No Smart Kids Allowed

Chapter 31: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Being carried down the stairs feels like a never ending trip. I'm more curious about why that huge room is on the fourth floor and leads to the bottom? Who knows where it leads, but hopefully it's a way out.

I do not think I'll make it out of here alive. Something is going to happen and everyone here is just waiting for it. And you know what?

I turn out to be right.

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

The words echo around us when we reach the floor. Familiar words. I feel like I've heard these words before, but I don't remember who they came from. We're on the ground, Mulan walking in muddy water and me looking for some sort of light. Mulan leans on the wall, following it as we move along.

"Gemma, come help Scott," Mulan whispers.

She walks behind us and helps out Scott. "Did anyone else hear that?" She asks.

"Just keep walking," Scott groans from the pain.

I hear more feet splash into the water behind us.

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

I'm starting to feel very uncomfortable with the sounds echoing around us. Mulan stops dead in her tracks. "Does anyone else feel that?" She asks. As soon as she says it, I hear loud splashes coming from behind and in front of us.

"Don't stop walking!" Scott yells.

There's a loud scream that comes from behind us and before I can look, the tunnel we're in lights up in orange and red colors. The concrete of the tunnel is black. There are inky faces embedded in the ink above us and they're looking at us. Many black globby faces. I don't know where the light is coming from until I turn around and see her...

Ace. Ace is the woman who gave us the rules in the beginning and here she is now. She looks like a normal person, but her body is now on fire and she's holding a boy in one hand and a girl in the other. She smiles as the two children try and pull away, but they're slowly burning along with her.

"You can't be let back into society. Your souls are filthy. Come back and let us cleanse your hearts." She says, her voice deep and sinister.

"Run damn it!" Scott yells louder. 

Pretty soon, the whole tunnel around us is on fire. The inky faces embedded in the concrete of the tunnel are on fire and the only thing that isn't on fire is the water below us. Loud moans, screams, and laughter surround the air around us. Ear piercing screams so loud that everyone covers their ears.

An inky face from above falls on a child behind us and she starts screaming. Felix takes off running and the rest of us follow behind him. Some adults are passing us, running with some of the children who survived. Mulan is getting slower and slower by the second. I still don't see an exit, but we all just keep running.

The screaming continues as people burn behind us and a few that we pass. "K-keep going," I say to Mulan, but she's slowing down. 

"I don't know how much further I can go," she says, forcing her legs to keep going. She stops and Gemma and Scott stop next to us. 

"Give me her, you take Scott," Gemma says, taking me. However, before Mulan can even grab Scott a big blob of ink falls on her face and catches on fire, burning her face first. She falls into the water. Her screams are muffled because of the thick black ink. Gemma tries to pat the fire away, but it's no use. The ink attaches to her body, slowly rolling down each and every inch of her body until she's just a black inky human on fire. She even rolls around in the water, but the ink continues burning even in the water.

With me on her back, Gemma takes Scott's arm. "Just go," Scott says, hopping on one leg. "I got it. Just run!"

Gemma runs with me on her back and tears in her eyes. I begin to cry too, mostly out of fear of burning to death. I can still hear Scott grunting behind us. Felix is doing a good job avoiding the black ink falling. I can hear him telling Aaliyah that he's going to get her out of there.

I rest my head on Gemma. "We-we're going to m-m-make it," I say.

"I hope so," she keeps running. 

To my horror, Gemma trips and falls with us in the water. "Argh!" She groans with me still on her back. "My knees hit a rock." 

The water in front of us turns red. A large amount of blood flows in the water. "What happened?" Scott asks, limping behind us. "Can you still walk?" 

Gemma tries and stand, but she ends up falling again. "I fell on both knees," she cries. "I can't get up, I need-"

Before she can say help, ink falls on her hair and starts to catch on fire. Scott grabs me and struggles to place me on his back. More people run past us and Scott yells for help, but no one stops. Every man for themselves, like Scott said before.

With me on his back, he limps away from Gemma who's rolling around the water. The fire continues to burn her from head to toe. Scott and I look away. He continues limping. More screams are coming from in front and behind us, but luckily not from Felix or Aaliyah.

"I see a light!" Felix yells. 

I  squinch my eyes and sure enough, we are getting closer to a light. "I see it! We're going to make it." Scott says with a little hope in his voice. 

The closer we get, the louder Ace's words get. 

"Until you all become proper kids and behave the way in which we will teach you, then you may be let back into society."

Will we really make it out?

***

Pretty sure the next chapter is the last:)