"Alex!" Sawyer and the others shouted in fear, but their voices were drowned out by the boom of another explosion.
The sound echoed around them, and the ground shook as though an earthquake had struck. Clouds of dust and smoke filled the air, and there was chaos all around. The sounds of further explosions could be heard everywhere.
It felt as if the entire planet was exploding and the world was about to end. There were more bangs, one after the other, until it eventually stopped.
Everything finally calmed down, but the dust and smoke were too thick to see anything.
Sawyer and the other soldiers were lying behind a large rock in the distance. They were covered in dust and dirt, staring blankly in the direction of the explosions with their mouths wide open and their faces filled with disbelief.
"One explosive did all this?" he asked, astonished at what had happened. "I thought it was only a single charge, so why were there so many explosions?"
He thought of Alex and called out for him as he ran and stumbled in a frenzy in the direction he had seen him go. Even though the dust was thick, and he could barely open his eyes, he kept looking anyway. Alex had been too close to the site of the blast, so it would be almost impossible for him not to have been injured.
Sawyer had a great sense of direction and easily found the spot where Alex had been, but he couldn't find him. He walked over stone and dust, tripping as he went, and it was becoming difficult to breathe.
"Alex!" he shouted, breaking off for a moment to try to clear his lungs. "Say something!"
Finally, he heard a pained cough nearby. "I'm here." Alex's voice was quiet and strained, but at least he was alive.
"Alex!" Sawyer cried with relief. Overjoyed, he rushed over to where the voice had come from, and he could barely make out a blurry figure climbing up out of the rubble. He ran over and grabbed Alex's arm to help him up.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I think I'll live," Alex joked, despite the gravity of the situation. He spit dust and dirt from his mouth and added, "Damn, that was quite the show! I only set off one explosive. What happened?"
"What should we do now?" Sawyer asked anxiously. "We can't see anything, and we can't go anywhere. What should we do with the special forces?"
Alex paused for a moment and then said, "No rush. I think we've discovered something important."
Sawyer didn't say anything; he just stood there with a confused look on his face.
"I don't think those blasts came from just one explosive," Alex said as he spit out more dirt. "There must have been something else in the wall that exploded when the bomb went off. I suspected that it was our target, and the subsequent explosions confirmed my guess. Gather the team. We're going in."
"Okay," Sawyer said, as if by reflex. He didn't care whether Alex's judgment was correct or not. All he had to do was obey orders.
"Everyone! Put on your masks and be ready to attack!" he shouted.
All eleven of them lined up side by side, all wearing gas masks and carrying automatic rifles, and then they headed forward through the hole in the wall.
As they stepped into the piles of dust, their boots sank with each step. They helped each other along, working together step by step, but the further they walked, the more difficult it became. They couldn't see the ground ahead of them, so Alex finally stopped and told everyone else to halt. It was too dangerous to carry on.
"We can't go any further!" Alex shouted. "All of you, lie on the ground and remain on guard."
They did what they were told and quickly formed a circle on the ground, their guns aimed and ready.
Alex felt helpless. Instead of the dust blowing away, it seemed to be growing heavier, and there was also a strange smell, like some kind of chemical. All they could do was wait.
As time passed, the dust finally began to settle, and their visibility increased. When Alex and the others saw the scene in front of them, they were shocked.
A few feet away, the ground had collapsed, revealing an underground world of some sort. There were rooms and stairs, and there were even some unknown devices that gave off a glittering metallic radiance. This must have been a secret cave belonging to their enemies.
They could clearly see three exits in the south, west, and north directions, but the east was where Alex had placed the explosives.
"Wow," he said. "This place looks almost as secure as the military base in Baltimore."
Sawyer nodded in agreement and said, "What is this place?"
"I don't know," Alex replied. "But something's not right." He looked around and suddenly remembered something. "Louis and the others seem to have already attacked. I wonder if they've been buried in the explosion."
"Look! There's some activity over there!" one of the soldiers shouted.
Alex turned around and saw that in one of the collapsed rooms, something was moving under a pile of dust and rubble.
The soldiers all lifted their guns and aimed at it, ready to shoot.
A man finally emerged from the pile, shaking the dirt off him.
"It's one of our people," Sawyer said quietly.
Alex nodded and said, "You're right. Call him over."
Sawyer beckoned him over, and the man walked toward them.
He must have been knocked unconscious in the blast, as he seemed to be a little dazed.
"Come here quickly!" Alex shouted.
The man ran over to him, stumbling as he went.
Everyone else was looking around, noticing that there was movement all around the room, but they didn't know who was going to emerge from the rubble—their own people or their enemies.