Chapter 1: The Past, Betrayal
Sanders barely even registered Pyrrha's footsteps as she made her way to the hills in the distance. Even the biting cold wind and foreboding clouds overhead could not pull him away from his thoughts. So much had happened in so short a time that, now that he had time to think about it, Sanders was a bit overwhelmed. Just decided where to start was hard enough, much less coming to terms with all of it.
The rhythmic thump into his back decided where to start for him. Jimmy had repaired the machine gun Sanders had stolen from Lutice’s robot. Sanders would have been happy about that if… if its first target hadn’t been Flonne… Flonne...by God what had they done to her? The sweet, innocent fairy looked more like a teenager rather than the young girl he remembered. And her size...she had been nearly as big as Pyrrha! But all that was nothing compared to that look she wore as she blasted the platform with her wind. That steely gaze had been horrifying close to Aviel’s and nothing like the way the old Flonne would have looked. The old Flonne...dammit he should have got her out too. Now...now there was no telling what Aviel and the Society had done to her…
That would have been enough for Sanders, but the world had other plans. Flonne wasn’t the only monstergirl to have changed, Pyrrha had as well. The catgirl wasn't mimicking anymore, if she ever even had been. Now, she was talking in full and complete sentences. Not only that, but she had figured out to use the window to escape and head for the hills all by herself. Some part of Sanders had known she was getting smarter everyday, but it had been slow and, mostly, steady. This sudden increase, though, was like night and day. She had still been meowing when he had sent her to save Samantha, but had come back talking. What the hell was happening to her and would she, like Flonne, start to remember her old self?
Fuck her old self...As if all that wasn't enough, Samantha was more than sure Pyrrha was, in actuality, Jessica, her mentor and sorta-sister. Sanders had no reason to doubt Samantha, but the implications cast a horrid shadow over the already darkened Society. If Pyrrha was a mutated human...did that mean EVERY catgirl and fairy was too? That Flonne's visions were, indeed, old memories the Society had tried to hide from her? That beneath that bestial or innocent mind was a person screaming to get out? Dammit, was there no end to the horrors the Society had committed?
Then again, was that really all that horrid compared to what they had already done? Manchent’s message… just thinking about it made Sanders' blood boil. Hundreds of millions dead… countless more slaughtered under their boots, all while they pretend to be the saviors of the planet... Damn them all to hell. Nothing, NOTHING could justify this...this...abomination! Just imagining all those people in the cities who were unaware of who was really “protecting” them...
"Owww. Sanders, you're hurting my ear," Pyrrha said as Sanders felt her ear twitch. Sanders snapped out of his thoughts and shook them away. He looked over and found his hand clamped down on Pyrrha’s ears. Crap, he had been so caught up in his anger he hadn’t realized his hand had tightened onto poor Pyrrha.
"Oh, sorry Pyrrha," Sanders said as he loosened his grip. Pyrrha let out a relieved sigh as his death grip was released. Feeling bad for hurting her, Sanders ran his hand along her ear to try and soothe the lingering pain away. Pyrrha's sigh turned into a soft purr and her ear dropped down a bit in relaxation. At least some things about Pyrrha hadn't changed... like his trust in her. He just wished the same could be said about the others...
Glanced back in the direction of the platform, Sanders found his mind wandering back to Gabby's story…
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Gabby let out a bored yawn as she keep walking down the lonely road. It had been about an hour since she had left Isabella and started her trek to her new "job." Ugh, just thinking about sitting around watching over a damn farm made her want to turn around and try to catch up with the Captain. But she knew there was no chance in hell she would manage that without a vehicle. Much as she hated to admit it, she didn't really have much of a choice but to head to the farm.
Then again, she could have just turned off the road and gone wherever the fuck she wanted. Stride her way through the tiny forest on either side of the road and see what sort of trouble she could get into. Maybe become a giant warrior of justice working outside the Society’s laws. Go around smashing bandits or wild animals, or anything else that threatened innocent people. Be a hell of a lot more fun than what she was going to be doing soon. But that would mean leaving Cap, Alice, and the pipsqueaks with no way to reach her. Sadly, her giantess hero fantasy would have to stay a fantasy. For now...
