Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 33: Escapists

Jeongin groaned. "We've got a problem."

"What?" he said.

"On level four they're setting up inside the door with a flamethrower."

"A flamethrower?" Seungmin asked. "If we open the door that will fill the whole stairwell."

"It's worse, they've even armed the scientists. Superman couldn't make it through that door alive."

Jisung looked back down the stairwell. "I've got an idea. How many guards on three?"

"None, they've abandoned the floor."

"You're sure?"

He looked again. "Yes."

"Seungmin, how much smoke do one of these smoke grenades make?"

"Well, if they're like the ones on the Discovery Channel, they'll each produce forty thousand cubic feet of smoke in about thirty-five seconds."

"How many cubic feet is the fourth floor?"

Seungmin loved questions like that. "I estimate this place is about forty-four hundred square feet per floor, the ceiling's about eight feet high, so, if my calculations are accurate that's thirty-five thousand, two hundred cubic feet of space per floor."

He grinned. "So twelve smoke grenades would cover it."

"The smoke will be so thick they could chew it like bubble gum. But how do we get the smoke grenades up there?"

"No problem," he said. "Follow me."

They climbed back down to the third level—the floor of the electric children suites. Knowing that the cameras were still live, Chan went inside alone to take out the cameras, while he explained the plan to everyone else. A minute later Chan opened the stairwell door on three. "All clear. The cameras are dead."

They all went inside.

Hyunjin and Felix each called an elevator. When the elevators arrived they pushed the button for the fourth floor, then stepped back out and held the elevator doors open.

"Everyone ready?" he asked.

"Let's roll," Chan said.

The elevators began to beep from being detained.

"Seungmin?"

"Ready," he shouted from the stairwell.

"Now!"

At his signal Seungmin leaned out the stairwell door and threw a concussion grenade up to the fourth floor, while Felix and Hyunjin pulled the pins on their smoke grenades, six apiece, threw them into the elevators, and let the elevators go. A half-minute later Jeongin started to laugh. "It's working." Smoke was filling the fourth level.

"Minho, now!" he shouted.

Minho began concentrating, trying to create as much general confusion as he could.

They could hear the guards and scientists above them in a state of panic.

"They're running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off," Jeongin said. "They're climbing out the windows."

Within five minutes the guards and scientists had completely vacated the floor. They went back to the stairwell. Smoke from their grenades had seeped into the stairwell and Seungmin was covering his mouth and nose with his shirt, which he had pulled up through his vest.

"They're all gone," Jisung said.

"Nine guards left," Seungmin said.

"How's the smoke?" he asked Jeongin.