July 18th, 2018 (Journal entry #1)

I found nothing in the offices I searched. The lobby didn't have anything as well. I looked everywhere I could look, everywhere I could reach but still nothing. It's like the clues dissapeared with the people. How am I suppose to find them like this?

Anyway. It's already too late in the night. My watch says it's past two in the morning. I need sleep. I can say I'm a little bit afraid of what I might dream tonight.

I wake up with a jerk in the seat of my car, blinded by the sunlight. I look down on my lap, realising I fell asleep while I was writing in my journal. I threw away any piece of paper that I had previously written on last night, wanting to only have what I write from now on in it. At least if I loose my sanity and die, hopefully someone will find this.

I lick my lips and grab my toothbrush and toothpaste along side a water bottle, and climb out of the car. I begin to brush my teeth, pacing aimlessly back and forth slowly from boredom, spitting in the bushes. An apocalypse doesn't mean forgetting hygine right?

I glance back at the building when I feel Bailey brushing against my leg and sits down. I smile at her and leave the items in my hand back in their little plastic bag of protection and inside the glove box before I march right back in the building to resume my research.

The corridor of the second floor is dark and looks like it's stretching on for miles, the fact that it is not that wide giving me major creep vibes. This area was not permitted for people outside the company, something that makes me feel a tiny bit optimistic.

I gulp and continue down the path with Bailey behind me, not sure what I'm looking for. I point my flashlight on the names above the doors, freezing when I see a specific name written on the door.

Clay Bankers.

I let out a satisfied sigh that I finally have something to do rather than aimlessly walk around this place like a headless chicken and wrap my fingers around the cold metal.

I twist the handle and step into the office, the light of day providing me with enough sunlight to turn of my flashlight and tug it in my back pocket. I leave my backpack down and step into the office that turns out to be yet another small lab of some sorts. Uncle Clay did have an obsession with microscopes.

I raise my eyebrow at the high tech in here, Bailey sniffing the desk at the familiar scent of my uncle that the room faintly smells. This is the scent of family. What I would give to have that smell circling my empty home.

I push the thoughts of my family away, sitting down on his office's chair and open the drawers, finding some files in there. I take them out and lay them across the desk, opening them one by one. It's a bunch of medical files, with pictures of kids my age, but I don't know any of them. In all the files there are the same things highlighted, the edges of the paper worn out giving me the impression that he must have been looking at these files many times.

I close them and leave the desk area, before I move to the window and gaze out to the empty streets stretching into the horizon. When I look down, I can even see my car sitting next to the pavement, parked in the middle of the street.

I turn my back to the window and stare at the dog sitting in front of me and staring directly into my eyes. I purse my lips and walk back to the centre of the office, looking around.

There is a little robot on the far end of the room. It looks beat up and broken, its head barely riching my knee. I chuckle at how cute this thing looks as I kneel in front of it. It feels cold against my fingertips, the cold reaching the rest of my palm as I pick it up, turning it around to inspect every side of it. There are various buttons on the back and I leave it back down with an interested frown.

"Wonder what these do." I mumble to myself and press the first one, but it doesn't do anything.

I keep pressing them one by one but nothing happens. Eventually, I move to press the last one not really expecting it to do anything, my finger hovering above the blue button. I take a deep breath and press it, waiting to see if something is going to happen, but all the waiting results into nothing.

I sigh and get up to leave when I hear a humming noise behind me. My eyebrow shoots up at the ceiling just as the machine jolts to life and turns in my direction with jerks. I laugh at the sight but as it raises its hand with his palm facing me revealing a blue light in the middle, my laughing stops.

"What the-"

"Intruder." It says with his deep robotic voice and lazer shoots out of its hand without a warning.

I duck just in time the lazer hits the wall behind me and I scream in surprise, before I snap my head to the back. There is a black hole in the wall, smoke rising up to the ceiling. That, was almost my head.

