The Alien Agenda (#Wattys2018)

[Chapter 51: Bermuda]

I ran, surrounded by my protectors through the thick forest. Bullets whizzed past me, from various directions. The soldiers around me were shooting at every direction the bullets came from. I lost two of my protectors along the way, leaving six running alongside me.

I leaped over large gnarled roots, dodged low branches, and bullets as I ran in top speed through the forest. I was told of the location of the tower beforehand, but even without that knowledge, I would have found in nonetheless.

The tugging sensation within me was utterly strong, I knew the strongest pull of the Akashic lay north, there the tower would be waiting. Another shot resounded, followed by a gasp and a thud. Another soldier down.

I tried to push away the gruesome thoughts of the dying soldiers being solely my fault. Each death reminded me of my own. I glanced at the timer on my wrist.

8 hours 12 minutes 15 seconds

I clenched my fists and pushed on. Explosions resounded in the tense forest, and tremors shook the ground. By the time I broke out of the thicket of trees I had only two soldiers with me. The enemies felt like invisible killers, shooting from an unnoticeable source. But as I made my way out of the trees, I was free from their guerilla ways. They were in plain sight now.

The forest led to a huge stone platform, it was tremendous to the point I could not see its end. I knew the tugging was leading me up ahead. However, the enemy soldiers made a barrier between us. What disturbed me the most, was that that the soldiers were horrifyingly human.

They were humans. Just like me.

You would have guessed the guards of an extraterrestrial stronghold would be- extraterrestrials. But these people were human. It only made it even clearer, how close the government was working with the extraterrestrials, how brainwashed they were to serve the aliens.

The brainwashed humans opened fire.

Above me, jets soared in the sky, blasting out crafts mid flight. The battle in the air was as terrifying as down below.

I retreated back into the forest, the last of my protectors down. I heard more of our army marching from the forest, ready to take the enemies head on. I knew my only way to the tower was to take the longer way around the platform through the forest.

I took a deep breath and ran into the forest. I was blasting and dodging, successfully allowing no bullet to hit me. My reflexes were on point. I blasted any black armored enemy soldiers, not sparing time for sympathy. Their motive and side they were on was clear. I had to make sure mine was as well.

I hid behind a large tree as a soldier ran past me. Suddenly, out of nowhere a hand grabbed my shoulder. I readied my blaster and almost pulled the trigger. Good thing I didn't.

"Axel!" I said while letting out a breath of relief.

Axel was holding the blaster in his hand though his expression was nowhere near relieved.

"Come on, this way," he said, ushering me to follow.

I guessed that he must have found a clearer, safer path to the tower, thus I obliged. We worked out way through a narrower path full of obstacles. The trees were just so close to each other, their roots overlapped, forming tricky hurdles to get through. Due to the obstructive route, there were no enemy soldiers in sight.

I glanced at my timer.

6 hours 55 minutes 12 seconds

As we continued to tread on in silence, I realised the tugging sensation in my chest was getting fainter.

"Axel, we are getting pretty far away from the tower," I spoke up.

"Well we are taking a longer route there," he replied in monotone.

I furrowed my brows, but kept silent. As we walked for about an hour, the tugging sensations became even more faint it was almost negligible. And the fainter it felt, the more unsettled I became.

Suddenly a thought came to me. Was Axel getting me away from the tower, to prevent me from killing myself?

The thought was bugging me. I tried to ignore it. But as the tugging sensation faded away, and Axel never broke his pace, I suddenly realized the need to address it.

I stopped in my tracks, and seconds later Axel noticed. He paused and turned to me. His eyes betrayed no emotions, but I stared at them head on.

"Axel... I have a feeling you're stopping me from getting to the tower," I said slowly.

He remained silent.

"Axel, I know you're against me on going to sacrifice myself. But we've talked about this. I can't turn back on humanity now- not when I'm this close," I told him exasperated.

Axel shook his head, and grabbed my wrist.

"Just follow me," he said.

I looked him in the eye. Something was just unsettling about this. I felt like I was definitely going the wrong direction. The tower was definitely not this way. I could feel it.

I tugged my hand out of his grasp,"No, Axel. We're going the wrong way."

He caught hold of my wrist once again,"No, we are going the right way," he said, stressing on his words.

He was acting strange. It was getting obvious. He was disappointed wasn't he? Of course he was. He still had not gotten over the fact that I had to die. But I had to knock some sense into him nevertheless.

"Axel... please... I know what you're thinking right now," I began softly.

"I can't follow you. I have the responsibility to save humanity. Yes, I am going to die. But it is what we planned," I said.

Axel's expression hardened even more. His eyes lost their warmth all of a sudden. He gave me an icy glare. His grip on me tightened, till my wrist began to hurt.

"A-Axel," I said wincing.

"Oh, we have other plans for you. We want you alive," he said, his tone lowering to become somewhat menacing.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I said, shuddering slightly at his change of attitude.

He tugged me forward,"You're coming with me."

Panicking, I forced my hand out of his grasp and stepped back.

"Axel... what is wrong with you? What do you mean they want me alive? Their plans were decided!" I retorted, my voice shaking.

Something was wrong. Most definitely wrong.

Axel gave me a cold smirk,"I think the they you are referring to, is much different from the they I am referring to."

I looked at him puzzled. But seconds later, his words began to make sense. I shook my head. No... this can't be. A dreadful thought arose.

"If you're still reluctant to follow me. I'd have to bring you the hard way. Laila, don't make me," he warned.

He removed the blaster from its strap on his back and activated it.