luke woke up to michael tapping on the window. irritated, he groaned and rubbed his eyes with the back of one hand.
"what do you want?" he mumbled.
"i hear voices." michael answered.
"you can read minds, you're always hearing voices."
"they're new voices, twat. and, god, they're loud."
luke came within a few seconds of telling him exactly how much he didn't care when there was a sharp sound of metal grinding against metal. someone made a "shh" noise.
"who's banging around out there?" ashton joined in on the conversation, voice alert.
"wake up calum." michael told him. "now; come on."
there was about twenty seconds of creaking and muffled voices.
"he's awake."
luke sat on his knees and stared at the dark outline of the door. he was scared out of his mind.
"michael?" he whispered, "what're they thinking?"
"they're looking for someone." he answered in an equally tense voice. "they sound too young to be one of them, but... i don't know."
ash spoke up. "um, i hate to interrupt, but i think i hear them too."
it was impossible for him to have mutated mind reading that quickly, which meant they were close. luke put one foot on the ground, then the other. he quietly walked foreword to the door and put his ear against it. there were a few voices to be heard on the other side.
"okay, if i tore off every door in this place, someone would hear and come running."
"according to harry, the guard isn't going to be an issue for a while."
"we took care of him?"
"yeah, out cold."
"...was that a pun?"
"if we're going on record, no."
luke then jumped as he heard a loud grinding noise from the room next to him. he had yet to hear any names or motives, though michael was probably being hounded with them. luke took a few steps back, his heart pounding. no one had said anything to each other since the voices had been audible to all.
something banged against his door, and a small beam of light shone in. there were several loud cracks, and the door fell backwards into the room. luke stumbled back and fell onto his bed. he stared at the boy in the doorway. he didn't look like someone who'd just ripped the door hinges off the wall' soft eyes and a build that didn't at all resemble some muscular beast.
a girl with brown hair poked her head in. "great, we found one."
"i don't mean to rhyme, but better than none."
luke didn't feel so much ready to implode from anxiety, as instead he felt more curious. and rather insulted at being referred to as "it". he'd never seen these people before. he didn't even know exactly where he was, how had they?
the boy went over to michael's door and gently- or as gently as one could- took the door off it's frame. they were made of some steel-like substance, locked by several bolts that were only done by punching the code into a pad. luke finally moved out of his room and into the hallway. he'd only seen his friends a few times before; ashton and michaels' eyes about a thousand.
"there's a code." luke said, forcing himself to speak. "if you don't want to destroy everything, the pad's right there."
"good to know." the boy smiled with slight embarrassment, putting the door up against the wall.
michael slowly stepped out of his room. luke realized with faint amusement that they were both taller than the four- another boy and girl stood off to the side, quietly watching- by several inches. at least there would be an advantage if things turned sour. michael, without saying a word, punched several numbers into the pad. there was a metallic grinding sound, and the doors that hadn't been detached swung open.
the second girl, a blonde, stood up a little straighter. "okay, that makes things easier."
luke faintly smiled and rested his back against the wall. he felt more relaxed than he probably should have. even if the guard came back, he'd be outnumbered eight to one, give or take. they were home free.
ashton took a cautious step into the open. luke hadn't ever seen him fully before. the kid was tall too, and an almost-scrawny build. soft brown eyes and slightly curly hair.
"you scared the shit out of us, you know." michael said, his shoulders tense.
the first girl raised an eyebrow. "pardon? this is the equivalent of a jail break, did you expect us to come down singing about freedom and liberation?"
calum had also come out, although no one but ashton seemed to notice. cal slept a lot, and had frequent night tremors; luke had marked it down as such until ashton relayed the information that calum got visions when he slept. seeing the future. it was like sticking your hand into a murky pond, cal had described it as, and not knowing what you're going to brush up against. also known as scary as hell.
before any more words could be exchanged, good or bad, a girl sprinted out of her room and up the stairs. the blonde girl hesitated, then took off after her. the strong boy went after her.
the first girl looked at the remaining boy and said, "you stay here with these guys."
"why me?"
"because, niall, i said so first."
she patted him on the shoulder, then sprinted back and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
luke stared at niall, who then awkwardly smiled at the four boys in front of him.
"alright, as tough as i am, you four are fucking giants and i don't see me being able to stop you from leaving." he shrugged. "your choice."
calum spoke up. "do you have a way to get us out of here?"
"of course, we're not as dumb as we look."
ashton's face lit up. "let's go then!"
almost as quickly as the others, they and niall sprinted out after everyone else.
~
kris barely managed to catch up to the running girl.
she, first of all, wasn't a star athlete. and this girl seemed to have no difficulty sprinting up the stairs and out of the building.
simultaneously, louis and harry were doing their best to act like innocent passer-bys. they hadn't had much of a choice, since louis had knocked him out with an over-sized icicle a few minutes prior. and they'd managed to keep him occupied, with zayn and maddie in the second van, all the way up until a girl burst through the front door.
the guard instantly went for his gun. louis thought quick and shot a blast of ice at the weapon. it froze over almost instantly.
