Annabeth POV
Sneaking into the terrorist camp was easier than Reyna and I anticipated.
Trucks usually drove on the north route towards the camp. Reyna and I were hidden behind some bushes, waiting for a truck to drive past us.
"The spikes are placed, and the trap is loaded," Reyna whispered.
Everything was in place, so now we wait.
Just as we expected, a truck carrying food started driving down the route towards the camp. It was a big truck, but there were only two soldiers in the truck.
No one was in the open-lid back of the truck with the food. Two soldiers were both situated in the front: one was driving while the other was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Perfect luck as well," Reyna said.
"Reyna, don't say that. The thing about luck is that it's finite," I said sharply.
The truck was coming closer, and I held my breath as I watched. However, the spikes did their job, and the front-left tired popped. The truck made a large creek as it skids to a stop. The soldiers were cursing as they stepped out of the truck.
"Let's do this," Reyna whispered as she disappeared into the undergrove.
I went forward into the street. I was still wearing my mask and soldier uniform so that they wouldn't recognize me.
"What's going on here?" I asked confidently.
Both of the soldiers turned around immediately. They held defensive stances until they realized that I was a 'fellow' soldier.
"Wow, I cannot believe that another truck has gotten destroyed. The bosses are going to be furious with you both," I said firmly.
I wasn't sure if this was a common thing, but I thought it was. I mean trucks got damaged all the time when they were transporting cargo for illegal purposes.
"This wasn't our fault," a younger soldier expressed briskly.
I could tell that the novel soldiers were put on transport duty. The insignificant soldiers would get charged with transporting food. The high-skilled soldiers would be used for more important missions.
"Well, the bosses are going to punish you anyway," I said confidently. I wasn't even lying about that.
"The truck is probably still drivable since only one tire popped," another soldier said.
"And, you boys don't think that the boss won't notice the damage even if the truck is still functional. How dumb are you both?" I exclaimed.
"Oh my god, NO," the young soldier said as he took off his mask.
He rubbed his hand over his face as panic entered his features. He couldn't be more than 20 years old. Of course, the youth were scared of their bosses at WiCKeD and BlodgeHarm.
"You know what, I have a solution for you," I said. "You should just have me take in the truck. I'll be able to handle the heat given my senior status."
"You're really willing to help us like that?" he asked.
"You should agree before I change my mind. I know that Krios will not be happy."
"No, please, thank you for your help," the soldier said. He immediately tossed the keys over, and I caught them easily.
Reyna was right about our luck. These soldiers were young and inexperienced. They were more scared than anything. The fact that they weren't suspicious about this really validated my acting skills. Or, they were seriously scared of the possible consequences.
Regardless, I took the keys and drove the truck.
The truck made rhythmic clapping noises against the asphalt (due to one blown wheel). But, fortunately, the truck was still going.
After a safe distance away from the soldiers, I stopped the truck and Reyna hopped in. She had a sly smile on her face as we continued towards the terrorist camp.
"We'll have to abandon the truck once inside the camp," I said.
"Yes, I agree. It's damaged so we cannot take the punishment. Who knows, they might kick us out and that would put us back at square one," Reyna confirmed.
"All right, let's go through our plans once more," I said as I slowed the drive.
We needed a full discussion before entering the camp, which was about 3 miles away now. Everything would be different and unexpected on the inside so we had to be prepared.
...
Our truck was directed to the southwest side of the camp. A mass kitchen was set up in the warehouse. This was where the food got prepared for the hostages held here.
The terrorist got better food than what the hostages got served.
We parked the truck outside of the warehouse, and soldiers already started to unload the materials into the kitchen warehouse.
Reyna and I snuck away as planned.
We were under disguise so no one questioned us as we walked towards the roads of the camp. The southwest side was more for the soldiers and materials storage.
As said before, the northwest side was where the hostages stayed in tents and on blankets. That's where they slept and ate like slaves, honestly.
It was horrible.
Reyna and I were pretending to stand guard with our guns drawn. The prisoners had just gotten out of work (with the weapons and bombs). They looked so exhausted and hungry.
I watched a little girl hug her mommy, who just came back.
Her mother held her daughter gently. She wasn't able to properly hug her daughter because she had large burns on her arms. She had injured herself while making some weapons, and no one even treated her. It was awful.
This was only one of the hundreds of relationships that were held here at gunpoint.
We had to save them. I vowed to save them.
Dozens of soldiers (including me and Reyna) were surrounding the huge field that contained the prisoners.
The whole camp was about a half-mile in diameter. We were standing guard in the northwest section that didn't have many buildings.
I turned away from the hostages to maintain control.
I could feel the burning tears in my gray eyes, but I knew that I couldn't lose it. I had to stay focused and gain a solid layout of the camp.
The roads in the camp were mostly dirt trails.
The southwest sector, where we first came, was useless unless we wanted to gather extra weapons.
The northeast sector was where the guns and bombs were getting made by the hostages and being stored in large warehouses. They were forcefully producing hundreds of guns and mantling dozens of bombs every day.
The southeast sector was most important.
