Wanderlust ✧ (Milo Thatch)

fourteen

Kidagakash was imprisoned in a metal vault against Milo's wishes. The small oval window had iced up and she couldn't be seen while she was stacked onto a truck. Milo glared at Audrey who turned away from him. "Sergeant, keep those people back," the mercenaries were instructed by the squad leader. "You heard him," Milo was pushed backwards by a mercenary. "Step back. I'm warning you."

"So...I guess this is how it ends, huh? Fine. You win. You're wiping out an entire civilization but hey...you'll be rich. Congratulations Audrey. Guess you and your dad will be able to open up that second garage after all."

Audrey climbed into a truck, slamming the door.

"And Vinny, you can start a whole chain of flower shops. I'm sure your family's going to be very proud."

Vinny glanced at Milo for a second before turning away.

"You," Milo approached Challis, glaring with a clenched jaw. "You can finally have your big break. Your story will be printed in all the newspapers. Isn't that your ideal scenario? You might even be promoted as a result of your boss actually beginning to treat you with some respect. But that's what it's all about, right? Money."

Challis remained silent.

"Get off your soapbox Thatch," Rourke hopped out of his vehicle. "You've read Darwin. It's called natural selection. We're just helping it along."

"Commander, we're ready," Helga called out.

"Yeah, give me a minute. I know I'm forgetting something," Rourke began counting his fingers "I got the cargo, the crystal, the crew...oh yeah."

Milo was knocked to the ground when the commander turned around with a grin and punched him in the face. A picture flew out of his bag after his glasses fell off. "Rourke, you better watch yourself!" Challis tried to reach Milo but she was held back by mercenaries. 

"Look at it this way son" Rourke stepped on the picture, shattering the glass. "You were the man who discovered Atlantis and now you're part of the exhibit," he said while cleaning Milo's glasses on his vest prior to throwing them back. While wiping his mouth clean of blood, Milo caught them. He carefully removed the picture of him and his grandfather from the broken glass, his face marked by sorrow.

"Let's move people," Rourke summoned.

"That was an order, not a suggestion. Let's go!" Helga barked loudly.

Audrey let out a deep sigh as she tightly gripped the steering wheel. The cash made a big difference to her however the manner in which Rourke treated Milo, the most thoughtful individual she knew, was off-base. She hesitated briefly, but in the end, she knew what to do.

She kicked the door open as Mole and Vinny looked at her. With certainty, she walked straight up to Milo and folded her hands over his arm, hurling him to his feet prior to tossing a glowering expression to the other crew members.

The second person to approach Milo and wrap his arms around the linguist's shoulders was Vinny. Cookie got out of the truck and followed Mole. Packard took a deep inhalation from her cigarette with a deadpan expression. "We're all going to die," she flicked it away before joining the group. Although the elderly radio operator was grumpy, she was by no means evil.

Rourke adjusted the truck's left side mirror, seeing that the crew had turned their backs on him. "Oh, you can't be serious."

"This is wrong and you know it!" Audrey raged.

"We're this close to our biggest payday ever and you pick now of all times to grow a conscience."

"We've done a lot of things we're not proud of," Vinny listed them off on his fingers, "robbing graves, plundering tombs, double parking, but nobody got hurt. Well, maybe somebody got hurt but nobody we knew."

"Well, if that's the way you want it, fine. More for me," Rourke waved his hand dismissively at the group. Challis managed to break free but as soon as she passed the commander, he grabbed a hold of her. "Woah there, missy. Might it be said that you are failing to remember something?" Rourke whispered into her ear as he leaned in close. "If you leave now, the boy will live. Don't force me to do something you will regret for the rest of your life."

"Rot in hell, Rourke."

He let go of her and climbed into the truck. "P.T. Barnum was right," he muttered. Challis stared at Milo, so desperately wanting to run up to him. To hold him. To beg for forgiveness. Instead, she let out a shaky sigh. "Forgive me, darling," she spoke under her breath and moved into the rear of Rourke's truck. The vehicle motors fired up, Rourke and Helga looked at one another and they drove off.

Challis didn't dare to look back over her shoulder at Milo. Perhaps if she did, he would've seen the few tears of anguish rolling down her cheeks. 

"You did the right thing, sweetheart," Rourke spoke but Challis ignored him. She considered attacking him from behind, a tactic that he would not be aware of. However, with Helga driving beside him in the second truck, Challis didn't take the chance. After all, who's to say that Helga wouldn't shoot her dead the second she saw?

Everybody watched the leaders depart in heavy silence. As the two vehicles drove over the scaffold, the waterfall encompassing the city evaporated and the energy in the Atlantean's precious crystals was dulled, much to their dismay. " We can't let him do this," Milo gave chase but Vinny stopped him, saying, "Wait a second." Rourke detonated the bridge with a device once he was secure on the other side.

The remaining crowd gasped and dived for cover as flares of fire inundated the air and bits of setting wood fell ablaze. "Okay, now you can go," said Vinny. As he processed everything that had transpired, Milo remained motionless. Even though Rourke took advantage of his abilities, losing Challis, the one person he trusted the most, was the worst part.

He possibly would have still been lying on the floor in shock if Dr Sweet had not called out "Milo, you better get up here."