Chapter 98: Breaking out with the Captain

Rhys was glad that he had spoken and run through a couple of exercises with the team that he’d crafted. Four members from his team, four members from the Nemesis Guild, four members from the D.E.C. Only six members were going in with him when he infiltrated the building, while the remaining members were going to stay behind and watch what was happening.

A few would remain back with Casper, a few would be observing the outside to protect them, and the six that were coming with him?

Rhys had sacrificed his time with Kellen to be able to work with this team, and he hoped that it was all worth it.

He didn’t make eye contact with Casper in the van as they were traveling to their location. Even if he had tried, he wouldn’t have gotten it either. The argument between them had been explosive, and honestly? It had changed something between them.

Rhys had felt like he had let down Gunther before. Had felt his heart break over the pain and embarrassment he had felt for not noticing that he was suffering so much, but Casper? Casper was intentionally shutting others out. It felt different. It felt…harder.

Rhys had a feeling that if they didn’t get Gunther out of here, he would never be able to convince Casper of anything ever again. Hell, he might not even be able to talk to him ever again.

Sighing, Rhys adjusted the grips on his hands, his uniform different from his normal affair. Today, he was in disguise. A uniform that was normally used by, unironically, Gunther when he was doing work that most of the Guild was unaware of. It was a little alarming that Kellen had pinpointed that Gunther was the best at doing infiltration work, but he was Kellen after all.

His smart, wonderful, definitely not in danger Guide who was waiting for everyone to make it out of here safely. Rhys was not about to let him down.

“Everyone’s headsets are working?” Rhys asked before a chorus of ’yes’ filled his ears. “Good. Remember, we aren’t trying to kill anyone today. Only do it if it’s self defense. We are trying to get Lieutenant Gunther out and if we can, any other victims we see in there.” Rhys reminded them.

That was going to be a hard ask. It had turned out that many of the people who had volunteered to help with this mission were those who had been affected by the E.A.G. on a personal level. There were people like Esper Blake, of course, but also those who had lost family members to the E.A.G. Internationally, or on home turf.

One of the members from the D.E.C. was looking for their brother, and that alone made Rhys’ heart ache. He understood what it was like to lose family members to insanity. It was how he had ended up without a family before the gate had even opened at his apartment complex. It was how Gunther and Rhys had even ended up in this situation at all.

The van kept moving, Rhys could feel the tension rise as he turned his gaze towards the little screen on his wrist. Rhys was going to be using his powers consistently, so sometimes he attached a camera to the front of head. This way, if he ever got lost in the visions of past, present and future, he was able to distinguish what time he was in. Most of the time. It was a small thing, something that Gunther had suggested actually, and he had a gut feeling it would come into play today.

The van came to a halt and everyone grew serious. Esper Blake was one of the few that were coming with him because of her blocking abilities. Everyone else slunk out of the back of the van quietly. It was only after everyone had given their second location confirmation that Rhys began to move.

While he had not seen the vision himself, Rhys was familiar with the area. Hilariously, or not, this used to be his old stomping grounds. It was like the E.A.G. were intentionally trying to rile Gunther and Rhys up. They were only two blocks away from where the gate that had changed their lives had opened up and swallowed everything and everyone inside.

While it had been years since Rhys had been here and the area had fallen on hard times, that didn’t mean that Rhys still didn’t know his way around. He thought that Gunther had probably laughed to himself when he had realised where they had set up their hideout. Tragic that he hadn’t been able to get Rhys a signal earlier about it.

Fuck, Rhys hoped that he was okay.

Layering several timelines upon your vision wasn’t for those who had motion sickness. In fact, Rhys remembered the first few times it had happened to him accidentally and he couldn’t stop throwing up. Now? It was like breathing, a second nature that he didn’t bat an eyelash at. He moved, leading the seven person team quietly. Each mark that Kellen had mentioned, clearly markers for this fucked up hideout, led them closer and closer until Rhys came upon the door that Kellen knew Gunther was behind.

