"And somebody laughs like it's all just for hell.

As though we could not be saved from the depths from the depths of the well."

-Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree, James Vincent McMorrow

"We ran. I made the call, but the entire time I couldn't stop cursing myself out. We left them. Myra, Kyle, Comrade. They were taken, the room was chaos. Half of our agents were gunned down in the initial attack. The others were only saved because Liam shifted into wolf form and smashed through the line of enemies streaming into the archive room."

"When the path was clear, I gave the call. 'Retreat! Back to the generator room!' I didn't wait for anyone to protest. Instead, I grabbed Kasper's arm and ran for the smoke-filled hallway. Liam was already charging full-speed towards the generator room as a wolf, so I didn't really need to worry about him."

"I glanced behind just to check if anyone was following. Kaishi ran hot on my tails, followed by Emma and the surviving hackers and agents. Shit, there were only five or six after the slaughter.

"'Kasper, press the BeeperBox!' I called. We needed Liam to be human if we ever hoped to get him back down into the sewers. Up ahead, wolf-Liam was clutching his ears, turning back into his human form. I lifted him up by his shirt when we approached."

"'Come on! We gotta get out of here before more of those guards come!"

I could here more bullets whizzing above our heads, even more baddies on our tails. Liam kicked open the rusted generator room door, and I pushed Kasper in ahead of me, out of the warzone hallway. Then we each scrambled down the ladder into the sewer, and down the disgusting sidewalk. The sounds of battle grew more muffled the further away we got, but I made sure we kept running. I couldn't handle losing any more teammates."

"When we finally got out of those Goddamn tunnels, there were maybe seven of us in all. We went in with twenty. It was a massacre. What the hell happened? We were told that we were going to be facing minimal security, if any! We ran into a freakin battle field!" I finished with a shout.

"Calm down, Dante. We need to hear the entire story if you ever want to help save your friends." Mr. A clears his throat. "Now please, continue."

"There's nothing else besides that. We ran through the woods until we got to where the cars were waiting, and that was it. They drove us back here, to the airport of all places. Now can I go?" I grunted. I really didn't want to deal with the man who sent us on a mission to our deaths at the moment.

"Yes. You are dismissed. Please send Miss Kasper in after you exit so we may here her side of the story."

"Thank God," I sigh. I make a point of slamming the door behind me as I leave.

Kasper sits on a bench outside the makeshift interrogation room, which is really just some kind of worker's lounge inside the airport.

"Are the others ready to go?" I ask in a whisper.

"They're by the cars now."

"Great. Let's go," I mumble.

As soon as we got back from the failed mission two days ago, we started planning ways to get our friends back. Myra, Comrade, and Kyle were all taken at some point during the attack. We know they weren't killed; they couldn't have been. We would've seen their bodies, plus Liam claims he might have seen Kyle being carried off by one of the guards.

This late at night, the airport is all but abandoned. Mr. A got us hotel rooms and special passes here, so we have free roam of the entire facility. I guess that comes with the perks of working for the government. Several night guards pass by, and I nod politely. They'll never suspect a thing, especially not that we will be stealing cars and breaking through one of the exterior fences.

"You ready babe? You know there could be no going back, right?" I ask Kasper as we race down the halls towards the airfield.

"I know. But we have to save our friends. Who knows what F.E.A.R. could be doing to the, right now?"

I hate putting Kasper back into danger, but I know that it's her choice. It's not like what happened with Anna. Kasper can handle herself.

We slow down a bit so we can creep into a hallway that leads to one of the garages to the airfield. Hopefully Kaishi, Emma, and Liam have already started the cars so we can hop in and leave without meeting too much resistance.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding when I hear car engines. I sprint to the door and throw it open. Liam sits in the driver's seat in one of the jeeps while Emma sits in the other. Kaishi takes shotgun in Emma's car, so Kasper and I jump in Kaishi's.

"Alright, let's go!" I shout to the other car. The garage door is already open, so Liam guns it. I can hear Liam's engine rev behind us.

"Hey, Liam, did you ever get a license?" I call up to our driver.

"No, why?" Liam calls back.

I roll my eyes. "Great."

Liam slows down as we approach the gate we exited on our first mission.

I hop out of the car and run over to the iron latch on the fence. Thankfully, there's no lock, so I simply lift the latch and pull open the gate. Liam pulls over to pick my up, then we're off through the trees again, headlights bouncing as we drive over uneven roads.

