Spy School takes a turn (Completed)

High stress-circumstances

Erica's POV

I raced out of the room on Ben's heels. But while he ran farther, I ducked into the control room. I needed to find the remote control, and fast.

I froze in my tracks when I spotted James Thomas hovering above the screens. I hid behind a pillar, holding my breath. I scanned the room from my spot, but I couldn't spot the remote control at all.

Murray still had it. I raced out of the control room before anyone saw me, and focused my attention on saving my team.

I slowly checked every room there was, looking for them. The room that Ben had gone into was locked from the inside. Nevertheless, I tried opening it.

I gave up and kicked the door open, revealing Murray Hill sprawled across the floor. There was a gun in the corner of the room, and next to it lay the remote control.

Murray only groaned when he saw me. "You too?"

I grabbed the gun in one swift move. "What do you mean?"

"Ripley just beat me up, and now you're here."

I snickered. "You deserve it, slimeball."

Murray made an attempt to get up, but I pointed the gun straight at him. "No way."

"Argh." He gave up, getting back into a comfortable position on the floor. "You win. I lose."

I frowned. Murray gave up so easily. There was definitely something else to their plan that I hadn't quite grasped yet.

And neither had Ben.

"What? The great Erica Hale can't figure out a plan without her little boyfriend?" he taunted. I felt rage bubbling inside of me. I stayed silent, my hands balled into fists.

"Tell me or I'll shoot you somewhere painful," I growled. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. This building will blow up in about," he paused to look at his watch, "twelve minutes and fifty-one seconds."

I froze. He only grinned wider. Ben, my mind raced. I needed to get my team, and find Ben, wherever he was.

I raced out of the room, leaving Murray to do whatever he wanted. I pocketed the remote control and continued my search for the team.

"Finally," I breathed, opening one of the doors. My team sat there, handcuffed to poles. They all brightened when they saw me.

"Erica," Dad spoke, "where's Ben?"

My heart was asking me the same question. "I...I don't know."

I slid a hairpin out of my hair, and started unlocking Dad's cuffs. As soon as he was free we set to freeing everyone else.

"Did we stop them yet?" Zoe asked.

I shook my head. "No. I have the remote control, but they can also launch the missiles via command programming."

Mike groaned. "Will they ever stop?"

"That's not all," I said. My voice was trembling, but I did my absolute best to hide it. I kept a straight face, trying to hide my concern. "This building's blowing up in like, ten minutes."

That got everyone's attention. Riley was the first one to react.

"Zoe, Mike, you guys are good with computers. Agent Hale, I'll take them to the control room. You take Erica and Jamie, find Ben, and get the heck out of here."

Alexander nodded. "We'll also find Lucio and make sure he doesn't escape."

I looked to Dad. The expression on his face was clear: No questions needed to be asked. I followed my Dad and Jamie as we started running, trying to find our way out of the building. I only had to hope that Ben was doing fine.

Zoe's POV

I ran into the control room with Mike and Riley on my heels. James Thomas was in the room, trying to type something in. When he saw us, his eyes widened.

Mike and I looked to Riley for advice. "What do we do?" I whispered.

"Go. Stop the programming," Riley ordered. "I'll handle this guy."

While James and Riley faced each other in combat, I ran to the screens. The missiles were pre-programmed to automatically launch the next day. Mike started typing out a series of reverse codes, desperately trying to stop the programming.

I returned my focus to the big screen. There were nine red dots on different parts of Sydney Harbor. So the missiles are headed to Sydney Harbor, I thought as I looked over, trying to find the bombs around the building.

"There's...no use," Mike whispered. "I can't stop them."

I looked at Mike, worried. "Is there anything we can do?"
"I can't stop this," he replied. "I'm not good at hacking."

I started typing out a series of reversing codes, trying to stop it. There was a big box in the middle of the screen saying are you sure you want to stop it? Yes/No

I looked at Mike. He moved the cursor to Yes, and clicked on it.
Nothing happened. I held my breath, and exhaled sharply.

Suddenly the screen went black.

I looked back at my best friend. He had pulled the plug.

"You fool!" James yelled, tackling Riley. She slipped out from under him and pushed him onto the floor. "You've destroyed us!"

I grinned weakly at Mike. "Good job."

He smiled back, but our happiness was short-lived. "We have to get the heck out of this building, and now."

I found a pair of handcuffs and threw them across the room to Riley, who caught them and cuffed James to a pole. "Come on," she commanded. Although she was also one of the CIA's best agents, she was worried too, and she was trying her absolute best to hide her concern. "We need to go."

"What about Ben?" I found myself asking.

Riley seemed unsure. "We'll have to hope that he makes it out too, wherever he is. He's probably already on the surface, Zoe. He'll do it."

I could only hope she was right.

We raced out of the room, running across the hallway as fast as we could. I didn't know how much time we had left, but I knew for sure that we had under ten minutes left.

"This way!" Mike yelled. "We have to climb up the ladder again!"

I went first, followed by Mike. Riley double-checked to make sure no one followed us, then she climbed up as well.

I pushed the trapdoor open and ran around the building to where Jamie, Alexander and Erica stood. I ran towards them, panting.

You're alive.

My eyes scanned the area for Ben. My heartbeat grew quicker. I couldn't get the words out, but I had to ask.

"Where's Ben?"

Erica stiffened. Her eyes darted back and forth, and her face displayed various emotions at the same time. I didn't care, because my face was no better.

Ben, where are you?

"Is Ben still...in the building?" Alexander asked nervously, but the thought itself was terrifying.

"Ben, please be alright." I could barely hear my own voice.

This was painful to write. What happens next will probably shatter all of your hearts...

I'm sorry if that happens. It will shatter mine too.