"new problem, buddy." harry said, igniting his fist. "us."
kris managed to chase the girl towards the vans. zayn, bless him, was paying enough attention to open the door and jump out. the girl attempted to run past him; zayn grabbed her arm only for her to spin around and punch him in the face. he stumbled back, eyes wide.
but he'd slowed her down enough for kris to catch up and grab her. once again, the girl blindly swung. kris dodged and took her onto the ground. she pressed her knee into the girl's chest and held down her hands.
"we aren't trying to hurt you." kris insisted, struggling to keep her hold.
the girl flared her nostrils and glared. "sure, whatever you say."
kris almost snapped back, but stopped herself. the position they were in wasn't exactly what one would call friendly. after a moment, kris moved her knee away and stood up. the girl jumped to her feet, but hesitated where she stood.
zayn rubbed his jaw. "nice hit."
"anytime."
kris already didn't like this girl.
"sorry." the girl only slightly became less tense. "if people grab me, i take it as hostile."
suddenly, there was a large eruption of flame behind them. kris spun around to see part of the ground ablaze near the building. harry and louis were running towards them.
"start the car." kris said.
zayn didn't need to be told twice.
kris quickly threw open the door. she caught the back of niall's head as he jumped into the back of the other van. she had to assume the four boys were with him.
she stared at the girl. "we got you out of that place. i promise we're trying to take you someplace better."
the girl glanced over her shoulder. the flames were extinguishing, and the guard was coming their way quick. she didn't even get a chance to run. harry picked her up like she was paper and hoisted her into the car. louis was right behind them.
instantly after louis closed the door behind him, the first van took off. the second right after. and they left the guard slightly scorched and empty handed.
the girl glared up furiously at harry. "don't touch me again. ever."
harry barely acknowledged her anger. he exhaled, leaning his head back. kris watched as his hand dropped against the girl's leg, and she grabbed it and twisted it the wrong way. harry jumped in surprise, and his arm set itself ablaze. she let go immediately.
zayn looked at them through the rear-view mirror. "hey, will you two knock it off? we just broke five people out of a government building, i am not going to let my biggest issue making sure you two don't kill each other." as an afterthought, he added, "with all due respect, of course."
kris brought the conversation to a lighter topic. "so, what's your name?"
the girl exhaled and looked over at her. "ashlyn. now who's the oversized male genital sitting next to me."
it took a moment for harry to realize she'd called him a giant dick. "hey-"
"harry." kris cut him off. "his name is harry. the one driving is zayn, louis's the one in the passenger seat, and- is maddie in the other van?"
"in the back." zayn answered.
kris looked behind her to see madison asleep on the back seats, headphones in.
ashlyn glanced back as well, raising an eyebrow. "so," she sat back down. "where are you taking us?"
louis answered. "the airport. we're not from around here, so we're getting everyone away and safe."
no one talked much after that. harry and ashlyn didn't so much as look at each other. she had that effect on people anyway. kris finally began studying her. ashlyn wore a plain white shirt, tattered gray shorts, and had brown hair and eyes and a scar that cut across her left cheek.
halfway to the airport, madison woke up. she and ashlyn didn't hit it off either.
it was around nine when the vans pulled up in the airport. and the first problem came foreword almost instantly after that.
rain.
fierce, pounding rain came quick. the winds not much later. louis went inside to find over a quarter of flights delayed and a handful completely canceled. their's being among that group.
and louis came back, soaking wet, with the bad news.
"how long are we going to be out here for?" niall asked. he'd come out of the first van and now joined louis next to the rolled down window of the second van.
louis shrugged. "i don't know. however long it takes for the weather to clear up so the planes can fly again."
niall exhaled. "well we need to find somewhere to stay. i don't think we're going to last the night in two vans."
"which- and i hate to beat a dead horse- we need to have returned in the next eight hours." zayn added, flipping through the folder.
louis glared at him. "gee, thanks." then he turned back to niall. "um, well, we can try and look around for open hotel rooms, inns, anything that's available."
harry jumped in on the conversation as well. "splitting up might help as well. if we cover enough quickly, we can work on getting another flight back home."
niall glanced into the car and frowned. "why do you look so amused?"
louis and zayn glanced back at ashlyn, sure enough smiling. she straightened her posture.
"don't get me wrong, i am more than grateful for being taken out of that place; i owe all of you." ashlyn said, "but you mean to say that no one had a backup plan? no one accounted for natural occurrences, or even got a place to stay just in case?"
harry looked at her, completely unamused, then look at niall. "you guys want to take her?"
"sorry, we're full. but we'll meet you guys back here in an hour and a half if nothing turns up."
niall rushed back to the other van, and they split up from there.
~
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