Sweat fell from his forehead as he side-looked at the barrel of the gun, while they were ordered to remain silent. He felt especially aware of one drop sliding down the back of his neck, the light touch tickled his salty skin. His arms ached from keeping them over his head for so long, his fingers were turning numb. His breathing rate had calmed down but the fear in his chest made every breath a struggle.

It was a test? A ing trial, this whole time?

It was hard to believe that the whole fight was fake as he watched the remaining soldiers clear away the bodies of their fallen comrades. Honestly, Jongdae hadn’t even noticed them until now. With all the adrenaline and the commotion, he was too focused on keeping himself alive and the group. But seeing how cold the soldiers treated the dead bodies was disturbing, so he couldn’t bear look at them anymore.

He noticed an assistant walk out from the last car. His face was half hidden behind thick glasses and the upturned lapels of his lab white lab coat -which he wore over his clothes. He had a prominent squared jaw and jet black hair. He walked up to Mama, checking to see if she was fine.

“How are you even alive?” Chanyeol suddenly asked scornfully. “We buried you. We-”

“No,” she interjected, pushing her assistant away. “There’s no killing me, dear,” her sweet voice held venomous intent.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asked, lowering his hands as he glared. “What are you?”

The soldier behind Chanyeol threatened him once more, pressing the end of his gun against his head. That shut him up from asking any further. He slowly raised his arms as the man kept poking the metal at him. Baekhyun stared gravely, his eyes desperate as he watched the boy next to him submit in silence. Then Jongdae noticed Suho slightly move his hands above his head. Abruptly the soldier was pushed to the side and backwards by an invisible force. The man was cut off guard, causing him to mistakenly fire as he aimed his weapon to the sky.

The loud shot made Jongdae’s heart cringe in fright as Baekhyun’s scream added terror to his senses. He felt as if his guts contracted painfully as fear struck his mind. His heart pounded hard as he stared speechless. Chanyeol had ducked down, arms covering his head. His whole body shivered in panic as he remained crouched down. From where Jongdae was, he couldn’t see Chanyeol’s face clearly, but he knew the other was nearly crying in fear as he didn’t dare look up.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kris yelled infuriated. He made an attempt to move, but the soldier behind him forcefully pushed him down by the shoulders.

Mama gave a silent warning to the Colonel -her eyes showed hatred and authority. The Colonel ordered the man to step aside and another soldier replaced his position.

“That was very stupid of you,” Mama said dryly, eyes on Suho -who silently looked done in defeat and regret.

A moment of silence fell between them and the boys, as they downed the fact that their threat was serious. No one dared to move as they knew any abrupt disturbance could trigger an attack.

Jongdae realized that this time there was no way they could escape. His thoughts wandered back to the events of this morning. He wondered why Tao would come from the future to talk to him if they were going to end up trapped anyway. Was that why he told me to stay? Because he knew that there was no use escaping anyway? Then why the hell do I have this manual in my pocket? Why would he come to help if there’s no use in the first place?

Finally someone decided that the silence was enough. The assistant lifted Mama’s left arm, preparing to inject her with a new syringe. But she took the implement away from him and proceeded to do it herself. Mama passed the empty syringe to the assistant and indicated him to leave.

“Useless,” she whispered under her breath before turning to speak to the Colonel. “So, have they met your expectations?” she asked rubbing her punctured arm. .

“They’re just kids,” he said as his eyes roamed the hostages, “but they’ve shown great promise.” He rubbed his chin as he turned to face Mama. “I had estimated losing more men, but your boys were careful enough to keep them safe in the end. Especially that one,” he said pointing at Suho. “I was very impressed how he managed to avoid spilling the charged water and risking their lives.”

“Yes, Suho is quite considerate and smart,” she smiled with pride. “But he can also be quite foolish at times,” her smile turned into a stern line as she reminded the earlier misshape. The Colonel nodded in agreement, while Suho didn’t even look up as he clenched his jaw shut in anger.

“I was worried that one would end up killing my men, but the rest acted up and made the right decision,” he said, mentioning Luhan this time.

Mama looked at Luhan, lying on the floor unconscious -there was a small trail of blood drying up on the back of his head. She shook her head before speaking to the Colonel again.

“He wasn’t going to kill them,” she asserted. The Colonel looked confused. “He’s learned much,” she concluded ambiguously.

The colonel scratched his forehead. “I don’t understand why you insisted on working with younglings. I see too much insecurity in these boys; too immature.”

