Prologue

Rain pounded fiercely against the cold shell of the rustic ship as it sat out at sea. The footsteps of soldiers on the starboard side were being drowned out by the thumping of the rain.

Squadron after squadron of elite Special Forces soldiers were topside. Clad in Kevlar and sporting tactical vests filled with ammunition and even a few grenades. Awaiting the order to breach and make their way down into the unknown, the abyss. Though they knew it would be dangerous. They weren’t truly prepared for what they would find.

“Ramirez, set the charges.”

“Yes Captain.”

“Bones, you follow my lead.” Whispered the captain.

“Got it.” Bones told him.

“We don’t know what’s down there. If anyone or anything tries to resist you, dispatch of it immediately. Quietly if at all possible.” The captain ordered.

“You think any Gill are down there sir?” Ramirez asked.

“If there is… retreat still isn’t an option. Recovering the catalysts at all costs is the top priority. Understand that men!?” The captain questioned.

“Sir yes Sir!” They all whispered with bombast.

“Blow the charges.” The captain ordered.

The charge blew disabling the locking mechanism. The door slowly weaned until the captain kicked it open and Bones taking a few steps in before anyone else. It was dark and quiet which gave the majority of the soldiers a sinking feeling. Twisting and turning their stomachs. Bones and the captain took a few steps in as the other soldiers reluctantly followed. Mixed in with the rain water dripping down their necks was sweat as their wet boots smacked loudly against the metal floor at first before subduing.

“Sergeant Cole entered from Portside with Bravo team so once again I must reiterate, only use deadly force if you are attacked first. Don’t want to be killing our own down here.”

The men took formation with the captain in front and Bones right behind him. Ramirez could be counted somewhere around the middle of a seven man team. The remaining soldiers, Tom a brown haired white man, Blake a blonde haired Casanova, Kirk a black man, and Hank a white musclebound giant. Each soldier was armed with assault rifles with the exception of Hank who was armed with a Shotgun. He was next to last in the formation.

As the captain trudged onward he quickly glanced, in, and down any slightly opened doors or hallways. All as he kept following the white & black directional signs that directed him to the stairs. He still wasn’t entirely sure where he had to go. All he knew was it was further down. The halls were dark and quiet. Luckily for the soldiers this wasn’t an ill omen by any means. This floor was simply empty. Unfortunately this was due to the need for more personnel being required down below.

“Where the hell are the hostiles?” Kirk asked. “Captain Bishop any thoughts?”

“I couldn’t tell you… down below with the catalysts perhaps?”

The ship they had boarded belonged to terrorists. It was an on water research facility. Constantly moving with the waves. And with the current state of the world and the never ceasing rain as well as the Gill. It was the perfect place for a terrorist research facility. Even with its existence known to the UN all this time it still eluded them. Only now being physically verified in person and boarded by the Special Forces. It didn’t help that the United Nations’ supplies and personnel were spread so thin.

Despite the barge being normally well-kept especially due to the standards of terrorists, as the soldiers marched through its halls it all seemed off. No lighting, no sound and no one in sight. Even more unsettling were any slightly opened doors. Within the crevices of which it somehow seemed to be so dark that it almost just consumed light emanating from the mounted flashlights on the guns of the soldiers, which seemed only to provide enough light to illuminate a few feet of hallway at a time it felt. Though this was just due to the dark blue and drab colors of the boats interior.

As the captain led, lighting the way he could see specks of dust float through the air. Eventually the sweat to water ratio on the soldiers’ skin was becoming increasingly so of the former and less of the latter. The vibrations and sounds of the men’s footsteps were almost the only thing triggering their senses. That and the musky smell of the ships interior. The captain eventually found the stairs leading them further down. As he opened the door to the stairwell there were soft yellow lights. One for each floor with most of them flickering on and off.

“Well it would seem we’re getting somewhere.” Blake said as he wiped sweat from the top of his forehead and as he fixed his hair.

“You got that right Blake” The captain whispered. “Now one last time boys. Does everyone have their sedatives? It’s very important that you do.” He said.

“I’ve got mine sir.” Said Hank.

“Me as well sir.” Ramirez also said and soon everyone else also chimed in.

“Me too…” Bones said as he looked down at one of the syringes he’d been given.

“Good. We’ll need those for the catalysts I was told.”