My eyes go wide and I turn to look at the tiny robot that can burn holes into walls, preparing to shoot another one this time aiming for my head. It keeps repeating the same word over and over again, making sure I know I'm not wanted there.

I run outside the room but I hear it follow, and I push the door of a random office open, hiding behind the door. I take the crawbar out of my backpack and prepare to hit it when it comes, but I frown when I hear growling.

"Bailey." I exclaim when I realise she's not next to me, sprinting out of the office.

Bailey is next to the robot, biting its hand and yanking her head while trying to cut it off. I run to her aid, raising the crawbar above my head and slamming it on the metalic arm of his, cutting the arm clean off with a loud grunt. Sparks fly all over the place and I pull Bailey away so she won't get hurt. I slam the crawbar on it over and over again, panting for breath when the robot finally falls on the floor, the sound of it shutting of reaching my ears like a lulluby.

I shoot my arms in the air and jump up and down in excitement, Bailey twirling around with her tail wiggling from side to side like crazy. I don't really think she knows what we're celebrating for, but is just following my lead.

"Yes! High five!" I exclaim and fall to my knees placing my palm towards her, but all I receive is a weird look from Bailey with a tilt of her head.

"O-kay." I high five myself before quickly getting back on my feet.

I tug on Bailey's collar once so that she moves from her frozen spot, and I throw my backpack over my shoulder. I place my hands on my hips before I pick up the robot and place in under my arm. You never know when this might come in handy.

My legs carry me outside the building and into my car, starting the engine but not before I throw the robot in the trunk. I lower the window letting the wind howl through, making my hair move out of my face as I tug them behind my ears so that I won't be bothered by them anymore.

I tap my thumb on the steering wheel patiently, turning my head to the side calmly. I breath out slowly and lick my lips trying to find something to occupy myself with. I count down three green signs for veganism, four different 'Watch for children' signs stuck in the pavement that make me chuckle for some reason. Ain't got to watch out for that anymore.

Something flying in the air catches my attention, making me slow down. I squint my eyes to take a better look at it. It's like a metal ball at the size of a basketball, with an eye that is scanning around for whatever it is that it's looking for.

I immediately stop the car and climb out, Bailey following me out the open door. But her bell makes too much noise and I freeze, turning back to look at that thing. Thank God it doesn't seem to notice us yet.

I let out a breath of relief and remove her collar, gently leaving it on the driver's seat. I rub my palms on my pants to get rid of the sweat, gathering my hair into a low ponytail.

I hide behind a building, slowly moving to peek at the flying object scanning everything. Just when it's about to scan the building I am hiding behind, I crouch and move to the building next to that, that has already been scanned. What is it looking for? What even is that thing.

The second it's done with the scanning, a little door opens and an object looking similar to a pipe falls on the ground and gets itself stuck in the road. From its top there is a blue light pulsing, giving the -whatever the other thing is-, the green light to go.

It moves far ahead, almost out of eye sight, when it releases another pipe with a sharp edge. Then, after that, it's finally out of sight.

I sigh reliefed and get up from my hiding spot, jumping above a fallen scooter. I look back and see Bailey following me and I stop, extending my hand towards her.

"No stay. Stay, Bailey." I command her and she whimpers a little before she does as I say, and sits down patiently waiting.

I don't know what that thing is, and I don't want Bailey in harms way. Not unless I know that it's safe for her and that she's not gonna get hurt.

My steps are cautious but quick, a part of me wanting to inspect that thing as fast I can and get the hell out of here before the Scanner can see me, yet the other part of me knows that something like this doesn't just happen. The company uncle Clay used to work for is behind this and nothing they do is random or harmless. At least they've proven that.

As I'm about six feet away from it, the light paulsing picks up speed, now a screeching noise echoing through the silence and my fast breathing.

My heart starts beating faster as I take a step back, my hands trembling. I round them into fists to stop them from shaking, but the fact that this thing keeps picking up speed doesn't put my worries to rest.

