Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XXVI

BRIELLE

Music: Haunted Boardwalk from Pac-Man World 2

"Okay, guys, we're going to need to use every skill we've got here to go against these guys," Sam tells us when we're less than a minute away from HQ. The building itself is starting to come into view. A thought then pops into my head; something I've surprised I haven't thought about yet.

"Wait. Before we do that, there's something we need to take care of first," I say, catching the entire team's attention. I step up to the control panel with Sam and point to a group of trees positioned very precisely. Sam gives me an odd look, then shrugs it off and flies toward where I want him to go.

"This is that dungeon I was telling you guys about," I explain while Sam parks us in front of a large rock-looking structure. "This is where all the other girls are being held right now. We need to get them out before we do anything else."

"Brielle, this is just a rock," Shanna says, confused.

I press down on a small indentation in the rock, which activates a trigger that causes a door to slide up. The opening reveals a spiral stairway leading down into darkness, with the occasional torch placed on the wall to allow for sight. My younger sister joins me and stares down into the black tunnel with me, with the rest of the team close behind.

"Brielle, are you sure about this?" Avery asks.

"Nope. But you guys seem crazy enough. Follow my lead," I instruct. Without waiting for anybody else to say anything, I start running down the spiral stairway, with Avery by my side and everybody else following. I can already feel my heart beating slightly faster than normal in my chest, and the hot temperature of the tightly enclosed room is causing beads of sweat to form on my forehead. Nevertheless, I push through.

Once we get past the spiral stairs, I lead the pack through a large hallway. We've gone from running speed to fast walking speed. For the most part, nobody really has anything to say. Our goal is within arm's reach, and any time wasted from this point on could be critical.

Still, Mia has the urge to blurt out, "Wow. People really like this medieval dungeon bullshit, huh?" The walls are mostly made of stone bricks, and the floor is gravel. Torches continue lining the walls for vision. I will admit, she has a point.

Finally, after several twists and turns through the long-winding dungeon, we come across a door. Mackenzie gets down on her knees, pulls a hairpin out of her hair, and starts working on picking the lock. Meanwhile, I start explaining my idea. "Okay, once Mackenzie gets the door open, us girls are gonna go inside. There's no guards in the room at nighttime, and I know where the keys are hidden. We'll use them to let all of the girls free. Sound good?"

"Wait just one second. What about us?" Luke complains, referring to himself, Sam, Heath, and Sean.

"I'm pretty sure they're going to have trouble seeing another guy come into the dungeon," I answer.

"Point taken."

Once Mackenzie gets the lock picked, she opens the door and the seven of us girls pile inside. I quickly walk behind the door and pull off one of the bricks, revealing a small cubby hole with a key ring hidden inside. I grab it, unhook the five keys from it, and hand one to Mia, Shanna, Elle, and Skylar. I keep one for myself. "The keys are color coded. Hurry!"

Avery and I use our golden key on a cage with a seven-year old girl. Avery takes her hand and leads her outside. Mia and Mackenzie get Kim, the prison mate of Alexys. Alexys herself is not present in this room, oddly enough. Elle frees that weird troubled teenager that tried to escape that one time, Skylar gets a girl wearing a sweatshirt with the number 14 written on it, and Shanna frees a girl who I assume is new, as she's a couple of years older than I am and still has her clothes mostly intact. We make quick work in the room, and once we have all of the cages open and the girls freed, I dump the keys into my shorts pocket and we lead them outside.