Chapter 14: Tens and Hundreds of Drones

The cold morning air woke them up earlier than they had wished for. The two unbranded had been tossing and turning all night with frightful hearts on a lookout for another branded vehicle that might come and find them.

"Do you think Daren would be doing alright on his own?" Aksel asked as he warmed his hands on the bonfire that the two had made in a small spot away from the clearing.

"Don't worry about him he is going to be fine and I am sure he got a better sleep last night than us," Yve murmured as she chewed on the apples that they had plucked from a nearby tree. Taking out the soup mix that was popularly used as a superfood in this era she poured it into the small vessel of boiling water that was kept over the fire and was being prepared by Aksel.

They had several of these packets that would last them for days since drinking one bowl was enough to provide them with a day's worth of nutrition.

"So, what do you think had been in those boxes for the Branded people to come here? I tried wracking my brain for an answer for a long time but no such memory of a place like this or people working for this came to my mind," Yve said taking the cloth from Aksel and holding the hot vessel with it she poured out the soup into two bowls for them to drink in.

Taking one of the bowls Aksel blew on it to cool the liquid energy as he thoughtfully looked at the brown soup and said, "I am as clueless about this as you are but since it is something that affects our chances of freedom and safety I want to find the truth about it."

"But we'll need to be careful, Contrivos and Exters might not realize our identity of being unbranded on the first go but since drones are working here we might get caught by them," Yve cautioned taking a sip from her soup. On the surface, they both seemed comparatively calm but there was havoc running inside their minds. What they had considered to be a haven had turned out to be something like an enemy's secret base. They were afraid that they might be trapped here and it would only be a moment before they would be found out.

Finishing the rest of their soup they packed their bags again and stretching out, the two hid behind the giant tree where they had slept last night. Looking at, what they considered was the way where the drones had come from they tried to find anything suspicious or dangerous but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"It would be best if we do not cross the clearing and instead round it by hiding through the trees and then go further into the jungle on the other side," Aksel said itching around the blister on his face that was about to burst any moment now.

Nodding at his instructions Yve followed after him and the two walked through the jungle trying to find any traces of drones or the Branding system but besides what they had seen last night the forest remained completely the same as what it had been.

With the lack of any clues or indications, they were slowly becoming bolder and bolder as they stepped out from their hiding places and instead started roaming around freely, looking desperately for an answer.

It must have been more than six hours when the two gave up on searching around aimlessly and sat down near a berry bush taking a break.

"Where the hell did those drones come from!" Yve huffed as she looked up at the clear blue sky. The fresh breeze that blew every once in a while cooled their senses and deciding to rest she closed her eyes for a bit and plopped her body down on the grass.

"They shouldn't be too far off somewhere, I have a feeling that we might be close," Aksel said trying to be optimistic about the whole scenario even though he was slowly starting to lose his patience.

Yve who listened to his empty encouragement gave a half-smile and opened her eyes to sit back up when she stilled, her body completely freezing over.

Beside her, Aksel noticed her stiffness, and thinking that he might have somehow caused an offense he tried to rectify it as he said, "Hey I am not just saying it for-"

He was cut short by a yelp that followed his words when he felt Yve pinch his thigh which was within her arm's reach. Aksel though confused realized the meaning behind her actions and stopping all movements he stayed in his place completely still. Craning to look at her face and upper body that was hidden by the bush beside which she had laid, he found that half of her body had been missing.

It must have been a hologram, like the one they had seen bordering the city of Aquilo.

He felt Yve's hand slowly patting his knee as she made grabbing movements and understanding the signal he immediately helped her back up. There was a look of unobstructed horror in her green eyes. Her widened orbs and pale face were matched with an uneven rhythm of breathing and wondering if he should peak in first or help her away he slowly got to his feet and supporting her he took her a few steps away and behind another tree.

Away from whatever had stricken her soul, Aksel saw Yve slowly return back to normal as she took a gulp of water, spilling some in her nervousness.

"Drones, Tens and hundreds of them," she breathed out roughly pointing in the direction of the cloaked place that lay on the other side of the hologram.

They had finally found the base they had been looking for.

Aksel wanted to ask her more questions but giving her a chance to breathe he waited patiently as she leaned against the trunk and wiped her clammy hands against the sleeves of her hoodie.

When Yve had opened her eyes then she had expected to see the same pleasant sky that had been sheltering them but instead of peace and serenity, she found a drone hovering above her face turned to the other side as it was plucking out berries from the bush.

She had never been scared of drones before, having to deal with at most two or three together. Not to forget they had always been away at a distance from her, and destroying them was a piece of cake when she had her staff ready for a fight. So the situation that she was suddenly met with came too much of a surprise for her body to handle. If she had made even a single movement then that would have attracted the drone's attention to her and in less than a second her head could have been blasted off by a laser bullet before she could even try to shout for help.

She, therefore, stayed still as a piece of log and stopped her breathing as she strained her neck to look at what lay on the other side of this holographic shield. The scenery only helped in increasing her nerves when she saw numerous drones flying around in a dispersed manner doing different types of jobs going in and out of a huge building that she had barely been able to take a proper glance at. Her attention was drawn away when the drone above her flew in the direction of the supposed base and taking this as her opportunity to escape she immediately got up with the help of Aksel to get away from the murder zone that she had mistakenly fallen into.

Relaying what she could grasp in her panicked mind in those two minutes she then huffed and watched as she found her partner mirroring the emotions she had been feeling inside.

If what Yve said had been the truth then stepping through the barrier would be like poking an Exter with anger issues, you were bound to have a fate that resulted in death after that.

"We need to get away from here and that too before nightfall because staying here doesn't feel safe to me anymore," Yve said getting to her feet as she helped up Aksel having gained back her composure by now.

Their original plan had been to explore this place for a while longer but now that they had realized that they might just be in the mouth of death getting out of there took priority over everything else.

"You are right but I really wanted to know what they are hiding here or doing with those boxes and are there more Exters and Contrivos here as well?" he fretted looking at the part of the forest which looked completely ordinary from here but had been hiding killing machines working there. Aksel felt like this place would help them configure another one of the 'secrets' of the cruel system.

His mind as usual was itching to solve the mystery but thankfully he had good control over himself.

"Do not even dare to take a look. I might have gotten lucky to come out unscathed but next time luck might not be on your side," she said and taking no chances, being aware that her partner had a knack for finding trouble, started pushing him in the other direction of the hidden base to hopefully be able to escape out of their alive.