“Why weren’t we just given tranquilizer guns sir?” Kirk asked.

“HQ doesn’t want to run the risk of killing a catalyst. Be it from the shock of being shot or from falling to the floor and sustaining a fatal head injury. They demand we be there to insure the catalysts safety.” Captain Bishop told him.

The group were currently in section 1. Each floor down is identified by number. They kept heading down the staircase with weapons at the ready. The further they lurked towards the depths of the ship the further from the sounds of the rain they found themselves. Section 3, section 4, section 5, and finally section 6. The bottom of the ship. The soldier’s jaws had dropped when they saw the door leading to section 6. It was a thick steel door with an electronic keypad next to it.

“Uh sir? I’m pretty sure our explosives can’t get through that door. At least none of the stuff not meant to sink the ship.” Ramirez told him.

“Noted.” Captain Bishop said.

“Look sir, it would appear as though the door has a keycard reader. Perhaps a soldier in section 5 would have access to this section.” Bones told the captain as he stroked his chin.

“I really don’t wish to fiddle about this ship longer than I have to. Perhaps Sergeant Cole and his team have already encountered the same issue.” The captain got on his communicator and radioed Sergeant Cole. “Sergeant Cole do you copy?”

“This is Sergeant Cole, me and my men are making our way through section 5 but it seems quiet so far.” Cole said.

“So you haven’t found a way into section 6 yet either?”

“There’s a section 6? The stairwell ended with 5. What’s the deal with 6?”

“Well it’s an incredibly thick steel door. We can’t breach it with the explosives we have. It has a keycard lock so we were hoping someone’s badge could be found in section 5.” Captain Bishop said.

“Roger that Bishop we’ll keep an eye out for the keycard. Out.”

“And we’ll work on rendezvousing with you. Out.” Bishop said as the radio went silent.

“I don’t like this captain. It’s really weird…” Tom told him.

“You think the captain doesn’t know that? We’re clearly walking into hell but we have no choice. The UN believes the catalysts may hold some of the answers about the never ceasing rain. Therefor it is imperative that we find them and bring them with us.” Kirk told him.

“Yeah but”

“That’s enough Tom, Kirk’s right. We have a job to do and I guarantee you, not one of us likes this but we have a very important job to do. So shut up and follow me!” The captain said as he pushed through the soldiers clumped by the bottom of the stairs to head upstairs.

They all walked passed and elbowed Tom as they followed with the exception of Bones who simply patted Tom’s shoulder as he walked passed him. Perhaps to comfort him Tom thought. Which helped alleviate some of his hesitation nonetheless. Tom swallowed and began following them up the stairs until they reached the door to section 5.

The captain turned the crank until he heard the door open. He replied to that sound with a powerful kick as he entered section 5 with his weapon at the ready and his men followed suit. In the section they’d found themselves in it was no different from section 1. It was yet another series of hallways and cabins. Each with almost nothing of interest in them. In their hunt for the keycard they found almost nothing of interest. A few personal belongings which had indicated that there were people at one point and time but that was all they could really find.

They searched room after room, quarters after quarters but couldn’t find the authorization they needed. They eventually stopped and turned off their lights as they saw a glow coming from the other end of the hall. Those who were on the other end did the same. Bishop let it stay silent for a moment as he took a deep breath. He then swallowed and let out a light calming whistle. After a few more seconds of silence the other group turned their lights back on.

“Captain Bishop it’s us! Bravo Team!” The Sergeant said as he walked toward them.

“Good to see you Cole.” Bishop said while lowering his weapon and his team reactivating their flashlights.

“I’m sorry to report but we’ve turned these cabins upside down and weren’t able to find any sort of keycard or identification card that seemed as though it could be used on an electronic lock.” Cole stated.

“I see…” Bishop pondered.

“What of Ramirez, our demolitions expert?” Cole said.

“What about me sir?” Ramirez replied as he stepped forward.

“Go back to the section 6 door. See if there is or isn’t a way we could blow that door up without using our bigger beauties.” Cole asked.

“I’m not sure if it can be done.” Bishop said as he stepped in front of Ramirez. “Just in case you should probably continue searching.” Bishop told him.

“Good call sir. Besides it may not be good to bundle together.” Hank said. “May not be a good idea to have all your chickens in the same place. Makes it easier for the coyotes to sink their teeth into you.” Hank told them.