Another yawn slipped out of Gabby as her boredom returned. She didn't mind the walking, but the lack of ANYTHING to do was driving her crazy. A Resistance ambush would have been a welcome sight as this point, if for nothing else than to break up the monotony. The only thing to do was look at the bored road, look at the boring, miniature forests to either side of said road, or waste time thinking about what to do. And Gabby REALLY hated thinking about what to do.
As if summoned by her thoughts, an odd sound drifted into Gabby's ears. Her military instincts kicked in and Gabby crouched down before freezing in place. What was that noise? It was too indistinct to tell, but it was coming from somewhere ahead of her. Gabby couldn't help but get a slight smile as she, slowly, made her way forward. Finally something to fend off her boredom. Oh she hoped it was some Resistance. Or maybe some people trying to fend off a bandit attack. Or...fuck who cares? It was something to do!
The road keep going for a few more yards before turning to round a large hill. The noise was a bit clearer now and Gabby could tell it was coming from the other side of the hill. She stopped moving as she tried to figure out what it was. It almost sounded like...voices. Yes, it was definitely voices. Though... if they were Resistance voices she sure as hell wouldn't be able to hear them from this far away, hell she would have trouble hearing them if they were right beside her! They had to be from non-shrunken people, maybe some Rangers that had met up mid-mission.
Gabby let out a soft sigh as she realized she wasn't going to be getting any action after all. Most likely, the Rangers were just chatting it up before they headed back or going over their patrols. Talking to them might be interesting for awhile, but once they left it would be back to boredom. Dammit…With nothing else to do, Gabby started walking down the road again and was about halfway around the hill when the voices became clear enough to understand.
"-ela said, she isn't here so we should just go!" one voice said, a voice Gabby didn't recognize. Gabby did know a lot of the Rangers, thanks to Cap and Alice, but not all of them. Must be one of the ones she didn’t know.
"You want to explain to the Matriarch why YOU came back empty-handed, be my guest. I'm not going back to her till we have a confirmed kill to bring," a second voice said, this one also new to Gabby.
Gabby stopped moving forward and frowned at the mention of a Matriarch. What would a Matriarch be sending Rangers out this far to kill? The only things out here were wild animals and Resistance members. And there was her answer, Resistance members. Bit odd they would know the sex of the Resistance fighter, but it was the only explanation that made sense. Must be a high up member for them to send two Rangers to put her down.
A slight smile spread on Gabby's face as she realized she had just found a good way to dispel her boredom. A little tussle with some Resistance would make for a good distraction and would be a good farewell hooray to her freedom. Of course, she knew how Rangers acted and was sure they would be tight-lipped and less than pleased she was there, them and their need to be “sneaky”. Which was why she wasn’t going to let them know she was here.
With her mind made up, Gabby turned toward the large hill and started toward it. She got down on all fours and, slowly, made her way up the hill, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she started up it to get a better position to join the fight, the Rangers keep on talking.
"Ugh...fine. Still don't know why we have to do this. Shouldn't Lutice and her bunch be doing this kind of crap?" the first one said in an annoyed voice. Gabby stopped in surprise at the mention of Lutice. She wasn't a Ranger...then again the Swords were the ones who usually took care of Resistance problems. Course, none of them would doing much of anything save healing after the beating she, Cap, and Alice gave them, hehehe. Dismissing her surprise, Gabby keep crawling up the hill, glad their talking was keeping them from hearing her knees and hands crush the tiny trees in her path.
"They would if they hadn't got their asses kicked by Isabella and the rest. Angela doesn't trust them with handling Gabby after that," a third voice said. Gabby stopped mid-movement at the mention of her name. Wait… WHAT?!
"Yeah, they'll be lucky if they get let off the base ever again for getting beatdown so bad. Going to drive them nuts when they find out it was us who took Gabby down," the second voice responded before letting out a slight chuckle. To say Gabby was beyond stunned would have been a huge understatement. Take her down? They were out here to get HER?! And had been ordered to do it by a Matriarch?! What the hell?!
Gabby grabbed her head as she steadied herself from the shock. What the fuck was going on?! Why the hell would Angela, as she couldn't imagine Cathrine being behind this, want her dead? Did their beat down of Lutice and the rest bug her that much? Wait...why was she wasting time worrying about why it was happening when the people who knew were just over this hill? All she had to do was beat the shit out of those idiots and get them to explain it! Oh that was much simpler, and more enjoyable, than racking her brain trying to figure it out.
