“Wayne and Willis?” Lisa replied softly as her eyebrows popped up in clear surprise. “What are you two doing down there and in such a mess?”

“No time to explain.” Wayne replied lifting his muddy speckled head to take a careful look at the two distant guards still by the gate. “I think they won’t see us here. Follow us, Willis and I found out where a secret entrance to the mansion is at.”

“Not yet. The others are waiting just down the road some.” Lisa replied still standing on the road. She looked back once more and saw she was still within their line of sight. “Try and sneak alongside the road and we will meet up around the next bend.”

“Ah, fine. I am just so excited right now. You won’t believe what we are going to show you!” Wayne giggled as he and Willis started to crawl on all four awkwardly in an attempt to sneak towards the next bush.

Lisa rolled her eyes at them and continued to walk until she came back to where Henry, Eva and Tayvon were. “Everyone, I’m back.”

“What did you find? Are Willis and Wayne alight?” Eva asked getting up from under the boulders shade.

“They are both fine, I think. They said that they found something and are now covered in mud for some reason.” Lisa replied stepping off the road.

“What do you mean?” Eva asked relieved to hear they were alright.

“Those guys are always doing something crazy and ending up in a mess. This I got to see.” Tayvon laughed.

“Well look no further for we are back!” Wayne called out as he dashed across the road. Willis followed right behind him with a silly grin on his face.

Seeing their muddy faces, cloths, and sandy covered limbs everyone started to laugh. Willis and Wayne were no exception, they knew they looked filthy.

“Alright, tell us what happened.” Lisa asked after a moment to let everyone calm some.

“Well, after Tayvon and us split up we followed the horse drawn cart until it arrived at that gate.” Wayne started to explain. Eva had dug out a bottle of water from the backpack she had on and gave it to him. Wayne took a big mouthful, then handed it to Willis before continuing his story. “The guards let them in, and it was obvious we couldn’t follow after them anymore. Yet as they went in the cart turned to the right. The metal fence was easy to see through and the cart looked to be heading past the mansion. The only thing we could see in that direction was the golf course, the metal fence, and an irrigation ditch that ran through the golf course and under the fence.”

“This is when I got an idea.” Willis interrupted and continued the story. “I guessed that we could try and get under the fence at the irrigation ditch. There might have been a low spot where we could slip through or a gate of some kind that was rusty that we could break loose. However, when we got there both those options were out of the question.”

“So, this is where it got interesting and why we are muddy.” Wayne jumped back into leading the story. “I got into the runoff ditch and found the sandy mud water was only ankle deep and then when feeling the bars going into the ground, I found that it too was mere centimeters below ground. I told Willis that since there wasn’t a low spot, why not make one ourselves? The cart was still within sight and following the fence, meaning that the sand would be easy to move and that we could catch back up easily.”

“Really guys? You were going to break in, after all the warnings Lisa gave to us to not engage them?!” Eva said glaringly. “You could have just stuck with following the fence line.”

“That’s what I would have done too.” Tayvon added.

“Ah, the path the cart was following may have been along the fence, but it was starting to drift further away from us. It was only a matter of time until they were going to disappear over some sandy slope.” Willis interjected.

“Go on then, tell us what happened next.” Lisa encouraged before they started to argue.

Wayne cleared his throat and continued. “Well, just as I guessed the sandy mud was easy to clear away and we squeezed under the metal fence. Though the water was kind of nasty and deeper now, a few seconds under water never hurt anyone and we had no trouble.”

“It was a good thing too, that we got under so quickly.” Willis added. “Just as Wayne said the cart did disappear behind a raised-up portion of the golf course that had a flag on it.”

“Yep, I think the flag had the number seven on it.” Wayne said nodding. “In any case, we looked around the area but saw nobody and decided to follow the path the cart took. When we peaked around the raised course, we saw the most curious thing. It looked like a garage door, covered in grass, had opened on the side of the course’s bank! It was still open for several moments and we could see a fair way inside.”

“They went underground. Curious.” Lisa murmured as Wayne continued unbothered by her speaking.

“In there we saw two more guards, both dressed in military vests and holding assault rifles inspecting the cart. Of course, it was empty, and they were quickly let in. As the cart disappeared down a long corridor, I notice that the floor inside was metal, almost like an air duct.”

“You are making this up.” Henry butted in. “There is no way that they would be using metal as flooring. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“That’s what we thought too.” Willis replied. “However, it was just as Wayne said, the floors were metal, smooth, and the walls were the same way too!”

“I wanted to get closer and see what else was in there, so I did.” Wayne said breaking into a grin.

“Not I.” Willis added holding up both hands. “I took one look at those guns and told myself to stay put.”

