Permafrost: Thunderbird

Chapter 29: Just A Little Crush

⭐️Chapter 29: Just A Little Crush

Time was going down fast as the group scrambled to get away. Hearts racing, lungs heaving, and despite bodies aching, they ran. They could not waste time here, because none of them wanted to know what the force of an explosion up close was like. As much as they wanted to help their other friends, they had no time to argue. They needed to make it back to their homes safe and sound before their parentals heard any weird noises and decided to investigate.

Clara and Sai were going to every room they could, using a map to guide them. Now that the place was unstable, none of the locked doors worked properly and they could easily quickly check in and out for experiments. They'd grabbed a cart that was empty and dry to carry all the kids and experiments they could, while speeding around and picking up others as well. It was going pretty well, and many of them still had sanity to want to leave the place. The few experiments that were too scared, unresponsive, or any other form of not cooperative were picked up by Clara and Sai and put into the cart anyway.

Soon, almost all of the experiments were rounded up, with the cart reaching maximum capacity. Sai opted to search the last hallway while Clara got out with the experiments, and Clara agreed. She started down a hallway with some of the experiments starting to become a bit worried. The building's structure around them was cracking, and that increased worry and stress amongst them. Clara just did her best to navigate the cart to an exit before it was too late.

Meanwhile, the Infernos (plus Glade and Ella) were running down a completely different path. Bird was going with them, and they soon figured that swimming was faster. They all changed their ink color to yellow to match Bird's color (since she didn't know how to change her ink color in an instant), and started turfing the halls like mad. Swimming indeed proved to be faster, and before long they managed to locate an exit. All of them immediately pushed the doors open and ran up the hill to safety.

The Infernos and co had gotten out safe and sound, but they could still see the horrid state the laboratory was in. All that built up stress was starting to leave, but some of it still remained as the group hoped for the best for Clara and Sai. None of them wanted to risk going back in, especially since it had been such a panic to get out. They could only wait, watch, and listen to see what the two were up to. Actually, that reminded them of another group that was still in the unstable laboratory.

The Infernos were wondering what would happen to the Wave Crashers, but they were in no condition to go back through there and get them. Heck, even if they were to get them, the Crashers would probably use it as an opportunity to boast or something. They wouldn't even be thankful for what the group did, so what would be the point? For now, they could only wait on Sai and Clara as they tried to get the experiments. Hopefully they wouldn't be crushed under the debris as well.

The Wave Crashers on the other hand had recovered and woken from their hall fights, but had realized what was going on soon after. Pieces of the ceiling were starting to come down, and they needed to get out before they were all crushed under the rubble. Using a building map on a nearby wall, they located the exit closest to them and wasted no time in swimming over there. They soon found the back exit the map said was there, but they felt...more tired than they thought they would. Yeah, they'd fought, but they felt like something else was unnecessarily weighing them down.

And that's when they realized that all the gear they had on them was making this tiring. To escape in time they'd probably have to leave it all here...even though it might as well get destroyed. They supposed that they could always get new gear though, and that living to keep on fighting was much more worth it than keeping it and possibly dying. Quickly, they all scrambled to undo the latches and get the gear off as they made a break for the exit. They also remembered they'd left their payment alone as well, but who cared at this point, they could get more of that from turf. The walls and ceiling collapsed behind them as they ran, and all of them got out of the door just as a large piece of metal came falling down behind them.

As the Infernos were watching the laboratory crumble, Cosmo noticed some figures running away in the distance. As much as he wanted to inestimable, the last thing the a infernos needed was to be missing a member. He stayed put and waited with them, instead focusing on seeing if Hunter left the building. Ryn hoped that Clara and Sai were okay, along with Glade and Ella. Jack and Silvia were also looking for Hunter.

Back inside, Clara's path to an exit had been unexpectedly cut off by debris blocking her path. She didn't hesitate to try and find another route, though she had to admit, she didn't know the place all that well. She used whatever maps on the walls she could as more and more broke down around her. Sai also caught up with her, a few more experiments riding them via piggyback. Together, they ran through the place as fast as they could, hardly stopping at all as they spotted an exit up ahead.

The Infernos saw Sai and Clara exit just as the parts of the lab crumbled down behind them. It was almost like they were being chased...but the group wasn't sure. Hopefully their plan had worked, whatever it was. As the duo ran over, the group asked what happened. According to them, Hunter was crushed under falling lab rubble.

Even if he wasn't dead, he'd be trapped until authorities found him. As much as the Infernos and the Thistlins wanted to stay here and keep an eye on him, their wellbeing was more important. They needed to get to better conditions as soon as possible, and that was what they planned on doing. They also needed to get the experiments proper help so they could continue living their lives. But for now...Everyone was out.

It was all over.

It was going to be okay.

They'd made it.