The command center was functioning properly for the most part. Most of the lights still worked some of them flickering loudly above. The laptops and computers on the desks illuminated the wall behind them with their blue screens. Abel looked around tapping the space bars on multiple computers in an attempt to access the internet or even secure folders that may have told them what they needed to know.
Miles had an odd feeling as he looked around. The electronics in the room were all on and functioning properly, but nobody sat behind them. No husks or living breathing people. It was just an empty room filled with desks arranged in a half circle rising slightly as they moved further back toward the wall. In front of all of the desks was a large blinking control panel beneath a movie theater-sized screen. He couldn't help but wonder where everyone had gone, did they escape? Did they go outside for help? Or were they never here to begin with?
The longer he thought the more his questions seemed to grow. He slowly approached the control panel as Abel and Beck canvased the rest of the room. The buttons on the board were all labeled each of them serving an individual purpose that had to do with video messages.
"Enhance, Zoom, Pause, Play, Skip, and Power," He said, reading the labels aloud. His fingers grazed the tops of the square buttons tempting him to press any of them. As he reached out he heard the door swing open aggressively.
"We need to leave," Amanda said, panting loudly with Ashure and Boulder close behind her.
"Why, what's going on?" He asked, removing his antsy fingers from the board.
"The vines, they're everywhere," She said, hesitantly.
"Yeah, we know. That's why we're looking for answers so we can go before all of the buildings get consumed," Abel replied, staring at a completely wiped computer.
"No, you don't understand," She urged.
"They're-"
"Miles!" Eden shouted, running into the room.
"Eden? What's wrong?" He asked, diverting his attention to them.
"They didn't know," They said, through their long hefty breaths.
"What? Who didn't know? What didn't they know?" He asked, confused.
"The students and the teachers, they were all in class when the blast hit," Selena said, angrily.
"What do you mean they didn't know?" Beck asked, raising her eyes from the blue screen of one of the computers.
"Listen to me closely. Nobody told these people," Selena said, slowly and clearly.
"That doesn't make any sense," Amanda mumbled.
"Why do you say that?" Miles asked.
"Because we found this," She said, handing the note they found to Miles. He read it slowly and clearly, dragging his eyes across the words multiple times, in an attempt to make sense of them.
"Look at the date," Amanda said, expectantly. Miles' eyes widened as they wandered to the top corner of the piece of paper.
"This was sent the day before," He stuttered.
"The day before?" Abel questioned, walking down the stairs toward the rest of the group.
"They knew, and they left us to fucking die," Miles said, kicking one of the desk chairs and rolling it into the console.
"It gets worse," Amanda said, placing her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him.
"How much worse?" he asked, nervously.
"The vines, They're-"
"Under the entire city, and probably much further," Scott interrupted, walking into the room.
"What do you mean, under?" Miles asked, looking toward Scott's vicinity.
"I mean the vines, they're sucking everything under, and we're running out of time, they're under the streets and expanding,"
"Miles, what does this mean?" Beck asked as the rest of the group turned to him for the answer they all wanted.
"I...I don't know," He replied, pacing in circles.
"It means we need to get the fuck out of here," Scott said, frustrated.
"We need to find the answers we came for," Miles replied, stopping in his tracks.
"Are you fucking deaf Henderson? The fucking vines aren't only taking the buildings, they're taking everything within the city limits. We need to get as far away from here as we can before we go with it," he shouted angrily.
"We can't leave without knowing what we're up against out there," Miles said, sitting in the chair he shoved into the console and leaning backward. The back of the chair clicked the power button as Miles leaned back and thought through their options. A loud fanning noise roared from the panel and he spun around quickly as the bright screen illuminated the whole room. The large screen now had a video message plastered across it paused with a soldier standing in a desert with a large infantry behind him.
"What the fuck?" Scott said, stepping back.
"I...it works," Eden said as the bright screen burned their eyes slightly.
"Press play Miles," Abel said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. Miles' hand once again hovered over the play button as everyone else watched in anticipation. Then with a gentle push and a loud click, the sound of helicopters and gunfire swelled in the room. The video showed hundreds of soldiers running into battle behind the general on the screen.
"Sir, the threat is real. They are preparing for launch we need to evacuate now!" The man yelled, ducking as explosions went off behind him.
"No, you must continue the assault and overtake the base before those rockets can launch," A voice said firmly from the other end.
"Sir there will be countless casualties if we proceed," The soldier pleaded.
"Follow orders or I will replace you with someone who will," The firm voice replied. The video went black displaying a large red stamp that read End of transmission.
"What's next?" Amanda asked, seeing the slide arrow beside the video window. Miles moved his finger reluctantly to the next button on the board in front of him clicking it shakily. The next video was different, there was no longer a man speaking to the camera begging for his life it was now a video of the same stoic infantry soldiers running in the opposite direction. Miles pressed the play button once again and the horrifying image became far worse than he had expected. The time stamp in the bottom corner was marked three days before the initial blast. A blue beam of light consumed the battlefield leaving behind husked soldiers and a few "lucky" survivors who only lost parts of their bodies. Explosions sounded as weapons turned against their users until silence fell over the harsh desert. The group watched in horror as the "end of transmission" stamp appeared. Again there seemed to be another video in the folder. Miles hesitantly clicked the next button. This video was filmed somewhere else, the background was filled with large white tents and soldiers being carried on stretchers. The same soldier was sitting in front of the camera with a bandaged head. Miles clicked the play button once more.
"Sir, the dreams have become too much for some of the men. We are low on supplies and we have no way of protecting ourselves against this weapon," the soldier said, looking defeated.
"Corporal, we do not have the time nor the means to successfully evacuate the entire country. We are counting on you to prevent this launch so you understand me?" The voice said sternly.
"Sir, we don't—Oh no," the general said rising from his seated position. A roaring blast echoed through the speakers. The general's face wore a look of horror as an orange glow painted it.
"Corporal?" The voice questioned concerned.
"You've killed them all," he replied staring coldly at the camera. A beam of blue light quickly evaporated the man and all signs of the military behind him. The transmission ended as anger filled the room.
"This message was sent the day it happened," Miles said, angrily.
"They killed us, they knew and they killed us," his anger overtook his curiosity as he switched the power off.
"Miles we need to leave, nothing here is going to help us, the vines won't hold out much longer," Abel said.
"How could they let billions die?"