“There was one bush and some rag weed growing alongside it and I was able to get a better angle at the strange garage doors entrance. I guess the mud and sand on me must have camouflaged we well enough, because the guards never once glanced my way.” Wayne said raising the collar of his mud encrusted shirt proudly. “The first thing I noticed was that the corridor was being lit by electrical lights, the same kind that we have back at the dam. I also saw that past the cart there looked to be several other paths branching off on either side. Yet by now the door was closing, however, I saw two more things that were quite shocking. One was a forklift carrying several boxes like the ones we saw the cart moving into the storage unit. The other was guards leading a group of men bound in chains!”

“They were tied up. Like prisoners or something?” Tayvon asked.

Wayne nodded. “It looked that way, but from as far as I was from them, it was hard to tell.”

“Well, I am glad you both found all this out so quickly and made it back safely.” Lisa said patting Willis and Wayne on the shoulders. “How about you all go back to the dam and clean up. I will take it from here and check out that opening.”

“Awe but I want to keep going!” Wayne replied crossly. “Why do you get to do all the fun stuff alone?”

“I’ll go back. That was enough fun for one day. Besides, I think I stepped on a cactus, there is something stabbing my big toe.” Willis said stepping aside to join the other three by the boulder.

“Come on Wayne.” Eva answered crossly. “We should go back like she said. Its too dangerous for you to be risky like this.”

“Oh, and it’s not dangerous for her?” Wayne retorted. Ignoring her sour glare, he looked back at Lisa, “Come on, you have to let me see this through.”

“I don’t know.” Lisa replied shaking her head. “You aren’t exactly trained for this kind of infiltration. If you mess up, we could end up in a big mess. If they are armed like you say, then it could be fatal. You still think it is a good idea?”

Wayne looked down at the ground for a moment to think. Then when he looked back up at Lisa, she could tell he wasn’t done yet. “Yes, I want to go. After all, Gillian will need a proper report, just like the last one I gave to him from the Arena. Also, I think it will be a great learning experience for me.”

Lisa sighed. It was a dangerous choice to make, not just for him, but for herself as well. Not only would both their lives be put into danger if they were discovered, but even if they did escape any chances of her getting along with the gang would likely be dashed. Yet from the look in his eyes, she couldn’t simply say ‘no’.

“Alright, but on a few conditions.” Lisa replied holding up a hand in front of her before Wayne could get excited. “First, you must do everything I tell you, exactly the way I do. Second, you can not speak, not one word. If the walls and floor are metal, any sound we make will be amplified greatly. So, along the way I will teach to you several hand movements that we will use to communicate, and you must memorize them. Lastly, when I say ‘run’ run, and don’t look back. Not for anything. Just go right back to the dam and report to Gillian what happened. Understand?”

Wayne nodded excitedly. “Understood! I will do my best to stay quiet.”

“Good. Now as for the rest of you, you can either rest at the dam or try getting some of the guns out of the unit before nightfall.” Lisa said turning the other four ERM volunteers.

“You got it!” Tayvon replied giving a thumbs up.

“We can do that much.” Henry added. “We aren’t that tired yet and it will help keep us occupied while we wait for you guys to come back.”

Eva, however, was not happy. She did not even look at Wayne, but rather started walking grumpily back onto the road to leave. Giving a shrug, Henry followed her and so did the others.

After the two groups split, Lisa and Wayne crossed the road and took the long way through the desert scrubland, being sure to stay out of sight of the guards or any cameras that might have been on the fence. Wayne said he didn’t see any, but Lisa didn’t want to take any more unnecessary chances. Along the way Lisa also did her best to go over the hand motions with Wayne. Luckily, he was a quick learner and when they reached the drainage irrigation ditch, Wayne was able to repeat all the signals.

Wayne started to drop onto all fours in preparation to crawl under the fence when he heard Lisa laugh. Looking up at her he asked, “What’s funny? This is the only way through the fence.”

“For you maybe.” Lisa replied. “Go ahead an go your way, I’ll be taking a different route.”

Wayne looked back at the tall metal fence questionably. There wasn’t any apparent way to get around or through the fence, but he didn’t question her. Moments later, as his head cleared the murky waters surface, he was shocked to see that Lisa was already on the other side of the fence. She was standing above him with her arms crossed across her chest and a smug expression on her face.

“How did you do that?” Wayne asked wriggling the rest of the way out from under the fence.

“I jumped.” Lisa answered patting her legs. “I could have carried you over but watching you go your way was much funnier.”

“That was so mean.” Wayne replied wringing his shirt out.

“Eh, it was your own idea. Anyway, that was the last time I’ll do that to you. From here on, I will be dead serious. Now, lets go to that entrance.”