Love's Psychos

Chapter 45

Akane escorted Caleb to the photography club, where they took shelter in the dark room. There he was able to regenerate from his beating whilst checking his phone for news updates on the 'terrorist attack' in progress. The school had been taken over by twenty-three gunners in total. Several of the faculty had been taken hostage, but no demands were being made beyond keeping any and all law enforcement off the premises, not that Caleb was surprised. The hostages were likely just a stall tactic while they hunted their real target. Him.While he gathered info, Akane finished jamming the rotating darkroom door with a metal rod. Once she was satisfied it couldn't function, she rejoined him."That should keep them out for at least a while.""It also keeps us in," he retorted while continuing to watch the news feed. "I don't get it. What are they trying to prove here? There's no way any of these morons get out of this alive, not without ending up in handcuffs.""Could be this is a suicide mission," she offered. "Haruki lost her husband and child; she fits the bill for a woman with nothing left to lose.""Maybe...but if this were truly a suicide mission, she would have come in with a bomb vest and detonator, not twenty-three armed Hunters." Caleb shook his head. "No, she definitely has an escape plan. Damned if I know what it could be, though."Akane dug deep into her memory, recalling every detail she knew about this school, every nook and passageway she'd ever used to break in after classes. There was no way they were getting out through the front. Law enforcement had it locked down tight. There were no back entrances to speak of, and she highly doubted they'd be scaling the walls with all those snipers the police were no doubt getting into position.Which meant the only way they could possibly get out was by somehow going underground. But how? She dug deeper into her memories before coming up with an idea."Let me see your phone."He offered it to her, at which point Akane began entering searches. She pulled up a diagram of Tokyo's sewer system and cross-referenced it with a map of the district where their school was located. She'd explored these tunnels all her life. They proved incredibly useful for helping her get around the city unnoticed.And sure enough, one of them ran directly under the basement of the building."This is how they'll do it," she declared before showing him the phone. "Down in the basement, there's a section of floor that leads directly to the sewer system. I'm betting they have C4 with them."He groaned. "Tell me you're joking....""Sorry, but that's literally the only way," she insisted. "Which makes it our best bet for getting out of here in one piece," he admitted glumly. "Sweet Crimson, why me?""They'll have a small army guarding the front entrance. No way we can force through. And it's not like we can wait for the sun to set either."He sighed in resignation before finally standing up. "Well, alright then. So all we have to do is find a way out of this room, get down to the basement without getting shot, and then somehow dig our way through twelve and a half inches of solid concrete and steel rebar. That's perfectly doable.""As a matter of fact, it is," she assured confidently. He gave her a bewildered look. "You already have a plan?"Akane nodded. "I'll need some things from the science lab first.""You do realize that's on the opposite side of the school, right? How are we going to get there?"She looked up towards an air vent on the ceiling. Caleb sighed glumly."You are just determined to take me as far away from my comfort zone as humanly possible today, aren't you?"