Agent 11

Chapter Thirteen: Cave In

Agent 11
After a week of working on this place, I started to notice cracks in the ground. They always showed up suddenly, without a clue of how they got there. It set me on edge, but it also helped keep me awake. To keep my paranoia from growing, I told myself it was just my imagination. By telling myself that, I was able to put this strange thing out of my mind for a while.

However, one day, Blake pulled me aside, and told me that he needed to ask me something. "Agent 11, have you noticed the cracks in the ground?" I suddenly felt scared. If Blake had noticed it, and bothered to care, maybe this was a serious problem after all. I told him I had noticed, but I knew nothing about how it was happening. When I left, I had a strange feeling of dread, as if we were missing something important.

Later, I noticed him talking to the others in the A-Team, pulling them aside and pointing at the ground. From the head shaking, either no one else had noticed, or no one else had any idea what was causing them. A private meeting was called, where we planned to make an announcement to find the cause. It was odd, how I felt like I should know what was happening. But the others and I remained clueless about the cause.

It was only weeks later when it happened. Each day, we sent out scouts to find a new place to live. I had gone with them today, and had seen a great hill exactly like the old one, except even larger. I was relaxed, thinking about the plans for our new city when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Cracks in the ground. At that moment, as if my knowledge had triggered something, the ground started shaking. My heart began beating abnormally fast. "Everyone evacuate immediately!" I bolted out of my tent at a high speed, reaching the bottom of the hill, where the cracks hadn't followed. I turned around to see people flooding out in panicked mobs. After a few moments, the crowds of fleeing agents dissipated as people escaped the danger zone. Seeing scared, relieved, confused, and sorrowful faces alike, I blamed myself. I was second in command, for god's sake! I should never have let it go this far. I should have known, and spared people the panic. Still, no one was hurt. This simple thought replayed in my mind, until the adrenaline faded away. I was slowly calming down, until I heard a panicked shout that shattered the quiet muttering, along with a deafening cracking noise. I watched as the ground split, and the scream got shriller. My heart was racing again. That poor person! I turned to Blake, who's eyes were fixed on the area the scream had come from. I noticed that his hands were shaking. We both had the same idea. Get to that person before the ground split open even more. We'd have to move fast, since whoever it was, was obviously on the verge of falling. And then we were running, uphill, out of the crowd. Someone called for us to come back, one of the A-Team members. Neither of us turned back. I blamed myself for being so slow to realize the ground was caving in, and now someone could die for it. And across from me, Blake felt the exact same way, perhaps stronger, seeing as he was the sole leader of our base, and stubbornly needed to protect us all. Another scream. My eyes widened as I recognized Ryan's voice. I watched as another chunk of earth fell away in front of us, and the scream cut off with a jarring silence. I looked down, and saw that the ground was too far away. Ryan would definitely be injured when he landed. He would need medical attention, but we would need to find a safe way down. That would take too long. But if I could safely get down there...

Mind whirling with crazy ideas, I threw off my agent pack, and tore through it until I found a safety harness. I grabbed Blake's hand and ran back to the safe outer edges, forcing him out of the danger zone, and hating the look in his horror struck eyes. I wanted to hug him, to comfort him like he had done for me so many times before, but first I had to try to save Ryan. I clipped it to my belt, and handed the other end to Blake. "My life is in your hands." He took in my expression, most likely wild with fear and determination. Then it hit him. "No way! You can't possibly-" I dove off the side of the newly made drop. As the air whipped around me, I had a surprisingly obvious thought.