Joseph fell onto the cold ground, and he lifted himself up. He found himself inside the normal crystal cave again. The ground violently shook for two more seconds, before it finally stopped. Crystals were shattered, pieces of debris were scattered across the cavern floor, screams and gunfire could be heard in the distance and alarms were ringing throughout the laboratory. Joseph looked down to see that Carlos, Adam and Michael were waking up, rubbing their heads, and getting up. "What happened? Was that a dream? Did I really get... infected?" Carlos said. "Yes, unfortunately. I managed to persuade David to turn you back..." Joseph said. "What happened to him?" Michael asked. "I killed him, or, I accidently killed him... he reached for my weapon, and I pulled the trigger in a... panic. He mentioned something about being a Council, that he was lying about his power... he died before he could give out any more information." The four stood there in silence, before the sounds of gunshots ringing through the lab urged them to run away quickly to the nearby storage bay, where scientists ran down the hallway into the cafeteria. Behind them were security guards, who were shooting at something behind them Then, a horde of Gootraxians smashed the automatic doors open, and chased after the guards and scientists into the cafeteria. Adam asked, "You do still have those duffel bags?" Everyone nodded, and Adam said "Forget them, it's chaos right now. Duffel bags full of stolen weapons from this very branch would be the least of their concerns right now, I'd imagine..." They all placed the duffel bags on the floor, and Joseph took this opportunity to also take off his trench coat. They all ran away, towards the emergency exit.
The four ran to the emergency exit and headed upwards. Soon after, they were squished by a crowd of scientists and cafeteria workers, and then pushed aside by a security guard, who made his way up the stairs. They ran up further, until they reached the top of the stairs, which led directly to the lobby on the surface. They quickly walked past the receptionists desk, blended with the crowd of workers that were flowing through the small lobby. Joseph took notice that several items were knocked over, though he couldn't tell if this was from the earthquake or the stampede.
They all ran towards the parking lot, where several cars gave the appearance that they had moved out of place during the earthquake. The front of Adam's Jeep Cherokee was contacting the back of someone's orange Honda Accord. Sirens blared in the distance, and visible from the parking lot, more and more workers from the laboratory underground arrived outside, like ants running out their nest after someone stomped on it. "Where are we going to sleep?" Carlos asked. "We could stay at Thomas' house." Michael suggested. "No, don't think so." Adam got into the van, saying "I'll try to find a place, get in." After exiting the garage and waiting in line for five minutes, waiting for the other cars to exit. Adam arrived at the gate, and he handed the at the gate his I.D. He looked at it for the moment, and opened the gate, and Adam drove off. Joseph looked behind him and noticed that the gate wasn't closing, and the man was just letting a flow of cars onto the empty road. After a good 20 minutes of driving east, they drove into the state of Connecticut, where Adam soon found a path that led into a forested area, and he drove down it. Adam stopped the van when a dead end came up, and he told the three in the back "We are going to have to sleep in the van tonight. You three sleep in the back, I'll sleep up front." Soon enough, Joseph, Carlos and Michael were squished together in the back, trying to sleep in this confined space while Adam slept on the floor of the van, using his blazer as a makeshift blanket.
Waking up the next morning, they all exited the car, stretching. "Oof, that was horrible." Carlos said. "I can't believe we slept in these clothes. God, they are drenched in sweat." Michael said. Joseph opened up the back of the car and took a cardboard box that was contained his clothes and got it out, going into the forest. "Where you going, Joseph?" Michael asked him. "Just... getting dressed in my clothes." As he walked further away. Carlos and Michael decided to do the same. After a while, they arrived back in regular clothes, and placed the boxes containing the dark clothing into the back of the van.
