-The Banditos-

-Chapter Five-

I turn around and see Chloe stood with Sarah and Elissa.

"C-Chloe?" I whisper, a large smile growing on my face.

"Well, I thought about it and realised that one: It's just as dangerous for Sarah and Elissa in here as it is out there. And two: if I left you by yourself you'd probably do something stupid." She says, "Plus I wanted to go as it is, but someone would've had to keep an eye on these two."

"You don't have to babysit us, Chloe." Sarah says.

"What, I'm supposed to trust you two by yourself? Funny." Sarah rolls her eyes and pulls up the hood of her jacket. Elissa does the same, looking more anxious than Sarah.

"Okay, guys." Seth starts, also looking pleased Chloe is here, "We've got one chance so make it count." He points over at two guards stood by the door, "Chloe and June, you take them two. Me and Jemma will take the others."

Chloe comes beside me and we crouch by the corner of the building.

"Should we shoot them again?" I whisper to her, half joking but also half serious.

"Definitely not." She replies.

"I'll the take the one on the far side." I tell her, "You take the one closest." It's only been two days but it feels like I haven't seen her in years.

I watch Seth and Jemma slowly creep to the guards at the other side of the street. Once they're close to them, I start crawling over to the guards by the door. Chloe goes in front of my so she can get there first.

They keep their head fixed straight ahead so it's fairly easy to sneak up on them, although sneaking kind of goes out of the window when Chloe practically leaps at the guards. Just as the other guard turns around I race behind him and put an arm around his neck.

After about thirty seconds he's on the floor unconscious and so is the guard Chloe had. She brushes herself off and stands up.

"I took a few notes out of the June handbook." She says, brushing her hands.

"Or you want to show off to Seth." I reply, raising an eyebrow.

"Or maybe both."

"Well, I wouldn't take too many notes. I'm not exactly a good role model."

I look over at Seth and Jemma who have also dealt with the guards at the other side of the street.

Suddenly, all the Banditos from around the corner rush over to us. Seth runs over and straight to the door.

He hovers his hand over the door handle then turns to us.

"You know that once you enter this door, there's no going back, right?" He questions.

"Damn right we do. Now open the door." I demand. He slowly pushes the door handle down and it opens with a squeak. It's probably not been opened in years. We all rush inside and quickly close the door once everyone is in.

Seth uses a lighter to light up a few people's torches and it illuminates the damp room. Old, rusted pipes line the ceiling. Damp is built up in the corners of the room, turning the grey stone a black colour. It reminds me of the colour people's necks turn if they get Snatched. Then I think of Diego.

I shiver and take a closer look out or surroundings. The room is fairly empty, however in the wall to the left there is an arrow made of yellow tape.

"Looks like Josh left some bread crumbs." Jemma says, walking towards the arrow, "He must've make this for just the Banditos considering the Bishops wouldn't be able to see this arrow anyway." It points to a hole in the ground leading to and old tunnel.

Seth shines a torch towards the hole and I can barely make out the ground below. Everyone looks at each other, as if waiting for someone to volunteer to jump down.

"Please..." I say to Seth, "Ladies first." I take a step back to allow him to get closer to the hole. He gives me and uneasy look and reluctantly jumps down. It's barely a meter drop so people start jumping down soon after. Me and Chloe jump down last and follow the group down the tunnel. Who knows how long it goes on for, but all we know of that this is how Josh and Tyler escaped, so we must be able to escape too.

The flames from the torch flicker off the tunnel walls, however the darkness behind me and Chloe makes me nervous. I've never really been scared of the dark, but that dark leads back to DEMA. Anything could be following us.

"How long do you think his tunnel goes on for?" Chloe asks, looking behind her every so often.

"I don't know, but I regret jumping down last."

"Same." She purses her lips for a second, "What's it like out there?"

"Out where?"

"Outside of DEMA. I mean, I know you didn't get very far but...you've been out of DEMA, right?"

"I haven't gotten the best look at it. It's hard to focus when Nico is running after you but...I don't know." I try to remember a few things from my last escape attempt and try to describe them to Chloe, "There's green. Like plants. And there's a river, not a deep one. But the ravine is really deep. I can't really remember."

"Is Nico fast?" She asks.

"Well...compared to me, yes. He's on a horse, mind you. I reckon it'd be a lot easier to outrun him if it was just him. Being chased by an old man of red robes doesn't sound as scary." She goes silent, with an expression I know all to well, "I assume you're worried about Sarah and Elissa again?"

She nods, "It feels like all I do is worry about them."

"They're gonna be fine, okay? I'll watch their backs too." I sigh, "I'm sure Nico is starting to build a bit of a grudge against me so..."

The Banditos in front of us have stopped and all look over the heads of the ones in front of them. Me and Chloe push through the crowd to the front and see Seth and Jemma stood still. I look over their shoulder and see that the tunnel has ended, opening up to the ravine of Trench.

It's lit up by the moonlight and I see the walls of the ravine tower above us. The shallow river runs down the center, small stones littering it's path. Plants cover the ravine and grow along the river. Just looking at it now without being chased to I realise how beautiful it actually is. All my life I've only seen the artificial grey colour of DEMA and seeing the lush green is refreshing. Beside the opening of the tunnel is a yellow flower. The same shade of yellow as the Bandito colours. The air feels fresher as well. It's like a whole new world.

"Once we start walking through Trench, Nico is likely to follow soon after." I tell Seth and the rest of the Banditos, "He's on a horse and he's fast. Once you get caught you'll be taken back to DEMA, or if you've got two Failed Perimeter Escapes already, you know what happens."

Seth looks at me nervously, "Any last minute tips?" He asks.

"Yeah. Don't get caught."

"I've been working out all my life for this moment." Jemma says, "But if any of us do get caught, then know it was a good run." Everyone nods and starts muttering things to each other. Presumably goodbyes in case they get caught.

Chloe hugs both Elissa and Sarah tightly. It's almost like a goodbye hug and it makes me anxious myself.

"June." Seth says, holding his hand out for me to shake.

"Damn, Seth. I thought I was more special than just a hand shake." I smile, shaking his hand, "You're all very negative. At least two thirds of us will get through. It's one versus what...thirty?"

"Still." He take a deep breath and heads towards the opening, "Once we reach the river we need to run, and don't stop till we get to the bottom. Then we need to climb the wall of the ravine, hopefully it's not that steep. Nico won't be able to follow us there."

He steps out of the opening and onto the grass. Everyone follows and we trudge down the hill to the river. We walk along it at first, anxious as to what might happen.

"Stay alert everyone." Seth commands, leading the way.

Suddenly, I hear the galloping of a horse. I turn around and see him. It's Nico. He's here.