Now I just have loads of time to beat myself up over abandoning our teammates.

"I can't believe I left them," I mutter.

"You didn't leave them. We all left. We could have died, and you saved us with your quick thinking. So stop feeling guilty about it," Kasper says, rubbing my shoulder. If I could, I would have held her hand, hugged her, wrapped her into a loving kiss. I can't. This– this... curse... of a power prevents me from touching the ones I love.

"I love you. You know that, don't you?" And it's true, I do love Kasper. I love the curve of her cheeks, how her hair is never perfect, always messy in some way or another. I love her grey eyes, the blue streak of dye in her bangs that everyone overlooks, but I find insanely attractive. "You're so beautiful."

Kasper blushes and smiles, but seems at a loss for words.

"I love you too," she murmurs, almost too softly to hear.

She rests her head on my shoulder, and I lay my head on hers. The bumping of the car drones on, rocking me to sleep...

–~–~–

"So Emma, Kaishi, and Liam will take the hallway down to the right of the generator room, and will take out anyone they seem. Liam, Emma will have the BeeperBox, so go ahead and shift."

"Kasper and I will take the hallway to the left of the archive room. Kasper, if I tell you to get back, you need to get back. No questions asked. So, does everyone understand the plan?" I finish, looking around at my friends' faces.

"So basically we are going into an enemy's base with literally no idea where a prison cell may be, with no guarantee that our friends are even being held here, with literally no back up, in the middle of the night. Wonderful," Liam scoffs.

I laugh. "So everybody's ready? Alright, then follow me down."

The woods are hardly recognizable this late at night, and I almost trip on the concrete entrance to the sewers. It takes both Kaishi and my strength to remove the grate over the chute.

I go down first, rusted rung after rung until I reach the bottom.

It somehow smells worse in here than last time, like... like...

I turn on my flashlight to find my bearings, but as soon as the light flicks on, I gag. Bodies. That's the smell. Rotting bodies. Corpses of the agents and hackers that died in our first attack. Flies swarm the decaying infiltrators, eating away at their skin, their eyes.

"Don't look when you get down here," I call up, though I know my friends are bound to take a glance.

"God," I hear Liam mutter.

"They just dumped them here? Like trash?" Kasper gasps. "That's cruel. That's sick, and that's cruel!"

"We should keep moving." I urge, but I can't tear my eyes away from the grotesque scene. The bodies float in the sewer sludge, eyes wide open and mouths twisted in horror and pain.

"Should we check if they're..." Emma whispers.

"It's not them. They're alive, I know they are," I say, and I believe it too. They were a strong group. Are a strong group. "Let's just... Keep moving, alright?"

I try my best to think of some witty joke to lighten the mood, but with the fricken dead bodies only feet away, I can't bring myself to it.

"The tunnel is ahead," Kaishi informs me.

"Alright. Kasper and I will go first. You guys follow. Remember the plan."

"What plan?" Liam asks.

I sigh. "Y'know, I can never tell if you are joking or not, Wolf Boy."

I don't wait for an answer, but instead I approach the next ladder. The one that will lead to the surface and most likely certain death.

I climb the cold rungs slowly, taking each second to prepare myself. I'm at the top before I know it, and then I find myself wandering to the door that leads out of the generator room.

I turn back to see if Kasper has followed. She stands behind me, looking at the floor. I grab her hands in mine for a split second, risking the contact now that we face what could be our last seconds on earth.

"I love you. I'll always love you Kasper."

"I love you too," Kasper whimpers. Her eyes are watering a little, but I know she's strong.

"Let's go then, before I start crying," I snicker to calm our nerves, but I don't know if I even convince myself. I push open the door, and jump back in surprise. A body falls through the doorway, one that had been slumped against the door when I opened it. He wears the masked helmet and Kevlar vest of a F.E.A.R. agent.

The fluorescent lights overhead flicker. Some appear to have been shot; parts of them hang from the ceiling along with sparking wires.

Now I'm just freakin confused.

"Guys, you might wanna have a look at this."

XxXxX

Well, how'd you guys like this Dante-narrated chapter? Don't worry everyone, each OC will get their own POV in the coming chapters, so stay tuned for more! How do you guys think I did with Dante? Tell me in the reviews, along with predictions for the next chapter. Thanks for reading! God bless!