Spy School: Catalyst

Chapter Six

Hello again! This is the second part of Catalyst, and there are five total parts of this story. I think this part is going to be interesting, tell me what you think after this chapter! As always, happy reading,

Pyro

PART TWO

SPY SCHOOL: CATALYST

BENJAMIN RIPLEY

CHAPTER 6

It's hard to describe the odd sensation of falling. Imagine tumbling inside a huge washing machine that had just been dropped out of a cargo plane. Then, imagine being filled with adrenaline and fear at the same time. You might have something close to what I felt.

The missile had blown the whole entire tail of the plane apart, sucking me out through the vortex of air pressure. Luckily, I hadn't hit anything on my quick escape.

We were about four thousand feet off the ground. The average falling speed of a human was about thirty two feet per second, which meant I had about a minute before I hit the ground and turned myself into a human pancake.

I hadn't caught a glimpse of Erica nor Riley. It was possible that they had somehow stayed in the plane.

Anyhow, back to me falling to my untimely death. I somehow managed to flip myself over, my eyes watering instantly.

Below me was either a large patch of blue flowers or a small lake.

Which was a problem. At the speed I was going, dropping into water would be like jumping onto concrete from a hundred feet.

The water rushed closer and closer, distant patches of grass turning into large trees.

I suddenly realized that my "flight plan" was more directed towards a patch of trees.

I curled myself into a ball, pushing my legs downward, and hoped for the best. My leg hit something, and I instantly knew it was broken. The impact flipped me over and left me spinning through the air like a malfunctioning spin top.

Through the pain, I felt myself slamming into large, soft...leaves? I caught a glimpse of what was below me.

Massive trees stretched as far below me as the eye could see. I bounced from leaf to leaf, slowing my fall. Maybe ten seconds later, I hit the ground. Luckily enough, I had slowed down enough so that instead of death I had incredible discomfort.

To make it worse, I had landed on my injured shoulder. It felt as though someone had stabbed me with a hot sword.

I lay there for a few minutes , catching my breath. Coming to my senses, I ran a systems check, ignoring my obviously broken leg.

After that, I tried to figure out what to do.

My first instinct was to give up. After all, I had just dropped from an airplane without a parachute, nearly falling to my death. My heart was still beating like an engine.

Erica and Riley were obviously both dead. It was pure luck for me to have jumped out at the right moment, cushioning my fall with...

I looked up. Banyan trees. Which was about as normal as a shark in a kiddie pool. See, banyan trees were native to India. So them being halfway around the world made about zero sense.

At this moment, I noticed a tall, glass barrier around the base of each tree. It was quite obvious that someone had put them here on purpose. And they obviously had been here for a while.

There was only one logical explanation for what had happened. I must have dropped into the base of operations for Catalyst.

I stood up, ignoring my broken leg, and began walking towards...nothing, really.