Break In

Janet paused, glanced at Kara, then back at Jake.

With no hesitation, she answered,

"Area 51."

"Wait… what's your plan?" Jake asked, catching up with Janet and Kara just as they were heading to the car.

Janet turned toward him. "Based on the old man's documents, there's a connection between him, the lab, and Area 51. If that's true, then the rumors about alien experiments might also be true. And if that's

the case… they might have something—an antidote, or something—or someone who can cure Jacob from that poison."

Jake blinked, then nodded. "Okay. Great. I'm coming with you."

"But hold on, I'll get some weapon." he said, before rushing back into the base.

Inside, Adam was still sitting at his usual post, half-distracted with his phone when he noticed Jake grabbing gear from the weapons locker.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Adam asked, standing up.

Jake didn't answer at first. He kept loading the bag quietly.

Adam stepped closer. "Wait—is this about the old man? About Jacob? I heard what happened. Look… I know I screwed up. But if you're doing something—anything—I want in."

Jake stopped packing for a moment, glanced at him, then zipped up the bag

.

"You're sure?" Jake asked.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. I mean it."

Jake exhaled, then finally said, "Good. Because we're heading to Area 51."

Adam froze. "Wait—what?"

Kara leaned into the doorway. "You said you were in. No backing out now."

Adam gave a short nervous laugh, shaking his head. "I thought you meant, like… a stakeout. Not full-on national-felony-level infiltration."

"Well, too late," Jake said, brushing past him. "Grab what you need. We leave now."

A few minutes later, everyone was packed into a van heading toward Area 51. Jake was behind the wheel, Kara sat beside him in the front. In the backseat, Janet sat next to Adam, the security guy.

Janet glanced sideways at him, arms crossed. "Are we really sure it's a good idea to bring him?" she muttered. "This is the guy who played Minecraft while the old man died on camera."

Adam frowned. "Look, I said I'm sorry, okay? I messed up. I swear it won't happen again."

"Fine. Whatever," Janet said, not fully convinced.

She turned to Kara and Jake. "Alright. So this is all we know about Area 51. According to the old man's documents, it's connected to the lab—and him. If that's true, then those rumors about alien experimentation might be more than just talk."

Adam leaned forward slightly. "Wait… I still don't get the plan. What exactly are we doing here? Just drive up to the front gate and ask for the truth?"

Janet shook her head. "We're not going to ask. We're going to find. We'll sneak in, take pictures, collect whatever evidence we can—anything that proves the government's been hiding this. If they've been experimenting on aliens, and maybe even created that poison that infected Jacob, we expose it."

Kara nodded quietly, her eyes on the road ahead.

"If we can prove it," Janet continued, "the truth comes out. Kara gets cleared, Jacob gets his cure, and people will see who the real enemy is."

"And if we don't find anything?" Adam asked, his voice low.

Janet looked straight ahead. "That's the chance we're willing to take."

The van grew quiet.

Then, through the windshield, distant lights flickered in the desert darkness—rows of fences, security towers, and blinking red beacons.

Kara squinted. "We're getting close."

The tension in the van rose like a held breath.

"Okay, Jake, park here," said Janet.

"We can't get too close—they'll notice us."

Jake nodded and pulled the van off the road, killing the engine under the cloak of night. The desert around them was silent, vast, and stretching out endlessly under a starless sky. Everyone stepped out, their boots crunching softly against the gravel.

They were still a ways off from the fences and towers of Area 51, but close enough to feel the tension creeping in.

"Alright, so… where do we go now?" asked Adam, squinting into the darkness.

Janet pulled out a folded copy of the old man's document she had stuffed in her jacket. "If I read this right, there's a secret underground tunnel entrance nearby—old, maybe forgotten. It leads straight inside. It has to be around here… somewhere."

She looked up. "Let's split up. Move slowly. Stay low. If we get seen, it's over."

Adam lingered. "Wait—are we seriously doing this now? Maybe we should regroup, try again later—"

"Adam, we've come this far," Janet said flatly.

He gave a weak smile. "Right. Right. Sorry."

They scattered across the rocky terrain. The desert night was cold and eerily quiet—nothing but wind and the occasional sound of their steps over loose rock.

It had been almost twenty minutes when Jake's voice crackled in through the comms.

"Guys, I think I got something," he said, excitement in his voice.

Everyone regrouped, hurrying to his position. But when they arrived, all they found was a dented piece of old metal half-buried in the sand.

Jake sighed. "Damn it. I really thought I found something."

Kara picked up the metal. It was worn, nothing special—just a scrap.

She held it for a moment, disappointed. Then, with a quiet exhale, she tossed it to the ground.

CLANK!

The sound it made was different—sharper, heavier.

Janet blinked. "That noise… it didn't hit dirt."

"That's metal on metal," said Jake, crouching quickly.

They all knelt beside where the scrap had landed.

Jake brushed his hand across the ground, revealing a patch of something metallic just beneath the sand.

Kara knelt beside him and ran her fingers across it—it was smooth and cold.

"A hatch?" she asked.

Adam stayed back, eyes darting across the dark.

"Uh… guys? Maybe we should leave this alone. Like what if someone sees us?" he said, urgently.

"No one's going to see us," Janet snapped, not looking up.

"You sure?" Adam muttered, staying put.

Bit by bit, a circular metal hatch came into view. Right at the center, barely lit by the flashlight, was a small keypad and what looked like a keycard scanner—still intact, though clearly old.

"A keycard reader?" Kara said.

Of course it's locked," muttered Jake.

"Okay, so we can't get in. Can we go back now?" Adam asked, voice tight.

No one replied.

Adam sighed, "Okay, fine. I guess we're just gonna use magic to get in there. Like how?"

Kara stepped closer, inspecting the device. "Wait, I might have an idea."

She inhaled deeply, focusing her breath. Then

FWOOOOOOSH.

A sharp, icy blast hit the scanner. Frost instantly formed over the surface, spreading fast as the circuits inside began to freeze and short out. Sparks flickered. A few pops sounded from inside.

The red light on the reader blinked once. Then again.

Then it fizzled out completely.

"Dang," Jake muttered, impressed. "You should lead more missions."

Kara gripped the edge of the hatch and gave it a pull.

CLUNK.

The mechanism gave way. With a groan, the hatch swung open, revealing a dark, narrow tunnel stretching downward. The air that drifted out was cold and stale, like it hadn't been disturbed in decades.

They all gathered around the opening, peering down into the darkness. Rusted metal rungs led deep below the surface.

"Well," said Janet, straightening her jacket, "we're officially breaking into Area 51."

Adam lingered behind them, still unsure. "You guys are insane."

"You're the one who said you were in," Jake smirked.

"I didn't know 'in' meant this deep in," Adam muttered.

Janet opened her mouth to respond—

But then—

headlights.

Off in the distance, a pair of military van, approaching slowly.

Janet was the first to spot them. "Uh—guys?"

Everyone turned.

A military van was driving down the nearby road, its high beams cutting across the desert darkness like searchlights. It wasn't speeding, but it was close enough to see their parked van if it got just a little farther.

"How did they know about us?" muttered Kara.

"Crap," whispered Janet. "We need to move. Now!"

"Go! Everyone in!" Kara ordered.

They scrambled to the hatch. Jake slid in first, disappearing down the rungs. Janet followed, then Adam—still unsure—and finally Kara.

The hatch creaked again as Kara pulled it shut above them, just as the military van passed by the very stretch of road they had been parked near.

Inside the tunnel, it was pitch dark now. Only the sound of their breathing and the faint, echoing creaks of movement filled the space.

Janet's voice came through the dark, steady but low.

"Well… now there's no turning back."