Mechanical love

Chapter Nine

As fast as her legs would carry her, Carol ran for the main hangar where she knew Lennox and Epps would be.

Her heart was beating like crazy and her mind was racing; she'd just watched the Autobots drive away at breakneck speed to answer distress that she didn't even know the purpose of.

Decepticon, she thought, enough said.

She reached the main control hangar and was greeted with the sight and sound of people rushing, running; frantically trying to control things.

She gasped as she tried to weave her way through the mass towards Lennox and Epps who were both underneath the metal walkway on the opposite side of the hangar.

Lennox had his khaki camouflage print jacket over his arm and was talking worriedly to Epps; the two getting very animated in the conversation.

"Lennox!" she called, running over to them, "Wh-what's going on? The Autobots just got up and left! What happens now?"

Epps put a hand on her shoulder before speaking, "What happens now is that you need to calm yourself down. This is military stuff; let us deal with it, okay?"

Carol bit her lip uncertainly and nodded, but it didn't feel right. They wouldn't have left for something that just "needed to be dealt with" would they? She felt so useless; she was no soldier.

Unable to slow her hammering heart, she ran a hand through her hair before shoving her fingers into her pocket; a sudden panic crossed her when she remembered that she'd eaten her last packet of M&Ms the night before.

She felt stupid for being hung up over something as petulant as lollies, but the fact that her body chemically relied on the sugar made it something of a withdrawal when she didn't have them.

This meant she was going to have a massive headache later.

"Did they say where they were going? Or where the Decepticon stuff was...?" she asked curiously, crossing her arms over her front and scrunching her shoulders; hoping that that motion in her body would help still her current worry.

However before either of her friends could answer, there was a loud exclamation and a yell. "Major!" someone called urgently.

Taking a look to Carol, Lennox threw his jacket over his shirt, adjusting it as he took off towards the platform with Epps close at his side.

This time she didn't wait around; she followed the two of them, trying to find out what was happening.

It felt like the world had turned upside down in the span of only a few moments, and it scared her.

"Major, incoming SOS from Autobots!" called a man from up on the metal walkway; having obviously just been watching the computer screens; or overseeing someone who had been.

Lennox and Epps stopped from their sprint and walked quickly towards the computers at ground level. Both they and Carolina turned their heads to hear from a young Asian man up on the railing.

He leaned heavily on the bars with a Bluetooth microphone set on his ear; his expression worried and urgent and he called over the noise to Lennox.

"Multiple Decepticon contacts in motion! Vicinity, eastern United States, sir!"

Carolina saw Lennox bite his lip before breathing a curse word to himself. He joined the group at the computers on ground level with Epps watching over his shoulder. She couldn't help but listen in.

Normally Carolina was not the type to try and intrude on something that she knew wasn't her place, but she was so worried about what sort of danger the Autobots might have been heading into; and what dangers their friend Sam might be facing.