I blinked a couple of times and slowly opened my eyes. There, sitting on the side, Freya smiled brightly and Andrea stepped forward.
"Are you feeling better, Karen sis?" Andrea asked.
I moved my arms around lightly. "Yes, my wound doesn't hurt as much anymore. What was that?"
"It's just a little something Freya likes to do."
"Hehehe," Freya grinned. "Glad you're feeling better now!" She held on to my hand and we walked back to the others.
"Karen, are you alright?" Rose asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." I looked beside Rose. "Where's Antonio?"
"He went into the kitchen to pack some stuff."
"Ah, alright."
As Claire munched on the last container of food, she began to choke slightly and Rose gave her a bottle of water.
"Eat slowly, Claire," Rose said softly.
Suddenly, the siren rang, again.
Antonio rushed out the kitchen door with a backpack. "Those damn scientists! They must've noticed!"
"What's going on?" I asked.
Everyone looked around confused and began to panic.
"What should we do?" Freya said. Her eyes began to tear up and she held on to Andrea's hand tightly.
Antonio looked at them, then at Rose, and finally me. A brief moment later, he looked back at Freya. "Let's go home."
* * *
We hurried down the corridors with the kids running in front and Claire running behind me. Thankfully, my wound didn't hurt as much and I could keep going.
"Where are we going?" I asked Antonio.
"Somewhere, just follow me."
Rose tugged my arm and asked, "Is this going to be alright?"
I looked at her hesitantly and then said, "It'll be alright." I turned my head facing towards the girls then towards Antonio. "Right?"
"Yes, it'll be fine."
*Step* *Step* *Step*
We heard a lot of steps fading in the distance.
"Isn't this the direction we came from?" I asked Antonio.
Antonio stayed silent.
"Antonio...?" I questioned again.
"I knew he wasn't trustworthy!" Claire shouted. She pulled me and Rose to the side and pointed the rifle at him. "Stop! You little bastard! You're working for the those people right!?"
Antonio frozen and stayed silent. The kids stopped moving and they started to tremble. Antonio turned around facing Claire and the kids hid behind him.
"What are you up to! Spill it!" Claire demanded.
"Hey, hey, don't point the gun at the kids," Antonio said. He used his arm to cover the kids and block the aim from them.
"Freya, Andrea... come over-" Rose began to say softly but Freya interrupted.
"No!!!" Freya shouted. She stepped forward and in front of Antonio.
"F-Freya!" Rose hesitantly said.
"It's dangerous!" I added. I walked back to Claire and pushed the rifle's aim down towards the floor.
"Let go!" Claire shrugged heavily. "You can't be trusted either! You were with him earlier!!!" She pointed the gun at me.
"C-Claire!" I said loudly. "Calm down!"
"What's there to be calm about?! You guys are scheming together!!!"
"He's not a bad guy!" Freya added. "He's just taking us home!!!" Freya shouted loudly.
Suddenly the corridor fell silent. The siren continued to sound as my wound pulsed rapidly while I tried to find a way to solve this situation.
But then, around a side corridor, I saw soldiers running down the other end of it. They were heading straight towards the place we fought with the dead soldiers before.
"Guys, look!" I said point in that direction.
"Shit! We need to get going, quick!" Antonio insisted. "Claire! I know you don't trust me but just wait until I get these kids safe first!"
"How do I know you gonna get them safe!? Are you just gonna hand them over to those soldiers you work for!!?" Claire replied.
"Just! Listen to me for once! You can do anything about me later but please let's go! Your putting everyone else here in danger!!"
"...W-Who cares about that police!" Claire said staring at me. "She's probably working for the soldiers too-"
Rose stopped her. "Claire, let's go, okay?"
Claire stopped. Her hands began to tremble restlessly. "We c-c-can't trust them-"
"Claire, trust me, please? I'm sure they aren't bad people."
"..." Claire's eyes teared up. "They, they...! ...alright..." Claire loosened her hand and pointed the gun downwards.
"Now let's go!" I said.
* * *
Sure enough, the place was like a maze. I couldn't keep track of our location but Antonio was able to. From the argument just now, he guided us off track and managed to avoid the soldiers that were going towards the dead bodies.
But something felt off; I had a bad feeling.
We stopped at the cross path between the corridors. It was the same location me and Antonio was hiding before. He poked his head around the corner and I did the same.
Interestingly, we saw a smokescreen.
"The soldiers are distracted," I said.
"But..." Rose said looking through the corner with us. "By who...?" She took a closer look and saw a bag lying on the floor in the thin smoke. Her eyes widened and she began to shake, falling back on to Claire.
"H-Hey!" Claire said in surprise.
"I-I-It's-!!!" Rose stuttered.
I turned my head around. "What...?" I asked Rose.
A brief moment of silence later, Rose screamed.
"RAYYYYY!!!"