We are led outside the drill hall to a different location. Each team is placed before a thick, metallic door polished to a bleak gray shine.
With the Elementalist dead, Aric’s team numbers are down to four. We are evenly matched.
The hatch opens with a hiss.
“Enter,” Knox calls.
Both teams step forward, vanishing into the dark. It’s impossible to see what is ahead of us. Shadows cover us in a thick curtain. Red light flashes from an old alarm that rotates in silence. We seem to be in an abandoned building, mimicking one of the Resistance’s hideouts.
“Move left,” I whisper. “Flint, take the rear. I’ll take the lead. Rei and Kaia cover our flanks.”
“This is creepy,” Rei mutters.
“Tell me about it,” Flint says. “What are we even looking for?”
“A document, most likely,” I say. “It is a retrieval operation.”
“It’ll be guarded or locked,” Kaia says. “It won’t be out in the open.”
“And we need to find it before Aric’s team,” Flint finishes.
“That should be easy,” Rei says. “They have shit for brains.”
“Focus,” I hiss. “I can’t concentrate when you guys yap.”
“Who made you, our leader?” Rei asks.
“Your mom,” I reply.
Flint chuckles, and Rei elbows him hard.
“If I didn’t like you so much, I’d knock out your teeth for that,” Rei says.
“Lucky me.”
A shout erupts down another hallway. I freeze. We’re all here, so who could have attacked the other squad?
“Keep your eyes open,” I whisper, resuming our pace. “Don’t?—”
A click sounds, and the panel beneath Flint’s feet vanishes. His eyes widen before he plummets, vanishing into the dark.
I gasp, locking eyes with Rei.
“Traps,” she says warily.
“It’s a simulation wing,” I say. “He can’t be hurt. We just think he is.”
“Flint!” Rei calls down into the abyss.
Silence echoes around us.
“He must have gotten pulled into another area of this place,” I say. “We have to find him before the others do.”
“I hate this!” Rei whines.
“Come on.” I grab her wrist. “We have to keep moving.”
A click sounds, and a spring-loaded blade slices across the hall, coming straight for Rei’s heart. I push her aside, and it sinks into the plaster with a sharp thud. Kaia’s eyes widen.
