Apocalyptic Obsessions

Chapter 1: Hiding

Ten's POV

I sat in the biggest stall with the other girls, thinking about what I'm going to do. There has to be a way out somewhere, right? I mean, an escape tunnel or something... I look over at the two girls. One's whimpering and shaking in the corner of the stall. I listen to the outside, tuning in. There's so many people screaming, but if you listen, you can here some screams go silent and another sound start. A slow shuffle and a long quiet moan. I don't even want to know what was in that injection... I tune out a look back at the girls.

"So, how are we getting out of here?" I ask. One looks at me. She has blonde hair and blue eyes that are full of anger that I can barely make out in the dim lighting. She looks to be about 16 years old and she's quite tall.

"Are you kidding me!? There is no way out! We're surrounded by a freaking iron wall! We're gonna die! Or whatever the hell's happening to everyone out there!" She yells. The smaller one stops crying and looks at her.

"Yah, scaring the crap out of people is going to help. And let's yell and draw him to us. Perfect plan," I say. "How about we just try to work together and find a way out of here. I'm Ten."

The small brunette, who has darker skin like mine, with long hair in a ponytail, looks up at me. She looks to be about 15 years old. She stands up, putting one hand on her hip and the other out for a hand shake.

"I'm Kiwi. And do you really think we can get out of here?" She asks as I take her hand.

"Absolutely. We just have to work, and stick, together. We'll make it out fine." I say, reassuring her. I look at the, waiting for her to introduce herself. She glares at me and turns away, pulling an MP3 out of her pack. She sticks her headphones in. Ouch.

"That's Aly. Don't mind her, she just get's grumpy when she's thinking. As much as she says there's no way out, she's probably planning a way to get over those walls, an escape route, and a back-up plan right now." Kiwi looks me in the eye and smiles, looking tired. I pity her. You can tell by looking at that she's an innocent in all this mess. She reminds me of my other friends. I closed my eyes tight to hold back the tears for Thomas, and my other friends. Omega and Wolf are my second closest friends...first now I guess...me and Tom are definately not friends anymore. I feel a sharp pain in my chest. Then a rush of determination. To find Omega and Wolf, to fix Tom, and to get out.

But first things first, find a way out of the bathroom without getting murdered or attacked by whatevers out there. I leave the stall and look around at the bottom of the walls for a vent. Nothing. I look at the roof. Bingo!

"Crap, it's not big enough." I mutter.

"What?" Kiwi comes out of the stall. I look at her.

"But you might fit...would you be willing to check out the ventalation? Follow it and see where it leads?" I ask her.

"That's brilliant! They've got to lead somewhere. I'm in." She says. Suddenly, Aly rips her earbuds out.

"They lead outside." She says. "But it's pointless to try to use them to get out. It is a long drop to the ground...and there'll be people guarding out there ready to throw you back in or kill you...unless there already dead."

"But we're only 15-17 years old!" Kiwi sounded shocked.

"Doesn't matter. We could use the vents to get into the office though. We'll send you through with a walkie-talkie and you can unlock the door from inside and tell us when it's clear. It sounds like those things are starting to look elsewhere." Aly states. I tune in to the cafeteria. She's right! How did I not notice the screams stop? It's really eerie now that I notice it...

"Ok let's do it. But where are we going to g-" I start.

" I've got some." Aly pulls out a 4 pack of walkie-talkies and Kiwi stares at her.

"Why do you hav-"

"Also doesn't matter. Let's go." Aly goes into the stall under the vent. "Get on my shoulders Kiwi."

5 minutes later, Kiwi is staring down at us from the vent, waving her walkie-talkie around.

"Ok, I'll radio you guys who oops!!" We watch as her radio falls with a splash into the toilet. Aly sighs."Sorry..."

"Good thing there's one more. Don't loose it!" She says handing it to Kiwi, who nods." Remember, dont unlock th-"

"Yeah, yeah, dont unlock the door until you guys get there." Kiwi interrupts. Aly looks up at her.

"And no dying or getting caught or anything, ok? Ok. Now go. Radio us when your there. Channel 8." They nod at eachother and then she's gone. After she disappears, I glance at Aly and see a tear on her cheek. She turns and wipes it away. Then she says,

"I'm sorry for being an ass... I just don't like people saying things when they don't know for sure if they're right."

"It's fine. Stress makes a lot of people grumpy. And honestly, there's a lot to stress about right now. So it's fine. I understand, okay?" I look at the door. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie makes a static noise.

"Pshhh, this is Kiwi to home base, do you copy, over."

"Kiwi, please don't talk like that, we're not cops." I said, watching Aly roll her eyes with what looked like relief on her face.

"Ok. The coast is clear, but I'm warning you, it is not pretty out there."

"Yeah, thanks. We're on our way." Aly says."Ready?"

"Let's go." I unlock the door and walk into the cafeteria, once a place that brought us all together, now a place where many people have quite literally fallen apart.