Suddenly, the screeching becomes almost unbearable to hear and I move my hands up to my ears to cover them but before I can cup out the noise, it stops. I narrow my eyes cautiously, when out of the blue it explodes like an actual bomb, the wave sending me up in the air and back.

The last thing I see is the fire of the explosion before my head hits the road and everything gets covered in darkness.

Marilia's POV

I tap the tip of my pen on the piece of paper lying in front of me, everything I have on Cara spread out across the mahogany desk.

This girl's IQ is remarkable.. She's almost as brilliant as me. I should have known she would turn out like Clay. I didn't keep an eye on her when I left the family and now she has ended up with the same stupid ideals as him. 

I wonder how precious she must be for creating the syrum. Highest IQ's tend to have the highest IMOA genes. If only I had the oportunity to test her..

"Marilia we have a problem." Gill comes into my office in a hurry, beats of sweat decorating his forehead.

I push my desk's chair back and stand up, my left brow shooting up. By the look on his face I can already tell they have screwed something up, and know I am not going to be happy about it.

"What did you do."

"Another one has escaped." He breathed out slowly, seeming more calm than when he was telling me about Cara but unlike his, my blood is boiling.

I have a perfectly executed plan in my head, and everyone keeps on messing it up. They all have one job I assigned them to do. One. And they're not even doing it correctly.

I chuckle unamused and rub my eyes with one hand before I slam the pen I'm still holding hard on the desk. Gill flinches but still doesn't move from his spot next to the door.

"How did he escape. Did he happen to have a dog too?" I say ironically and Gill sighs.

"No. He killed three guards and escaped wearing a guards uniform and stole the one's survival backpack as well."

I forrow at the sound of that, my curiosity offically intrigued as I remove my hands from my desk.

"Who is it?" I ask and he steps forward, handing me a tablet.

"Name's Preston Adams. Nineteen years old. He graduated top of his class from high school at the age of seventeen and joined the army the day he turned eighteen, has been passing all his tests with flying colours ever since. Some of the Lieutentants even said he was about to be offered a spot in the Black Ops team before we put The Ark project in motion."

I stare at the photo of the man in front of me, his short brown hair coming in contrast with his deep blue eyes. Yes, he is handsome but one would not give him much attention if he was part of a croud. Maybe that's why he was considered to be one of the elite 'Ghost' teams of the army. His skills seem to be above the best.

But my soldiers were suppose to be beyond that.

"They were suppose to be extra careful after the Cara fiasco. His skill set was not suppose to overpower our soldiers. They were suppose to be perfect."

"Yes, they were. And they will be. I'll make sure of that." Gill agrees with me, knowing that upseting me more would be foolish of him. He tells me what I want to hear and for his sake, he better make sure his promises aren't vague.

"This says he escaped only yesterday. He shouldn't have gone far. I want him found, and terminated. We can't let his meet with Cara."

I hand him back the tablet, Gill letting a chuckle escape.

"We are at the other end of the country I don't think there is a chance we won't find him before-"

"I don't care. The stupid soldiers have already messed this project up. We can't afford any more mistakes. Clay has already plotted against us through Cara. If she meets Preston, her brain and his skills can destroy us. I want them both out of the picture. And I want it now."

I will not fail. I'll make sure of that. Whatever it takes.

___________

Hello again!

So sorry this chapter is really short and late, but I have like a million exams right now and I have a ballet exam tomorrow and another one in a few days and I'm freaking out.

Also is it bad that I'm not sure if this is a good chapter? Idk I think my anxiety is getting the best of me and I can't write a perfect chapter. I promise the next one will be better x

I have a face claim for Preston as well, but since he will be introduced later in the story, I will reveal it then. But I can make a seperate chapter for his face claim if you want.

One last thing x Please, if you are reading my story please leave a vote/comment if you like it, it really boosts my confidence up and inspires me to write more chapters x I would love it if you left a comment saying what you like or what you don't, I really want to hear what you think of the story so far.

Love, Mae x