Framework | Stray Kids FF

Chapter Two

Jisung lost the ground underneath his feet when the second bomb went off. He had still been running through the corridors, finding an exit with Jeongin's guidance when he heard the explosions and felt the building shaking. Then the floor started moving, a wide crack appeared behind him and he tripped over his legs in the process. He fell face first on the floor, the impact of the landing causing him to drift over the surface several meters before he stopped, laying still on the once perfectly clean floor, unable to move a muscle. 

His chest rose and sunk from the heavy breaths he had to take, his heartbeat was frantic and irregular. The gas mask had shifted and its edges were harshly pressing into Jisung's skin, leaving red stripes that would surely morph into ugly bruises later on. Every muscle in his body seemed to hurt, but he forced himself to get up on his scratched up knees, then on his feet. A small whimper escaped his lips as he pulled himself up, his body protesting to the unwanted movements. He made the first step with pure willpower, knowing that he would get caught if he didn't disappear immediately. His ears were ringing and he had probably lost the communication device since he couldn't hear anything from Jeongin anymore. He wasn't even sure whether it was still there or not. His whole ear could have been ripped off and he most likely wouldn't have noticed it. 

Just then the earth trembled once again from the explosion of the next bomb, closely followed by yet another one, sending the injured boy back to the floor. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes, and he felt a warm liquid drop from his chin. He didn't pay attention to it, or at least gave his all to ignore it. He fought to stand up again, keeping himself on his trembling legs that clearly didn't want to support him anymore. And still, he had to keep on going. He repeated that thought like a mantra, nothing else was allowed in his head.

Keep running, keep going, keep running, keep going.

His legs ached with every step he took when he started running again, but he was used to ignoring the pain. There was smoke everywhere causing him to cough despite the mask and he stumbled and almost fell once again. He had side stitches and could barely see something, but somehow he found his way out of the building, stepping into the light and trying to blink away the dust and smoke that was everywhere. He couldn't see anything but vague schemes moving through the mist. He knew that he was panicking, his breathing was nowhere near normal, just like his heartbeat and he was trembling like crazy, but he willed himself to move forward.

Don't think, don't feel, just escape from this hellhole.

Floundering forward he searched for the nearest shelter to hide. When they were throwing bombs at them they certainly wouldn't hesitate to use guns as well. He was suddenly very glad for all the dust tarnishing the air. 

Something big appeared in front of him, turning out to be a huge piece of concrete that must have been part of the wall Felix had bombed down. He launched himself at the massive object, but just then his legs suddenly gave out and he dropped to the ground. His left knee burned as if it was on fire and he couldn't move it anymore. He didn't dare to look down to check what had happened, instead, he started crawling, using his elbows to push himself in the direction of the hopefully safe pile of concrete. Eventually, he collapsed next to the grey stone, his vision clouded with a sticky mixture of tears and dust, barely able to breathe. He ripped off the gas mask, as it didn't help at all anymore, desperately gasping for air. He drew his hand across his eyes in an attempt to get rid of all the fluids but only ended up smearing them over his whole face. His leg had gone numb and he felt himself almost passing out because of the pain. Squinting his eyes together he rolled closer to the pile of concrete, finding a small recess where he could press his body into. He curled himself up, hugging his knees and hid his face in the crook of his elbow. It somewhat gave him a delusional feeling of safety.