(Editing) Freak-Ish. //Diesel

10.

••Rion••

"John Collins, rescue and recovery." The man says, outside the door.

"Did he just say "rescue"?" Diesel looks over at me.

I nod, "He just said "rescue.""

"Anytime you want to open the door." John says and Diesel breaks down the boards, letting him in.

"How many are you?" He says, taking off his mask as we shut the door behind him.

"We're down to seven." I say.

"Look, man, we're all thirsty." Diesel tells him. "We're out of water."

"Mercury, open all mains at sector 17, over." John says just as the rest of the gang find their way over to us.

"Why'd they shut it off?" I ask.

"Who's this?" Barrett asks.

"Does it matter? It looks like he's here to rescue us." Grover says, excitedly.

John smiles at Grover before looking at Diesel who clears his throat. "Oh, yeah, they had no choice. They diverted every supply to fight the fires. Now, which one of you got on the radio?"

"That was me." Barrett raises his hand. "It was my call."

"What's your name?" John asks him.

"Barrett." He says.

"Well, Barrett, you called in the cavalry." John tells him. "Go get a drink. We leave in five minutes."

Diesel and I look at each other before I jump into his arms, kissing him while he spins me around. I jump down, walking along side Diesel as we follow the gang to the bathrooms. The girls and I separate from the boys, heading into our bathroom.

"Water has never tasted so good." I say, gulping down the puddle I filled with my cupped hands.

Natalie chuckles, "I second that."

I laugh, leading the way out the bathroom where the guys were heading into principal Mitchell's office with John.

"So what do they think happened at the plant?" Violet asks John as we pile into the office.

"They're looking into it." John says.

"I heard it was a fire in the parking lot." Violet says and I roll my eyes.

"Not likely." He says. "Best guess is some kind of industrial accident."

"An accident?" Barrett says. "Then what's in the air? And is our basement full of mutant freaks?"

"A number of people were infected by the toxins in the air." John says.

"You still didn't answer the question." Barrett says.

"It's because I don't have an answer for you." He says.

"Oh, my God, Barrett chill." I say but he ignores me.

"Do you they know how many made it?" Barrett asks.

"Not yet." John answers. "Anyone working at Keller Chemical was killed instantly. But we got lucky in places. Some of the valley was able to evacuate."

"Holy shit." Zoe says.

"Wait, so they're not all dead?" Grover asks.

"Like I said, there are pockets of survivors, but time is not on our side." John says.