For a moment, time froze. Amira stood at the edge of the cliff, her chest heaving and her legs trembling, as she stared down at the furious water rapid waves far below. Alex's form was already swallowed by the mist, leaving only the roar of the river to suggest if he'd even survived.
"This is insane!" Luis shouted, gripping a tree branch as though it were his last lifeline. Behind him, the ominous hum of the drones grew louder. "Do we even know if he made it?!"
"We're about to find out!" Jonah yelled, and with his signature reckless grin, he hurled himself into the abyss.
Amira's heart seized as she watched him vanish into the mist. She turned to Luis, who now looked like a cornered cat. "Luis, there's no time! We have to jump!"
"I'll take my chances with the drones!" he wailed. But before he could finish, one of the drones fired a blast that obliterated the tree he was clinging to. Luis let out a high-pitched scream as the ground gave way beneath him, and he tumbled over the edge, flailing wildly.
"Luis!" Amira shouted, but she didn't have time to see where he landed. The drones were closing in fast. Summoning every ounce of courage, she took a deep breath and leapt.
The sensation of falling was both terrifying and exhilarating, the wind tearing at her clothes and hair as the river rushed up to meet her. She hit the water hard, the icy cold stealing the breath from her lungs. For a few disorienting seconds, she was underwater, tumbling helplessly in the current. Then her head broke the surface, and she gasped for air.
"Amira!" a voice called out. She turned, coughing and sputtering, to see Alex clinging to a large rock jutting out of the river. His face was soaked but determined. "Swim to me!"
Easier said than done. The current was ferocious, pulling her downstream with relentless force. Amira kicked her legs furiously, her arms reaching out for anything solid. By some miracle, she managed to grab the edge of the rock, her fingers scraping against its rough surface.
"Hold on!" Alex said, pulling her up with surprising strength. She collapsed next to him, coughing up water and shivering uncontrollably.
"Luis… Jonah…" she managed to choke out.
Alex scanned the river, his sharp eyes locking onto two figures downstream. Jonah had somehow snagged a floating log and was paddling furiously toward the riverbank, shouting something unintelligible. Luis, on the other hand, was clinging to a piece of driftwood, spinning like a helpless cork in the current.
"Oh no, not again!" Luis's voice carried faintly over the water. "I'm not built for this level of cardio!"
"Stay here," Alex said to Amira, already preparing to dive back in.
"Wait—are you crazy?" she protested, grabbing his arm.
"Someone has to fish him out," Alex replied calmly. Before she could argue further, he plunged into the river, swimming with powerful, practiced strokes toward Luis.
Amira watched, her heart lodged in her throat as Alex fought against the current. Luis was drifting dangerously close to a cluster of jagged rocks, his flailing becoming more frantic by the second.
"Alex!" Amira shouted as he closed the distance. At the last moment, Alex grabbed Luis by the collar and pulled him away from the rocks. Together, they drifted toward a calmer section of the river, where Jonah was already hauling himself onto the shore.
Amira scrambled off the rock, her legs shaky but determined, and waded toward them. By the time she reached the riverbank, Alex was dragging a thoroughly soaked and still-complaining Luis onto the sand.
"That's it," Luis declared, lying flat on his back and staring up at the sky. "I'm retiring. No more adventures. I'm opening a coffee shop. Maybe a bookstore. Something safe. Something dry."
"Glad to see you're alive," Alex said dryly, wringing water out of his shirt.
Jonah flopped onto the ground beside them, laughing. "I gotta say, that was the most fun I've had all day. Though I could do without the drones trying to incinerate us."
Amira collapsed next to Alex, her body aching and her nerves frayed. "Speaking of drones, where are they? Did they follow us?"
As if in response, a faint humming noise drifted down from above. The group froze, their eyes darting toward the sky. Through the gaps in the trees, they could see the shadowy forms of the drones circling, their searchlights piercing the mist.
"They're scanning the area," Alex said, his voice tense. "We're not out of danger yet."
Amira's mind raced. They needed to get out of sight, and fast. "There's got to be some kind of cover nearby—a cave, a dense thicket, anything."
Luis groaned, sitting up reluctantly. "Great idea. Let's go find a nice, cozy hiding spot while we're soaking wet and half-dead."
Jonah smirked. "You're welcome to stay here and negotiate with the killer robots."
"That's not funny!" Luis snapped.
"Guys," Alex interrupted, his tone sharp. He pointed toward a narrow trail winding up the side of a rocky hill. "There. That'll give us some elevation and cover."
Amira nodded, pulling herself to her feet. "Let's move. We can't stay here."
The climb was grueling, made worse by their drenched clothes and the ever-present hum of the drones overhead. The trail was steep and uneven, forcing them to scramble over rocks and roots. Amira's muscles screamed in protest, but she pushed through, driven by sheer willpower.
They eventually reached a small plateau, where a cluster of boulders provided some semblance of shelter. The group collapsed behind the rocks, their breaths ragged and their spirits frayed.
"Well," Jonah said, breaking the silence, "this is officially the worst camping trip I've ever been on."
Amira managed a weak laugh, but her mind was already turning over the events of the past hour. The figure in the exosuit, the drones, the mysterious console… none of it made sense. And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were only scratching the surface of something far bigger—and far more dangerous.
Alex, ever the strategist, was already scanning the horizon. "We'll rest here for a bit, but we can't stay long. The drones will expand their search grid."
Luis groaned. "I hate to be the pessimist here, but we're outnumbered, outgunned, and we have no idea what we're up against. How exactly are we supposed to win this?"
Amira looked at him, her gaze steady despite the exhaustion weighing her down. "We'll figure it out. We have to."
Before anyone could respond, a low rumble echoed from somewhere below them. The ground beneath their feet vibrated, and a faint glow began to seep through the cracks in the rocks.
"What now?" Jonah muttered, peering over the edge of the plateau.
Amira's stomach dropped as she saw it: a massive, spider-like drone emerging from the jungle below. Its legs were long and jointed, its body bristling with weaponry, and its glowing red eyes locked directly onto their position.
"Well," Jonah said after a moment, "this should be fun."