The Demigod Games (PJO/THG)

22 - Let's Just Get The Hell Out

- Jason

It seemed that, from my experience, no matter what happened, if Percy was here there was a very high chance things would go wrong very fast.

And as the alarm obnoxiously blared on, red lights flashing over and over, the entire hall a screaming mess, Percy stood there, gawping idiotically at the lights and I thought, My theory is confirmed.

Grabbing Percy's arm, I yelled to be heard over the noise. "Move, you idiot! The guards are going to arrive any second!"
He seemed to snap out of his trance, and yelled back, "Okay! Let's go to the exit!" He then seemed to think, and added, "Which, of course, we know the direction of."

Sighing, I turned to Piper. "Any intuitions?" She rolled her eyes, and started running down the hall, her coffee hair crimson in the red light. I watched, bewildered, as she turned a corner. I heard a few yells, sounds of fighting, then nothing but the alarm, still blaring in the speakers overhead.
A few seconds later, Piper came back to us, clean and unscathed, a grin on her face. "That way," she announced proudly, pointing down the hallway.
"You never cease to amaze me," I grinned, shaking my head. Rolling her eyes - again - she responded, "Duh." Without another word, she started running down the hall. I briefly exchanged a glance with Percy - he shrugged, and we both followed her, jogging to catch up.

As we rounded a corner, we froze in our tracks as a group of heavily armed guards made their way down the corridor, shouting.
"Stop right there!" I heard one of them exclaim. We started turning back down from where we came, only to freeze again as more guards arrived, blocking us from both sides.
"Shit," I cursed under my breath. We needed an escape, anything -

Oh, right. I had powers. What a moron.

Thrusting my hands into the air in a repelling motion, I yelled as a shockwave of air erupted from my body, surging at sound speed towards the group of guards in front us. They hardly had any time to react before they were propelled a hundred feet through the air, yelling in surprise as they crashed against the wall at the end of the corridor in a heap.
"Let's go," I yelled, panting under the effort. 

We ran as fast as we could, and turned the corner a split second before shots started firing from the group of guards behind us. Sprinting for our freedom, I barely even noticed the alarm abruptly going off, leaving the hallway filled with noises from our footsteps, and the yells of our pursuers.

Still running down a seemingly endless maze of corridors, Piper stopped us with a motion of her hand as we neared a hardly noticeable grey door to our side. She opened it, disdainfully shoved us in and slammed it behind us, putting a finger to her mouth as the guards ran past the corridor.

After a minute, I started to breathe again (in times like these, you forget those kinds of unimportant details) and Piper risked opening the door, just a crack, then fully pushed it open and gestured for us to follow her back out.

The hallway was eerily silent, as the guards had rounded the corner, their shouts now distant. "If the guard I charmspeaked knew what he was talking about, the exit should be on our left at the end of the corridor. Should be five hundred feet or so."

Five hundred feet to freedom.

We started sprinting, our footsteps echoing loudly and resonating against the tight cement walls. Four hundred... three hundred...the distance remaining to our imminent exit felt like a dramatic countdown as the corner round approached. Then it would be just a turn, and a dash out the front door. "We're almost there, guys," Percy panted as we ran. "Almost there."

Who knew it could go south so fast?

As we turned the corner, we were instantly greeted by an enormous hallway full of policemen, drinking their coffee and playing cards, lining up at the cafeteria buffet by the hundred, happily chatting away- all their heads simultaneously turned towards our small group as we skidded to a halt.
The door was right there- behind the tables, a pair of white sliding doors, freedom ready to greet us behind. Right there.

"Um, hi!" Percy hesitantly called out. "Maybe we can negotiate?"
For a few seconds, the mess hall was completely and overwhelmingly silent, the entire room holding its breath.

Then, as a hundred guns turned towards our faces and the clicks of safeties being removed filled the room, I knew we were done for.