I'm starting to really get annoyed by this guy who refused to let me leave his lap. He said we were almost there but 20 minutes later we were still on the trail. "I thought you said we were nearly there, then where the hell are we?"
"Be patient alright? Unless you want me to drop you off here so you can hike up about three point four miles up the mountain." that shut me up so I just glared at him that made him smirk. He seemed extremely amused by this which made me even more annoyed. I crossed my arms over my chest while still annoyed. "Alright, alright. I promise you, we're almost there." then the trail ended and a huge mountain was in front of us blocking the rest of the way and he wasn't making any turns either. He just kept driving straight towards the mountain.
"You do realize that there is a mountain in front of us right? Are you lost? It's okay if you I won't judge--" but I was cut off when he stopped suddenly which caused me to almost bump unto the steering wheel if only he didn't catch me in time. "Bloody hell! A little warning next time yeah?"
"I would've but you were too bloody noisy. Would it kill you be patient?" he said as he typed in something on the screen. There was a symbol on the screen, he pressed his thumb and a red light seemed to scan it. A woman AI voice sounded from the screen "Access granted. Security ID number 072658282798783 Charles Harrows." that's a long ID number.
After the voice ended, the ground started to shake and the wall of mountain started to move. It felt like an earthquake and the car starting to shake but only mildly, like the whole mountain was vibrating. Soon enough there was an opening right where a wall was a few seconds ago. "Within this mountain lies our Headquarters―our base of operations―that not even your government knows about." he proceeded to drive towards the cave-like entrance that seems to be mechanically controlled within.
"So, if our government doesn't know about it then who does? What kind of association do you run? You're not terrorists are you?" Once again I am starting to question whether or not this is such a good idea. It was pitch black, and all the headlights shone on was darkness then the car went to a complete stop.
"What will you do if we were terrorists? You can't exactly run away now can you?" even though I couldn't see him, I could feel the smirk on his lips as he said those words. Then the ground shook once more but now, the walls weren't the ones moving. We were. I could feel the gravity falling as we ascended deeper inside the mountains.
I hit him lightly on the chest "Not funny. Seriously though, where are we going?" then we stopped descending and I was completely awestruck by what I saw. It was like one of those underground lairs on spy movies, except this was real. I couldn't contain myself any longer and managed to say "Wow, this is amazing."
"Still think we're terrorists?" what I saw was just wow. The whole inside of the mountain was hollowed out, like it was naturally carved. The walls and ceiling was still the interior of a mountain with rocks and stalactites hanging from above but everything else within is advanced and high technology. Rows and rows of planes, tanks and vehicles were spread on the vast tarmac. Different kinds of people were scattered all over, scientists, soldiers―I think―and mechanics, tinkering with the machines and vehicles. "Now you can get out." Oh. I immediately opened the door and got out of the car but as soon as I got out, a group of soldiers surrounded and aimed their guns at me. I raised my hands of course in response.
"She's with me." said Charles as he got out of the car, stretching his arms and legs nonchalantly, unperturbed by the armed men surrounding me. "At ease." and with that the soldiers put their guns down but were high on alert nonetheless.
I watched as Charles took out my bag from the backseat and walked towards one of the soldiers "Foster, she needs a little polish." he commanded motioning towards the car. "Call Command and tell them to be high on alert. A few of Nightshades men chased us before we got here." he ordered then gave the soldier named Foster the keys to the car.
"Yes sir." said Foster with a tone of respect. Charles continued to astound me. "What about the others?" Foster asked as he gazed towards me. What others?
Charles grabbed my arm and pulled me with him "We're meeting them right now and tell Command I have it." the soldier saluted one last time as did the other soldiers. The man named Foster got inside the car and the platform started moving again, descending lower. "This is the Headquarters, every agent and soldier was trained here within these grounds. The mountain also acts as a shield that prevents any signal from passing through the thick rocks, and keeping anyone from tracking us."
"I never took you for the boss type. The way you ordered those soldiers earlier was unbelievable. Are you some sort of manager or something?" we walked along the tarmac where hundreds of planes and vehicles flanked us left and right. The workers didn't take mind of us and kept working.