“I understand Hank. Then perhaps we shouldn’t stick together for too long. We’ll search around a little longer. Since there appears to be only one way in, when you do finally make it into section 6 we’ll follow you shortly after. Seem good Hank?” Sargent Cole had asked as Hank replied with a thumbs up.

The squad made their way back to the section 6 entrance. Ramirez examined the size and material of the door even further. He didn’t know how they were going to make their way into section 6 to retrieve the catalysts. It was clear to him with just a glance initially that they couldn’t blow that door open without possibly blowing a hole into the bottom of the ship and sinking the whole liner right then and there. But now upon further inspection it seemed even more hopeless.

“I’m not so sure we can blow open this door sir.” Ramirez told him. “The amount of danger posed to the ship, its cargo, and more importantly us is just too big to use the bigger beauties.” Ramirez told him.

“Damn it!” Captain Bishop said as he punched the wall. “What do you think Blake?”

“Me sir?” Blake said as he combed his hair back.

“Think you could hack it?”

Blake laughed. “Come on sir. If you’d believed I could then you would have asked me earlier. But just to provide an answer… no. But I am willing to try.”

“How about we just try the smaller explosives first.” Bones suggested.

“Yeah and we can let off some firecrackers and light sparklers too while we’re at it, that’ll get the door open!” Ramirez said.

“I don’t know they might think we’re partying and come join us.” Tom said.

“Ramirez, set the breaching explosives.” Said the captain.

“What?” Tom asked befuddled.

“But sir. It won’t work.” Ramirez insisted.

“I believe you but maybe the attempt will draw the terrorists out.” Bishop said.

“That’s not such a bad idea.” Kirk said. “Good work Tom. And since it was your idea, you can go ahead and do the honors of setting the charges.”

“I was kind of kidding…” Tom said.

Tom looked at captain Bishop for final confirmation as Bishop nodded. Tom shook his head in agreement as he walked over to the door and sat next to it. He started squishing and balling up the plastic explosives before finally placing them where he assumed the hinges and locking mechanisms would be per Ramirez’s instruction. But before he was able to finish the light on the keypad went from red to green as the sounds of turning locks and gears could be heard.

The door started to open towards Tom as he fell on his butt and tried sliding backwards. He gasped as he began to freak out and the rest of the soldiers aimed their weapons. Keeping Bishop’s words not to fight unless fought in the back of their minds. After the door opened a bloodied man limped towards Bones while slouching. The man saw the UN flag on his uniform and began speaking English with a Spanish accent.

“I didn’t… they made me do this. To me…” He said as he fell to the ground and little puddles of blood began to congregate around him.

“Holy shit!” Blake said, losing some of his Casanova cool.

“He must be speaking of the catalysts.” Bones said.

“What do you mean?” Kirk asked.

“The “they” that made him do this. What else could he have been talking about?”

“The who or why doesn’t matter. We have a job to do so let’s keep moving.” Bishop said.

The squad agreed and they got a move on. As they entered Section 6 all they saw was bloody boot prints that stretched all the way down the hall and around the corner. Bones who was right behind the captain was feeling uneasy. Walking into the direction that bloody boot prints had come from was starting to become the story of his life. He lamented the day it ever started raining and never stopped. And he regretted the day he ever joined the military to fight the Gill. To help people. How was walking into a situation like this going to help anyone he thought? Regardless he knew that he was in it now. In it till the end.

Captain Bishop had stopped right before he and his team had turned the corner. He glanced to his left. He had seen that the terrorist’s footprints had veered off course as his bloody handprints could be seen on the wall as if he’d pushed against it to keep himself from falling down. The captain took a breath as he then turned the corner. And just like that as soon as he made that corner it was as if Alice had just entered into what was the opposite of wonderland. Blood splotches dabbed up and down the walls and on the floor, and dead terrorists lying about.

“Did this just happen?” Kirk pondered.

“It doesn’t appear so. A lot of the blood around here seems to have dried up. My guess is there was an initial conflict here that the other terrorist had discovered. It’s likely that the catalysts got the drop on him as a result and that’s why he was trying to escape. Or they had him for a while…” Bishop said with a pause. “Kirk, Hank. I want the two of you to stay here and investigate until Cole’s squad shows up. By then Ramirez will surely have started placing bombs around the boat. We’ll use the sedatives to subdue one of the catalysts and then get the hell out of here, and blow this barge. Sound good?”

