Elementals (#Wattys2017)

Lost

"I can't do this for much longer..." Pine mumbles under his breath. It had been almost exactly a week since Lina was taken.
Pine stares at the electronic map on the screen in front of him. He crosses out another set of coordinates that they had searched to no avail.
Pine reached up and rubbed his eyes. There were bags under his eyes and he hadn't smiled in weeks.
Just then River and Breeze walked in. He turned walked over to them.
"Anything?"
"No...God Pine, you look horrible." River said.
"Not, all of us can choose to not care about the present situation."
Pine regretted the statement as soon as he said it and River looked heartbroken.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He added.
"I know." She said. She put her hand on Pines shoulder.
"Please, you need to sleep."
"No, we need to find Lina."
"What location did you just search?"
They walked over to the map.
As they were looking at the map, Tricity walked in.
"I know where she is!"
"What? How?"
"Because I picked up an energy signature on the security radar, and if it's what I think it was then, she doesn't have much time."
They looked at each other in terror and followed Tricity out the doors of the compound.

"Wait, stop here!" Tricity stopped and crouched behind a row of rocks covered by moss.
"Tricity, where are we?" Pine asked.
"We're at a weapons and scientific base built for the military decades ago. It housed some of the most dangerous technological advances in biochemical weaponry and-"
"To many big words Tricity." Breeze said.
"It has big weapons that can hurt a lot of people." River said.
"Yes, and where there's big weapons..."
"There's big defenses." Pine finished.
"Precisely."
"What exactly is there?" Pine asked.
"I don't know exactly, River, scan it."
River nodded and scanned the area with her wristlet.
"I'm picking up land mines scattered all over the surrounding area and secondary air assault defenses. Wait, there's a door behind that rock over there!"
She pointed at the mountainside covered by moss and vines.
"Ok, so the doors there and the land mines are... Wait... Secondary air assault defenses?" Breeze said.
"Poison canisters."
"What kind of poison?" Pine asked.
"Neutralizing agent, non-lethal, but intense."
"Okay, so, River mark the mines." Pine said.
River projected little red dots hovering over the ground in different spots.
"Stay clear of those. Breeze, when we trigger the poison, can you create a vortex to suck it out of our breathing space?Tricity, can you power down the door locks so we can get in and power down any other defense mechanisms?"
"Sounds good."
"Alright, everyone get ready...NOW!"
They all rushed forward. The poison gas was triggered.
They covered their mouths. Breeze created a vortex and pushed the poison out but, not fast enough.
Breeze fell to his knees and started coughing and gasping for air.
"Breeze!" Pine yelled.
"I'm fine just...*cough* just...GO! *wheeze*" Breeze struggled for air as Tricity unlocked the door. River grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. The door shut behind them.
Breeze sat against the wall gasping and coughing.
Pine and River rushed to him.
"Breeze, are you okay?" River said.
He coughed in response.
"I'll stay here with him. You two go get Lina." River said.
"Okay. We'll be right back." Tricity said.
"Be safe." River said. The team hugged and Tricity and Pine went off down the dark hallway.
"Where are we going Tricity?" Pine asked.
"I don't know honestly. I'm picking up a heat signature but it's faint. It could be anything."
Just then Tricity tripped and bumped the wall. The floor between her and Pine opened up cutting them off. The moved floor knocked Pine over. They found themselves standing on opposite side of a huge trap door, too big for anyone to cross.
"Tricity, what happened!" Pine called.
"I don't know another defense I guess."
"But I thought you powered down the other defenses?"
"Maybe it's not electrical but, it's too late now. You're going to have to get Lina on your own when you come back I'll have figured a way to get you two across. Now hurry, if the heat signature is Lina, she's fading fast. She's dying."
"I'll find her, and we'll go home." Pine said and turned the corner. He was out of sight.
Tricity smirked. She went back over to the wall and touched the place she had just knocked into. A panel opened up to reveal a voice clearance device.
"Clearance level, Alpha." She said into the device.
"Authorized access, code name Gray Ghost, welcome home Tricity." It answered back.
"Glad to be back." She said. "Notify Krissie, code name Hellfire, tell her we've got company but, don't engage, I want him alive."
"Yes, ma'am." It answered back.
Tricity closed the panel and walked back down the hall to where Breeze and River were.