"Guys… is it just me, or is this mist turning green?" Ivy asked nervously.
Everyone froze, tension tightening their faces but Willow looked paler than the rest. She already knew. This wasn't a middle zone. It was a danger zone.
The mist around them thickened, its hue darkening. Indigo swallowed hard before speaking.
"I think we're in a danger zone."
Relief flickered through Willow that Indigo had said it first. She shoved the meter back into her pocket. "Things just got a lot more complicated and we haven't even saved anyone yet."
"Why would Nexus send us here? They told us that we were going to a middle zone!" Payton gasped, his hands clamping over his ears.
Willow drew in a deep breath through her filter mask, clinging to the illusion of calm. She remembered the reading 67% when they entered. It climbed higher as they went deeper to 84%. Maybe the Academy hadn't realized. Maybe this was a middle zone mutating into a danger zone.
