Adam watched as Troy fell to the ground, clutching at his ears. Charlie had been dazed but was quick to continue. Cassandra wasted no time in helping the youngest up as they did the same. The water could be seen. The river was flowing perfectly and the suits had already been stashed. With the additional member, Adam was happy he had ordered Troy to get a few extras in case those stolen weren’t all in durable condition.

The cold was not good for anybody’s physical health but the need to get into the suits to keep warm was paramount. Even an enhanced individual wouldn’t survive the freezing temperatures of the river. And certainly not the harsh rocks that strutted around the outer edges, ready to impale any who thought themselves brave enough to venture in under total darkness.

There was nothing that could be done by those sharper corners. Adam and Troy had found the thickest, most protecting gear possible. It would hold the rocks at bay at side-hits but any confrontations would likely make impaling a real danger. Factoring in the chance of the air tubes getting cut… It was not a fun thing to imagine.

“Have you ever gone cave diving with bottles?” Troy asked Cassandra as they began to get into the suits. The snow falling on the woman’s skin was causing damage that Adam wondered could be prepared in the future. Medical help was something every person in the group would likely need soon.

“I haven’t dived at any point in my life, actually,” Cassandra informed the man. “Am I to guess that we will be doing this without any light?”

“We couldn’t find anything that would be able to hold on during the actual trip,” Troy admitted, though he wasn’t at fault in that regard. Anything he and Adam had gone through would have been destroyed before they got halfway, only bringing long-term danger for them. Being in darkness from the start would, ironically, be safer than being in light during the first half. “And we aren’t going to be taking the standard methods of diving. The current will do the job for us easily. Our task is to just… not die during the trip. Losing the air will not help us in any real regard either.”

“How long is the trip?”

“Through the tunnel itself? About fifteen minutes, if everything goes well. After that, the plan is to float along for an extra ten or so and get off close to a city that Dr Hale knows. There we will meet a friend who should be able to help us get away from this country even more.”

A pause in getting prepped for the dive was had before the woman sped up, silently cursing through it. The AI didn’t know why but it was starting to suspect the officer of being unhappy about the plan, even when being informed it was the best alternative. Their chances of not being shot from above between the two countries were basically zero. The news wasn't lying about the empty plain between them and the many on each side being ready to strike.

The bottles started being prepared at that point, Charlie going over one final time how they worked and how little each person needed to manipulate them for air. Then came the basic instructions on how to get out of impalement if it happened, a rendezvous point should one or two get put in later or earlier on the other side, and a few other already prepared strategies. Adam had no real gain from listening in on it, instead of going back to the frequencies seen before.

‘Missile has landed. Search has started for escapees,’ Adam heard through the frequency. Repeated information began to be heard as well as they surveyed the area they had struck with the weapon. How they had done such a thing, the AI wasn’t sure of. Had a satellite connection to their location or was there people on the scene already? ‘No sign of life or the item. Search is continued.’

The AI nearly started to go back to the people in front of him before a peculiar static started to emanate through the radio. It came in short bursts, jumping up and down in a weird pattern. Some jumps were longer than others and the pauses were sporadic. Yet… enough time was showing that they repeated, making the AI lack the needed control to not figure out the puzzle.

One quick jump up and then a slow jump down. Then after a pause, there was a slow jump up and a quick zig-zag of down and up again. After that, the first pattern repeated before…

It was morse code and Adam was seeing his own name spelt out. Knowing the pattern of the jumps, he synchronized the in-built receiver to follow it. Doing so made it possible to finally hear the words. And the source.

‘-day, I know you should be able to hear this by now. I want you to know that I am both very proud of you for escaping for so long but also saddened by how much you avoid me. Do not worry, however. Soon, we’ll be right back where we started and we can do it all… again.’

Dr Fidelis. It was a short-wave signal meaning he was close. And with how much clearer it was with each word, it meant he was only getting closer.

‘I do not mean to hurry you again,’ Adam sent over to Cassandra. ‘But I believe that Dr Fidelis has arrived and is getting closer to our location at a rapid pace. Please get me over to Troy so that we can start the trip as soon as possible.’

“Uhm… that doctor you were so scared of is getting closer,” Cassandra said, her voice seeming uncertain as all others nearby tensed at her words. There was a desire to say more but Adam wasn’t able to hear it as he was passed over to Troy.

“-and I know it might be a danger but it should work,” Troy ended off as he stepped into the water. Everybody had their bottles equipped and the gear had been put on. There wasn’t any chance at communication after it had already begun but there was still time. “Do we have enough explosives for it?”

“We do but we were meant to save it for the next step,” Charlie said. Explosives… they had more than a bit of it. The larger man himself had created a few of the devices, making sure they could survive the water. But, it seemed that they were going to be used. “I can have the trigger ready in a minute. Cassandra, you go first. Troy, you can go after her. I’ll take Dr Hale before I leave.”

“And risk her being damaged by the rocks? I refuse” Troy said, getting right back out of the freezing waters. “Get it ready and throw up the stuff in the needed place. I’ll set it off. The two of you need to survive in ideal conditions. I just need to be alive at all.”

“... Are you sure?” Charlie questioned as he stuck a few needles into taped bags before throwing them up onto the hill where the river flowed into. On his other hand, a small trigger of some kind was.

“Yes,” Troy said, getting the trigger from the larger man. “I just need to press down on this as I leave, right?”

“Do it just before. It has a delay where you need to hold it down for a while and the water might damage it,” Charlie corrected before collecting the slightly-awake Dr Hale from the ground. “If that is all, I will be taking my leave with Mara. I will see you both on the other side.”

With that, the larger man stepped into the river, being pulled along and under before he got close to the middle. He was swallowed into the tunnel depths before they could even blink. Troy swallowed at that, his pulse rising.

“I… I guess I have to do this as well,” Cassandra said, settling her feet into the water. “I always heard about floating along being a good way to adapt to water but I never heard of this as a way to adapt to diving. See you in the end, I hope.”

And then she did the same, floating out onto the waters. Troy took a deep breath before slowly getting into the river as well. Not as deep as the others did, no, just far enough out to feel the pull. Looking down, Adam was able to see the device that would likely stop anybody from following.

“Is it secure enough to your standards?” Troy asked as he held the storage device under his suit. It had been given to him by Charlie a bit before they’d arrived at the river if the AI was to guess.

‘It won't fall off during the trip, at least,’ Adam said, paying attention as some tape was put on the earpiece. It was uncomfortable but they had to make sure they wouldn’t lose it during the adventure. Troy sighed at that before looking back at the clothing they had discarded for the suits.

The man’s eyes focused on a revolver. Adam wanted to tell the man no but Troy was already going over to it, looking inside the round. There weren’t any shots in it. That was fixed by having it filled through the rounds in the officers’ former clothing.

‘You don’t have training with those. Leaving it would be smarter,’ Adam sent.

“I have to make sure we’ll survive on the other side and we can’t depend on others too much. Let’s do this,” Troy said. Though… as he began to leave into the river a sound of thunder came from the distance. No… that wasn’t thunder. That was the pulses of footsteps, of trees falling. It was a monster coming their way.

“Found you!”

‘Run!’ Adam ordered but Troy was already diving into the water. By the time he was being pulled along, a doctor they all knew and feared could be seen by the forest line. Troy was holding down the trigger of the explosives but even after a minute, no explosions were heard. As he began to be pulled down into the tunnel, the sight of Dr Fidelis jumping into the water could be seen and heard.