After their encounter with the modified humans, the cars continued their frantic race towards their unknown destination. Claire wondered when they would reach wherever they were traveling towards. As she listened to Gia and Jake debating about the sudden and violent encounter, the picture that was being painted didn't appear to be a positive one.

"What's Communications saying?" Jake asked, breaking the long silence since their conversation just after the attack.

Gia sneered and said, "I'm just hearing typical update information as if we didn't nearly get overrun by those things. The biggest update is how the Arachnia division is pulling back their teams to match the timing of our arrival."

"Does that mean we're almost there?" Claire asked, sounding more relieved than she realized.

Jake pointed ahead of them, and Claire saw a massive wall. She looked at him in confusion, not understanding what she was looking at.

"That's Fort 41's security wall. You're lucky being able to see this place." Gia answered her silent question.

"I don't know about that," Jake said. "We have better facilities, though I don't understand why the higher-ups didn't have us go to our secure locations."

"You already know why," Gia said. "The Government is funding this girl's parent's research, so it makes sense that they would want it to continue at a Government controlled location. What doesn't make sense is your attitude about it." Gia sighed in annoyance at Jake's words.

Jake nudged her shoulder and leaned closer to Claire. He whispered, "If you saw the places we built, you'd understand what I'm talking about."

"Is it like Star and Moon Studio?" Claire asked in wonder.

Laughing at her question, Jake said, "That's the kiddie place, where everyone is allowed to go. The places I'm talking about are several times better than Star and Moon Studio."

Hearing Jakes words made her open her eyes wide, just thinking about a place that's even more fantastical than Star and Moon Studio. Everything inside of that place seemed beyond anything she imagined, only appearing in books and TV shows. "What's it like working there?" Claire asked.

"It's like being awake inside of a dream, seeing things you thought could never exist and traveling to fantastical locations," Jake answered, his voice conveying a similar childlike characteristic as her own.

"Hey!" Gia said to Jake.

"Chill out. I'm not saying any specifics." Jake said defensively.

"I don't mean for us to sound and look so secretive, but we're not supposed to share what we do with those not part of our organization. I hope you don't mind." Gia said to Claire, sounding a lot gentler when compared to the first time she had met Claire.

Nodding her head, Claire let Gia know that she understood and wasn't offended by it.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe here. This base was designed for the type of situation we're in, likely due to the Government getting overeager about certain new technologies." Jake said to Claire.

"We don't know that they're the ones connected to this," Gia said to Jake.

"You have to admit how strange it is that they built a military base that happens to be great to conduct research on this specific issue," Jake said in a conspiratorial tone.

Raising both of her hands into the air and shaking her head, Gia said, "Aside from the fact that this place was built long before Star and Moon began their research into this field. Meaning that the base couldn't have a connection."

"But the Government and Star and Moon have been working closely with one another for a long time," Jake pointed a finger at Gia and sounding proud to have pointed out something Gia failed to grasp.

Instead of answering Jake, Gia just looked out the window and sending clear signals that she wasn't interested in such matters.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Claire stopped herself from giggling at the way Jake and Gia interacted with one another. Though Gia came off as very standoffish, it was clear that the two of them had known each other for a long time and enjoyed their bantering. Looking out ahead through the window, Claire watched as the wall rose ever higher as they approached it. She could understand why Jake thought this location had more than what it revealed on the surface. From the sounds of what Jake had said, such a design was atypical for a military base.

Thinking of her family members and wondering if they were okay, she thought about the type of research that was worked on in such a place. Her mom and dad likely had a similar experience working at their facility, dealing with secrecy though not on such a large scale as a military base.

The speed of the car slowly began to decrease, and soon they were driving at a regular speed as you would go in a residential area. She soon saw a soldier that was waving his hand, indicating for them to keep driving. As the vehicle traveled through the opening of the base, she saw several large groups of soldiers with weapons trained on the entrance.

"What are those soldiers doing?" Claire asked.

"They're making sure that modified humans don't come through," Jake said. "Not like their defenses would make a difference after the number of Adaptions those things went through."

"It helps keeps them feeling secure, so don't make fun of them too much. I can understand what they're thinking and how frightening all of this looks." Gia rebuked Jake.

It still took several moments before the car stopped. When the car was no longer moving, Jake opened up his door and got out. Claire looked at Gia for directions and saw Gia motioning for her to get out and follow Jake. Exiting the car, Claire could see a long line of vehicles that were parked along the side of the road. In front of her was a large building, the outside was made up of concrete and looked sterile. It didn't have the typical welcoming feel that the buildings in her hometown had or the futuristic feel of the mall that Han and her friends would visit after school had finished for the summer. Thinking of the mall and Han made her feel sad, and wondering what they were doing and if they were alright.

"Claire!" A voice yelled out at her.

Looking in the direction of the voice, Claire could see her friend, Hannah running towards her.

"Hannah!" Claire yelled back and run towards her.

The two of them quickly embraced the other, grateful to see that the other was alright and safe.

"Once those things appeared, I was worried that the car you were in had been overturned by those things," Hannah said. "The car behind us had been dragged away by a large number of those monsters. I asked the people next to me what had happened and they explained that it was one of the army's cars."

"We had two of them jump onto our car as we were driving. Fortunately, the people with me were able to fight them off," Claire explained.

As they were talking, Jake came up behind Claire and said, "Come on, you two, we need to head inside."

"Where are we going?" Claire asked in confusion.

"Your parents are going to be discussing things with those in charge, and I'll be taking you to your room where you'll be staying until they can figure all this out," Jake explained.

"Will you and Gia be staying here?" Claire asked.

Jake shook his head. "We need to be going back. Those in charge have already given us our orders, so after I finish escorting you, I'll be taking off with Gia and everyone else."

Hearing his words, Claire felt a little sad that both Gia and Jake would be taking off. Just like Raven, Claire felt safe around both of them and didn't enjoy thinking about the idea of never seeing them again. She understood that they had things that needed to be done.