Shaking her confusion and worry away, Gabby looked up to the top of the hill. She was about three-fourths of the way to the top and had a lot of noisy forest to get through. Alice and Isabella would have been able to sneak to the top of the hill, but Gabby was less sure of herself. The fuckers talking had masked her approach so far, but they had quieted down now. Trying to sneak the rest of the way was going to be next to impossible...which meant it was time for Gabby's specialty. It was shock and awe time, bitches!
Throwing subtly to the wind, Gabby leap to her feet and charged up the hill. She scrambled up it as fast as she could manage as she got herself ready for the fight. Her feet turned the dead trees below her into tinder as they smashed down and each step seemed to get louder than the last. Gabby didn’t care, though, being quiet was no longer part of the game plan.
"What is that?" someone said from the other side of the hill as Gabby neared the crest. Knowing that the fuckers would make her the moment she got over the hill, Gabby clenched her hands into fists and let out a battlecry. She ran over the lip of the hill and slowed her run long enough to get a look around. Below her was the worn road with a vehicle parked off to the side. Three Society members, all dressed in Sword combat gear, were standing in the road and had just started to turn to face her. Gabby smirked at having caught them off-guard despite the noise and cracked her knuckles.
“Surprise motherfuckers!” Gabby yelled as she charged down the hill toward the Swords. It was time to teach to bash some Swords!
"Oh SHIT!" one of them yelled as she turned to run to the vehicle. One of the others looked about to grab the one running away, but was stopped by the third one.
"Let her go, it's still two to one, we can take her!" the third, and obviously new, one said. The second one, seemed unsure about that, but still nodded and turned to help fight. Sure of her backup, the third one let out a yell and started to counter-charge Gabby. Gabby only smiled in joy as her opponent came rushing toward her. Oh this was going to make up for all those boring hours!
The Sword raised her fist to go for a charging blow while Gabby keep her arms to her side. They closed within a few feet before Gabby bent down and leap up. The rookie had been so busy concentrating on landing that first blow that she never had gotten herself ready to dodge. That mistake left her wide open for the flying kick Gabby drilled right into the newbies' chest. A sickening crunch came from the Sword and Gabby could tell she had broken at least one of her ribs with that kick. Teach her to remember legs out range arms.
Landing back on the ground, Gabby sprang back to her feet with practice ease. The rookie Sword was on the ground writhing in pain as she gasped for air to scream. She was out of the fight and would be no trouble hauling back at all, now. That left two still to beat down.
The second Sword had slowed her advance after seeing how easily Gabby had took out the other. Suddenly, it was one vs one and Gabby could tell this Sword knew Gabby's reputation. Gabby let a nasty smile, slowly, spread across her face as she advanced toward her. The Sword began to back up as Gabby quickened her pace.
"What's wrong? You were supposed to take me out, right? Well, here is your chance. Or are you Sword fuckers too chicken-shit to fight on even ground? Don't want to fight when it is against someone your own size?" Gabby mocked as she speed up her pursuit of the Sword. The Sword slowed her retreat and a flash of anger crossed her face. That's right, get pissed and come at me you stupid bitch! Just like she hoped, the Sword raised her fists and began to move forward to fight Gabby.
Gabby didn't raise her own arms. Instead, she just keep marching right to the Sword. The Sword waited till Gabby was in striking range before lashing out with her fist. Gabby dodged the first jab with ease before firing back with a gut punch. The Sword gasped as the blow sent her reeling back, but managed keep her arms up in defense. This one, apparently, wasn’t complete inept. Gabby slowed her march forward for a second before moving straight toward the bitch again. This time the Sword tried a fake out with a quick jab going into a kick. But fake out's only work if they catch the opponent off-guard and Gabby saw right through it. She ignored the jab and snatched the Swords leg out of the air. The rookie had just enough time to look surprised before Gabby pulled her closer and smashed her fist right into her face. The Sword crumpled onto the ground, out like a light and blood oozing from her nose. Two down, one to go.
Turning away from the two fallen Swords, Gabby looked at the vehicle and saw the last Sword digging through the trunk. She smirked as she starting toward the car, looking forward to beating the answers she wanted out of the Sword. The last Sword members gave a relieved cry as she pulled something out of the trunk. Gabby had just enough time to wonder what she had found before the Sword turned to face her. And in her hand was, OH SHIT A GUN!