With Rhys’ abilities, he was able to tell that there was something fishy with the door. It had been changed recently, been reinforced. Sucked for them that Rhys could roll back time to the shittier door, but that wasn’t on him. That was on them for not being prepared enough.

Within minutes the team was moving again, three breaking off to scout a smaller area that Esper Blake could sense. Rhys let them, knowing that they would speak up if something happened. Rhys kept moving, kept going down. They knocked out everyone that they ran into, tying them up and tucking them into small nooks so that the alarm didn’t sound.

Rhys kept moving, his team so deadly efficient that Rhys worried that this was too easy. Too calm. Rhys knew that if this was the hideout, they hadn’t even poked the hornets nest completely yet.

It all came to a head when Rhys got to the first round of cells.

The second team had joined them again, everyone verifying that they were indeed, themselves, before Rhys let them continue. It was a strange procedure, but something that was necessary. After all, Rhys worked with Pamela, he knew what her powers were capable of and needed to make sure that the others hadn’t changed.

It was what they found in the cells that made Rhys’ blood boil. Guides. Young Guides. Too young of Guides. All of them looked frail and skeletal, a look that Rhys had only seen a few times in his life.

When Guides had over-guided to save an Esper’s life. Rhys had no doubt that this was not the case for these young ones. There was no way that Rhys was going to ignore these people. Hell, he knew that Gunther and Kellen would kill him if he left these people alone.

Thankfully, he had power, and time on his side.

Two of the members, a Nemesis Guild member and a D.E.C. member stayed back to help escort the Guides out. Rhys worried about having just the two of them go, and Esper Blake volunteered. He felt better with her going because of her shielding abilities but he had a feeling that they were going to be on an endless escorting mission since the stairs of this dingy place kept going down.

Rhys hated when he was right.

After they found the second set of cells, Rhys didn’t call the second team back right away. Instead, he had his team move the Guides into one cell, keeping it unlocked while appearing locked as they continued moving down the steps. He didn’t know how much deeper the area went, and if they had to make the trip over and over again it would just make it easier for them to get caught.

Doing one big exodus would be better.

Rhys could tell that the group was getting anxious, Rhys was too. The things he was seeing were alarming. The snippets, the screams. It was only made worse when he began to recognise the sounds of one particular person.

The hellhole had five layers. Not quite the complete hell that they probably wanted, but Rhys could tell that they were still working on making it deeper. They were like ants, trying to make a home deep enough that they couldn’t be found. However, Rhys wasn’t going to let them, and neither was Kellen.

Gunther was found in the last cell, chained up, his body badly beaten, bruised and mangled. His right arm had deep lacerations, practically cut off and clearly infected. It made rage flow through Rhys’ system, cold and hard.

Despite his state, Rhys was surprised that they hadn’t cut his hair. They had left it long, stained with blood, but untouched otherwise. Rhys thought that was a strange note, but didn’t want to think on it. Once they got Gunther out of here, they could begin to ask him about that. For now, his safety came first.

Rhys radioed up top, letting the van know that they had found Gunther but that he was badly injured and 5 levels below ground. The van radioed that they would move closer, but Rhys objected.

The van was going to be needed to transport all of the young children they found here, and damnit, Rhys didn’t want to think what the children had been put through. The same way he didn’t want to think about what Gunther had been put through. He had no choice, either. The sounds that echoed in his ears made it hard for him to keep a level head.

“Get Gunther out of here first. Esper Blake, you’re our cover as we move up the floors. Knock out anyone you see.” Rhys ordered silently. The group agreed.

It was when they were back up on the third level, gathering the young ones from there, that all hell broke loose.

Rhys could sense them coming, could feel the way that the ground rumbled and for the first time, Rhys wondered why they were digging so deep. There were better ways to hide. Digging so deep in one area? Why? What was here that Rhys didn’t know about? What benefit did they gain?

When the first monstrous worm came bursting through the wall, Rhys thought grimly that something wasn’t quite right. When the second monstrous worm followed it, Rhys knew that they hadn’t been stealthy at all.

Either the E.A.G. had known they were coming, or the worms did. Rhys didn’t like the implications of either option.

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