Tom
My black 'eyes' went wide with surprise, "You mean the base of that army that has been going around murdering all those people?"

The head police officer nodded, "I'm afraid so. But, we are pleased to tell you that we might have a plan to get them back. Cheryl and Cody will explain it to you as I have some important work to do. But first, they need to show you something" Frank nodded toward the brunettes across from him who smiled kindly at me as he began to type on the computer.

I fumbled with my oversized hoodie sleeves nervously in my lap. It was an old habit that had resurfaced as of late. And even though I tried not to think about it, doing this reminded me of Edd and how he'd fumble with his fingers whenever he was in deep thought. Edd... the thought of him being trapped with those merciless killers made me shutter with fright.

Focusing my attention back to the present, I noticed that Cody had grabbed a brown envelope off of the desk and was currently tearing it open. He pulled out two photographs. I noticed immediately that the first one was of the three of us a few years ago. Edd, Matt, and I all huddled together in front of some huge oak trees. Edd was being his usual cheerful self, eyes scrunched up and his mouth turned into his signature merry smile. He was in the middle and had his arms around both of us. To his right was Matt, giving a cheeky wink to the camera and holding up a peace sign with one hand. And finally, there was me. I was wearing a neutral but slightly frowning expression and crossing my arms. All of us were wearing our different colored hoodies, and everything seemed so normal.

Seeing us together brought back so many memories. Part of me just wanted to jump into the photo and go back to when everything was like it should be. Before the giant robots and disappearances. I forced myself not to give into the tears prickling in my eyes and turned my attention instead to the other photo.

It showcased two figures in a field at nighttime. Upon closer inspection, he knew it was them. Edd and Matt. Edd seemed more recognizable. Besides the bruise on his cheek and the cuts on his jaw and forehead, he could say almost definitely that it was him. He was even wearing what looked like his green hoodie, though he wasn't entirely sure. It was under a royal blue tailcoat with a red collar and waistband. And plus, the photo was rather shaky and looked like it had been taken from a long distance. Matt was standing next to him, expect he seemed to have a metal chin and what looked like a metal eye that was glowing red. Many other soldiers were also in the picture holding various weapons and oh my god those corpses looked horrid. What the hell happened to them? I drew a shaky breath and looked up.

"This was taken by a civilian during the last red army attack. They noticed that these army members looked like the missing people they saw on the news and wondered if it would be of any use for us. We were very lucky." Cody was staring at me with a pitying expression as he spoke in a calm and authoritative voice.

I nodded uneasily and tried to say something, but the words only came out in a jumbled mess, " I..I..Edd...Matt." He gave me a patient glance as I tried to put myself together,"I think that's them."

This time, Cheryl started to talk, "Yes. That's what we thought. We wanted to confirm our suspicions with you. After all, you are their close friend."

I nodded again and started to feel more calm, "So..." I started, "Whats the plan?"

"Easy. Well, mostly. We were thinking that two or more of our officers could go undercove-" But she had been cut off by the door swinging open vigorously, revealing the ginger man from before.

He had a look of pure terror on his face and spoke in panicked bursts "Red leader... Thomas... explosives... code red"

Fred got the message and sprang out of his seat to start hastily yelling commands, "Cody and I will go to the lobby to figure out what's going on. Cheryl, I need you to grab the emergency ladder from behind that bookshelf over there and help Thomas. When you're done, come join us!" I watched as the ginger, Frank, and Cody booted out the door.

"Alright Thomas. I need you to listen to me. I'm going to remove the latch on this and when you climb up, you'll be in the air vent system. Follow the arrows on the ground to the exit and carefully lower yourself down. Try to stay hidden and immediately look for somewhere safe to go. I know this may be frightening, but it's the best chance you've got." As Cheryl spoke, she grabbed the emergency ladder and leaned it on a random bookshelf next to the desk.

She carefully undid the latch, and I gave her a quiet thank you while climbing up. As soon as I was up, she closed the latch again. Surprisingly, it wasn't that dark up here. I noticed tiny lamps littering the path which made me feel more at ease. I knew I couldn't stand in here, so I crawled my way carefully toward the green arrows. I would have felt cool, like one of those spies in a movie, if it wasn't for the overwhelming anxiety that overran my body.

I kept thinking I was hearing the screech of a rat or that I was seeing a nest of bugs. Fear messed with my reality. I wanted nothing more then to get out of this hellhole and to safety. I began to crawl faster, as if some monster was chasing me. My breathing was in uneven bursts and I felt like I was genuinely going to die. The exit was now in view. Freedom at last.

Before I knew it, I already had dropped myself onto the ground before checking around me to see if it was safe. I guess that was the stupidest thing I'd done in my entire life. And trust me, I've done a lot of stupid things.