"SHIT!" Gabby said as she tried to dive away, but too late as the gun leveled on her and fired. Gabby gritted her teeth in anticipation of the explosion of pain, but the feel of metal tearing through flesh never came. Instead, a green beam of light shot out of the gun and hit Gabby. Oddly, there was no pain as the energy beam struck her, but it did seem to coat her in its glow. Gabby looked at her hands and the green glow that surrounded them. Odd...why did she get a feeling of deja vu? Suddenly, Gabby gasped as she felt like her body was being crushed...no bound...no...fuck what the hell was happening?! And why did it feel kinda familiar…?
Gabby swore as she looked up at the Sword and...was she taller? Wait...this green glow, this feeling, and the taller Sword... FUCK SHE WAS SHRINKING! Gabby eyes shot wide in horror as she realized why this felt familiar, it was the same as the day of the shrink disaster! Only it was just happening to her! Gabby looked around in panic as her pants slipped off her waist and her jacket threatened to engulf her. And just out of sight, thanks to her clothes, the Sword was starting to laugh like mad. Oh fuck fuck fuck fuckFUCK!!!
Gabby tried to turn to run, but tripped over her own pants. She hit the ground and found herself buried in her own clothing. Shit, she was going to be buried alive by her own clothes! She had to get out, but she was shrinking so fast and her clo- wait, her jacket sleeves! They were armored and would keep their shape even without her arms in them! She had to get to them!
Pushing the enlarging fabric away, Gabby tried to crawl her way toward where she thought her sleeves were. Her pants had, already, been left completely behind and she seemed to only be shrinking faster now. Outside, footsteps began to turn into earthquakes as she shrank smaller and smaller. Pushing the fabric aside became more and more difficult as the green glow began to brighten and her compression got worse. Dammit, she had to hurry had to get out had to...
"DIE!" a booming voice yelled out before what sounded like an explosion went off behind Gabby. The world exploded with sound before going silent as a massive earthquake sent Gabby flying. Gabby cried out in panic as her form shrank down even further and found herself lost in a sea of tumbling, rolling, and crushing fabric.
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Alice drummed her finger on the wheel as she drove toward Savannah. Normally, she would have enjoyed the peace and solitude the drive brought, but something was keeping her from blessed aloneness. Something that constantly nagged at her mind. Part of the bad feeling was simple to identify. Leaving Gabriella and Isabella made her worry about them, Gabriella more so. Her worry bothered her and keep her feeling… off. But that wasn't all that was bothering her, and the other part was harder to pin down.
The highway around Alice was still just as bare of working vehicles as it had been hours before. She still hadn't seen any other Society vehicles despite being about two hours into her trip. Supply convoys and patrols should have been going up and down this highway, and yet Alice had not seen even a sign of either. Something was wrong, her instincts were screaming it at her, yet she couldn't tell what.
Looking at the radio, Alice debated whether to call in this oddness. She started to reach for it, but stopped as her bad feeling got worse. Her eyes narrowed as she cast aside the idea of calling for help. Alice had learned long ago to trust the instincts her father had drilled into her, and right now it was telling her using the radio was a bad idea. It seemed she was on her own... though, truth be told, she preferred it that way. Whatever was giving her this feeling would not catch her unprepared.
Up ahead, Alice came to an area where she would have to leave the highway. A large bridge had collapsed sometime after the Disaster and the Society had never bothered to clear it. Instead, the route went off the highway and into a small, abandoned, town before returning to the highway further down the line. It was, normally, a nice distraction and change of pace from the monotonous highway, but Alice's worry only seemed to grow as she pulled off the highway. Had something happened in the town? It would make for a good location for a Resistance ambush...
Alice slowed her car as she turned off the highway and headed up the ramp. She stopped at the top of the turn off and looked around, but didn't see anything that shouldn't be there. Drumming her fingers again, Alice got the car moving toward the town, but made sure to take it slow. Her instincts were going crazy now and Alice was not going to rush into danger..
Pulling up to the abandoned town, Alice brought the jeep to a stop before scanning the area. The old, pockmarked, streets were the same as the had been, the buildings didn't show any signs of fighting, just rot, and the cars looked just as old and rus- wait. Alice's eyes snapped toward a car that had been blocking a turn off onto a side road. And had was the keyword as it wasn't any longer. She, probably, would have missed that if whoever had moved it hadn't let it scrape along the ground, leaving a trail of flaked off rust, paint, and debris. There was no way the Resistance moved that car...but then who did?
