The Boy Next Door

Fall of The Castle of Lions - Part 2

The smoke disappeared once they made it inside the room where the bomb had gone off, the trio coming to a halt once they saw just how much damage had been made to it.

Large glass shards that had made up the windows now littered the floor, and the desks were overturned. The bookshelf ceased to exist, the same going for the crystal that had previously been placed on it like a trophy. The teacher's desk was also overturned, papers scattered along the floor with the sharp glass shards and crystal fragments.

They stood in stunned silence, unable to say anything. Every thought left their minds, and all they could do was stare numbly at the glass that lay at their feet.

Allura and Shiro rushed into the room behind them. Shiro helped Coran up, who was in a daze. Allura gasped upon seeing the damage done to the room, but more specifically, the crystal.

"The crystal!"

Peering down at the ground, her eyes flew open and she ran forward. "Lance!"

Everyone snapped back into their senses and lurched forward, surrounding Shiro as he passed Coran off to Hunk and leaned down to check on Lance, who looked like he was dead.

Shiro immediately cradled Lance's head in his arms, the Cuban boy emitting a small groan of pain, but not opening his eyes. Shiro frowned, immediately looking up at the onlookers with a perturbed expression.

"He doesn't look so good."

"We have to get Lance to the infirmary!" Pidge urged, determination in her tone.

"We can't," Coran wheezed out, coughing into his fist. "The infirmary goes on immediate lockdown once the power goes out."

"Isn't there a backup generator or a way to override the system?" Keith asked, frowning worriedly.

"The generators were burned out three years ago during the hurricane and we haven't been able to fix them," Coran responded, creasing his brows. "We rarely use this building and didn't think that something like this would happen."

"Well we've gotta do something," Keith growled frustratedly, looking down at Lance. "He's not going to make it home if we don't get him help!"

Allura tried to speak up. "The fire department and ambulances should be here in a while–"

"Just how much is 'a while'?" Hunk questioned stiffly, silencing Allura, who looked him with a forlorn expression.

"The earliest they'd get here is more than eight minutes."

"Too late," Shiro murmured, brushing Lance's hair and discovering a large gash on his forehead. "More bombs could go off."

"I don't understand! We had the Blade on our side!"

"There's no time for questioning what happened!" Keith shouted, drawing the attention of the others. "All that matters now is keeping Lance alive while the ambulance gets here and making sure that everyone else wasn't hurt."

"Keith's right," Shiro stated, letting out a soft breath. "We can't only worry about ourselves. Hunk and Coran, you two go look for a way to restart the power source or how to get into the infirmary. Be careful," he warned.

Coran coughed. "The backup generator is in the basement of the building."

"We can get it to work," Hunk said determinedly, supporting Coran with an arm. "We won't let you down, Shiro."

Shiro nodded and both Hunk and Coran took off, heading down the hall and disappearing around the corner.

"I'll go make sure everyone else is okay," Keith said, turning towards the door.