The four of them arrived at Oliver's lake area. As soon as they heard the sound of footsteps from an unexpected and hidden direction, several Deformity people approached.
"Bone, you're okay. Thank goodness." One of them spoke. "Seth? The others?"
This time, Bone could not hold back the sadness. He could not even answer. The Deformities looked instantly devastated.
"They didn't make it," one of the Deformities murmured.
Bone nodded, then the deformities hugged Bone and they took turns embracing each other. No one made a sound, all were silent for a few moments with wet eyes.
A moment of silence to remember their fallen comrades.
Bone broke the embrace, then wiped away his tears. Five Deformity remnants stood guard.
"They're from the Academy," Bone pointed out. "Bernice, Lucas and Josh."
The Deformities nodded.
"How can Academione be wandering around unsupervised?" Said a Deformity wearing a black cap and a scarf up to his chin.
"It's a long story," said Bone.
"We heard an explosion. What happened?" asked another Deformity.
"Orb destroyed. Mission successful."
Everyone looked surprised at Bone's words, but showed a look of relief.
"And the aliens?"
"Destroyed, I guess, we're not sure. Because we were just straight coming here right away," Bone said.
One of the Deformities sighed softly and said, "We can at least report the destruction of the Orb here. That might help the Deformity and the Army elsewhere."
Bone looked at Elijah's friends, who looked tired and beaten. It was not a pleasant thing to talk about the victory of destroying the Orb on top of their suffering.
"This young lad's best friend is a hero, he blew up the Orb from the inside," Bone continued. "His name is Elijah."
At that, Bernice looked down and began to sob again. She felt so guilty about taking Elijah out of the Academy. If they had stayed there, things might have been different.
If there had been an alien attack, they would have been saved by the deformities. "We should go to Alpha Headquarters," one of them said. "And tell them what happened here. There's no telling what conditions are like elsewhere."
"Yes, of course," Bone replied.
"Wait, but our friends at the Academy, the Masters... what about them?" asked Lucas.
"The orb was destroyed. We're evacuating them to safety. I think they'll be fine now that they're out of the city," Bone explained.
Josh shook his head. "The ants were chasing the army car going to the Academy. There are a lot of them."
One of the deformities at the end of Bone's lineup gasped in surprise. "Are you sure?"
Josh nodded. "Let's go back at least, we're really worried."
"No, we're still going to the base," said Deformity, who was standing next to Bone.
The five men hurried ahead of Bone and Elijah's friends to a vehicle covered with bushes and leaves.
The three Academy teens were very disappointed, but there was no way they could argue with what they were being told. Bernice only tightened her grip on Lucas, the girl was very worried.
Finally, everyone got into the car and drove to Alpha base.
*
It was the Deformity's training ground and headquarters. It was like a huge fortress with a high level of security. As soon as the car approached, the people guarding the tower took aim with their guns. Then the gate slowly opened automatically and closed as soon as the car entered the headquarters area.
Inside, people seemed to be busy. Soldiers were evacuating with civilians.
Emergency tents were being set up, as if they were preparing a place for the survivors. The car continued inside, passing several three- or four-story buildings. It was a large complex, and when it reached one of the two-story buildings with large windows and tall columns, the car stopped on the terrace. Then the Deformities rushed into the building, followed by Lucas and his friends.
"This is the main headquarters," Bone whispered. "All the bigwigs of the Army and Deformity are here where they work."
Josh's eyes roamed the vast interior, and he looked fascinated.
As he walked down the quiet corridor, Deformity and Army officials hurried down from the direction of the circular staircase.
The Deformity who had come from the city lined up neatly and saluted. One of the Deformity officials was a man no older than 35.
On the side of the Army was a woman in her fifties. The two of them descended the stairs after the other government officials.
"Are you from the city?" one of the officials asked. "The Orb's signal has disappeared from our radar."
"The Orb has been destroyed," said Bone.
"How? And the people in the city?" asked another official.
The woman in her fifties raised a hand, her eyes glancing briefly at the Academione.
"Take them to the barracks and treat their wounds," the old woman said in a cold, stern voice that sounded frightening. "There will be an emergency meeting in thirty minutes."
Two Deformity men led Lucas, Bernice, and Josh out of the building. The three children did as they were told without much argument. Even though they were concerned for everyone at the Academy.
Bernice, Lucas, and Josh were taken to Building P, which was about two blocks away. Once inside, there were four paramedics who immediately took charge and the two Deformity members from the city immediately left. The boys and Bernice were taken to a room and examined carefully.
"Are you from the Academy?" one of the medics asked.
Three women and one man were the medics on duty. One of them was a superhuman, the male.
Josh said yes. "Yes, we escaped from there. For fun at first."
It seemed that Josh had had enough, because almost every new person they met was always surprised to see Academione wandering around like a cursed creature.
"Yeah, celebrating a birthday," Lucas added.
"Your birthday?" The other attendant treating Bernice glanced at Lucas and gave him a simple smile.
"No, but our friend, his name was Elijah. He's dead after sacrificing himself to blow up the Orb," Bernice corrected.
The medics were silent for a moment. They did not realize that it was an Academione who had stopped the alien attack from the Orb.
"We'll clean those wounds and get you a bath and some rest."
Another medic changed the subject. "You are safe here. Everything will be fine."
"No!" Bernice shook her head. "We have to go to the Academy. We're afraid something will happen there!"