That's where the good buildings were. As such, I was confident that the leaders and technological rooms were in the southeast sector.
"I know that you want to help the prisoners, so do I. However, we need to look at the bigger picture, which is sending out a message," Reyna said firmly.
"Yeah, you're right. It's just hard to look at all this so close up," I said quietly.
"Well, we need to sneak into the southeast sector tonight. It seems that the common soldiers aren't even allowed there," Reyna said. She was correct as well.
"The faster we do this, the better," I said in affirmation.
After a few hours of standing guard and watching the horrible lives of the prisoners, the soldiers shifted in position.
The moon was high in the night sky.
The daytime soldiers were allowed to leave, replaced by the night soldiers. The poor prisoners had pretty much gone to sleep for the night. Most were sleeping on the bare ground.
They were being treated like slaves, and no one deserved that.
The soldiers' quarters were on the southwest side. Of course, Reyna and I didn't have a room, considering we didn't work here.
Regardless, Reyna and I were resting outside in the dirty alleyway between the soldiers' building and the kitchen warehouse. We used the empty food boxes as a wall to block us.
To stay sharp, we needed at least a few hours of rest, especially after a day of standing guard in the scorching sun.
"Reyna, Reyna, wake up," I whispered as I shook her.
Reyna jolted awake and immediately got to her feet with her gun drawn. I guess as an undercover agent, she was always on adrenaline.
"Sorry to startle you, it's pretty late. I think that it's the ideal time to infiltrate the southeast sector and find a way to signal our teams," I said firmly.
"I agree with you, Annabeth," Reyna affirmed. "Let's go."
Even though the distance was short, it took us a long time to travel to the southeast sector because we had to walk in the shadows (literally and figuratively).
But, finally, we got to the desired sector.
The brick buildings were arranged like a square. Some had to be housing buildings, meetings, business rooms, and tech rooms.
We had to find a cell phone or the tech room with a radio broadcast.
"Annabeth, should we split up?" Reyna asked quietly.
We were hunched in the shadow of a large building. It was the largest building here, which meant that it was probably where Kronos, Krios, and business meetings were held.
"No, I think we should stay together despite any risks," I commented.
Reyna nodded with obvious relief on her face. We put our masks on and analyzed all of the buildings.
Obviously, if we picked the right tech-house first, we'd be safer.
"I think we should go with building #4. This building is labeled #1 for the most important. In general, the tech and communications rooms wouldn't be as important," Reyna commented.
"I agree with you, but we should go for #3. It's closer to Kronos and Krios, which is better for communication with the bosses," I said firmly.
"That's good. I like the logic," Reyna said.
Suddenly, footsteps interrupted our conversation.
A group of soldiers was patrolling the sector. However, I recognized one unmasked soldier easily: Ethan Nakamura.
Oversight must've made progress with reforming Lake Valor. They kicked Ethan out, which forced him to come here.
Reyna and I pushed against the building as they passed our alley.
A few minutes after they passed, Reyna and I quietly sprinted across the square to the building labeled #3.
We snuck in through a window in the side. The window led into a dark storage room. Our gamble on #3 was good, though, considering the room was filled with tech equipment.
Of course, WiCKeD and BlodgeHarm had high-end equipment. These resources even rivaled those of Lake Valor.
"The room is clear," Reyna whispered from the closet door.
We both went into the main room. This building was actually just a large room with a few storage closets on the side. Easy and simple.
There were many computers and gadgets laid on the tables and chairs. Leo would know what everything did. I had no clue about some of the machines.
"They need to have a radio," Reyna said.
"They do," I whispered as I walked towards the radio.
It was situated on a large desk near the back of the room. The building was very dark, so it was hard to see everything. We couldn't exactly turn the lights on though.
The buttons and switches of the radio were practically invisible.
I didn't have a great experience using technological gadgets. This was the technicians' forte. Lake Valor tech specialists would usually walk agents through using gadgets/machines if we encountered them in the field.
"Reyna, do you-"
"Yes, it's gonna take a few minutes, though. Can you stand guard, just in case, and scope the rest of the material? Maybe we could use some things," Reyna said.
"Absolutely," I whispered as I turned around.
The radio was in the back, so the rest of the important gadgets were throughout the rest of the room.
I kept one eye on the two doors of the building: one in the front while the other was in the side. My other eye scanned the tech. I was specifically looking for a phone or laptop with free access.
Every phone and laptop was secure.
However, one phone caught my attention on the right side of the room. It was an apple cell phone with a background of a sweet, four-membered family.
It clearly belongs to one of the hostages. There was no passcode. Jackpot.
I slipped the phone into my pocket and turned around.
However, I wished that I hadn't.
I watched in horror as a single soldier rushed into the room and struck Reyna, who was distracted by the buzzing radio. I immediately ducked under a table.
Reyna crumbled to the ground, clutching her head.
I crawled closer to their interaction while staying hidden behind some tables, but I was still several yards away.
Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as I watched in horror. My mind was racing, trying to think of how I could quietly save Reyna right now.
Ethan Nakamura stood over Reyna with his gun pointed to her head.