Silas's POV
The air was somber. A metallic smell filled the room—a cruel reminder of what we had lost.
Forty men were dead. It wasn't a small number.
The remaining members were openly hostile toward us. The plan had been changed midway. It had been necessary. To them, it was proof of incompetence—and they weren't wrong. Orders had been unclear. Decisions were made quickly, without explanation, and the rest of the squad had been left to keep up or fall behind.
One of the squad members knelt on the ground, wrapping his arms around a lifeless body. He clung to the corpse, sobbing violently, his face buried in the crook of the body's neck.
A sharp ache settled in my chest. I couldn't bring myself to meet the gazes fixed on us.
Noah shifted uncomfortably beside me. Eleanor stood a short distance away—unnaturally still. Her face betrayed nothing.
I wished I could bury myself there, if it meant escaping the weight of their stares.t
The door was forced open.
Then everything shattered.
An entity wielding a sword emerged from the shadows.
We hadn't even recovered from the previous blows. The enemy had been gravely underestimated—and now we were paying the price.
Eleanor reacted instantly, shadows surging forward to shield the squad.
While our attention was drawn to the entity, an officer lunged at Noah, a knife flashing in his hand.
They had been waiting for this. Waiting for us to leave the control room.
Noah had always been the target.
He twisted away just in time, but the attacker shifted his weight and landed a brutal kick into Noah's stomach. Noah hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his lungs.
The man raised his knife.
Before he could strike, a squad member with a powerful build slammed into him, tackling him aside. The opening was enough.
Carol, who was already aiming, fired.
The shot echoed. The man collapsed, lifeless.
The entity vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
The squad member who had saved Noah rose to his feet and turned—not to me, but to them.
"Use us, damn it," he shouted. "Give us orders. We're standing right here."
His voice shook with rage.
"You're not protecting us like this. We need clear orders—or we go our separate ways."
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the squad.
I stayed silent.
Eleanor's PoV
I rushed towards Noah who was trembling with pain. The members were angry demanding answers.
Noah was curled with his hands clutching his stomach. I tried helping him up, but he winced in pain.
Silas was standing still. I called him and left Noah with Silas. I believe in Silas when it came to things like this. Silas looked at me with a concerned gaze, I softened my expression reassuring him .
I stood up, waiting for the angry crowd to turn their attention towards me. They were waiting for me to speak. I corrected my posture, and spoke.
"I'm sorry," I apologised. The members were still angry but didn't comment anymore. They were studying me intently. I looked at them straight in the face.
"I'll take full responsibility." The words were heavy; it meant bringing them out safely.
I didn't let my concerns show on my face
"This time we'll make sure no one's left behind."
I didn't impose.
I let them decide whether they wanted to forgive me or not.
I turned around and went towards Noah. He was curled in the same position. His face pale with pain. "Where's the medic?" I asked to the crowd. Three people with a bag slung over their shoulders came forward.
"Help him."
The medics immediately checked him. "It's an abdominal bruise, at most it'll take a week to heal. Moving forward will be difficult for him." The medic replied.
"Patrol the area." I ordered. "Report if anything seemed amiss."
The members nodded and tightened the security around us.
"Carol, come over." I asked her. She immediately stepped forward. It was painful moving my body, exhaustion caught up with me. I forced myself to move. We went towards Noah and Silas.
"What's the time?" I asked Noah who was wearing a watch. He looks at the watch—"we've been here for 12 hours," he said weakly.
"Bring some water bottles and some food if possible." I asked Silas. He teleported more than three dozen water bottles along with packaged food from convenience stores .
"Lila. Steve." I called the people nearby. They immediately rushed over. Take some for yourselves and distribute the rest.
They obliged immediately.
The four of us ate our portion.
"What should we do now?" I asked. My voice sounded raspy.
That question was enough to make them shift with unease. I understood their concerns.
"Let's see what we know about the enemy" I changed the question.
"They were able to control electricity." Carol spoke, her eyes hollow, devoid of any emotion.
"Yeah, they did that, but we don't know if they really had a person with the power to control electricity." Noah said. "We didn't see the person ourselves, so assuming they'd have an electricity manipulator would only be underestimating them once more."
"That makes sense....Then what if... they were near the generator."
"That also answers why we weren't able to sense them using Carols ability." Silas spoke. "That place is far after all."
"But that would mean they were outside all along." Noah said in an exhausted tone. "Which means they called for backup already."
"Let's not hurry..." I said. "The information we have is not enough for us to jump into a conclusion."
"I made sure to jam all the connections before entering. I asked our people outside to block all means of communication before entering." I said.
Noah looked relieved, hearing me.
An hour later...
After an hour we came up with our plans. This time we joined the squad members to help us with the plans.
This time we didn't split up.
We were moving in a pre planned formation
Noah who's injured was paired up with me.
Silas and Carol were paired together . Four of the squad members were placed in front of us without blocking our sight.
We moved towards the generator. The hall was eerily silent. Our footsteps echoed as we moved. Sounds of nails scratching the walls came from behind us. I flinched hearing the sound.
We stopped checking the area,but there was nothing suspicious. Someone's following us. I can feel the eyes watching us intensely….