The answer was easy enough to figure out. There were only a few people who would go to the trouble of laying a trap for her and only one who would be stupid enough to do it, Lutice. Alice sighed to herself as she debated on just turning around and finding another way to Savannah. She didn't really want to deal with Lutice and her Sword friends right now, but if she was mad enough to do this, she was mad enough to chase Alice all the way to Savannah. Best just to nip this in the bud now rather than have to deal with it later.
Alice grabbed a backpack she had brought with her and took out a few tools. She made a quick and rather ramshackle lock to keep the wheel straight before using the backpack to press the pedal down just enough to keep the jeep rolling. With it moving forward toward the obvious trap, Alice climbed into the back of the jeep. She grabbed a few supplies, before setting the rest up in her seat to make it look like someone was still driving. With everything set, she opened the trunk up just enough to slip out, before closing it as quietly as she could. She followed the rolling jeep long enough for it to reach the road leading to the side street before racing to it. Ducking into cover, she looked back and listened for any cries of alarm and relaxed at the lack of any.
Staying down in a half crouch, Alice made her way to the side street that ran parallel to the one her jeep was on. She stopped at the edge of the building between the main and side street and peeked around to get a look. The side street was empty, save for old, abandoned cars, but Alice could still see signs of some of them having been moved. Her ambushers had gone further down this street to reach their position, it seemed.
Slinking forward without making a sound, Alice moved from wreck to wreck as she made her way down the street. She went down two blocks like this, making sure to stay ahead of her jeep distraction, before the signs of moved cars ended. Alice was still about thirty yards from the spot where the moved cars ended and saw an alleyway heading back toward the main street. A large, two story, house sat next to the alley and looked in decent enough shape. A door leading in was on the backside of it, out of sight of whoever was in the alley. Assuming they were in the alley...
While Alice despised assuming anything, she decided to head into the building anyway. If nothing else, it would provide a good vantage point and some cover if the worst should come to pass. Silently making her way to the door, she thanked the God of Fortune that it was unlocked and made her way inside. The house was rather decrepit and the fine layer of dust caking everything looked undisturbed. Good, that meant her ambushers weren't inside. Alice made her way through the house, making sure to keep completely silent, till she found the stairs heading up. She made her way up, making sure to stay on all fours to keep the old, slowly rotting, wood from creaking. Once on the second floor, she headed to the room beside the alley and hoped that there was a window looking down on it.
Entering the room she was looking for, Alice smiled as she saw a window pointing toward the alleyway and another looking out on the street. Perfect, she could watch her jeep and her ambushers. She creep over to the window and knelt down beside it. Now in position, Alice reached into her pocket and took out a small mirror she had stashed away. She raised it up above the window sill and shifted it till she got a good angle to look into the alleyway..
Down in the alley were four fellow Society members, all with the Sword badge on their arm. The Swords were making sure to keep out of sight, but were, obviously, ready to leap out any second. Alice frowned in anger and annoyance at her theory being proven right. Damn Lutice... she didn't have the patience for this kind of thing. She was about to leap down and ambush the ambushers, but stopped when something caught her eye.
Alice's eyes narrowed as she saw that the Sword closest to the street was holding something. It looked like a gun, but was unlike any she had ever seen before. Society members keeping guns on them wasn't unheard of, but they tended to be rather ramshackle since getting the proper parts wasn't easy. This gun, though, looked nearly pristine and looked more like some kind of ray gun than a typical gun. Where the hell had Lutice gotten her hands on something like that? Alice's worrying feeling came back with avengence and she cast aside her idea to ambush the Swords. She needed to see what that gun could do before she went rushing into a fight with it.
Shifting around to the window looking out onto the street, Alice spotted her jeep slowly making its way toward them. It was still a good fifty or so yards away which helped to hide the fact that she wasn't in it. However, even with its tinted windows, if it got too close the Swords were sure to realize she wasn't driving it. Should that happen, Alice would need a plan. Thankfully, this town would give her plenty of places to hide and ambush the Swords. Perhaps she would get really lucky and they would be stupid enough to split up.
