The Maze

It was not easy smuggling one's self inside the Country M. The truth of the matter was, the country can be considered as the dark web of the modern society. Every layer was equipped with different traps, luring everyone who wanted power.

The Country M was dangerous. But within it was immeasurable power.

Huang Wensheng was able to sprint towards the van without being detected. Li Chanying successfully changed the footage without anyone detecting the change in the codes. However, the group failed to consider the van into their plan.

The van has always changed its chip every time it went inside the premises. That meant, the same van entering the gate, trouble.

Huang Wensheng, Li Nuxie and Li Chao has already changed into the protective suits. Li Chao has knocked out the driver when he tried to climb inside the van earlier. The driver was currently making himself comfortable at the back together with the other two people.

'Intruder has been detected.'

The sound of the sirens has gone off inside the perimeter fence as the van sped off inside. Li Chao's hands gripped the steering wheel. His mouth was set in a grim line.

Li Nuxie glanced towards Huang Wensheng. "Little man, now is the time to show your talent."

"Eh?" Huang Wensheng furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean elder sister?"

"Eyes on the road. Tell my brother where to go just like what you did in Forza Horizon," she instructed the teenager in front of her.

"T-That's -" Huang Wensheng didn't know what to do. Real life was different from a simulation game. Very much different.

"Just do it," Li Chao interjected. Right now, there were three cars chasing after them. It was a good thing the area was already abandoned. If not, they might already crashed into another car.

The roads were narrow surrounded with dilapidated buildings. This area seemed to be the downtown proper of Country M when it was still inhabitable. Now, it looked like those towns in horror movies.

Li Nuxie pressed the button on her right ear. "Ying, are you there?"

"Loud and clear," came from the other line.

"Please give us an overview of the roads," Li Nuxie said.

"Okay, one moment please," Li Chanying's fingers tapped the keyboard flawlessly. Her eyes were glued to the monitor of the laptop. Encoding different letters and numbers which eventually connected, the sweat from her forehead fell on the keyboard.

However, she continued encoding the codes until the screen went black before a simulation of the Earth appeared on the monitor. It was followed by the satellites that monitored the daily lives of the people.

Finding the right code, Li Chanying hacked into the server of the satellite. She keyed in the words 'Country M'. As if it has its own life, the satellite zoomed in right on the location of the country.

What Li Chanying saw made her gasp. "Omg," she muttered under her breath.

On the other line, Li Nuxie drew her eyebrows together. "What is it?"

Li Chanying gulped before speaking. "Xiexie, I don't know if it's bad or what -"

"Stop putting us on suspense. Just spill it out!" Li Nuxie spat. Goodness, sometimes, Li Chanying doesn't get the atmosphere. She still has the time to marvel over some things when Li Nuxie and the others were literally fleeing with their lives.

Li Chao focused on driving the van while avoiding the speeding bullets towards them. They were already dodging the bullets for three minutes when they finally realized that the van was bulletproof.

Huang Wensheng was the one who was telling Li Chao on what direction the steering wheel would go. The roads were illuminated with street lamps which made it easier for them to navigate the area.

Still, any accident can happen and they don't know if they can still get out of the premises with their lives intact.

Li Chanying raised her hands in the air. "Okay, okay. You're inside a maze. Like maybe it was not. But yes, it is indeed a maze."

The Country M was surrounded with concrete perimeter fence. Perhaps, any country would looked like a maze if deserted. However, it must be fate that the van went to the direction where the nuclear plant was located.

And the nuclear plant looked like a maze, with different sizes of equipment and cylindrical containers scattered around the area. From above, it was a sight to look at. But on the ground, it was a headache to go around.

Li Nuxie pressed her lips. "Look for an exit point - Ouch!"

"Are you okay, Xiexie?!" Li Chanying screamed from the other line before putting her hand over her mouth. She almost forgot where she was.

"I - I am fine," Li Nuxie answered her cousin before turning her head towards her brother. "What happened?" Li Nuxie asked.

Li Chao's cursing was what answered her.

Li Nuxie glanced outside and realized what had happened.

Li Chanying's eyes went wide while looking at the monitor of the laptop. She thought her laptop died. But she can still see the van moving.

"They cut the electricity!" Li Chanying exclaimed.

Li Nuxie curled her lips. "It seems so. Elder brother, just drive until Ying can see an exit point."

Li Chanying who was listening from the other line felt like crying. How can she looked for an exit point if the area was blackout?

"Put your best effort Ying. They already cut the electricity. They will cut the communications next," Li Nuxie said, her fingers inside the gloves curled into fists.

"Okay, okay," Li Chanying's fingers flew above the keyboard. Her eyes shone with determination. They already reached this point. It would be a shame to fail.

"Exit point, where are you? Damn," she muttered.

It was a good thing that Li Chanying was able to memorize the map when she looked at it earlier. Li Nuxie was not asking for a exit point outside the country. Any area where they can hide for the meantime will do. Riding a van will not do.

It was big and will always catch attention due to its headlights.

"Xiexie, listen. At the end of the road is a blind spot. When you turned left, get out of the car and just ran straight before turning right. Did you get it?"

Li Nuxie listened intently. "Got it."

"At the end of that street, there is a manhole there. I guess it was where the electric cables are. Go down there and hide for a while," Li Chanying continued.

Before Li Nuxie can answer, the line went static before it was cut.

"Shoot!" Both women cursed from different areas.

Li Chanying looked at the direction of the country. "Good luck, Xiexie. I'll be waiting here."

She was so engrossed with her thoughts that Li Chanying did not notice the person behind her.

-0-

"What happened, little sister?" Li Chao glanced at the rearview mirror.

"The communication has been cut now."

Li Chao raised an eyebrow. "They sure move fast, huh?"

"What will happen now, elder sister?" Huang Wensheng asked Li Nuxie. His voice was laced with worry.

"At the end of the road, we will get out of the van and run. Elder brother, you put Huang Wensheng on your back. Just follow me. Ying has already laid out the plan. We just need to execute it."

Li Chao nodded. This hunt for some red drive was really dangerous. He wondered what could be inside that drive for a lot of people to be on opposing sides.

The one side do its best to locate it while the other side do everything in its power to hide it. What a puzzle, really.