Chapter 141

141 Camaguey Trip

Today was the day that we began our “little mission.” Excitement poured through my body as I dressed up for school, and put on some brown pants with a blue shirt underneath it as well as black shoes with yellow laces on them. I did this before I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled as I saw my own reflection staring back at me-a friend of mine who had always been there for me in times of need. A friend who always helped me whenever I asked for help and advice. A friend who always seemed to be there for me when I needed him the most.

Greg.

I walked out of the room as Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek before she smiled at me. Dad was already gone by now, which meant he had already left to get ready for work before he had left the house already with a cup of coffee in his hand. Once I made it to the front of the school, I waited to see Greg standing there, with his happy smile.

He was there through the crowd, but he wasn’t much of a smile, even though he looked like he had just seen a ghost and he didn’t know what to do about it. But as he walked closer to me, I could tell that something was wrong by now because he looked so uneasy and afraid of himself as if someone just took his hand and cut it off of him.

He didn’t speak a word as we made it into school, as we went into the first class of the day together-English class. Now English is like the easiest class because we always have a sub almost like, everyday. I would chat with Greg for the entire hour after doing like the easiest classwork of all time.

But Greg didn’t seem to want to talk, nor did he want to smile either, so instead he kept his eyes down as if something was eating him alive inside. He spoke when we had our lunch break, and then again when we were heading to our next class, but not a word was spoken between us since then.

Greg was acting weird-and I know that yesterday was a very heartbreaking encounter. I was hoping that wouldn’t affect us, in fact-he hoped that wouldn’t affect us. But yet he isn’t talking, or saying anything much, and when he does-it’s usually about him complaining about how bored he is and how much he wants to go home.

You know this.

I know this.

.....

He is not the same.

But what can I do at this point? He’s broken, he’s scared, and he probably feels super weird now that he told me his problem. I knew I shouldn’t have went to that party! I knew it!

But it is what it is.

***

After school was done, I was abruptly taken to the YMPA by a portal-like how it usually is, but I knew what it was for. The mission. I went inside of the room, whatever Mr. Drails called it as I was joined by Malachi, September and the whole bunch. Malachi looked pumped, but September was looking annoyed as she sat down in the opposite corner of the room with her arms folded and her head turned away from everyone as if she was annoyed by everything.

Maybe she was tired.

“Hello, agents,” he said. “Today is the day we go to Camaguey, to see what is going on over there. It’s nowhere near the actual city-in fact, it’s on the borders of the city before you enter into a different city.”

I nodded, while feeling confused and nervous as Mr. Drails pulled out a map and spread it on the table. He pointed to where we needed to go and said, “This is where the village is located. That’s where you’ll find the warehouse, okay guys?” he asked, looking at us. I nodded.

“Okay, now get your gear ready, and make sure to keep your radios handy. That’s how we actually keep track of you guys,” Mr. Drails said, pointing at September as she stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. She took out a small device from her pocket that looked like a cell phone and then began to tap it on the table. “Okay, good,” he said. “I’ll get a portal over there. Now we don’t know the exact location, but it should be up ahead of the village. There is a hill where you guys should examine the area okay?”

We nodded, and began to gather up our stuff as Mr. Drails left the room with a quick wave of his hand. September took out her radio, as we all did. “So, is Mr. Drails gonna scare us again with his-” Malachi tried to finish before a portal opened under our feet.

The wind blew against my face as I landed on the soft soil. What kind of place was this? It was like a jungle, but yet it looked like it had been built up by people with concrete walls and buildings here and there with little huts around here and there-some even with animals in them-like chickens or pigs.

I didn’t think people still lived like this.

The trees were standing tall and wide, as if they were trying to touch the sky and pierce through it with their leaves as well as their roots as they dug deep into the earth as they tried to claim this place as theirs. “Well, I didn’t expect this,” Tisiah said, getting up onto his feet, smiling at me as I stared at the tall trees with my mouth open wide as if I couldn’t believe it.

“I guess we’re not in Maine anymore,” September said sarcastically as she looked around. “Let’s move.”

We began to move up the trail, as I looked around, and saw that this place had some buildings around here and there but the streets were completely empty of anyone or anything that might be here.

“This is just like back in the day when we did this in Maine,” Malachi said to us as he began to look around. “Spy on some people, get info, all the fun stuff.” I chuckled, and September snickered a little as well. We began to walk down the street, and I began to see some people walking through here and there-some men carrying stuff on their back and some women carrying loads on their heads or shoulders-but no one seemed to be in danger of any sort.

Only if they knew what we were doing.

Soon enough, there was change in the elevation of the ground, as the floor began to rise-leading to a hill. The trail we were on led downwards for about fifteen minutes before we reached this small hill-which led to a large building that looked like a warehouse or maybe a storage shed as it was a long grey building made from concrete with some glass windows here and there.

“I think this is it,” September said, looking at it with a sense of determination. She then turned to Malachi and said, “You and Tisiah will take this spot. Nikki will be at the left of the warehouse, and Connor and I will spy on the backside.”

“Why can’t I be with Connor?” Nikki asked. “Don’t act like I don’t know.”

Immediately I froze in fear, but I looked at Nikki in a way that let her know that it wasn’t okay to speak out of turn in front of a mission-especially one like this one-and I raised an eyebrow at her as if she had no choice but to comply. “Alright, let’s get to business.”

September gestured for me to follow her, and I followed her and she made her way over to the side of the building where we would spy on the back of it from the hill behind it. We took out our binoculars and began to survey the area as we saw a lot of people coming and going from there but nothing too much.

“Do you see anything?” I asked her, but nothing came out of her mouth. There were guards with black utility belts that were there, with automatic rifles that were probably a cover. I assure you, if we attacked, those wands were going right out and we’d be blasted by bolts galore.

“Nothing so far,” September said with a sigh. She looked behind me and then stared back forward, her eyes keen on the warehouse. But all of a sudden, we saw a body move towards the back door.

It was a woman, with brown curly hair that stretched down to her back. She was wearing a certain classy sort of wear. She was wearing a white jacket, with a skirt that looked like it was made from thick cloth, but yet she had shoes on as well-a black pair of shoes that matched the rest of her attire perfectly. She had a face that was soft and clean, with lips that were pink in color, a nose that was soft, and eyes that were like almonds. Her skin was fair, like the color of milk, and a chin that was strong and firm.

She was blessed with an enticing look-but I knew that she wasn’t good at all.