“Sir yes sir.” They all said.

As they descended further down the halls Bones started to hear whistling. It was a recurring melody. Haunting in a way, and not unlike Bishop’s whistle to signal nearby friendlies. “Does anyone else hear that?” Bones asked as they questioned what it was he was hearing. He kept hearing it and couldn’t believe that they couldn’t. Almost as if it were just meant for him. He looked down the hallway it was coming from. As he began drifting toward it Blake had noticed a shadowy figure move swiftly through the darkness down another hallway.

“We have movement sir!” Blake said quietly but with urgency.

“Alright men let’s move out.” The captain said as he began sprinting after the shadowy figure as Bones snapped out of it and began following him and the others.

As they rushed after whatever it was that Blake had seen they passed room after room, lab after lab. Rooms that likely had many stories to tell, and many clues as to what was going on. But alas there was no time. With as slow as the ship was moving it was only a matter of time that the Gill would climb aboard. Bishop knew that it was a flash in the pan situation. So the men kept running.

As they bolted down the dark musky halls their lights briefly exposed dust, and stained walls but it was all a blur. Bones could hear the melodic whistling again but this time it was different. Something about it was sinister this time. And it was coming from the direction that they found themselves heading in. Bones stopped dead in his tracks as the rest of the gang took notice. “Why have you stopped!?” the captain yelled.

“Sir it’s that sound again!” Bones said as the rest of the squad looked puzzled.

“What?!” Tom said.

“I can still hear that damn whistling!”

“What the fuck are you babbling about? Have you forgotten about what we came here to do!?” The captain said as Tom tried to confide in Bones and calm the captain down.

“Ma… maybe Bones is right. We don’t know what we’re walking into and judging by the bloodbath that took place it seems clear to me tha-” Bishop then points his rifle at Tom to shut him up. He then brings his aim to Bones.

“You listen now and you listen well! I came here to get my hands on the catalysts. Which for as far as we know may hold the key to all of the fucked shit going on! So nut up and get a move on, or I’ll personally see to it that neither of you get off this boat! Do I make myself clear?” Said Bishop.

“Yes.” Says the still struggling to move Bones.

“Bones?” Tom says with worry in his eyes.

“We came here to do a mission.” Bones says seemingly stating the obvious, but also acknowledging that he’s going to go along with the captain’s word for now.

“Glad to see that you’re still on board Bones.” Captain Bishop says as Blake retorts.

“I don’t know captain. He seems to have gone overboard to me.”

“Shut up Blake, and Bones… try to keep your head stitched together for just a couple more hours until we get back to HQ. You too Tom.” Bishop said as Tom gulped in fear and Bones looked right through Blake and captain Bishop. “What the hell are you looking at?” The captain said as he twisted his head around.

The moment his gaze met the same sight his men were seeing he could hear the whistling. And this time the whole group was hearing it. This included Hank and Kirk who were back investigating the dead terrorists and even Sgt. Cole and his team who weren’t far behind. And there standing before the group was a huddling puddle of small, dark silhouettes. The men aimed their weapons at the silhouettes with their lights revealing them to be young boys and girls. Mere children in the eyes of these men but in the eyes of these children the men were mere prey. There were five children in front of them. Each one of which had a tattoo of a number barely visible on the side of their necks.

There was 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 and they were all standing holding themselves up with posture similar to each other and quiet whispers were being passed back in forth. Despite Bones and company staying silent they still couldn’t understand what the kids were saying. This was because they were speaking Spanish. The language was soon brought to question by the captain.

“What the hell are they saying?”

“Beats me cap…” Blake said.

“Something about number 7 I think? And they brought attention to our uniforms. I think they’re deciding what to do with us captain.” Bones told him.

“Anything else?”

“Sorry sir, I don’t know much Spanish plus they’re not only whispering but also their Spanish is a completely different dialect from what little I was taught.”

“Damn… wish we had Ramirez here.” Captain Bishop said.

Just as Bishop had been getting ready to call Cole to bring Ramirez to translate, the kids had then pushed a young girl with the number 5 tattooed on her neck out from the group and toward the UN soldiers. She was shivering and looked back at the group as the young boy with the number 2 shook his head “no” at her and she looked back at the soldiers. The girl slowly started walking towards the men. And in that moment Bones could once again hear the whistling. The same from before. He started to back up slowly as he listened to it. Constantly looking behind his back.

