𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 ✔

𝟓𝟑. 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃

Aiden tapped his fingers on the muddy step, heart pounding anxiously. "When do you think she'll be back? I shouldn't have let her go. What was I thinking?"

"Calm down, Aiden. She'll be back. Have faith in her," Taelyn interjected. "She's already gone, the only thing we can do is wait. And besides, I know she probably has something up her sleeve that we don't know about."

"True."

Silence ensued.

_*_

Cara bent her knees in a low stance as she walked into the room, gun in ready position. It looked the exact same - dark and empty, however, this time, she spotted an opening on the right wall, leading to somewhere else.

Should I go through there? she wondered as she wandered the room, biting her lip. Wait - what is that?

She dropped to her knees. There was a written message in front of her, it looked like someone had engraved it with a stencil in the mud.

Itch members: do not make a ruckus unless there is an emergency, work is being done at this very second.

If you're new: there's an opening to your right, go through it and you will find the main office. Officers will be situated inside this office, and the boss will see to you personally once you tell one of the occifers your name.

Cara shook her head, reading the message again. Officers will be situated inside this office. That would mean she wouldn't be able to get any further without arising suspicion and danger.

Quietly, she slipped through the gap, back to the tunnel that she had came through, making sure to slide the stone back in place so that the gap was concealed once again. She walked briskly through the dark passageway until she arrived at the base of the stairs.

"Cara! You're back." Aiden rushed down the stairs and gave her a hug.

"Aiden...can't breathe..."

He laughed, releasing her. "Sorry. I was just happy you're here."

"I have some things to tell you guys, let's go back up."

"See, I knew she would be good," Taelyn said snarkily. "Girl's a tough one."

Cara rolled her eyes before starting to speak. "There are two passageways that lead further underground once you reach the bottom of the stairs. I went through the right one, but I don't know where the left one leads. Anyway, once you go through the hole, there's a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there's a stone in which you roll to the side to get to the next room. That next room is dark and empty, and there's an opening to go into the headquarters, I think. However, it's an office, and there are people inside - officers. I couldn't get any further, obviously because there were people there that could catch me."

"Good work," Taelyn grinned. "We need to figure out what we're going to do with those officers."

"What to do?" Aiden's jaw dropped. "You mean how to avoid them."

Taelyn sighed. "Fine. How to avoid them."

"Should we check out the left passageway? Maybe that leads to somewhere that we can slip through without being noticed by people," Cara suggested.

"Who's up for that? It's not going to be you, Cara, you're already in enough danger," Aiden waved a hand in her direction.

"I'll do it," Tae offered.

Aiden grimaced. "Are you sure?"

"Didn't you ask who's up for that? Why the hell would I respond if I didn't-"