POWER MANIACS (girlxgirlxgirl)

37. Burning ice

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⚠️ gunshots, bruises, wounds, blood, bleeding, near-death experiences, violence, cuts, drugs ⚠️

Dahlia has never liked the feeling of falling.

And yet for the second time in the span of fifteen minutes, she feels it. Falling down, barely slowed down by the halfway made ice slide Irie has just constructed for them and holding back her screams of terror. It goes in circles around the space where the elevator usually is, small and unstable and barely being able to hold Irie and Dahlia at the same time. Dahlia just can't help her fears from consuming her at that moment. She can't help herself from closing her eyes and clinging onto Irie like her life depends on it.

Her life may very well actually depend on it.

One by one the other Powered follow them. Veton is right behind them and Spirit is behind her. Halston gets on the slide and suddenly Alda and Enya are the only ones still left on the twenty second floor, holding back the soldiers by being two very strong Powered. Irie keeps her jaw clenched as she frowns with concentration, doing her best to keep her balance while a half unconscious girl is still in her grip. They need to ride her very dangerous ice slide down to the first floor and grab the getaway car one of the rebellious staff members provided them with, but before any of that can happen Irie still needs to make sure they don't lose their balance and die before reaching the ground.

Everything is thought out and planned, but naturally not everything about their plan is safe or secure. They are adults but somehow still prisoners, so naturally arranging everything is difficult. They managed to get the getaway car from a guilty staff member they've been guilt tripping for a while now, but the escape plan from floor twenty two is not very well thought out, beyond Irie creating an ice slide she has never even tried creating before. Where they will escape to is also something they have no idea about, but they have decided to take every second as it comes. They are Powered, after all, decisions should come naturally to them in times of need.

Dahlia takes a deep breath and tries to think calm thoughts. She doesn't want to look up or down in fear of getting even more scared, but when her curiosity takes over she has no choice. Looking down first, she sees that they still have a long way to go, perhaps ten floors or so. But at least, they are halfway down. She calms her racing heartbeat. Looking up, she sees that Alda is already on the slide-like structure, and Dahlia looks at Irie with panic. What happens when Enya gets on and they lose all their defense? What will the guards do?

"Irie, are you sure this is-"

But it had to happen eventually, right? For all of them to be able to escape. Dahlia can hear very clearly when Enya jumps down, because the constant yells and screams stop in an instant, and the rather quiet sound of fire bursting through the air doesn't continue. Enya yells at them loudly to hurry up, and Dahlia feels Irie's grip around her waist grow stronger. She closes her eyes as gunshots suddenly echo in the empty elevator-space, and prays to God nobody gets hit.

"It's too slow, Enya won't make it in time and neither will Alda"

Dahlia feels dread as she listens to Irie's mumbling. The ice girl must know what she is talking about, so Dahlia fears that she might be right. They have them in a very vulnerable position right now and Dahlia just wants to get out of here faster, before something serious happens.

"Just jump! Jump before you get hit!"

If Dahlia hadn't been listening to her mumbling earlier, she wouldn't have understood the loud command coming from Irie. But it seems like the other Powered trust her with their lives, because before she knows it she hears the harsh sound of someone yelling before jumping off the slide, falling through the air. She holds her breath and feels her heart stop beating. Time suddenly seems to move slower as Enya falls right past her, and Dahlia swears they make eye-contact in that split moment. Moving through the air, as fast as the wind, still looking as determined and brave as ever. She closes her eyes and feels her heart jump to her throat, suddenly fearing for Enya's life. But when she opens them again to inspect the thud of horror that never comes, she sees that Enya has messily grabbed onto the edge of the slide just a few floors down.