Infection

MECH's move

Sorry it been so long, I took a huge History test and the PSAT so I have more time to write instead of study and the power is out at my house so... yeah.
I live in Sonoma County, California, ya know that place that's always on fire. We haven't had to evac yet but PG&E shut off our power and school is out so I have lots of free time.
This chapter also took forever to write because I had to fill in some plot holes but here it is, enjoy.
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     Arcee jumped from tree to tree using her claws to grip the thick branches and remain a few meters above the ground. Bulkhead was currently sloshing through the mud below her, unable to get in the trees, he didn't really care. Arcee on the other hand was not about to get stuck in the mud when she could remain in the trees and follow the signal from there.
     They had been in the rainforest for about an hour and they were about to reach the signal, only a few more meters. Arcee looked down at the monitor one more time, already scouting which trees to jump to next, and saw that it was supposed to be in a clearing up ahead.
     She looked down and nodded to Bulkhead, silently telling him they were close. He immediately stopped and begun to move slower and their for quieter.
     Arcee silently slid down from the trees and into the grassy clearing, thankfully not covered in mud. Bulkhead followed, heaving himself out of the mud and into the grass covered space.
     They looked around for a minute before Arcee spotted something imbedded in a hole at the base of a huge tree. It was an odd place for a pod to be but it was not unexpected. She walked up to it and reached one of her small paws inside the hole, digging around in it she was able to make the hole big enough to clearly see a relic pod inside.
     "Hey Bulk can I get some help here?" She said. He lifted his head and walked over, using his thicker talons he practically ripped the tree in half. But he did open the hole enough for her to reach in and grab the relic pod.
     She pulled it out and was about to open it when, out of know where, a blast came whizzing past her helm and tore the pod right out of her claws. It rolled on the ground a few feet away before coming to a stop near the middle of the small clearing. She was about to lunge after it when she heard an audio piercing shriek, a war cry, but it sounded like an amped up version on a hawk or falcons cry.
    She was barely able to turn around before Starscream slammed into her and threw her into the bushes. She rolled to her feet to see him trying to land a mark on Bulkhead and almost succeeding.
     The wrecker was dodging and swiping at the seeker who was content on staying in the air despite the wreckers attempts to ground him.
     Arcee rushed forward waiting for Starscream to swoop down before jumping and using a tree to spring herself up. Her goal was to land on his back but he saw her coming and tried to dive out of the way. However his instincts tried to keep him in the air with the fear of crashing. He ended up closing one wing while the other remained spread out resulting in a sharp turn downwards.
     It did pull him out of Arcee's path, the femme latching onto his side instead of his back but still pulling him down. At this point it was only a few feet and he rolled over, locking talons with Arcee, and trying to get the upper hand.
     Bulkhead was about to help when he heard Arcee shout at him,
     "Bulk, the relic!" He turned around and ran for the pod. Picking it up he pried the lid off to reveal a grey box, blinking yellow. He pulled it out and inspected it, he didn't recognize it. Wait, yes he did, it was the fake signal M.E.C.H. had used to get Bumblebee's T-cog.
     "Um, Arcee, we got a problem."
     "What?" She shouted in between the exchange of strikes and dodges she was having with the seeker as they rolled on the ground.
     "This isn't one of ours." He said, holding up the blinking box. Both of them froze, despite Arcee being on top Starscream was using his wings to gain the upper hand.
"Scrap."

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Bumblebee padded silently through the canyon, avoiding large rocks and pebbles on instinct in order to remain quiet.
Wheeljack was walking less quietly a few meters behind him but considering their was no reason to sneak around the scout just tuned it out.
Despite being in the front, Bumblebee was not the one with the locator, he was scouting. Wheeljack was following the signal and Bumblebee was reading his body language to tell which direction he was going to turn. He had to admit it was easier to read someone when they weren't trying to hide from him.
     Wheeljack was aware that Bumblebee was reading him to tell which direction to go and unlike some bots he made no effort to hide.
It made it easier for Bumblebee to focus on scouting instead of picking a direction. They had been navigating the canyon for over an hour and they were getting close. The problem was that the signal was located inside a tunnel and they had yet to find the entrance.
But they were in luck, for as they turned the next corner Bumblebee spotted a small cave around a pile of rock. He looked back just to make sure Wheeljack saw it too before he climbed inside. Once in, he found that he could hardly see. If this were a normal situation he would just turn on his vehicle modes head lights. But he had yet to see if they still worked in their... condition. He was pleased to find they did and he turned them on. As he did light flooded the cave revealing two tunnels.
     "You go right I'll go left?" Wheeljack asked as he came up next to Bee. The scout gave him a look while he tapped Wheeljack's shoulder just above his set of headlights, reminding him how they were less than reliable. The wrecker rolled his eyes and followed Bee down the tunnel the signal was closest to.
     They hadn't walked for more than 30 seconds when they heard a crack in the ceiling. Both of them stopped in their tracks and cocked their heads, ears perked and listening. They waited their for almost a full minute but heard nothing saw nothing and smelled nothing. They looked to each other before they heard it.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
It was coming from down the tunnel. They both quickened their pace but remained silent. Said silence was broken when they turned a corner and ran straight into a con, Knockout to be precise.
The con roughly collided with Bee, winding both of them. Bee hardly had time to catch his breath before Knockout abruptly ran past them, looking back only to make sure they were actually their and not just a figment of his imagination, before disappearing around the corner.
No sooner than he disappeared another crack echoed through the cavern, this one much louder than the last. The bots looked up to see the ceiling cracking, threatening to break, and a crumbling sound thundered deeper inside the cave.
"Go... GO GO!!!" Wheeljack shouted as he shouldered Bee towards the entrance and started running.