Chapter 71

                                    

                                          
"Right down here, if my coordinates are correct."
                          
"And you're certain no one would know of this."
                          
"Nobody except the select few Decepticons. None of the troops knew this, only Megatron, Starscream, Knockout, Soundwave, Breakdown, Shockwave and I. Those are the only ones." Amal told the Prime as he pulled into a alley way in the streets of Hermosillo.
                          
"Right here." Optimus slowed to a stop and Amal slowly opened the door, trying to climb down slowly to not hurt her leg any more. She placed it gently on the step and hissed in pain, retracting it back.
                          
Optimus's holoform appeared and he climbed out quickly to go to Amal's aid. "Allow me to help." He said, carefully grabbing her arm, but was surprised when she jerked it away.
                          
"I'm not that hurt."
                          
Optimus crossed his arms, cocking an eyebrow. "Then step out of the truck." He said sassily and Amal gazed toward the ground in determination before hopping out of the truck.
                          
She hit the ground, a shock going through her body again and her leg collapsing from underneath her and she fell into the dirt, cursing loudly through gritted teeth.
                          
Optimus grabbed her shoulders and helped her up. "Amalgamous, you shouldn't push yourself, you'll hurt yourself even more." Optimus told her as he steadied her. Amal glared up at him.
                          
"Optimus, I'm not a damsel in distress. I never have been, alright? I appreciate your help, but when you treat me like a child, it pisses me off." Amal growled before limping past him. Optimus followed her with his gaze before sighing and beginning to walk after her.
                          
"I am sorry."
                          
"I know, it's fine. You're used to humans not as strong as me. One's that can easily go squish. But I don't go that easily, Optimus. I promise that." Amal said, wincing at every step she took toward a assortment of large garbage bins.
                          
"It's not only that, Amalgamous."
                          
The blonde haired girl stopped and turned around to the Prime, looking confused.
                          
"What do you mean?"
                          
Optimus swallowed. "I know times are hard now, and it's even harder to look at what's happened, but we have to face the future and think about the possibilities that could happen." He explained, twiddling his holoform's thumbs.
                          
"We have to think of the possibilities if it just narrows down to us two."
                          
Amal didn't like to hear it, but the Prime was right. What if Unicron has already found everyone else, maybe even them, and him and his army were closing in on them and could slaughter them at any second?
                          
It scared her, truthfully. She had experienced battle, but to start one with a god? It was madness.
                          
"Yea, I get it Optimus. You're right." She breathed out before turning and continuing to the garbage cans. Optimus quickly caught up, hesitantly grabbing her arm, and this time she allowed him to help her like he had done at the Pentagon.
                          
"It should be right here." The young girl stopped in front of the bins and stared at the ground. Optimus frowned. "What should be?" He asked as she slowly knelt down, wincing as she put slightly pressure on her injury.
                          
Amal touched the bin, feeling around it until she noticed a small lever sticking out from the bottom. She reached and clicked it and suddenly, and long, metal rod with a ball at the end of it stuck out of the trash can in front of her face and she fell back into her butt out of fear.
                          
Optimus has his gun aimed at it, one that his holoform always had hidden, not letting his eye off the thing.
                          
The ball at the end opened like an eye and spoke a few things that both Amal and Optimus recognized. Amal opened her mouth and spoke back to it in Optimus's native language and the thing scanned Amal's face before disappearing back into the bin.
                          
The girl and the Prime looked at each other in confusion before the garage bin slowly started to sink into the ground. Optimus helped Amal up, still holding onto her to help keep her balance once she was up as they watched the bin lower until a passage was revealed to them.
                          
Amal looked at Optimus with a sideways smile.
                          
"After you."
                          
~
                          
Optimus was inching forward with his gun raised with one arm and his other against Amal behind him to shield her. "God primus, it's dark in this bitch." Amal whispered as she listened to the faint sound of water dripping.
                          
"You see anything dangerous?"
                          
"Negative, it seems we're the only ones here so far." Optimus said as they approached a opening to a large room, seeing it still filled with darkness.
                          
"It seems not."
                          
Something hard bashed into Amal's head and she winced slightly, but other than that it didn't do much to send her anywhere.
                          
"Motherfucker!"
                          
"How the hell did that not—"
                          
Gunshots suddenly erupted toward them as Amal looked up and saw a man staring down at her before she dove away for cover while Optimus went the other way.
                          
The gunshots stopped.
                          
"Come our with your hands up!"
                          
Amal scoffed and crossed her arms while looking at Optimus across the way. "Like hell!" She yelled and another gun shot rang but both of them didn't flinch. "That's our final warning shot. Leave now, or it's the real thing!"
                          
"Warning shot?! You had already shot at us!" Amal exclaimed before Optimus shushed her. "Very well, we will come out. Don't shoot." The Prime said in a low voice. Amal scoffed. "I can't believe we're bowing to human wishes." She mumbled angrily while pushing herself off the ground and gripping the wall to help herself hobble up.
                          
Both her and Optimus nodded at each other before slowly coming out from behind the walls that they had dove behind, their hands above their heads.
                          
"Search 'em." The man who had been talking to them said to his group of men. As they came closer, Amal saw they were Marines, but not normal ones. They were dressed differently.
                          
"Marines, huh? I love a man in uniform." Amal said with a smirk. "Shut up." The man said, patting her left leg down. Amal snickered before he went to the other leg, aggressively hitting it, making her yell in pain before kneeing him in the face with her left knee.
                          
"God, watch it asshole!" She exclaimed as the man stumbled back. "Oh, that's it!" The man said, advancing toward her with a bloody nose. "Dart! Stop!" The man from earlier said sternly while walking up to them and the man stopped with a glare still on his face.
                          
'Dart' exhaled through his nostrils angrily, aggressively wiping his nose. "Stupid fucking kid." Optimus gazed at the man and assessed that he must be the leader of the group, who looked vaguely familiar to him, causing him to step forward a bit after being patted down to get a better look at him.
                          
"This stupid fucking kid will kick your ass." Amal growled as the leader walked up to her. "Shut up, Dart. She's injured." The man said and Dart growled as one of his teammates handed him a cloth, quietly thanking him and pressing it to his own nose.
                          
"What happened to you?"
                          
"Why do you care?"
                          
"How did you know about this?"
                          
"This place? Because I created it. Well, co-created it." Amal told their leader, a tall, broad man with wavy, brown hair that was slick back slightly. "Really? Is that so?" The man asked with a smirk before speaking in perfect Cybertronian and Amal's eyes widened.
                          
And that's when Optimus's eyes stared at the man in shock and confusion as he slowly lowered his hands, stepping forward and opening his mouth as the leader looked at him wearily until the Prime spoke.
                          
"Spike?"