[CONTENTID1]

fifty-nine: the lost

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[“I don’t think the GTA killed him.”]

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It took a long time before Juyeon could work herself up to speak again.

”Are we almost at the exit?” She winced when she opened . was rough from the effort, crackly and hoarse, as if she had been crying even though she wasn’t.

”Should be,” Baekhyun said. “We couldn’t have any more than ten minutes left until the end of the tunnel.”

”Good. I want to … be out of here.” Not only did she feel like the tunnel’s curved ceiling might just collapse and drown them under the lake, but now she had to deal with the fact that there were bodies somewhere in the maze of tunnels branching off from the main one, and the possibility that whoever or whatever did it would still be in the tunnel.

What kind of monster would kill a kid just like that?

And to think, finding out there were mutations in the brain that could grant practically unscientific, inhuman powers to unstable hormonal teenagers, was the worst thing she thought she would ever have to deal with.

”Do you guys ever stop to think about what our school life would have been like if this never happened?” she mused aloud, if only because she couldn’t stand the deafening silence anymore.

”Sure,” Chanyeol said, and after a long time she finally thought she saw a hint of a smile on his face. Even that hint lightened up his expression completely. “But at least we don’t have final exams.”

”Final exams are easy. I would have helped you guys study.”

Kai let out a small, quiet, but amused chuckle. “Mmm. Long hours in the library, hidden behind books, all alone with you, Yeonie? That’s a thought to save away for later.”

”Don’t be gross,” she retorted back, and punched his arm, and everything felt almost normal again, like they weren’t in a slimy secret tunnel and everything was horrible. “The weather would have been nicer, we could’ve all gone out to the courtyard to see the flowers …”

”Who wants to watch some stupid old flowers?” Sehun muttered, but his words lacked bite.

D.O hummed softly in response to Juyeon’s imagination, the first noise he made in a long while, and for the briefest of seconds Juyeon thought the musty air smelled faintly of lilacs and cool, fresh earth. It rejuvenated her, freshened up her senses and made her forget about the dull ache in her stomach.

”We can still do that,” Suho said, “when we fix everything and drive those GTA away. We can still go out and see the flowers.”

”Yeah,” Chanyeol said, more cheerfully, “yeah! Those Gun-Toting s won’t stop us.”

And Juyeon started to feel hopeful again. She had forgotten that feeling.

Of course, it was at that exact moment that the universe decided to make things go wrong.

There was a sudden clatter of noise, which may have been unheard when buried under the noise of their own footsteps and the general clanking and groaning of the giant pipes. And it had grown louder so slowly and steadily that it almost went unnoticed, the others thinking that it was just another part of the maze—until a sharper noise, like steel smashing against copper, echoed down some tunnel in the distance.

They all froze, listening as carefully as they could.

”They’re down here!” Juyeon heard someone yell, distantly, their voice echoing a hundredfold in every direction. “Down the main tunnel, I got ’em!”

Juyeon’s eyes widened. That did not sound like the voice of a teenager.

”The GTA,” she whispered.

”The s,” Sehun hissed.

Baekhyun reacted first. “We have to run. Now!”

”Run where?” Juyeon said, frantically moving her head in an effort to pinpoint the location of the voices. The echoes were everywhere, surrounding her, mocking her. “Where are they coming from?”

”Stay quiet for a sec, Yeonie, and let me—” Baekhyun closed his eyes, stilling along with the others, and Juyeon held her breath.

A few agonizing, terrifying seconds passed. Then the Exo’s eyes flew open, almost simultaneously, as they all figured out where the GTA were coming from at once.

”We take a left,” he said, grabbing Juyeon’s hand, and then he was yanking her down the nearest side tunnel, plunging them all into darkness.

It wasn’t a moment too soon—Juyeon could distantly hear, as she was dragged through winding, pitch-black tunnels and farther and farther away from the main one, the voices of the GTA.

”We lost them!”

”After them!”

”Pick up the pace, tomato girl,” Sehun said in a half-snarl somewhere by her right ear.

”I’m t-trying!” she gasped out. The others were moving much faster than her, Baekhyun pulling her along until her shoulders were sore. She was fit, but not particularly athletic, and both her stamina and her muscles were not holding out for much longer.

Sehun swore creatively, before she felt a cool hand slide into the spot where Baekhyun’s fingers were wrapped around her wrist hard enough to bruise; she was torn away from Baekhyun’s grip, staggering from the sudden lack of speed, tripping over her own feet.

”Chanyeol hyung,” Sehun called out.

Then there were hands, this time fiery warm, scooping her up as easily as if she was a child and carrying her along.

”Ch-Chan—” she choked out, now thoroughly embarrassed as well as frightened. She somehow seemed to have forgotten how tall he was, or how big his hands were. This was not a good time to be thinking about it.

”I’ve got you,” he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and despite being close enough for her nose to brush against his jaw she could barely see him in the darkness.

”Am I heavy?”

Chanyeol laughed, the sound echoing down the tunnel as loudly as their cacophony of footsteps. “Not even close! I could carry you all day.”

”You might have to, if we don’t lose them!” Suho shouted from up front. Juyeon could do nothing but wrap her arms around Chanyeol’s broad shoulders for balance as the Exo followed some hidden trail through tunnels she couldn’t even see anymore, their heightened vision making out twists and turns she could only feel as she was helplessly pulled along for the ride.

Abruptly, the Exo skidded to a stop. Juyeon’s head smacked against Chanyeol’s collarbone.

”Why did we stop?” she whispered, as though talking loudly would matter after all the commotion they were making running down the tunnels in the first place.

”There’s something … blocking the way,” D.O said, his voice floating somewhere in front of her.

”Like a wall? Which surrounds us on all sides anyways? Are your PC eyes failing you?”

”Hush, you,” Chanyeol said, giving her a gentle shake. “The way is open. I can see the end of the tunnel twisting to the right ten feet away. But there’s something stopping us from walking down.”

”What do you mean?” Juyeon snapped. Her total blindness was starting to bother her.

”Like an invisible barrier, or something,” Suho said. “Or something like Key’s force fields.”

”What?” Juyeon wriggled impatiently until Chanyeol breathed out a quiet sigh (either irrita