“Don’t worry about their emotional state, that can be fixed,” she waved off. “I can elongate the process to a mature age or even start with older subjects. But teenagers heal faster as their bodies are still growing,” she explained. “That’s why I chose them. Their growth elevates the probability of lasting mutations.”

The Colonel slowly nodded, but looked rather confused. Mama shook her head before continuing. “What do you think about their abilities? That is what we’re here for in the first place,” she commented.

“Superb,” he approved with a nod, hands behind his back. “They’ve surpassed my expectations. And most importantly, they managed to work with my men. Despite the bad start,” he remarked.

Mama crossed her arms over her chest as she took a step closer to the group, quietly observing them.

“An integration program should be implemented,” Mr. Kim opined. “So they can fit in my military.”

“Of course,” Mama said as if it was obvious. “This was just a test. All they’ve ever done is develop their skills against my boggers.” She turned to face the man. “Now they were forced to evaluate and discriminate the true intentions of the soldiers and decide if they are allies or foes. We needed to see how they react in a bellicose situation where they have to test their moral and figure what is right and what is wrong,” she explained.

“Was it necessary to go through such a hassle?” the Colonel questioned.

“The third part of the trials tests their reasoning in ethics and moral behavior, which required for them to believe they had their own free will. So yes, it was optimal for them to believe the hoax,” she explained. “We needed to see their real reactions towards the dubious social environment,” she added. “I must admit that I am impressed,” she spoke kindly to them, with a proud smile adorning her pink lips. “You didn’t blindly believe everything the Colonel and Mrs. Kim told you -no. You read through the lines, found discrepancies and followed your inquisitive instinct,” she complimented as her eyes scanned their defiant faces. “Quite smart indeed,” her smile turned into a grin. “You boys think, and that’s the best quality you can ever have in this world. Independent decisions to strive and survive.”

“But their obstinance is a hindrance,” the Colonel frowned. “We can’t have soldiers unwilling to obey orders.”

Mama rolled her eyes before turning to look at him disdainfully. “As if you’d be so willing to fight a bogger,” she said sardonically.

The Colonel’s face reddened indignant at her, but he remained silent.

“You let us believe we were free,” Sehun said painfully through tears. “You’re awful,” he said as he tried to wipe his tears away with the inside of his raised arms.

Mama’s serious eyes fell on the crying boy; she showed no sign of pity or sympathy. Instead she looked rather intrigued. She shared a look towards Mr. Kim, who gave a disapproving scowl.

Mama scoffed. “You did say they were just kids,” she remarked sardonically to him.

The Colonel shrugged his shoulders and then saluted her, taking his leave to speak with his men. This action made Jongdae wonder if Mama had more authority than him.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Jongdae heard Suho bitterly say beside him. “Why did you help us escape if it was all a farce?”

“I just explained why,” she said rubbing her temple. “Don’t be dunce, you’re making me seem foolish after my compliments.”

“It’s rather hard to piece everything together after being told so many lies,” Kris countered back.

Mama cocked an eyebrow upwards as she tsked her teeth. “Very well,” she smoothly exchanged, agreeing with him. “What must you know to understand?”

“Everything,” he demanded. “Just tell us everything.”

“The fake escape had to appear as real as possible for the trial to work. I needed to make you believe you had freedom,” she began explaining. “You boys were getting frisky about leaving,” her gaze directed towards Sehun, “I used your impatience to my advantage and created the perfect scenario for the test. I already explained what the third trial was about; I don’t need to repeat myself again.”

“But, you told me you wanted us to leave so we wouldn’t be weapons,” Kai said heatedly. “You lied.”

“Yes, that wasn’t entirely true nor a complete lie,” she admitted. “I’ve never been interested in having you boys being used as super soldiers, but the trials became to be because of the military’s finance,” she explained. “I really am just in this for the science.”

“So you didn’t help because you cared about us,” Sehun said bitterly, earning a curious look from Mama.

“I knew it,” Jongdae heard Xiumin whisper to himself.

“You’ve never cared about us,” Sehun challenged, resentment coating his voice.

A strange emotion crossed through Mama's gaze. The small moment of shock made Jongdae believe he saw hurt in her dark eyes.

“You wouldn’t be breathing if I didn't care,” she coldly snapped at Sehun, anger detectable in her tone.

Her sudden outburst surprised the group -Sehun even looked away, cutting his defiance short.

