Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins

Laura couldn’t find the right words to say; she was also afraid that if she spoke, the words would throw up out from her mouth. Laura hadn’t even considered the idea that Anthony would be here. Yet there he was, that smooth, handsome face and those alluring frosty blue eyes staring back at her.

As she stood there, tongue-tied, Cello came over and grabbed Laura’s hand. She pulled her friend by her side, examining Laura’s dumbfounded face.

“Hey, are you okay?” Cello asked.

Laura snapped out of her trance and looked back at Cello. “Oh,” she said, “I didn’t…well, what I meant…huh?” Laura stumbled with her words; each sentence she tried to make was an incoherent mess.

Anthony walked over to the two girls, prompting Laura to bite down on her tongue as she collected her thoughts.

He gave a slight wave before saying, “Hello, my name is Anthony.” He stuck out his hand at Cello. “I’m a…well I was gonna say friend of Laura’s, but we only met once…I know her.” Anthony chuckled.

Cello raised an eyebrow, taking a glance at Laura, then stared back at Anthony. She narrowed her eyes at the man, moving Laura behind her.

She cleared her throat. “I’m Cello,” she replied, “Laura’s best friend. We’ve known each other since we were children.”

“I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Miss Cello.”

Anthony still held out his hand, and Cello half-heartedly shook it. He gave her a kind smile, while hers was fake, with a twinge of contempt. Something about this man, Cello didn’t like. Once their hands pulled a part, she humphed and turned around to face Laura.

Berus came over and leaned his head down at Anthony. The young man was taken aback by the towering figure that moved in front of him.

Berus smiled and said, “Hi! I’m Berus, Laura’s younger brother!” His voice is joyful and approachable.

Quickly recovering from his initial shock, Anthony smiled back. “H-Hello,” he replied, “my name is Anthony. Man, you’re really tall for being younger.”

Berus laughed and said, “Thanks!” Then, Berus smirked and continued. “And I know who you are. Laura told me all about you.”

He chuckled mischievously, prompting Laura to charge over, jumping into the air and smacking the back of his head.

“Ow!” He yelped, rubbing his head in pain.

“Don’t try it!” Laura hissed at her brother.

“What’d I say?”

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

As they had their minor spat, Armin and Everett finally managed to disperse the crowd. The two walked over to the others, Everett and Anthony’s gaze locked.

Everett placed a hand on her hip and asked, “What’re you doing, Anthony?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “Nothing. I was just greeting Miss Laura, Mother.”

Laura, Cello, and Berus all had their jaws drop when they heard this.

“That’s your mom?!” They simultaneously gasped.

Anthony nodded and said, “That’s right. Well, foster mother, but yeah.” He looked at Everett and continued. “Mother, Laura is the one I told you about after I came back.”

Everett did remember her son recalling his exploration into the experiment’s territory. He talked about his encounter with a beautiful young woman, clad in black robes, who helped him find his group. The side of Everett’s lip curled. She walked over and rested her hands on Anthony’s shoulders.

“Oh, yes,” Everett said, “I remember, you just couldn’t stop talking about how breathtakingly beautiful she was.”

Anthony’s face quickly shot red. “Now hold on…”

He tried to speak, but his mother cut him off and continued. “Yes, pestered me for days about her.”

Anthony’s eyebrow twitched. “Mother, please.” He tried to make her stop.

Berus laughed, enjoying seeing both Anthony and Laura become flustered. Cello simply crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Armin eventually broke up all of this and called for their attention.

“Okay, you five,” He said. “The time for small talk and embarrassing your kids is over. We need to get business started.”

They all put serious expressions on their faces, except Anthony, who wasn’t sure what was happening.

“I don’t think I’m a part of this,” He said, slowly backing away. “I’ll just leave you guys alone. Nice to see you again, Laura.”

She smiled and waved him goodbye. Anthony waved back and left to join the other scientists.

Everett rejoined Armin. He continued, “We only came to this room to grab the tracking drones. Doctor Romanova had them put in here for…”

Armin tilted his head, scrunching his brow in confusion. He looked at Everett and asked, “Why did you put them in here?”

She was about to open her mouth, but was stumped as to why she did. “Huh, I actually don’t know.”

Armin brushed past it and continued. “Regardless, they’re here, and we have to take them.”

He pointed at the three large plastic boxes in the far right corner of the room. “They’re over there,” Armin continued, “Let’s grab them and go.”

The experiment trio nodded and made their way over, politely moving past some of the other scientists. As they did, Everett kept her gaze focused on Berus. Examining every feature of his face, almost as if he were a work of art.

