The Runaways: K.A.O.

VIII

  I couldn't catch my breath in the wet clothes, it only became harder and heavier to run. I ripped my boots off and dashed down the broken asphalt in squelching socks.

"Nessie!" Thompson drove the motorcycle to match my slowing pace. "Get on." He grabbed tightly onto my hand and I jumped on. 

  He revved the bike and it took off down the road faster than I could ever run. Faster than he drove when he surprised me with the port. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his back. 

  The pain wasn't mine?

  I continued thinking about what Gino said, and most of my spasms began to make sense. Although it didn't explain why it happened, I could sense when someone was in trouble or when trouble was going to start. 

But how? 

  If I know a person is in pain, and I could feel it, then how could I not be affected by it? What does it mean to not be affected by pain? 

"Thompson." I squeezed onto him. "Please go faster." I wasn't sure if it was possible, but I'm sure he would if he could. 

  The engine revved and coughed as we continued to speed down the road. It didn't take long for us to get there, but I could tell we had taken too long. I hopped off the bike and rushed inside the building in a hurry, but Thompson urged me the other way. We rushed behind the building and up the ladder that took us outside in the first place. 

  The airplane shook with my violent running. 

  I slammed open the door without a second thought and ventured through the hallway that Thompson took me down. My clothes were damp and runnable, but still heavy. My breathing increased as I got lost and the hallways seemed to increase. 

"Here." Thompson took a large gulp of air, grabbed my hand, and took me through the hallways and terminals skillfully. 

  We passed through the same departure terminals, then I noticed the control tower. We speed up down that hall and with a loud bang, opened the door in a frenzy. Thompson's room was mostly untouched, but I can't say the same about the other. 

  I scrambled through the room, looking for signs of anyone. My chest tightened and I fell down to my knees. 

This was all my fault. 

  I could have saved them if I didn't ignore the pain. I punched the ground with a closed fist and continued looking around the room. The room was in a bad condition, and supplies were scattered across the floor. 

The only things missing were the people. 

"Nessie." Thompson walked into the room, eyes red and ready to cry. 

"I know." I grabbed his shoulders before pulling him to a tight hug. "I know." He hugged me back as I stroked through his dampened hair. 

  The air grew misty, the room grew foggy as I noticed a different aroma to the room. I closed my eyes and tried to take it in. I let go of Thompson and scanned the room. 

The scenery changed. 

"Bloody hell." He whispered and we stood on guard, back to back. 

"What is this?" The room changed as we blinked. 

"Like hell I know." Thompson began looking around the room. 

"I know this isn't real. This isn't real at all." I touched the objects in the room, but each of them were physically animated. 

"My room." Thompson gasped, the door was still there. 

  We ran over to the closed door, a little hesitant to open it. We stood back from it, and on a count from one to three, we swung it open with force. 

The room was unchanged. 

"How?" His eyebrows furrowed. 

  Don't let the pain affect you, and stay calm. 

"Thompson." I came to a realization. "Does that computer work?" I pointed at the suspicious desktop, but it was our only hope. 

"I don't know." We approached the desktop with caution. 

    I turned it on and it was already logged into the administrator. I clicked around on the computer icons, but nothing worked. I went to restart the computer, but a file started to download which prevented the shutdown. 

"The hell?" We watched as the computer started back up. 

"I'm not sure." I looked over at his eyes that stared intently at the screen. 

  Once it was finished downloading, the screen flickered and opened the file. I clicked accept on the admin switch, and the file opened up some sort of game. I clicked to move the two characters, they resembled me and Thompson. 

  It didn't last long. 

  We continued down the road from the large building towards another large building. The second we tried to enter, our characters fell over and died. The screen then glitched out, a loud beep rang and the computer screen popped off. 

  We stepped back, the wires caused a fire, which eventually led to the computer exploding. 

"Watch out!" Thompson moved me over, holding a fire extinguisher. He sprayed at the fire until it went out, black stained the desk and walls. 

"What do you think that was?" I asked, the image of me dying still in my mind. 

"A trap." He answered briefly. 

  It only made sense. 

"We have to get our friends back." I said. 

"Okay." He didn't fight back at my plan.