“Alright men.”

“Yes sir?” some of them said.

“Get the sedatives ready.” Bishop said confidently.

“So those children are the catalysts?” Blake asked.

“I’m fairly certain.” Captain Bishop retorted as he lowered his firearm. “Either way we’re about to find out.” He said as he started making his way to the little girl and vice versa.

“It’s okay now.” The captain whispered sincerely. “We’re here to help.”

Sargent Cole’s team started making their way from up behind and with them was Kirk and Hank. Bishop kept a calm, steady pace on his way to the girl. As Cole and his team caught up he made eye contact with Bones who motioned him to stay back. The girl shivered as she made her way forward. Bishop whispered “It’s going to be okay” to calm her down and it seemed to have worked as she shook her head in agreement. The two made contact as he knelt down to meet her.

“What’s going on?” Sgt. Cole asked.

“That’s one of the infamous catalysts we’ve come to collect.”

“Bones, those are just kids.” Ramirez said. “There’s some real Diablo level things going on here man.” Ramirez said as he then started praying in his native tongue.

“What’s your name young miss?” Bishop asked with no response from the little girl. “Are you hungry?” Bishop then asked as he slowly reached into his ammo bag and began to pull forth from it something few people would expect to be in a bag for ammunition. A chocolate bar.

“Para mi?” Asked the girl in Spanish.

“Here, take it.” Bishop said as he handed over the candy.

The girl took the candy bar and peeled away the shiny wrapper surrounding it. She started sniffing the chocolate since this wouldn’t have been tricked by promises of treats or rewards. Noticing nothing suspicious about the bar itself she began devouring it as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Bishop smiles and puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort. The other kids seemed to relax and calm down right alongside her. All except for number 2 who kept a steely gaze. With his hand on the little girls shoulder Bishop pulled her in for a hug and remained gentle. As he had her he began to reach into his pocket. At the same time the girl just stood there eating the chocolate and no longer shivering. And without startling her he managed to stealthily pull the syringe filled with tranquilizer up passed her waistline and aimed it at her neck.

Number 2 mistook this for pure hostility in the soldier’s part screaming “Cinco!” at the top of his lungs and the girl immediately stopped eating chocolate as she began to scream her head off letting out a shockwave so loud each soldier had to cover their ears as their eardrums rang and vibrated. Being so close to the girl really shocked Bishop as he stood up and backed off. He was covering one ear but despite his brain telling him to drop the syringe and cover his other ear he couldn’t move a muscle. “What!?” He yelled as his clenched fist and the tip of that syringe slowly turned toward him against his own will. Before he knew it he had plunged the syringe into his own neck and he almost immediately fell to the floor from the tranquilizer. Number 2 could be seen smirking amongst the children.

“It’s the kid!” Blake yelled as he threw his rifle up but as soon as he did it got yanked from his hands by what seemed like nothing and hit the ground a few feet away from him.

“Stand down!” Sgt. Cole yelled as Blake then pulled his sidearm.

“Sufre como lo hemos hecho!” Number 2 screamed as Blake swiftly pointed the gun at his own head pulling the trigger sending a parade of brain, blood and viscera raining down on and hurdling toward the other soldiers. Tom screamed getting most of the blowback of blood hitting his face as Bones slowly backed up a little. The little girl with the number 5 on her neck ran back to her friends. It was then that each one of the soldiers felt a little bit of tug on their weapons. It was as if they were being pried away from them by nothing. Ramirez being the only who understood what number 2 had said aimed his rifle and began shooting.

He screamed as bullets flew through the air. But before the casings could even hit the ground number 2 and 3 flung their hands up into the air stopping the bullets in midair before they could harm the children. The other soldiers soon began shooting as the muzzle flashes occasionally lit the room, exposing the expressions of the soldiers fear, anger, and confusion could be seen. One of the soldiers from Cole’s squad quote un quote lost his aim as his weapon quickly veered off course and hit Cole in the shoulder followed by a scream of agony emanating from the Sargent. All of the children began laughing at the men’s expense. All but the girl with the chocolate who just sat behind them crying.