Armin noticed this and raised an eyebrow. “Am I going to have to report you to HR?” He joked.

Everett looked at him and chuckled. “No, no,” she said. “It’s just…he looks so much like Ferral. From his smile, so those eyes…oh, how I missed those eyes.”

She began to trail off. Armin cleared his throat. “Need I remind you that you are happily married?”

Everett snapped out of it and said, “I know, and I am. But, Ferral…he was…special to me. It’s hard to explain.”

“I suppose I didn't truly know the kind of man he was like you,” Armin replied. “You know, before everything went wrong.”

Once the three brought the boxes back. Armin popped open the lids to do a quick inspection. After deeming everything was in perfect condition, they headed out of the room.

The group headed to the south side of the building, where they saw a small group of five armed soldiers. The group consisted of four men and one woman, each in a camouflage uniform. On their left shoulders, each had a patch of the globe. Written above the globe in gold stitching read “Human Armed Forces.” They all had serious and stern expressions; none of them looked particularly friendly.

Armin walked over and greeted the group. “Afternoon, gentlemen,” he said, “and lady.”

They saluted the doctor. One of the men stepped forward; he had a blue embroidered name tag on his uniform that had the name ‘N. Hudgens.’

He saluted Armin once more and said, “We’re all equipped and ready to go, Sir.” His voice was proper but rigid.

“Excellent, Hudgens,” Armin replied. “I was just going to say it’s time to depart.”

“Yes, Sir!” They all said.

Some of them eyed the experiment trio, raising a couple of eyebrows.

“Doctor,” a man with the name tag ‘M. Taylor' spoke up. “When you said you would bring experiments, we weren’t expecting…children.”

Armin looked back at the three, then back at the soldiers. He waved off the comment and said, “Don’t let their age fool you. They’re immensely strong for their age.”

He motioned with his head for Cello to step forward. She looked at her friends, and they shrugged, so the young experiment stepped forward beside Armin.

“Taylor, come here,” Armin said.

The man walked over and stood a few feet in front of them.

Armin looked at Cello and said, “Give him a nice punch in the gut.”

She was surprised to hear this. The other soldier laughed quietly, Taylor looking back at them with a smug grin.

He looked back at Cello with the same expression. “Go on, love,” He said, puffing out his chest. “Give me your best shot.”

Cello snorted, rolling her eyes before cocking back her fist. She swung her arm, plowing her fist into Taylor's stomach. The man hunched over, his eyes shooting wider as he groaned loudly in pain. The force of the punch was so great that he was sent flying back and bounced off against a wall, falling to the floor.

The other soldiers burst out laughing. Cello smirked, lifting her chin as she walked back with the others. Taylor strained to get up, holding his gut.

“Fair…enough…” He sputtered as he stumbled back into the group.

“Alright,” Armin said, “Now that we’ve had our laughs, let’s get going.”

The group of ten headed outside where a large carrier helicopter waited for them. The door at the back started to open, coming down to form a ramp for the group to walk inside. The soldiers were the first to enter; Everett was to stay behind. Laura looked back at her, then jogged over before getting on the helicopter.

“Excuse me, Miss Romanova,” Laura said. “Is it possible for Anthony to join us?”

Everett looked at her, confused by this question. Armin came over to see what Laura was doing.

“Laura, what’s wrong?”

She turned to Armin and said, “I was just curious if…you know…maybe Anthony could join?”

Armin scrunched his brow. “For what? We can’t risk putting him in danger.”

“I know, but…he could help you, you know?”

Everett walked closer, placing a hand on Laura’s shoulder. She looked at Armin and nodded. “Bring him, he could be of some help.”

Laura’s face lit up, she looked at Evrett, who looked back and winked.

Armin was hesitant at first, but simply shrugged. “Well, if you think he’ll be useful, I will take your word. It’s up to him.”

Armin turned and walked to the helicopter. Laura mouthed a thank you to Everett and followed after Armin. Everett smiled, took out her phone, and called Anthony.

The helicopter stayed there for a couple more minutes, with  Laura on the ramp. Everyone else was becoming impatient, but just before they decided to leave, a young man came running toward them. He stumbled as he ran, but had a grin on his face. He made his way up the ramp and stood breathless inside.

Laura joined the rest inside, and the door started closing behind her. Everyone in the helicopter stared at Anthony; everyone had mixed expressions. The soldiers were indifferent to his presence, not going to question it. Berus smiled welcomingly while Cello crossed her arms and scoffed quietly. Once the door was fully closed, the helicopter started to ascend off the ground. It took off, heading to their first destination. The Frenki Empire of Africa.