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue "you never stop asking questions huh? I have a rank here, so let's just say I'm highly respected by soldiers here. I'm taking you to meet some people, and finally get you the answers you're looking for." he gruffly said while brushing his fingers through his hair.
"So, last question--" before I can finish my sentence, he abruptly turned around to face me. I bumped into his chest and man it was hard.
"I said, I'm taking you to meet people who will answer your questions and to finally shut you up. Be bloody patient will you?" he snapped at me then turned back around towards the inner caverns of the mountain. We walked towards a cave like entrance that was guarded by a couple of soldiers. They asked for identification so Charles took out a glass-like rectangular card from his pocket and showed it to them. "It's procedural." murmured Charles next to me.
The guards stepped aside as the door automatically slid open. On the other side of the door was completely opposite from the outside. It was high-tech and there was a clear glass view from outside, it was amazing. There was a round table in the middle, surrounded by computers and beeping machines. But at the center of it all was seven people continuously arguing with each other.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" Charles demanded, his voice rising above everyone else's in the room. All seven heads turned towards us in unison, I finally got to asses what they looked like then my eyes landed on a familiar pair of eyes.
"Ley?!" I exclaimed, surprised to see her here. I hurriedly walked over her equally surprised face. She stood up from where she sat and walked to meet me half way. We hugged and buried our heads in each others shoulder. "What are you doing here?" I asked pulling back and taking a close look, assessing bruises or what not from her body. She looked the same as I left here this afternoon, maybe a little flustered.
"Liz thank God! I was going to ask the same question, what are you doing here and how are you here? Were you kidnapped too?" she sounded frazzled. I was too busy talking to Ley to care about anyone else around me who were also arguing with each other. There was a blond and a redhead who were arguing with an ash-gray haired boy who looked as if he couldn't care less. Then there was a tall shaggy haired guy arguing with this gorgeous Latina woman who also looked like she couldn't care less. Is everyone trying to add to the coldness of the room in here?
I turned around and glared at Charles who was talking to a tall blond guy with lot's of ear piercings. His eyes met mine and he raised an eyebrow in response. "What?" he asked.
"What the hell is she doing here?" I demanded, pointing my hands towards Ley. The others were taken aback by my sudden outburst. "How did she even get here. What is going on?" The blond guy approached me and took my hands.
"Hey, I'm Lennox. Nice to meet you and I'm kind of the one to blame for her being here, my apologies." he bowed his head and bashfully scratched his head.
"What do you mean by that?" I demanded furiously as I pulled my hands back from his grasp. Instead of answering my questions Lennox stood behind Charles as if cowering.
Charles approached me, grabbed my shoulders and made me face everyone else in the room. "These are the people I wanted you to meet, who will answer all your questions." he stated, while motioning to everyone in the room, including Ley. "I'm sure you're already familiar with her." he added, pointing his fingers towards Ley. "Now that everyone is here, let's start the briefing." and like that the noise died down. Charles left my side and went towards my bag on the floor.
"What are you doing with my things?" I walked towards his hunched form and knelt down next to him realizing what he was looking for so I softly pushed aside, rolling my eyes for the mess he made. I rummaged my hands on the bottom of the bag and felt the familiar leather texture of the envelope bag. I pulled it out and gave it to him. "There you go." he took it and stood up. He walked towards the middle of the room in front of the large circular table.
In total, there were nine people inside the room. I followed him and took a seat next to Ley who still looked confused. At the moment, there were three other people who sat with us on the table, the blond, the redhead, and the shaggy-haired guy earlier.
"What was that you gave him?" she asked quietly next to me I shrugged because I really didn't know what it was. She looked frantic, and the usual sass was gone. She clutched my arm tightly and focused her eyes on the four people standing in front of us.
"First and foremost, I would like to apologize to all of you on behalf of my team. It was all so sudden for most of you, too sudden to grasp the turn of events in your lives." Charles' arrogance dissipated and was replaced by a complete seriousness that gave of a vibe of superiority which made me annoyed even more for no reason. He captured my eyes and said "All questions will be answered right after I explain." it felt directed towards me specifically that made me narrow my eyes at him.
He swiped his hands on the table that revealed a huge holographic image. It was the doctor I met that night… "Harrington Gray." Charles and I said in unison as our eyes met.