The five of us jog down the alley, following Tanner closely as he holds the minibomb snug in his hand. When we reach the end of the passageway, Tanner peeks his head subtly out of the dark alleyway's shadow.

"All clear," he says through his microphone. The rest of us nod, reforming our formation as we leave the alley behind us.

My visor tints itself blue again as we run down the street. No Screeners are in sight, making me wonder what they're doing now. Are they rounding up more citizens? Are they rooting out the rebels and killing them? I nearly shiver at the thought. The rebels seem smart enough to have already fled the city, at least if they're legit. At this point, I think they are.

"Holland, do you want to throw the bomb?" Tanner asks.

"No, you do it," I say after a second. "Just don't kill anyone. Scare them enough so they run away from their posts."

"And I'll raid the supply table," Peyton says with an evil cackle.

"Way to lighten the mood, Peyton," Tanner says, laughing.

Peyton lets out another cackle, and Stephen chuckled in sync with me. The moment I hear his voice, heat rises up my neck. Only Stephen could pull that reaction from my body. I don't know why my body reacts that way, even though we hardly know each other.

As we near the dead-end of the street, I sneak another look ahead over Tanner's shoulder. Black boxes line the last bit of pavement before the weeded fields take over. I can already tell what they are: high-powered explosives. I swear mentally. They're barricading everyone in.

"Alright, let's do this," Tanner says. He leads us closer to the last building on the street, and we all press our shoulders against the concrete-and-metal siding. Peyton whips out her gun, and I follow suit, curling my fingers around the handle and trigger.

Tanner glances around the nearest building to acquire his target while turning the crank on the small sphere. With a final exhale we all hear through his mic, Tanner's Screener-disguised body widely tosses the bomb. Without waiting for the explosion, we charge in the direction of the real Screeners.

A loud boom and a stream of black smoke erupt as the scene comes into my view. All of the enemy Screeners flee towards a dark building, cowering and rushing for cover. Peyton and I bolt across the street, leaping through an opening in the smoke's flames. A voice yells inaudible garble at us, but it's too late for him to even attempt to stop us. Tanner calls through his mic, instructing us not shoot any bullets.

Peyton and I chase after our group across the dying meadow. Untamed plants and weeds brush against our legs as we rush towards the woods. The labored breathing of multiple voices echoes through my helmet along with my loud heartbeat. I hear a bullet fire sporadically from behind us, bounding off my helmet with a thump.

My visor lights up in response to the shot, displaying a live feed from the back of my helmet. A Screener in the distance stands in the faintly-smoldering wreckage with his gun pointed straight at me. As his gun fires again, our entire group of mock-Screeners ducks. The bullet zooms clear over our heads, not even close to skimming us. I practically see the Screener's jaw drop through his meager visor.

I laugh to myself. He thought he could use a surprise encounter to kill us, but he failed miserably due to our rear-view cameras.

After another 20 yards of sprinting, the treeline begins to conceal us. Tanner doesn't slow his pace as we run through a maze of tree trunks, seedlings, and dead logs. Peyton and I leap over a log as we follow Stephen down a random, unmarked path. Birds chirp around us, arching high above our heads. The surrounding greenness is so new to my senses that I nearly observe it in fear.

My mind flashes back to biology class as I run. The holographic sceneries my teacher used to insert us in aren't even close to the feeling of being in the real thing: the woods. Those online WebQuests she made us take never had leaves crunching under our boots. They never let us smell the fresh air or feel the warm specks of sunlight on our skin.

I suddenly realize that I'm falling behind the rest of the group. I pump my legs quickly until they begin to burn with effort. They catch me up with the red suits in front of me within a dozen strides. In response, Peyton slows down a little to help me, saying, "Tired yet?"

"Not yet," I pant. "I'm coming."

"Wasn't that thrilling?" she adds with awe. "Blowing up those Screeners and running like maniacs from them?"

"I wouldn't say we blew them up," I say, raising my eyebrow at nowhere in particular.

"Fine, then we made them cower like the babies they are," she cackles. I instantly laugh, waiting for Tanner to tell her off for scaring me. He doesn't, so I assume that Peyton cut off our mics so it's a one-on-one conversation between us both.

"So are you from the Camps like Landon is?" I ask her with another pant. We hop over a few fallen tree branches and weave in between tree trunks.

"Yup," Peyton say, "We all are. Except you and-- what's his name, Steven?"

"Stephen."

"Ah, yes, Stephen," Peyton laughs, "I haven't seen a boy that cute since forever."

"Right," I say with an all-knowing laugh.

"What?" she joke defensively. "Do I have bad taste in men?"

I burst out laughing, tripping and stumbling over an uneven patch of land. "I think you have great taste in men," I say while recovering my balance.

"I thought so," Peyton presumably smirks, "and we only have about 100 more yards until we reach the MaticBikes."

"MaticBikes?"

"You'll see," Peyton pants with an edge of suspense in her voice. "They're pretty dangerous."

Peyton and I decide to jog the rest of the distance, too tired to care about possible ambushes. As soon as we reach a sloping cavern in the floor of the forest, we spot Tanner, Stephen, and Landon waiting at the bottom for us. In from of them are three sleek, black, motorcycle-like MaticBikes.

"Pick your weapon of destruction, Peyton," Tanner taunts loudly, whipping off his helmet and shaking out his hair.

Peyton grins, running down the steep slope with me behind her. She hops onto the MaticBike straddled between the two others, and she waves me over to sit with her. Tanner clicks his helmet back on his head, telling Stephen to ride with Landon.

I kick my way across a layer of dead leaves before reaching Peyton. Climbing onto the seat behind her, a black seatbelt wraps by itself around me. I slip my arms through the large loops in the leather belt. The buckle clicks after a few seconds, forming a seatbelt "X" across my torso.

Blue holographic controls burst from the MaticBike handlebars. A large, blue circle labeled "start" blinks in anticipation, waiting to be tapped.

"Let's ride, Screeners," Tanner jokes seriously, pushing his holographic button and speeding off through the woods. Peyton lets out a laugh before pushing her own button. The MaticBike races after Tanner, somehow hovering above the ground, and my chest is thrown against the seatbelt.

Cold air rushes into my lungs, forcing excited fear and hyper exhilaration through my body. The feeling of flying and accelerating is too shocking for me to fear and too foreign for me not to grin behind my visor.

-- -- -- -- --

updating days are now wednesday's! *cue the disco dance party*

and the winning choice was surprise encounter in case you didn't catch it ;)

this week's author's notes will include TWO plot-affecting question and a prize question. comment your answers for either or both to show that you actually read the author's notes lol!

Question: Pick a number: .5 , 1, or 1.5

Follow-up Question: Choose a phrase: small meeting or small detail.

Prize Question: Tag 3-4 (or more) of your Wattpad friends that you think would enjoy Enhancement ;) All responders will have their profiles checked out/ stalked upon by me!

And now for a fun knock-knock joke:

knock, knock.

...who's there?

who.

...who who?

Who who! Big summer blowout!