"We're entering the facility," Zee announced, her eyes glued to her laptop.

I could feel the truck we were lurch to a stop.

"We have audio." The Catcher pressed his finger against the sleek back device in his ear. I assumed it was an earpiece that connected him to his other male partner.

"The guard is approaching." The Catcher said flatly, "He's asking for his ID and Documentation."

"I've already hacked into their security system and disabled their cameras," Zee announced, her fingers moving furiously over the keyboard.

Suddenly there was a loud thud making me jump in surprise. It was like something had collided with the side of the truck. My heart raced as I strained to listen. For a moment the steady rumble of the truck's engine was the only thing that could be heard but then came the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunching on gravel, moving closer.

In an instant, my two captors were on their feet. I was suddenly pushed behind the Catcher's back as he took up a fighting stance in front of me. Both of them wielded pistols pointing toward the truck's door.

A metal latch rattled on the outside, followed by the distinct clunk of the locking mechanism being released. The heavy doors groaned as they swung open, their rusty hinges squealing in protest. Harsh light flooded in, blinding us for a moment.

I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light and I made out the familiar silhouette of the brown-haired man from the Catcher's squad, Doc, holding the truck's doors open.

He grinned at the sight of us, "Let's begin phase two."

~~**~~

We were currently standing huddled in a circle beside the truck

"So we're inside the gate but getting into the actual building is a lot harder and we won't be able to do that without drawing attention to ourselves. We got lucky that there was only one guard posted out here tonight but it's only a matter of time before someone starts suspecting something and they come outside to check so we need to hurry up." Doc spoke quietly.

I winced when I saw a uniformed guard slumped against the side of the truck. I prayed that he was just unconscious and not dead.

"As we discussed earlier, there used to be a lift with a manual pulley system to transport stuff in and out of the storage area in the basement at the back. We can use it to go down one by one. Let's just hope that it's still there." Zee said seriously.

I wanted to ask her how she knew that but this wasn't the time and place to have that conversation.

The Catcher turned to Doc, "So you will stay up here so you can lower us down and act as a lookout."

Doc gave a stiff nod.

We cautiously approached the large courtyard at the back of the facility. We stopped in front of a mesh fence with protective barbs on top.

Shit! A dead end.

Dread bubbled in the pit of my stomach.

What if these lunatics were right and my dream was based in reality?

What if we weren't able to save those kids?

But before I had a chance to ponder too much over these disturbing thoughts I heard the sound of sizzling and then a strong smell of burning reached my nose.

My eyes widened in surprise when I noticed that Zee was crouching down on the ground, wearing thick, dark visor sunglasses of some sort, in her hand, she had what looked like a welding torch but from the way it was effortlessly cutting through, and melting the metal of the fence I knew it was something else.

Once the hole in the fence was large enough to allow the men to go through we quickly made our way past it.

Zee slipped the visor shades up her forehead and put the miracle torch back in her bag pack.

"It should be a little further." She murmured as she led the way.

Sure enough, as we walked ahead a small isolated structure in the middle of the courtyard. We hurried towards it.

The lift was almost like a large cage mounted on a platform. The manual pulley system that was responsible for lowering the lift and bringing it back up was on the outside.

"Zee, you go first." The Catcher instructed. "Give the signal once you're sure it's safe," His cold eyes cut to me, "if you get even the slightest feeling that this might be a setup, we abort."

He'd been talking to me but his eyes had been on me the whole time.

His gaze conveyed a single message "You betray us. You die."

Zee gave a stiff nod.

"It's time. Suit up." Doc announced.

For a moment I was confused and then my mouth dropped open in shock.

I watched as they pressed the center of the X-shaped metallic west they were each wearing. The center of each west lit up and I watched in awe as the edges extended forward, unfolding to cover their bodies. The metal seemed to melt and mold itself perfectly around them till it formed the perfect armor up to their necks. Then Zee lowered the shades she had been wearing over her eyes. The two men took out similar-looking visor frames from their pockets and put them over their eyes.

My eyes locked on the Catcher as he tapped the visor on the side and I let out an audible gasp when it expanded and moved over his head till it formed a helmet that locked seamlessly with the rest of his suit.

It was the armor he'd been wearing when he'd saved me from those men that day.

I looked over to Doc and Zee and sure enough, they were wearing similar metallic armor that molded to their bodies perfectly.

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest.

Each one of them was lethal in this form. The armor was designed to kill.

"Or to protect." A small voice in my mind spoke up as I recalled how one of them had saved my life.

Who the fuck were these people?

My gaze moved over them one by one.

I swallowed.

They were the Catchers.