*Edited Version*

Chapter 12: The Rice Farm Blows…

Macey's P.O.V.

I gripped the bags in my hands tightly as I sat on the stool.

"You sure you don't want anything else?" Cammie asked Liz for like the sixth time.

"I'm fine, really," Liz insisted. She seemed to have gotten better overnight. Her skin was full of color again, her clothes were clean, and her hair didn't look like a rat's nest.

"Cammie, stop smothering the girl," I told her.

Cammie sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"I know I am. Now, where are the only two of the three musketeers?" I asked.

"They said they needed to do something before we boarded the plane," Cammie informed me.

I looked at the watch on my wrist and sighed. I was about to complain about the two again before I spotted Grant and Zach approaching us.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Grant asked.

"Whatever order you think best fits the situation," I answered.

"Bad news is that we can't quite go to Japan," Grant revealed. "At least not legally."

"Why?" I asked.

Grant glanced at Zach. "Ask him."

"I've been to Japan before and when I was there things happened. I'm not actually allowed in the country," Zach explained.

"Who gets banned from a country?" I asked.

Zach ignored the question and smiled. "The good news is that I know how we can get there unnoticed."

"No more skydiving," Cammie exclaimed.

"I had something else planned actually," Zach replied.

"What is it?" Liz asked.

That smirk of his appeared on his face and I knew that whatever it was we were about to do, I wasn't going to like.

(***)

"This is stupid," I declared for about the fifth time as we sat in the cargo lot of the plane.

"It's better than option two. Borrow a plane and let Zach fly us," Cammie pointed out.

"I'm actually a really good pilot," Zach countered.

"Not a good time to start bragging Zach," I snapped.

He shrugged and turned to Grant. They began one of their hushed conversations. I couldn't help but be curious, so I took out the voice amplifier Liz had made me. It was able to pick up conversations from far distances if I tuned in. I put it in my ear and focused it on Grant and Zach.

"That won't work. You know she hates me," Grant told him.

Zach shook his head. "You're family. Plus she's the only one you know who lives in a 10 mile radius of the place."

"Family? What about yours? You sure you can trust family?" Grant reminded him.

"My family's a different story. You remember Amy don't you?" Zach asked.

Grant rolled his eyes. "Your psycho sister? Who could forget her? I almost lost a finger because of her."

"No one told you to say yes," Zach exclaimed.

"Yet no one told me to say no either," Grant snapped.

Zach sighed. "Either way I know she knows where it is. I scanned the file the other day and I know where both are located."

"Where?" Grant asked.

"In," Zach paused and looked away from Grant. "Someone's listening."

I immediately took the device out of my ear and shoved it in my pocket. What were they talking about? File? What file and what item? Or maybe it was a person. I have to talk to Cammie and Liz.

Suddenly, I felt the plane jerk forward a bit. I heard cries of panic and I knew right then and there that we were going down.

Liz's P.O.V.

I bolted from my seat and spotted an exit on the far corner of the cargo room. I saw a parachute and quickly strapped it on.

"Time to go!"

Grant offered to go with me, which only made me blush.

"I'm fine," I insisted as I stepped to the exit.

I jumped first and as I sailed down I pulled the string and the parachute opened up. A few seconds later, I landed on a wet and muddy piece of land. A rice patty farm.

I blew a blonde strand out of my eye and unstrapped the parachute. I looked up and saw four figures sailing towards me. They landed carefully.

"What is this?" Macey asked as she scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"It's a farm. They grow rice here," I explained.

Macey looked down at the mushy ground. "Gross."

"Let's get out of here," Zach insisted.

As we began to walk I heard crinkles and other footsteps. I turned around and glanced back. You're just being paranoid Liz.

I shook my head and continued to walk. That's when it happened.

"What the-," I let out a shriek as my legs sank down into the ground.

"Liz! Are you okay?" Cammie asked.

"Do I look okay?" I smacked my arms against the muddy ground which caused me to sink down deeper, leaving only my head exposed.

"Liz, grab my hand," Grant reached towards me.

I glared at him. "Does it look like I can grab your hand?"

He cringed at the sight of me yelling and stepped back.

All of a sudden my body slipped below the surface. The last thing I heard was Zach's voice. I expected to start choking and die slow and painfully, but instead my body fell through the mud and landed on a hard surface. I wiped mud away from my eyes and looked around the area. It was all metal.

It looked like what I imagined the inside of a metal lunch box would look like, but there was one difference. A yellowish glow was cast in the room and a panel was on the wall. I stood up and wiped my hands on my jeans. Taking a step further I realized it wasn't a panel, but a timer. And it was counting down.

Oh no…