Alright, so in this chapter, I will be changing perspectives back and forth to make everything interesting for you readers to better follow what's going on. Oh and by the way, I seriously thank the ones who actually gave me feedback! It really makes my day to open up fanfiction to see that some people appreciate my work. Every so often I check back over and over again 'cuz I get excited haha. Also, I'll be sure to focus on my weak points that some of you have noticed. Anyways, I hope you like this next chapter!

Chapter 2: Path to Reunion

"Shit!" I whisper, diving out of the way.

The branch hits the balcony railing and floor, disintegrating and scattering down to the bottom floor. The sounds of the group of people walking stops, and so does everything else. Slowly but surely, I cautiously get back up on my knees.

"$#@$!!!" That same weird language comes from behind me, so I instinctively turn around.

As I turn, both the speaker and I jump a little. This guy, who is holding me at gunpoint with a water gun thing, looks almost my age, but that is the only similarity. I was correct! They really do have tentacles for hair. His are blue-ish purple, pulled back into some ponytail. As for the rest of his body, around his eyes are painted black, and his ears are a lot larger than mine, almost coming up to points at the ends, but rounding off instead. This scared guy is wearing a dirty suit of some sort.

After a couple of seconds, the guy holding me at gunpoint starts to speak out loud to the group some more, not breaking eye contact from me as I slowly back away from him in fear. Before I can even try to make a break for it, the person raises his gun towards me even more, raising his very strange voice...

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"Uhh, Advisor Anthia?? Wh-What do I do? It's backing away!" One of my workers calls out for me from the second-floor balcony.

I look up the balcony, but I can barely see the mysterious figure. "Grab it and bring it down here!" I turn to Renin, who has his eyes locked on the creature. "Go help him out. He's about to ink himself."

Renin breaks his trance, looks at me and nods. He then rushes up the spiral staircase to meet up with the drill worker.

"Woah!" Renin is taken aback from the creature, making me eager to see it.

"Hurry it up, will you?" I raise my voice for him to hear.

"On it, sorry Advisor," Renin apologizes.

He and the drill worker raise their octoshots at the figure, escorting it down the stairs. They then take hold of its shoulders and places it on his knees in front of me, and what a creature. It looks like a teenage boy almost. He has weird fuzz on his head, like really skinny and yellow tentacles. His ears are super small as well, and no black outlining around his eyes! As for his general emotional state, he looks scared shitless, and has he been crying lately? I can see trails of where tears used to be leading down deep green eyes. I've never seen a creature like this before. He doesn't even look aquatic!

"What is this thing?" I ask Renin as I approach the creature.

"Don't ask me", Renin replies. "I've never seen anything like it. Maybe a bottom feeder?"

A worker behind me speaks up. "Could it be one of those humans they talk about in history?" Whispers are murmured throughout the mining crowd.

"Of course not! If its anything, it's probably a bottom feeder like Renin says. Humans are just a myth anyway." I reply without breaking eye contact with the creature.

I and the creature have locked eyes; I want to examine him a little more. I lean in closer to the creatures face...

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The octopus lady stares at me with here galaxy-like blue eyes in unwanted curiosity. What the hell? She then leans in closer to my face, violating it with her eyes, as well as my personal space. I wince back my head to save my personal bubble, but it fails miserably, for she only moves closer, her breath gently brushing my face. The details of her face can really be defined at this perspective, however. Her eyes strangely look like stars live in them, and the tentacles on her head look very glossy.

She slowly raises her right hand and reaches for me. There's nothing I can really do sadly, but it's not like I'm getting punched, right? Her palm and fingers make contact with the bottom of my chin, and she tries to turn my head left and right for more examination. Her hand feels weird and slightly slippery, and the rest of her body is probably the same way. I feel the need to resist, but I'm afraid I'll get shot.

"Uh, can you please get out of my face?" I say, hoping they are bilingual. As I say this, the lady jerks back, as does the entire group of other octopus people behind her. Some of them even gasp. After this, she backs away and starts to speak to the uniformed guy holding me.

I don't know what to do, nor do I know how to get out of this situation. I begin to think back to the bunker my Dad wrote about. Everyone in this bunker must have left through the emergency hatch down the hallway in front of me to escape, but submarines are always connected to them because the ocean floor is there. If I knew how to pilot a submarine, then I'd have a clear path to freedom. Maybe I could figure it out. There's no other way out anyways. I know where the room to the hatch is because everyone is required to know while they live in here. I'll break free, run pass the lady, enter the room, open the hatch, and climb into the submarine. All I need to do is wait for the lady to turn her back. I'll risk my life for this and try to dodge some bullets.

The octopus people exchange words (I think) for a couple more minutes, and the lady looks like she tells the group to spread out and search for something, maybe more humans. Any moment now. In the process of her giving out orders and pointing fingers, she turns her back away from me. Now's my chance!

Without warning, I jerk away from the two holding me and make a break for it passed the tentacle lady, accidentally almost knocking her down, and haul ass for the hallway in front of me. I can hear their distorted voices calling out to catch me as they chase me down. I make it to the hallways and follow the directional signs attached to the ceiling. I have to take a right, two lefts, and one more right. That should be the way. My legs work like pistons as they violently push off the floor. I start to hear them gain on me, and they're guns begin to fire, causing my heart to leap to my throat. I won't look back because if I do, I'm done for. But for some reason, I start to hear the sounds of a group of fish swimming through water. Confused as all hell, and ignoring the "don't look back" thing I was just talking about, I look back. The long-eared people transformed into these small octopi forms, swimming through dark purple ink that others are shooting out of their water guns. Holy shit! These things are aliens!!! And those aren't water guns!

