Four Corners

Chapter 20

"Dude! What are you doing?" Ryder whisper-yelled to Ethan, who was crouched next to him behind an overturned metal table, typing frantically on a computer. The two boys were in a dimly lit room with a few computer monitors, a large map on one wall, and lockers against another.

Ethan glanced up at him and his eyes widened. "Watch out!" he said, pointing behind Ryder.

Ryder spun and shot another ball of flames at a soldier who was trying to sneak around the table. The soldier lurched back out of the path of the fireball and regrouped with the three others waiting for them to surrender. Each had a black helmet with a tinted visor, a black bullet-proof vest, leather gloves, and dart guns trained on the two teenagers.

Ryder looked back at Ethan and raised an eyebrow. "I'm trying to find us a way out of here," Ethan said in response.

Ryder nodded. "Well, hurry up then. I don't know how much longer I can keep them busy," he said, aiming another ball of fire.

The soldiers ducked out of the way and Ryder glanced back at the computer screen to see that Ethan had pulled up a map of the building they were in. He was mumbling to himself, "if we go through here and take a left out of there, it should lead to a back door..."

He trailed off suddenly and Ryder quickly saw why. While he had been distracted by the computer screen, one of the soldiers had snuck around the other side of the table and shot a tranquilizer dart into Ethan's arm. The dark skinned boy was now slumped face-down on the floor.

"No!" Ryder yelled and sent a wall of flames around the table. He scorched three of the soldiers, but one dodged the flames and aimed his dart gun at Ryder.

Suddenly, the door to the room they were in swung open and a wave of water flooded the area. Two girls, one blonde and one brunette, rushed through the doors and teamed up to knock out each of the soldiers. Kara used her powers to redirect the darts that were fired at them, and Lyla knocked them out with her daggers and combat skills.

Ryder, completely shocked, could do nothing but stare.

Once the soldiers were all knocked unconscious, the girls rushed toward the boys. Lyla did her best to get Ethan to wake up while Kara checked on Ryder.

"What happened?" Kara asked.

"Ethan tracked the Mist's energy signature here so we snuck in to try and get more information but then we were ambushed by these soldiers," Ryder explained. "Ethan got hit with a dart gun."

"Well, that was very stupid of you, and he's not getting up anytime soon," Lyla said, joining into the conversation. "We are going to have to carry him out of here."

Ryder nodded, then shook his head in confusion. "Wait, how did you guys even get here? How did you know we were here?"

"Darius called me," Kara said. "He said you guys were in trouble and gave us an address."

Ryder smiled and leaned tiredly against the wall. "Well, I'm glad you came when you did," he said. "Another minute and we might've been goners."

"And if we don't leave now we will all be goners," Lyla said. As if reading her mind, an alarm started to blare and the lights switched to red.

"That's not good," Kara added, moving toward the door. "I'm sure they've called for backup. Grab Ethan and let's go."

Nobody argued with that. Ryder and Lyla grabbed Ethan's arms and legs, while Kara used her powers to make his weight more bearable as they moved along the winding corridors of the compound. They encountered a few soldiers, but Kara took the air out of their lungs causing them to collapse before they could alert any others.