Messier-17

Chapter 10

"Wanna play 'I spy'?"

At the question, I tilt my head and furrow my brow in confusion. "what's 'I spy'?"

After Adrian and I had gotten back to Nicky, the three of us packed up camp and continued on our trek to the vigilantes' location. Most of the trip had gone on in silence, save for a couple comments and complaints, until now.

Nicky seems to be disturbed by my lack of knowledge in the game and looks at me as if I've grown three heads. "You mean to tell me that you've never played 'I spy'?" I bite the inside of my cheek and look away. I wouldn't really remember if I had played the game. I settle for shrugging my shoulders and waiting for someone to explain. "Okay, well, the basic point of the game is to take turns vaguely pointing out something we've noticed and then waiting for someone else to figure out exactly what it is. For example, 'I spy something... green,' and then the other person would guess what it is that I'm thinking of."

Adrian fills in the gap and continues the explanation. "A tree," Nicky points at him with a snap and then nods her head. "If I'm wrong, you take a guess on what it could be, and we would go back and forth if you guess wrong as well, and if I guess right, then I get a turn to 'spy' something." I nod, quickly getting a grip on the objective of the game. "I'll start," he looks around for a bit before his eyes land on me, "I spy something–" my eyes widen and I lunge for Adrian when I hear a gun cocking.

"Get down!" I shove him out of harm's way just in time for a bullet to fly through the area that he was just standing in. I look at Nicky and use my legs to trip her so that she avoids a shot as well. "There's a sniper in the area," I whisper. "Are you both okay?" The two of them look at me with expressions of astonishment and what looks like something akin to admiration. When I get a nod from both, I motion for them to stay down and follow me.

We start crawling to hide behind a log when a new voice calls out to us, "who are you, and what do you want?" I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Way to shoot first and ask questions later. When we fail to respond, they speak up again, "hey! I know you're there, so just come out where I can see you!"

The three of us look at each other with nearly exasperated expressions. "How do we know you won't shoot at us again?" Nicky shouts back. I hear the very audible thud and clack of a gun dropping, and stand up reluctantly. I notice – without much surprise – that there is more than one person standing several yards ahead of us.

I glance down at Adrian to see him looking at me with an expectant expression. After giving him a curt nod, my eyes fall back to the small crowd that has seemingly decided that we aren't a threat at the moment.

We all stand up with our hands in the air just to show that we're still not a threat, and slowly walk towards the group. I keep my eyes trained on everyone's eyes, watching to see if they decide to change their minds and attack us. There are six of them, and I have a feeling there's more inside the building up ahead.

"You can put your hands down." I hear a gruff voice tell us. I look over to see a tall woman with a scar on her right cheek. We drop our arms and I nod at her. She returns a nod and gestures for everyone to follow her. While we walk, I glance around, trying to learn everyone's faces and find any evidence of ill will towards us. All I seem to find is wariness, so I relax slightly.

Everyone seems to be holding a conversation with somebody. The group of five guys are murmuring amongst each other and occasionally laughing, Adrian and Nicky are whispering to one another. The only person who isn't talking, other than me, is the woman. I glance at her from the corner of my eye. I'm walking behind her slightly, but I'm close enough that we're almost walking side by side.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She asks me. Although, it seems more like a statement than a question. I glance at her again, but don't say anything. She chuckles a little. "Guess that answers that." We arrive at a gate. "Hey, June. Open the gate, will ya?" She says into a walkie talkie.

"Copy that." Is the reply from who I can only assume is June. The gate opens with several loud creaks and a bang as it settles. "We should really get that fixed."

The woman next to me chuckles. "No kidding." We step past the gate and continue walking towards the base. "I'm Vera, by the way." I look at her and nod.

"Ash." I reply. She turns her body and holds her hand out. I hesitate, but shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure, Ash." I let out a flicker of a smile. "Alright, I hope you don't mind, but it's customary to check for weapons." Vera states once we reach the doors. I glance at Adrian to see him already looking at me as if to say 'don't worry'. I nod at Vera. "Go ahead and remove any weapons you have on you." She says. I comply, and remove all my weapons.

The group of guys behind us stop talking and look at me in astonishment at the amount of weapons I have on me, while Vera simply looks impressed. When I'm done, Adrian steps forward and sets down two pistols, and then Vicky hands over two more hand guns. All of our weapons are set in a bin. Vera pats me down while two of the guys pat down Adrian and Vicky. Once she finishes, Vera leads us into the building.

There are two more people waiting for us inside. "I believe it's time for introductions," Vera begins. She gestures to the two people in front of us, a male and a female. "This is June, and Nyx." We all nod as a greeting. "And these guys are Jules, Terrance, Will, Kai, and Malik." Vera says, pointing to the guys when their name is called. Adrian and Nicky shake their hands and I nod at them.

I glance back at June and furrow my brows at the feeling I get. He almost seems...familiar. It doesn't make sense. He notices me looking at him and his eyes widen slightly for a moment, like he recognizes me too, but he looks away and pretends that exchange didn't just happen. I tilt my head but look away.

"So, what were the three of you doing in the middle of the woods?" Vera questions us.