"Oh fuck", I exclaimed, turning my head back in front of me, trying to run faster. Here's my first turn! I pass all of the maintenance rooms and turn right, and this part of the hallway is shorter. The next turn is already in sight.

Behind me, I hear a high pitched whirring noise, like a futuristic gun powering up. I start to panic, and before I know it its fires. I expect an intense amount of pain to sprout in my back, but instead, I'm pushed forward slightly and my back feels wet..? Nevermind that. It hasn't slowed me down so I should be fine. I take the next turn, almost slipping on the purple liquid they shot out from behind me. What the hell are these guns? Over the sounds of the other gunshots meant for me is another whirring sound. It's charging up again! I have to dodge it this time! I don't know what this inky stuff does, but I don't want to find out. I start to sprint in a zig-zag pattern and the gun fires. Ha! It misses! A ray of ink is splattered on the wall to my left, but then I see a small blue octopus swimming in it, defying gravity almost. My eyes shoot open when I see it swim pass me, reverting back to that blue tentacled lady and landing right in front of me! I attempt to run past her while she reaches out to grab me. I move right past her, but she successfully grabs the back of my hundred-year-old shirt. Instead of her catching me, my shirt rips away since its so old. I'm still free from the aliens and I continue on as I hear her call out in anger.

I continue down the hallway taking my last left, half of my shirt ripped away. I little ways more and I'm free! Run harder than ever before, and ink continues to be shot at me, some of it making contact with my bareback. I can hear the shooters shouting at each other. Are they surprised it's not doing anything? I reach the end of this part of the hallway and take my final turn. At the end of the hallway is a big metal door leading to a ladder. The door is half open; The escapees left in the bunker probably never shut it all the way. I push my feet off the ground harder and harder, and I finally reach the door. Just from grabbing the end of the door, I can already tell this is one heavy metal door, so I don't bother trying to close it. I know they are still going to follow me, but I've got a couple of yards off my tail. I enter the room, and I freeze from what's inside.

Skeletons. Skeletons everywhere! They are all in lab coats, some of them laying their skull and arms across the control panel countertops, while others just lay lifeless on the ground. I can feel myself freaking out, but no! This isn't time to have an episode again! I shake my head, and I notice a pistol in the dead boney hands of someone on the ground. To eradicate any chance of me freaking out again, quickly reach and grab the gun and immediately stuff it in my pants on my right side. I then run for the ladder in the middle of the back room. At this point, I hear the aliens enter the room, and I don't stop to look. Instead, I just climb the ladder like my life depends on it, because it does. My hands grab one bar after another. I even leap a little, skipping bars below me. I can hear the octo-aliens start climbing from the bottom of the ladder, encouraging me to climb faster. There it is, the hatch!!! I reach the top of the ladder to the hatch, grab its crank, and twist as hard as I can. The hatch barely twists, and the octo-people are gaining on me. I twist harder and harder, grunting and shouting out. Finally, the hatch opens slightly, and I push up on it with all my might. At this point, the aliens reach me, grabbing at my feet and trying to pull me down. I shake my feet violently, kicking some of their faces and making them fall down while others rise up to replace them. I continue to push on the hatch and I can see it open. Light pours down on me as I open it wider and wider while hands grab onto my feet and practically climb up my body.

Finally, the hatch opens, flushing light down the ladder hole and onto my face. I have many questions from this, but no time to think. The octo-people almost pull me down, but I rise up again and kick them off of me. I then climb out of the hatch and pull the hatch off the ground to swing it back closed, but it's very heavy. I grunt and groan as I pull the hatch off of the ground, and I can hear that familiar lady shouting from the hole, her voice getting closer and closer. I pull even harder, the hatch beginning to make way. Just in time, the hatch tips over and I let it fall back in place, jumping on top of it and screwing it shut. The hatch is so thick that the voices on the other side are barely audible. I twist and twist and twist the hatch's wheel until I can't do it anymore. I scream out from the adrenaline running through my veins. They try to unscrew the hatch, but I protest against them. And since I'm in a better position to keep it closed, the wheel doesn't budge. I can hear them shouting at each other in their own language for minutes at a time, and eventually, it dies down. I don't lose grip of the wheel, acting as if they are still trying to reopen it. This goes on for what seems like forever, and after a while, I hear nothing from the other side.

Moments pass and my grip on the wheel loosens. The adrenaline passes, draining all of my strength away and causing my body to collapse face up next to the hatch. My eyes close to protect them from a mysterious beaming light. I rest from my tiring day, closing my eyes.

"I'm free. I'm finally free..." These words escape my mouth with each breath I take. "I. Will find my family. And I'm gonna hug. My mother. My Father. My brother. And my sister..." I lay there for moments at a time, just breathing in and out with my body spread out on the ground. I will stop at nothing to find that bunker and reach my family. I'll do whatever it takes to accomplish my goal and reunite with the ones I love. Throw more aliens at me, shoot at me, I don't care. I will find them.

I can feel myself slip away from consciousness, and I don't fight it. I'm exhausted, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. The last sensation I feel is a single tear running down my right cheek...

Don't worry, the few guys reading my story, for I am still alive! I've been quite busy these couple of days, with work and all. I'm going to be working on fleshing out the characters a lot more, especially Sean. I have been planning ahead before I write the future chapters so everything is running smoothly. If you're feeling it, go ahead and leave a review or PM me what you think I'm struggling on or if you have any suggestions/requests on what minor things I can sprinkle into my story. Until then!