There it is.” I said as we hit the top of a hill. I could see the helicopter sitting on the pad waiting for us. The pilot was walking around the front, checking the craft over.
“Let’s go home.” Arch said, trying to keep his balance.
I heard a loud pitch whistle coming from behind where we stood. I turned around to see a black streak tear across the sky. It smashed into the helicopter and exploded, sending us all flying from the shockwave.
I forced myself to my feet, but the helicopter, the pad, and the building had all been destroyed. I searched the sky behind us for any kind of aircraft, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Acumen. The helicopter is gone.” I said into my headset.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Gone, exploded, big freaking boom.” I yelled. My brain was going a hundred miles a minute.
“Calm down.”
“Calm down? The pilot is dead!” I yelled.
“I’m sorry. Bertha is ten miles north of you. They are refueling. I am updating your system now.” he said his voice panicked.
“Ten miles?” Arch said. The whole group, including myself, was exhausted. Walking that kind of distance was simply not an option.
“Stay here, Shift you come with me. We are going to get a truck.” I said.
We went back out to the road.
“What are you going to do?” Shift asked as we both knelt down by the road.
“Something crazy.” I said.
I walked out into the middle of the road as an SUV came barreling towards me at seventy plus miles per hour. I held out my hand. The truck came to a screeching stop inches from where I stood.
I walked over to the driver’s door.
“Are you out of your mind? I could have killed you!” the man in the driver’s seat said through an open window.
“I need your car.” I said lighting my eyes on fire.
The driver jumped out of the car and took off running down the street. I could make out him screaming something about a demon.
I stopped the truck next to where the others had gathered. They all climbed up the ditch and into the truck. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and opened a GPS app. I checked the map for the coordinates to where Bertha was located and entered it the truck’s GPS.
”Make a u-turn whenever possible.” the GPS said.
I put the truck into drive and smashed on the gas. I cut through the median and followed the directions given by the GPS. I swerved in and out of traffic, greatly exceeding the speed limit. Every time the traffic would build up I would go off the road around the cars.
We came to a small airstrip as the familiar plane was taxing to the end of the runway. The side door was open. I drove the truck right up to where the plane was sitting and parked next to the opened door.
“There was some kind of aircraft or something following us. I don’t know if we lost it or not.” I told the pilot. He was standing outside of the door waiting on us.
“My name is Opaque.” he said. He reached up and placed his hand on the plane’s hull. He closed his eyes and the entire plane vanished along with everything inside it, "I’ve got this covered.”
I sighed in relief, finally some good news. We all got into the plane and took our seats.
I strapped my harness over my chest and pulled the straps tight with a little too much anger. I looked at everyone. They were tired, hurt, and dirty.
“He is going to be alright.” Arch said sitting down next to me. Blackout rested her head on Arch’s shoulder.
“How are you so sure, he could barely breathe.” I said worried about what we might come home to, "Besides that, Vanish wasn’t looking so good when she appeared.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Thanks.”
The engines fired up and revved to full power. I could feel the plane begin to move down the runway. The nose lifted, and my stomach shifted as we gained altitude.
I laid my head back and closed my eyes. Everything raced through my head, I knew I had to find my parents and help them, but I wanted to know why Aurora was working so hard to keep them alive, and why they had him attached to a computer.
“So is this information going to be worth everything that we just went through to get it?” Chrono asked from across the plane.
“The information that I got from just talking to the computer was worth almost everything that we had to do, but nothing is worth what happened to Silence.” I said.
“And what did you get?” he asked.
“My parents…”
“What about them?” he asked.
“They are both alive and Aurora has them.” I said.
Chapter 25: Gone
Opaque landed the plane gently and taxied into the safety of the hanger. There was a truck waiting to pick up everyone and take us to the clinic. Sam waited for us in the lobby. He had a look of white hot anger on his face.
Doctor Z was waiting for me; his assistant took care of the others. He took me to the exam room that I had been to before.
“How is Silence?” I asked as he began to check my vitals.
“Let’s finish this first.” he said with a stern look on his face. He brought out the brain scanner and placed it on my head. He recorded the new data.
“What are you doing?” I asked.