Descent into the Abyss

Chapter 35

Tick... Tick... Tick...

The clock on the wall ticked by with annoying sloth, Blake wriggling in his uncomfortable chair as he listened for anyone approaching. He glanced down to his hands absentmindedly massaging his sore legs, the miles between the two cities worn into the soles of his boots. Footsteps echoed in the hallway on the other side of the door, muffled voices breaking into stifled laughter. Blake relaxed, his eyes taking in his surroundings.

A small room, no more than a hundred square feet with only his chair, a metal office desk and a clock ticking away. Concrete walls matched by concrete floors surrounded him, while his eyes stayed focused on the only entrance: a single metal door. Every tick of the second hand echoed into the room, Blake's nerves growing worse by the moment. A shout brought about an abrupt change to the monotony of ticks, rousing Blake to attention.

"Why the fuck would I want--- Open the damn door already!" The gruff masculine voice on the other side shouted.

Blake smirked, erasing the expression as the door unlocked and he met the apologetic eyes of the same young man that had escorted him here. Standing to attention, Blake noticed as the young man ducked back and to the side, a second man stepped forward, a polar opposite to the first. Grey and black hair receded back across his head while wrinkles and bags stretched across his face. If he hadn't already known the man, Blake would've guessed his age a decade over.

"Reyes, sorry about that," The older man remarked, throwing back a scornful gaze before turning back. "Come with me and let's get you debriefed."

Blake grunted and nodded, following on the heels of the older man.

"I told that idiot back there to put you somewhere secure until I could talk to you. Didn't realize he would take it to mean throwing you in one of the cells," The older man explained, rounding a corner and walking through a set of double doors.

"I've been in worse places, General," Blake brushed off, his mind flashing back to the desert... To Jessica...

"Too late..." She whispered in his ear.

Shaking his head, he looked back ahead of him, catching his superior glancing towards him with a worried look. No words were exchanged, but as the General turned away, Blake knew he had made an unusual impression. Two more corners, another set of doors, and the two of them stood in front of a wooden door, a plaque identifying the owner of the office.

General Leo Roderick

"Come on in and have a seat, Reyes," The General stated, opening the door and stepping inside. "I need to figure out what happened in Detroit and you're the only one who knows."

"I don't know everything, sir," Blake interjected. "Only what I was told and saw with my own eyes."

General Roderick dismissed his statement with a wave, pulling out his brown and black leather chair from his immaculate desk. As he sat, he motioned for Blake to sit in the chair opposite of him.

"Relax and start from the beginning," The General ordered, his eyes gazing down to his desk drawers. "You can skip the departure from Chicago and the journey there, of course."

Blake nodded, his memories playing out in his head.

"Zeke's team went ahead of us, entering Detroit a day before we did, to make sure no unwanted attention was drawn. Jeffrey informed us that they would be tasked with taking out Michael and that our team's objective was Kyle and the armory. Lopez was tasked with scouting the armory out while I was tasked with finding a weakness for the Ravenports, their adopted sister."

Leo glanced down at his desk drawers, pulling out one to reach further inside. Pausing, Blake watched as the General lifted a glass bottle and sat it on the desk with a soft thud.