Gearing up for our new rescue mission made me more nervous than ever before. I could feel my adrenaline pumping and my heart beating fast. I knew with our second round of saving Minho and Lillie that there was no room for any more mistakes. This time, we only had one shot, and it was most likely our last one. But this time, we'd get them back.

Still, what if we didn't? Then what?

"Piper, you ready?" Sonya asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah." I sighed, adjusting my belt.

"Hey," Beth called out my way, handing me a gun. "I'm pretty sure you'll need this."

I looked at the gun, then back at Beth. "Thanks."

Thomas came in and scanned his eyes on all of us. "Are we all ready to go?" When we nodded our heads, he did the same. "Good. Let's get in our positions."

Sonya and Beth headed out while Thomas and I went to get Aris and Teresa. "You sure about this plan, Thomas?" I questioned.

He didn't look my way, but his expression was uneasy. "We can only be sure this time if we want to get this right."

"Are you scared?"

Thomas' face remained the same. "Sort of."

I exhaled. "Me, too."

We approached Aris and Teresa, who handed us our masks for our WICKED soldier uniform. "We don't have much time," Teresa told us.

"Well, let's get going, then." Thomas motioned for her and Aris to take the lead while we followed behind on either side of them.

Once we got outside, the walk remained quiet. Tensions were still high among all of us, which made the walk a bit awkward. Nevertheless, we had to keep going, pushing all of our feelings aside. I was certain all of us realized that by now.

When the main WICKED building was within eyesight, I held my breath for a brief moment, trying to remain calm. The shaky feeling from my hand wouldn't escape me. Coming back to WICKED, where we could easily get caught, gave me an uneasy feeling. But once we entered inside with no problem, I felt more at ease and confident that this plan would actually work. Then again, this was the easy part. Everything else after this was about to get more difficult and more tricky. I was hoping that it would all go according to plan.

Wishful thinking, I supposed.

"Don't stop. Keep moving," Thomas ordered Aris and Teresa.

They couldn't help but look worried, yet still annoyed at who they were taking order from. Still, they had no choice. Thomas was in charge now, so he was determined to get our friends back. None of us blamed him, because we were right there to stand by his side and fight, even if that meant losing Aris and Teresa.

I hoped that didn't happen.

When we approached a soldier in red, feeling relieved that it was only Newt, given by his motion to follow him. With Aris and Teresa in between us, we headed down to the bottom floor, with two more soldiers, supposed to be Gally and Maeve, joining us.

Our next stop was in the stairwell. Before we could get far, Gally stopped us. "Hold on." He looked at the box and wires connected to the wall for a second, then stated, "I can get in here."

"Stay there. Throw me a walkie," Thomas told him, which Gally obliged.

We all took off our masks as Thomas headed farther down the stairs without us. But our main concern was Newt, who looked worse than before as he coughed and wiped the sweat off his forehead while Gally went on with a drill in hand.

"Do you think Gwyn is like that now?" I whispered to Maeve.

"Who bloody knows," she whispered back.

"Frypan, Harriet, we're in, How are you doing?" Thomas asked over the walkie.

"Yeah. Yeah, We're getting there," Frypan replied.

"Slowly, but surely," Harriet added.

"Okay, just hang in there," Thomas said before cutting them off.

After more drilling, Gally opened the box and looked at some wires for a moment. "This'll work."

Thomas nodded. "Brenda, Aurora, what's your status?"

"Status is, we're working on it," Brenda retorted.

"Yeah, stealing a bus takes some time," Aurora stated.

"Copy. Just make sure you're ready on your end," Thomas reminded her.

"Oh, we'll be ready," Brenda and Aurora assured him at the same time.

"Okay, let's go," Gally ordered as he finished his job and rushed down the steps, followed by us.

We skipped steps and headed to sublevel three, with Aris using his thumbprint to let us in. The halls were quiet, a stillness that loomed over us. We then heard the noise of talking from other guards coming from the other side of the door we needed.

"Prepare yourselves," Maeve spoke up.

The grip on our guns got tighter and our aim became more focused as the door opened up. We didn't hesitate to shoot our guns, firing at the guards as we got closer inside holding. I used my gun to also hit soldiers in the head if they got closer to me. I ran for the others, jabbing them with my elbow and holding them off until every one of them finally went down.

With key cards, we all opened the doors and released the kids, assuring them that they were okay.

Gally took one guard by the neck of his shirt, putting the gun against his head. "The vault. How do I get in?"

The guard grunted. "You can't."

Gally rolled his eyes in frustration. "Guys, this might take some time."

I scanned around, looking for the familiar face of our friends. I grew worried as I didn't see them. "They're not here," I muttered. "Aris, where are Minho and Lillie?"

Aris immediately headed for the computer, looking up frantically at their profiles. "They were moved."

"What?" Maeve spoke up. "To where?"

"To the medical wing," he replied.

Teresa shook her head. "That's on the other side of the building."

"That's where Beth, Sonya, and Gwyneth are at," I pointed out, grabbing my walkie. "Sonya, you there?"

A static erupted, followed by Sonya's voice. "I'm here. What's up?"

"Minho and Lillie were moved to the medical wing. We need you to stay there and wait for us."

"Copy. Gwyn? Gwyn, sit down! Relax..."

I cut off the walkie, my heart dropping at the sound of Gwyneth's name. By what I heard from Sonya, she didn't seem to be doing too good.

"We need to hurry," Maeve said. "We gotta get to the medical building."

Thomas nodded, then took Teresa by the arm. "Take us to them. Right now."

"I'm coming with you," Newt stated, getting his gun ready.

"No, you're not, Newt," Thomas protested. "You have to stay here, wait with Gally for the serum."

"You can't do this on your own," he said, then looking at us. "If they're going, then so am I."

"Just go! We're wasting time!" Gally intervened, sounding annoyed. "I'll get the serum. We'll meet you out back."

Thomas motioned Teresa to go, with Newt and Maeve behind them, so I took Aris' arm and followed suit. "Why were they moved to the medical wing?"

"Most likely for more tests," Aris responded. "Listen, about what I said earlier--"

Why was he bringing this up now? "Aris, this isn't the time to talk about that," I cut him off, attempting to remain focused.

"Talk about what?" Maeve asked, turning around.

"Nothing," I quickly said. "Let's keep moving. Like Gally said, we're wasting time, and that's the last thing we need to do right now."

While Maeve turned around, Aris' face fell. I turned and looked straight ahead, feeling his pair of eyes glued to me, knowing they were filled with hurt once again.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, the action is beginning! Sorry if it's a terrible and short chapter, though, lol.

It's crazy to think how much there's left until it's over. Hopefully, I'll be able to split up the action chapters so that they're nice and smooth.

Song above is Revolution by UNSECRET ft. Ruelle. Just a song to build up for the next few chapters.

Comment, vote, more to come since we're near the end!

-A