𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻]

𝐱𝐱𝐯𝐢. 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵!

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐈𝐗 - knockout!

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 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 change. It was the same stretch of space, the same monotonous walls and the same creaking pipes trailing to and fro. Even after twenty minutes of walking... nothing changed at all. Their legs ached, and their feet felt as though they'd done the Irish Jig atop a rug made of splintered glass.

 Scarlet could feel her stomach rumble, she could see the painfully sluggish pace that Robin had fallen to behind her — even with the longest legs, the poor teenager was simply too spent to keep up.

 Steve tried his best to keep himself at the head of the group, to plaster a look of nonchalance on his face, but it hadn't worked. Scarlet had spied the wary glances he tossed around, the way his back and shoulders tightened with every echoing creak from the pipes and machinery... He was tired, and he was terrified.

 It took them all another ten minutes of whining beneath their breath and cringing at every little patter their shoes made until finally, something did change. It should have brought some form of solace to find something diverse, to escape the seemingly endless tunnel that had their hopes of freedom sizzling away with each second, but it didn't. 

 Scarlet only felt her stomach constrict as though a coiling snake had twirled around her body. Lights finally shone their way, the sound of hammering steps scampered back and forth and the drone of active machines hummed in their ears like a swarm of bees.

 Scarlet and Steve paused immediately, their backs falling against the wall as their arms stretched out, preventing their company from proceeding further. They spared a single glance between one another, and with that, Scarlet steeled herself.

 With a slow and cautious movement, she peered around the corner of the wall that had finally come to an end. Flashing lights gleamed, Russians dressed in murky green paced across the pristine floor — each of them carried a gun strapped across their back.

 She waited a moment, and once the coast was moderately clear, Scarlet ushered them forth, behind the cover of forgotten crates and barrels; they all crouched, adding further pressure to the ankles that were already protesting their weight.

 "Okay," Breathed Robin, a certain shakiness to her voice, "That was close."

 Dustin nodded, swallowing harshly, "Too close."

 Scarlet couldn't tear her eyes away front he scene before her, nor her ears away from the sound of thudding footfall. The Russians were just metres away, each one with gleaming weapons that would be sure to find targets within herself, and her friends. She had to think.

 "Just — Just stay calm, okay?" It was a stupid — meaningless — thing to say, for even Scarlet herself couldn't calm her shaking hands and furious breathing. There were over a dozen Russians perusing the floor, some in lab coats that were so very white and so very familiar that she felt her stomach twist.