Hey everyone! I’m back with Part 23 of my sci-fi serial story! I believe we’re getting close to a plot twist I’m really looking forward to revealing! Some of you may have guessed it already, but we’ll see! Let me know in the comments below if you have any ideas of what it may be!
As always, if you’re new to this story, you can always go back to the beginning of the story by clicking here, or if you’d like to find any of the other parts of the story, click on the sidebar “Short Stories” where you can find all the previous parts and older stories! Thanks again for reading and for all your likes and comments! ~ Kay Leigh
Part 23
Gunshots, shouts, and our hurried footsteps filled my ears as I ran after Raidon, the heavy backpack weighing me down. My adrenaline still pumped through my veins, but my exhaustion and the icy feeling of fear was overpowering it. Putting my life in Raidon’s hands was… terrifying in the extreme, but what choice did I have? And how had he come up with a Plan B so quickly?
“This way!” Raidon motioned us into an alleyway. Natalia darted into it, and I followed, a bullet whizzing right by my face. Between the feelings of terror for my life came feelings of pure annoyance. Would they ever stop shooting at us?!
“Here!” Raidon skidded to a stop before a manhole cover. I stared at him as he dragged it off, then into the hole of darkness.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Natalia said, and for the first time in my life, I nodded vigorously in agreement.
More bullets whizzing over our heads decided our answer for us, and down we went, Raidon going first, Natalia second, and finally… me.
I could barely believe I was doing this — I was going into a sewer! The smell was nearly unbearable, and I felt like puking as I brought out my flashlight. Raidon already had his out, and Natalia kept close to us, her expression also disgusted.
Raidon merely turned back to us, the light of his flashlight illuminating his face enough for me to see he was excited. “Come on! I know a place we can go from here!”
“You know?! How?!” I hurried after him, trying my best to stay on the narrow walkway we were on, and not in the dirty liquid below. Echoes behind us filled the tunnel as we heard the men following us even down to this place of horror.
“Long story,” he said, for the first time sounding a little subdued. “Just stay quiet and follow me.”
I knew I was going to regret this. Somehow, I just knew I would.
Silently we tramped along, and I shone my flashlight all around, trying to get accustomed to my surroundings. A dark stream of… wastewater, I called it, flowed to my right, and across it was another narrow walkway for those on the other side. The walls were brick and cement, and every so often I spotted a ladder secured to them. Probably leading to another manhole cover and out to the world of light.
I noticed the echoes had stopped then, and I turned to Raidon and Natalia. “We can probably go up now.” I blinked as I shone the light ahead of me and saw nothing but the walkway stretched out before me. “Raid? Natalia?” My heart pounded as I realized either they were playing a nasty trick on me — in which case, I’d kill them both — or I’d somehow got myself lost in a sewer!
Well, if they were pranking me, I would have none of it. The next ladder I came across, I scrambled up, pushing the cover off.
I stopped, realizing how odd it would be if I just popped out of a manhole in the middle of a busy street, and peeked my head out to ascertain my location. Ah yes, good. I was in a narrow alleyway, and the only sign of life around me was the laundry truck at the end of the lane and two men bringing big duffle-bags full of clean clothes into a building.
Clean clothes! I scrambled out as the two laundry men disappeared into the building with a duffle bag, my mind whirling. Though I hadn’t gotten myself dirty in the sewer, the awful smell remained on my clothes. A change of clothes would rid me of that smell… and change my disguise up!
I ducked behind the laundry truck as the men came out again, chatting with each other unconcernedly. What would it be like to live like that, I wondered? With no fear of your life — or someone you loved — being endangered?
As the men entered the building again, I glanced back towards the manhole cover, half expecting Raidon and Natalia to appear — but they didn’t. Well, I’d catch up with them later. For now, I needed to get myself cleaned up and cast suspicion off me.
I hurried to the duffle bags and unzipped one. As I pulled out a shirt, I realized with a start it was part of a uniform… a uniform I vaguely recognized. But where had I seen it before? I racked my brain momentarily, and in a second, I recalled it. In one of my top-secret classes at the Kachinoan Military Post, Remington had shown me the uniforms of the Shiarizian Secret Service. This uniform… belonged to the secret-servicemen of Shiarizi!
The worker’s voices broke through my thoughts then, and I frantically glanced around before dropping into the duffle bag and zipping myself inside. I could only pray they would be too distracted talking to notice the weight difference in the bags.
I felt my bag being lifted as the men gabbed on. For once, I was glad I was as thin and lightweight as I was, but I held my breath as one man stopped and put my bag down, panting, and said, “Man, this feels heavier than usual.”
“They always seem like they get heavier towards the end. Don’t know why. Reckon it is tired arms.”
Yes, yes, that was a good excuse. Believe it! As if I could mentally force the man to believe it.
“Reckon you’re right,” he said as he heaved the bag upward again. For the first time, I heard no conversation as he grunted and then sat me down on something — the other bags of uniforms, I figured.
I waited until I heard both of them leave, then I unzipped myself and jumped out, grabbing a shirt and pants, along with a jacket, to change into. I zipped the bag up and scampered from the room just as they entered again.
My heart beat wildly as I held the clothes close and attempted to steady my breathing. I was inside what could only be the top secret base of Shiarizi. Here is where I could find my information… and here is where I could meet my death. I had to play my cards right… or die.
Kay Adelin 
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