Chapter 7

The other fantastics were outside the gates to the compound filled with numerous warehouses and smaller buildings, thinking about the best way to get into the area unnoticed, Reed spotted some cameras, We can't let Doom know we're here.

'Who cares if they see us? The main thing is getting Johnny' Ben's voice broke the silence.

'We need to have the element of surprise, they don't know we're here and I'd like to keep it that way', Reed replied.

The voice from the speaker made all three jump in shock. 'On the contrary, I know you're there, Reed, Sue, Ben. How nice of you to look for Johnny. Though I'm sure he wishes that you came sooner. Don't try to find me. I've already left. If I were you I would leave now too, but you won't will you? I assure you that Mr Storm is somewhere in this compound. You have 10 minutes till it explodes. Happy Hunting',

The speaker became silent. Ben grabbed the gate and threw it to the ground.

'Should we split up?' Sue asked

'No, we don't know if has actually gone, it wouldn't be safe' Reed replied

They searched the first warehouse they came to. Nothing. Sue looked at her watch, 7 minutes left. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She knew she would be no use to Johnny if she was hysterical. The next building they came to opened to a long corridor, they found nothing in any of the rooms till they found Johnny's cell. Johnny wasn't there but his blood still was.

'Oh my God' Sue shrieked 'That's Johnny's isn't it?'

Reed told her that it could be and she started to sob. They left the room and searched the others. They found the room where Johnny was whipped. It still had the ropes, now covered in blood and splatters of blood on the floor and walls. The three stood there open mouthed not wanting to believe that anyone could do that to Johnny.

They left the building and came to another warehouse, there were specks of blood leading into it, so they thought that there was a good chance Johnny would be in there. Ben opened the heavy metal door and stepped inside. It smelled terrible. Reed stretched his neck to get a good look round the interior. He saw two bodies. They weren't moving. He quickly shrank his neck back to normal size and told the others what he had seen.

They ran to the area surrounded by boxes and pulled them away. There were two bodies, one was Johnny and the other was a man Reed recognised as Billy Grig. He bent down next to Johnny and felt his neck. There was a weak pulse. He looked at the young man; he was covered in bruises and blood. His right leg was obviously broken. Parts of the bone had splintered and pierced his skin.

Sue gasped when she saw the state her younger brother was in. Te group fell into silence as guilt overwhelmed them. Each one thought the same. We should have got here sooner. A constant beeping started at the other end of the warehouse.

'The bomb!' Reed shouted

Sue put up a force field to protect the occupants of the warehouse. The bomb exploded. The flames were stopped by the force field, as was the radiating heat. The warehouse collapsed around them.

When Sue was satisfied they were no longer in danger, she lowered the shield and wiped away the blood from her nose. She turned to look at her friends, Ben had picked up the still unconscious figure that was Johnny Storm and Reed was trying to get him to wake up. She wiped away a tear and wondered exactly what her brother had been through in the past day.