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One after the other, the Sweepers made their way into the Forbidden Zone. "Alright team, let's stay on light with each other and keep our eyes open," Owen said through the communication device they had.

"We all just stick to the plan we played out earlier and this will be as easy as taking a shit."

"You know, taking a shit ain't always easy," one of the Sweepers chipped.

Owen sighed and shook his head. "Let's just proceed with the mission."

They all moved into their positions, creating a circle with Cole's squad in the middle of the circle and Owen's squad being the circumference of the circle.

The group continued to walk forward while keeping a wide space between themselves.

"One Luminaire stick sighted," Liam said into his comms while curbing to fix the device. Though they were all the Sweepers next to him, his breath was still a little shaky and he dreaded the moment the figure he saw was going to pop out.

The teal green-eyed man took out a tablet and connected a wire from his device to the Luminaire stick. His brows moved closer together as he tapped into the tablet.

"It-- it works fine," he revealed.

"Are you sure you checked well, don't make any more mistakes, Grayson boy."

Liam looked at the device before raising his head. "Yeah, it's still the same."

"The break is probably from the other sticks, let's check further," Mr. Jenkins stated.

"Finally, one good idea you bri…" Owen let his words trailed off as an extremely loud thunderstorm filled the air, causing their electrical devices to glitch. He opened his mouth to speak but the thunderstorm struck again, this time leaving red streaks in the sky.

"This is not supposed to be happening here," one of the Sweepers said. "We are not even at the Inner Core yet and the sky is turning red."

"The Zone must be moving fast then, come on… let's proceed with the mission," Owen ordered but they all stood still, not moving.

"Owen, Hilde is right, we probably should pull back for now until the storm clears, you know how bad it can get," Zara said while placing her hand on the Sweeper's shoulder.

"You can't be serious," Owen barked. "We can't just cut our mission short because of some stupid red sky that by the way isn't there anymore."

They all looked up to see that the sky had already reverted to what it was like before the storm.

"You know, I don't think I or anyone here voted that you be the leader of this group so you can't just go around giving orders."

Owen dropped the blaster he was holding by his chest to his side and inched closer to the arctic blue-haired lady. "Well I don't see anyone of you being brave enough to take on the role," they continued to bicker. "Or you think because you are the only Grey Lander you are a leader by default?"

"Don't try to make this about my race! You know, I am sick and tired of you…"

"Guys, let's all calm down." Cole quickly stepped in their middle before the situation escalated. "Why don't we at least check on the rest of the Luminaire stick then we decide what to do next? I'm pretty sure we won't get anything done by throwing bones at each other."

There was a bit of silence before they all returned to their positions, causing Owen to scoff. "Wow, so I say it, and it's a problem, but the old man does and we are all okay with it? Wow, just wow."

The group ignored him and continued with what they were doing. A while later, Liam stopped in his tracks and pointed at a hole in the ground. "This was where I inserted the Luminaire stick."

"How could you tell?" Thomas questioned

The teal green-eyed man used his hand to take out the sand in the hole. "It still has the residue of the material from the stick."

"So I was wrong and it was caused by a wind?" Owen questioned.

Liam shook his head no. "Not necessarily, could be something else…"

Before he could finish his words, a loud screech filled the air, causing them to go completely silent.

"Guys, did you hear that?"

They all turned to see the New Blood, James with what looked like a kitten in his hands.

"James, what are you holding?"

The light red-haired boy caressed the back of the kitten. "I found this little one laying on the ground out here."

Cole turned towards James and began approaching him slowly. "Listen to me James, I want you to slowly put that down and step away from it."

The New-blood took a step backward. "Why? It's completely harmless and needs our help."

"Just fucking drop that thing before you wake it up!" Zara yelled from behind.

The light red-haired boy glanced at Liam and then at the other Sweepers who were already taking multiple steps backwards. He sighed and began dropping it. "Fine, but I really think it needs our…"

Owen swiftly bolted out to the open, aiming his blaster at the creature that was still in James' hand. "Get out of the way!"

"Owen, no don't…"

Liam eyes swiftly moved from Owen and his blaster to the creature the newbie was still holding. He noticed as its eyes opened and he suddenly began seeing everything slowly.

Cole had his hands up, trying to stop the blonde-haired man from firing the blaster, while James remained in his position, too shocked to even move any part of his body. The other Sweepers were all watching the scenario as it unraveled before their eyes.

Liam's teal green eyes met that of the creature's and just as it did, a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of Mr. Jenkins, creating a powerful wave that threw every single member of the crew in a random direction.

.....