Chapter 1
Isaac
I ran, my legs were burning but I kept running, running away from the field of death that chased me. I kept this up until I reached the extraction point where my teammate waited to fly us out of danger,
“Chris!” I shouted and held my hand up as I ran, in a matter of seconds a figure soared down and grabbed my outstretched hand, lifting me into the air and away from the dying grass.
“Everything went just as expected then I guess” Chris said as he lifted us higher and higher until we were on top of a grassy hill where we had set up our temporary base of operations, once back on the ground I regarded Chris with a stern look, glaring at him as he took off his flight goggles and helmet,
“What? I’m not wrong, we all knew this would happen but for some reason you can’t get your head around that” he huffed as I continued to stare at him until he threw his hands up in the air and walked off. The moment he was gone I stared back in the direction we had come from, she was there, I knew she was there,
“If only I hadn’t been caught then I could have gotten to her” I muttered to myself, so lost in my own thoughts I didn’t hear someone walk up beside me,
“You know she’s a lost cause though right? It’s been so long since you’ve seen her that there’s no guarantee what state she’ll be in, if she’s even alive” I sighed deeply and turned to look at the newcomer,
“Sara…” I began but she cut me off before I could say anything else,
“I know I know, you can’t give up on her until you know for sure, the last you heard from her was over 10 years ago when she sobbed about needing help with her addiction. Isaac, I get it, I really do, but please think more rationally before you get yourself killed over someone who might already be gone” she touched a gentle hand to my shoulder and gave me that sad smile I see from her occasionally, I put my hand over hers, it was cold to the touch.
“Once I confirm her fate I will drop it completely, okay?” I offered a slight smile, it was all I could manage but she accepted it with a nod and took her hand back before walking with me into the main tent where Chris was sulking and Alex was glaring at him, they had obviously given Chris an earful. The moment we entered Alex grinned at us cheerfully,
“What’s our next move?” They asked, smacking Chris on the arm as they sat down,
“Ow! What was that for?” He shrieked but got no answer from them as they looked at Sara for guidance. I spoke instead.
“Are you nuts!?” Chris shouted at Sara “you can’t seriously be letting him continue this fools journey, right?” Sara let him continue until he got it all out, she was the leader of our team and her choice was final but she still let us have a say in how things went. Once he was done and huffing breathlessly, she started her counter-argument,
“As you know, our main goal here is to gain intel on the enemy so that our troops know what they’re getting themselves into once the war truly begins. Isaac heard a rumour that she is in that stronghold which is guarded by the villainous Lady Deliquesce, we also gained intel that Lady Deliquesce has been supplying the enemy with weapons, manpower, and rations which is why we were allowed to come here in the first place.” She took in a deep breath and looked directly at Chris “our main objective is to either destroy, take over, or cut off this stronghold, however we have a secondary objective; if possible, locate and extract Isabella” her eyes moved to me, making me shut my mouth before I could protest the possibility of leaving her there if she was found, then she looked at Alex who only nodded quietly, giving me a gentle but knowing look “okay then, with that settled lets go over our plan” and with that we spent the next few hours discussing, and arguing, about the plan and which option should be our Plan A.
“Okay, are we in agreement?” Sara looked at a sulking Alex while Chris looked at them in triumph, their moods completely flipped from the earlier discussion.
“Yeah yeah, Chris gets to plant explosives, I guard our exit, and you get to play decoy for Lady Deliquesce while Isaac searches for his girl. If you take out the boss then we do cleanup of the goons, we need to at least keep the stronghold secure until backup gets here and Isaac needs to find her before they do or else we’ll all get in trouble for allowing a personal mission interfere with our main objective” Alex summarised the large almost complicated plan that we had spent hours trying to hash out. We all looked at each other then back at Alex who only shrugged their shoulders “that’s basically what we’re doing” they said, still sulking that they lost to Chris and had to stand by the exit. Sara cleared her throat,
“Well, now that that is settled. I will send the call for backup and we will take the next steps to cut off the stronghold, if all else fails then we need to at least cut them off, but that’s a tomorrow's problem” she gave us all a tired smile “it’s late, lets eat then get some sleep” we all stood up to leave but Alex stopped me before I could leave the tent and waited for Sara and Chris to completely leave before speaking in low tones,
“I’m sorry Isaac, I really wanted to be the one to plant the bombs, I…” they stopped, their shoulders drooping as if a weight had been placed on their shoulders, I just shook my head and gave them the best smile I could manage,
“I know you want to help me find her, it’s okay though, I have a feeling I’ll find her in there” I put a hand on their shoulder, noticing for the first time just how much shorter they were compared to me “you’re trying your best and I appreciate that, thank you Alex” they looked at me, their eyes filled with resolve as they nodded then left to get their own rations which left me alone, alone again. I shook my head of the thoughts rising to the surface and forced my body to move, going on auto-pilot as I ate and laid down in my bedroll. Sleep did not greet me that night. “I’m coming Isabella, just wait for me” I said softly.