Bones aimed but couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. “I signed up to shoot monsters…” He said to himself quietly. And just like that he heard it again. Amongst all the shooting, screaming, laughter and crying… was that whistling again. Calm and melodic. He looked behind him and beyond the other soldiers and he could hear it even clearer than before. In fact it was all that he could hear. He turned around and started walking away from the fire fight.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going!?” Kirk yelled as Bones ignored him.

He began doing a light jog that eventually turned to a sprint, leaving his fellow soldiers behind. The whistles got louder and louder as he ran until he couldn’t hear them any clearer. And finally as he made his way down the hall and through the darkness that the whistling had been coming from it slowly began to vanish. As it turned to silence he snapped out of his trance and could hear the shooting and yelling in the distance. He then turned back to the darkness as he saw a small, fragile figure asleep on the ground. It was a young girl with the number 7 on her neck. “The number seven.” Bones said in realization as he observed her closer. She was frail and sickly looking with short white hair about down to her ear length and pale white skin matching it.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Cole ordered as the men stopped shooting.

“What’s the plan of action sir?” Ramirez asked.

“These little shits have power, I’ll give them that. But at the end of the day they’re still just little shits. Hank go grab the captain and get him out of here. Tom take the sedative and get one of those damn kids!”

“Seriously?!”

“Yes! As long as we don’t shoot at them and keep a strong grip on our weapons we can keep from shooting each other and their powers will be useless and we could sedate one of them no problem I’m willing to bet.” Cole said with assurance. “Now go!” He then barked.

Hank went ahead first and grabbed Bishop hoisting him over his shoulder as he ran passed the group with him in hand. Tom shivering alone much like the little girl who had made the same trip carefully took each step. The entire team watched as he got closer to the kids. Number 2 was deadpan as Tom made his way down the hall. Cole held his weapon with an ironclad grip and with a finger that was only a hair away from the trigger. Tom felt fear as the silence had sharpened his focus. And as he became mere feet away from the kids he could see it. He saw a devilish smirk begin to form below the serious and intense eyes of number 2. He then saw most of the bullets they’d fired suspended in the dead air in front of him.

“Jesus Christ.” Tom said as he turned to run.

As soon as he broke into a sprint one of those floating bullets flew fast, almost as if it had just exited the chamber of a gun. The bullet then whizzed straight through the back of Tom’s leg exploding his kneecap. He screamed with a cracking voice and fell face and hands first onto the dirty, rusty floor of that ship. Cole yelled, ordering the men to open fire again but this time the other side was firing back with the soldier’s own ammunition. Among other weapons of theirs. As the pin of the grenade on Ramirez’s belt was yanked out. Igniting the grenade and forcing the soldiers to brace for an explosion they wouldn’t survive in those cramped halls.

The explosion shook the lower parts of the barge and shocked Bones as he investigated the unconscious girl. He swiftly looked behind him, gasping with sweat dripping from his brow. His weapon at the ready and possessing an itchy trigger finger. He looked back at the young girl. Without time for hesitation he threw her over his shoulder and began to run topside with her. Little did he know Hank was doing the exact same thing with Bishop.

“Don’t worry little one… I’ll get you back to our boat and get you the hell out of here!” Bones had said as he ran. It was then he heard splashing water and saw it pooling around his feet. “What the? Water!” He said in sudden realization as he picked up the pace.

Back at the explosion nearly every soldier had died. Kirk, Cole, Ramirez, you name it. Save for Tom who had no choice but to crawl toward the young catalysts due to the small hole in the barge made by the explosion. With water slowly filling the hull at first, Tom tried desperately to get away from it. For not only did he fear the idea of drowning. He may have feared getting caught by the Gill even more. So he kept crawling with his gouging, bloody leg.

Much to his surprise as he kept crawling a foot could be seen standing before him. He looked up to find not only number 2 towering over him but so were the other kids. They acted as if the ship wasn’t sinking at all and acted as if there was no urgency. Tom looked up at number 2 as number 2 looked down at him. Creating a predator and prey scenario. That same evil grin from before took number 2’s face. Tom began to visibly cry and beg for his life but the young boy felt no sympathy. He held his hand out as he had done before, and used telekinesis to submerge Tom’s head as Tom struggled. Thrashing his arms and legs whilst screaming but it did him no good. He kept on struggling and struggling as air bubbles escaped by the dozens. He eventually wised up and put his palms against the floor and pushed with all his strength but to little avail. He slowly started lifting his head from the water but this just pissed the young telekinetic off further as number 2 applied more pressure as Tom’s face quickly re-submerged and his nose smacked the bottom and began to bleed. Immediately following Tom’s last moment the final air bubble surfaced and his blood began to spread thin in the water.

