Down to Earth (A 100 Fanfiction)

Chapter 20 - The Search Party

Marcus stared around his empty tent. He looked at his bed, which looked like it hadn't been slept in at all, and the table with the Eden Tree and Roman's model airplane on it. From the evidence, it was clear that no one had been in this tent for hours.

Securing a camp was a lot harder than it looked, and Marcus had been up the entire night helping put up tents and joining the guards on lookout duty. He barely had any time to go and check to see if his son was okay. He really wished that he did, because it was like Roman was never here at all.

Maybe he went to see Raven at the medical tent and spent the night there.

He rubbed his eyes in frustration. He couldn't believe that he was actually trying to find a reasonable explanation as to why Roman wasn't in his tent. He knew why Roman Kane - in all his determination and stubbornness - wasn't here.

If he is where I think he is, I'm gonna kill him.

"Sir?"

He saw Major Byrne enter the tent. She seemed very wary standing before him.

"What is it, Major?" Marcus asked in a harsh tone.

"The cell block was broken into," she said after a while of contemplating on whether she should tell him or not. "Bellamy Blake and John Murphy are gone."

His eye twitched.

I am definitely gonna kill him.

"How long were they gone?"

"The prisoners were seen before dinner, so they must have left sometime around 10 hours ago. My men also said that three of the kids we found weren't accounted for, they must've helped them escape and gone with them."

"Make it four," Marcus seethed, clenching his hands into fists. "My son's also gone."

Major Byrne looked taken aback, but she quickly regained her hard stare. "They'll probably be heading towards the dropship to pick up a trail."

"Did they take anything with them?"

"They've taken about three days worth of rations for five people. Some rope and a first-aid kit were also taken. Four rifles and one semiautomatic pistol were also taken from our weapons room."

Marcus nodded, turning his back to Major Byrne. Someone had to have helped them escape, and provide them with the necessary weapons and supplies. And Marcus could only think of one person who wanted to find the delinquents just as badly as Roman did. A person who had the guts to stand up against himself ...

He spun around and began storming out of his tent, he felt like a volcano ready to explode.

"Sir, do you want me to gather a search party to find them?" Major Byrne called after him.

"They're already hours ahead of us! They've probably already passed the dropship. I can't risk any more lives. All we can do is hope and pray that they return safely."

Roman had better return home safely, Marcus would never forgive himself if he lost him too.

Marcus made a beeline straight for the medical tent, once he had arrived, he pushed the flaps to the side and marched in.

Abby was sitting beside Raven, checking her forehead for a fever. The young girl was still asleep, but from her breathing patterns, she seemed alright. Abby's head looked up when she heard Marcus enter.

He glowered at her. "Tell me it wasn't you. Tell me you didn't send my son out there to die!"

Abby didn't say anything, but from the way she looked down at the ground, he could make out the guilt in her eyes. It made him even more furious to know that he was right.