The Escape ~ Gally TMR

Chapter Sixteen

Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for reading! I'll try updating again soon, sorry it's been so long. I know this chapter is short, but it's just a little something for all of you, i love you all!

Lilli's POV:

We have less than an hour left. Jona has been working tirelessly, his fingers flying across the screens and keyboards,overriding system after system. Chris tried to talk with him, tried to understand what it was that he was doing, but it became fairly evident that he had no interest in socializing. Neither did I or Shai to be honest, but Chris was just a kid, still naive enough to believe that there was good buried within every person. I didn't have the heart to tell him. I knew he'd experienced a lot, too much for a kid his age. Chuck. He would have really liked Chuck. Maybe, maybe there's still hope. Maybe, just maybe, he'll get to meet him.

"How much longer?" Shai shouted, loud enough for Jona to here in the cockpit of the hovercraft. We were silent a moment, sitting aimlessly as we waited for a response. Finally, I heard him sigh, and I imagined him running his slim fingers through his locks of curly shock of misshapen hair in stress.

"About 1 minute." Our eyes widened, and Shai stood up in shock.

"What?! What the hell! You could have told us! Given us a warning,for shuck's sake!" As if on cue, red lights began flashing, and sirens began howling throughout the metallic interior of hovercraft. Jona's voice remained flat and unfaltering as the plane began to shake and waver, and I found my arms clinging instinctively around Chris's chest as we held onto the side railings.

"Is that warning enough for you?" Jona called out from the cockpit. Shai rolled her eyes, growling in frustration under her breath.

"I swear once we land this damn plane I'm gonna strangle the life out of him." I shook my head, chuckling softly. I knew she wouldn't, but it was always nice to know that she was perfectly willing.

"Hey, Jona!?" I called out, a note of fear evident in my voice.He appeared from the depths of the cockpit, strolling somewhat effortlessly amongst the shifting, shaking atmosphere of the hovercraft.

"Yeah?" He asked nonchalantly, grabbing hold of the central table to balance himself only slightly. I realized my grip had only tightened on Chris, though he wasn't complaining. I forced myself to loosen my grasp on him, before speaking hurriedly towards Jona.

"Are we crashing?!" The intensity of the shaking plane increased drastically, as Shai stumbled forward involuntarily, straight towards Jona. He caught her, just as her head was about to make collision with the floor, in a kind of effortless movement that could have almost been considered graceful. There was moment of pause, before he helped her back to her feet, where she continued to glare at him, despite the dyer nature of the situation as I noticed out the window that we had begun to lose altitude. Rapidly.

"JONA ARE WE CRASHING!?" I shouted, straining to be heard over the crescendo-ing alarms.

"I THOUGHT THAT WAS FAIRLY SELF EXPLANATORY!!!" Jona shouted back, his arm still holding tight around Shai's waist as she fumbled with grabbing hold of the table, and it was quite evident that she was on the verge of gnawing his arm away from her body, if it didn't mean the inevitable fall of her oh-so tiny body to the cold hard reality of the metallic floor.

"You said you were getting us out of here!" I called back, my voice faltering as Chris' hand held tight against my arm. Just because you've seen more than you should have, just because you've fought harder than you needed, just because you lost everything, doesn't mean you can't miss the touch of a comforting hand. Doesn't mean you can't be scared. Chris. He's too young. He's scared. He misses his family, if he even remembers them. He's too young, for all of this- and I'll be damned if I let them take him. No way in hell.

"I am getting us out of here! In case you hadn't realized from my rather extensive explanatory lecture just a few hours ago, this ship has to be wiped off the radar! We all do! That only happens, AFTER THE SHIP IS RENDERED USELESS! I.E. DESTROYED!" Jona shouted back forcefully, attitude evident on his tongue as we began to free fall towards the ground.

"Don't worry! We'll be fine! Just hold on to something, and try not to tense up to much when we land! It could cause impact fractures!"For someone who appeared so structured, a blind follower of the laws WICKED has established, Jona acted strangely calm and rational in this situation. He acted almost as if- he'd been in this predicament before.

"Are you scared?" I murmured softly. Chris cringed as the I held tighter to the railings. He was silent a moment, before shaking his head.

"...N-no....a-are you?" he questioned hesitantly. I nodded.

"Hell yeah." And with that, the wind was knocked out of me, as we plummeted towards the sandy earth below.

When I had caught my breath, after desperate gasping and gagging, I made my way towards the nearest window. Plumes of dust were rising up around the hovercraft, and a strange new-found silence became eerily evident. Jona and Shai stood from their place huddled under the central table, and Chris slipped out from under my arm,helping them balance themselves.

"Is everyone ok?" Jona asked. He seemed only about half interested, but I nodded just the same.

"Good. Gather everything of value to you, before we leave. There's emergency backpacks in the back, and first aid kits. You all have 5 minutes, and then we're leaving." Shai rolled her eyes, leaning towards me after he'd left to get the backpacks.

"He's acting like some kind of glorified tour guide, who is he to say when we get to leave!?" She whispered yelled, in a feeble attempt at protesting. I sighed, shrugging.

"I don't know, but for now, let's just go with it. I mean, what better alternative do we have, Shai?" She sighed, nodding reluctantly.

"Yeah. Fine...But I swear, if he steps out of line one more god damned time- I'm gutting him and roasting him over an open flame to eat." I scoffed softly, shaking my head as I gathered up everything I could find of value. Jona reentered quickly, handing us each a standard issue backpack, swamp green in color, full sized, packed full with non-perishable food items and water canteens, matches, a bit of rope, and a few other things.

 "Alright. Well, it's not much, but it should be enough. We've just got to make it to, well. I don't know really. But somewhere. There should be a compass in each of our bags, we came in from the South end, which means our best shot is to head North. I sighed, nodding.North. Please, Gally, if you're out there, please be north.