Her plans for how to deal with the Swords were put on hold, however, as she heard the Swords whisper between themselves. Alice was about to shift back to watch them, but stopped when she saw the Sword with the gun spin around the corner and into the street. She raised the gun at the jeep and a beam of green light shot out of it. Alice's eyes went wide in shock at the sight before they turned to look at her jeep. Only...there was no jeep to find.
The street where her jeep had been only a second before was completely empty. There was no burn marks, no explosion, nothing to mark that there had ever been a jeep. It had, literally, vanished into thin air. What the hell kind of weapon was that?! How had Lutice gotten something like that?!
The Sword gave a soft chuckle before advancing toward the area Alice's jeep had been in. The others began to talk among themselves, but Alice ignored them as she watched the Sword with the raygun. She stopped near to where Alice's jeep should have been and looked around at the ground. After a second, she seemed to see what she was after and stomped her foot down onto...something, though what Alice couldn't tell. With that done, the Sword turned back toward the house, forcing Alice to duck down out of sight.
"That takes care of Alice. Looks like Angela was overly worried about her," the Sword with the ray gun said. Angela? Angela was involved in this?... Of course she was. Lutice didn't have the the pull or intelligence to do something like this. Matriarch Angela, however, did. But why? Why would she want Alice dead? Did Alice and the rest beating Lutice and her friends bother her that badly? Possible... but Angela didn't seem to be the type to go this far over such a minor thing.
"Seriously. That was easier than dealing with the Resistance. More boring, too. Let's get back and get a real assignment," another Sword said, shaking Alice from her thoughts. A general chorus of agreement came from the rest as they started toward their vehicle. A real assignment...which meant this had been assigned to them. That all but confirmed Angela was involved. But that still didn't answer why.
Alice, once again, debated on trying to surprise the group. They were sure to know more about this, but the risk... She cursed inwardly as she realized the risk was too great. Four to one odds were already dangerous, but adding in that raygun just made in near suicidal. For now, all she could do was keep hidden and let them, and Angela, believe she was dead. That way, she could act without constant fear of being hunted and figure out what was going on.
The Swords vehicle rumbled to life and Alice stayed hidden as it rolled away. She waited for its engine to die away and then counted out a full five minutes before she got up. With them gone, she could go and see just what that ray had done.
Alice headed out into the street, after making sure it was clear, and moved to the spot where the Sword had gone too. At first glance, the area looked like any other spot on the street, but a closer look revealed something a bit odd. Alice knelt down to the ground to get a closer look and her eyes shot wide as she realized what she was looking at. It was her jeep...or rather what was left of it. Only... only it was tiny...shrunken human tiny... that gun had been a Shrink ray!
Standing back up, Alice rubbed her chin as she scrambled to think of what to do. Angela had a shrink ray...fuck if she turned that on the rest of the Shields... She had to warn them ab- Her hand froze above her wrist unit as she realized she didn't dare use it. If she did, Angela would know she survived and it would be her word against a Matriarchs. With no proof to back her word up, Alice would be lucky to be sent to the brig. And no matter what fate she was, officially, given, Alice knew what would really be waiting for her. She glanced back down at her crushed jeep and swore to herself.
With her wrist unit being more a liability than advantage, Alice took it off and made sure to smash it apart. She was on her own now, but she still had to find some way to warn the rest of the Shields. If Angela had planned any other such traps, Alice wasn't sure how many other Shields would realize wha-... Oh no GABRIELLA! Panic flooded into Alice as she remembered that Gabriella had been sent on a similar trip. Dammit, that overconfident fool wouldn't even think twice about rushing into a fight with the Swords! And if they had a shrink ray too... Alice had to get to her before the Swords did.
However, Alice had no transportation. With her jeep shrunken and crushed, all she had were her legs to get her there, and they were far too slow. Thankfully, Alice had made extensive maps of all the areas around Atlanta and had marked where Ranger supply caches were. Hopefully, one was nearby and it would still have its emergency jeep in storage. If not... Alice might have to risk revealing herself to be alive so she could steal a ride.
Taking out the map she had of this area, Alice easily found where she was and that there was a cache nearby. It wasn't too far, just a couple of miles to the west and over a few hills.. She checked the route and made mental notes of the landmarks to watch for before putting the map back away. With the first landmark ready to be checked off in her mind, Alice took off at a quick jog toward the cache. And as she jogged, she gave a silent prayer that, for once, Gabriella would value discretion over valor. Yet knew perfectly well she would have been better served wishing for an airplane.