Number 2’s smile had curved severely. Distorted and twisted like a painting from Van Goh. He was incredibly pleased with himself and number 3 had found herself equally pleased in his ‘handy’ work. The other children getting antsy wanted to get a move on since water had been filling fast but number 2 was relishing the death of not just Tom but all the soldiers and had barely noticed that the water had made it to his knees. The other children finally snapped him out of it and they all got a move on. While walking slowly the children disappeared into the dark, wet and mysterious halls of the barge. As all those secrets sank, never to be unearthed.

As Bones climbed staircase after staircase he tried radioing his team with no luck. Nobody was answering. His stomach felt unsettled and he just knew something was wrong. He finally made it to the top floor and he noticed that the door leading out to the top of the ship was slightly ajar. He burst forth through the door as sharp rain pelted his face and stung his skin upon exit. It had picked up and gotten even worse since they entered. He returned to the starboard side of the ship and looked over the edge for their boat and saw that it was missing. He quickly scanned the vast ocean before him and saw it off in the distance.

Quickly pulling the radio from his hip Bones began calling for help. He heard a reply but it was all static. He couldn’t make out a single word that was being said. And for all he knew neither could whoever was on the boat. “Damn it!” He yelled as he started scanning the area behind him. He knew that a ship of this size and importance would most likely have safety boats on it he ran around topside for minutes and began to realize most of the escape boats had already been taken. Likely by terrorists trying to escape the catalysts who had supposedly escaped their captivity.

With the rain not letting up and lightning starting to strike, Bones could feel the boat starting to sink as it took water. He knew he had to think of something fast. He looked at the poor girl who miraculously was still asleep despite being pelted by rain and soaking wet. He looked at her face and thought to himself that this young girl he had been carrying couldn’t be more than thirteen years old. None of this could have been her fault. She was just a child, and whether she was good or evil when she awoke. It was Bone’s duty to save her regardless the consequences.

Finally he saw it. A fairly sturdy looking engine propelled life raft with a small tarp held up by steel poles for a roof, suspended above the ocean via wires and a pulley system. It didn’t look the fastest but it was still motorized and the best shot he and this young girl had. He bolted over to it and laid the girl down inside. He jumped in as well and hit the button to drop the boat but nothing happened. He pressed it again but still nothing. He began to hyperventilate and breathe very heavily. The Ship then began to slowly tip in his direction. In mere minutes he and the girl would find permanent graves in the sea, and a big ass boat would be their tombstone.

He finally stopped and took a deep breath once again. And right as he gave the button one last mighty press with his fist lightning had struck the ships tower and a surge of electricity found its way into the circuits of the switch just in time for the raft to disengage from the rest of the ship and fall to the ocean. As soon as he hit water, Bones put all his muscles into pulling the string and starting the engine. He drove the raft until he was just barely clear of the tipping ship. The ships’ side smacked the surface of the water creating a wave that pushed Bone’s raft and forced it to go faster. And with little time to spare the pair had made it.

As Bones drove he looked at the girl in front of him and knew exactly what she was. He saw the number 7 that was tattooed on her neck. He pulled the syringe from his pocket and stared at it for a moment. He gripped it and gritted his teeth, not knowing what to do. It was then that the storm began to calm and it turned to a light drizzle. And with the quieting of the rain he could hear a light breathing. The girl then swallowed and readjusted her head for comfort. Bones looked at her and let out a light smile. He stood up and walked over to the girl while taking off his tactical vest as well as his outer jacket and laying the jacket over her.

“Don’t worry, No one will come to hurt you…” Bones said to the sleeping girl as he loosened his grip on the syringe, and threw it out to the sea. At first it floated. But as the raft drove further and further away from it, it began to sink. And as it sank so did the ship. Both of them, floating in peace below the surface of the ocean. Away from the rain above. And as the sunken ship finally rested at the bottom of the sea. A body could be seen. It was Tom. His body floating lifeless just outside of the hole that had been made near the bottom of the sunken barge. But he wouldn’t float there for long, as his body had been pulled back into the ship, and swallowed by the darkness.