Mama stayed silent for a second, resuming her calm state as she chose her words. “By becoming an accomplice, by appearing to be on your side, you boys believed you had the liberty to choose -to make your own decisions. That’s why I helped you out,” Mama patiently explained. “It was part of the plan. Every detail was thoroughly thought out. Every single detail,” she remarked. “Right, D.O?” she asked for his confirmation as her eyes casted amusedly at him.

Jongdae frowned confused as he tried to see the boy further in front. His back seemed tensed as he kept his hands above his head.

“D.O?” Suho softly asked confused.

“What do you mean?” Kris asked to Mama –one hand over his head, while the other was holding onto Tao protectively. The time controller was still lying unconscious beside him.

“I did warn you to worry about him, didn’t I?” she smirked while brushing her hair back. “Back when I introduced him to you.”

Jongdae noticed Kai sway. His jaw was tightly clenched as he visibly gulped.

“What? He was part of it?” Xiumin asked as he looked at said boy. “Of the hoax? But…”

“I know this is all confusing,” she said kindly to Xiumin. “Hopefully Kai is catching on, since he’s been most affected by D.O’s charms.”

“Don’t say that,” D.O muttered annoyed.

Mama’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled amused at his response. “Oh,” her eyes wandered back and forth between them two. “I see.”

“No,” Chanyeol frowned, finally lifting his head up. “No he couldn’t. He, he helped us all this time. I can’t believe this,” he said skeptically.

“Think about it,” Mama calmly insisted. “How did you even get out in the first place? Hmm?”

“We wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for him,” Kai said somberly, eyes casted down.

“Correct.” Her attention went back to D.O. “He tunneled the way out to the surface.”

“He knew about the device and where it was,” Kai reasoned in a strangled voice.

“Because I told him,” Mama confirmed what he thought. “So you’d fall into the trap and drag everyone else with you.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, “You must admit it was quite clever of me making D.O appear defenseless each time you were near him. I knew it would be easy to lure you in since you’re always so compelled to help others. You have the hero syndrome; you just don’t know your limits.”

Kai didn’t say anything else -he seemed incapable of uttering a word as his eyes stared at D.O’s back. The smaller boy kept his gaze on the floor, head hanging low.

“How did you even get out?” Kris asked her, his brows furrowed tightly together. He appeared to not care about the revelation of D.O’s involvement as he glared directly at Mama. “We wrecked the building and set it on fire. We buried that place. We buried you.”

“Not quite,” she replied while fixing her hair behind her ear. “You buried me, but not exactly me,” she corrected. “You buried a newer version of myself."

“What?” Lay voiced.

“Oh don’t pretend to not know,” she exclaimed at him. “I know you’ve got the answer to that, thanks to D.O’s disobedience,” her voice gradually became more indignant, as her eyes gazed upon him. “I lost nearly everything because of you,” she resented.

D.O said nothing as he glared at her with defiance.

“I expected some damage from the rest, but not from you,” she spoke with disappointment. “You didn’t follow my rules,” she provoked, but D.O remained silent. “Luhan was right to not trust you,” she bemused.

“Stop,” he said weakly.

“Kris slowly followed on thanks to your hints.”

“Stop it,” he said louder.

“I should’ve known you were going betray me,” she said begrudgingly.

“You lied to me!” D.O hollered, forcefully lowering his fisted hands.

“You betrayed me!” She venomously spat back.

“You promised me I would meet my family,” he yelled as he accusingly pointed at her. The soldier poked him with the end of the gun, until he lowered his hand to his side.

“You disobeyed my orders, you brat!” Mama said heatedly, losing her calm. “Destroyed the facility, murdered my staff and wrecked the inc-”

“You promised that if I got them out I’d see my family again!” D.O cut in. He punched the floor in an angered fit, causing the earth to shake. “You liar!”

“Silence!” she yelled louder than ever, scaring the out of Jongdae. Despite the movement she held her ground. “You did not hold your end of the bargain. The moment you wandered off from your mission you decided to plot against me.”

“I never wanted to be part of it,” he muttered annoyed.

She took a big breath as she swept her hair back. “No matter what I do you’re always so difficult to control,” she resented. “You’ve caused a lot of damage, you know. I’ve lost all my backup data, half my staff, equipment, subjects-” she suddenly stopped moving as she realized something. Her eyes held a daring look as she smirked at him. “All but one,” she added. “I managed to save the one you didn’t kill through an emergency extraction. He’s a bit battered up, but I can fix him and even make him better than you.”

“No!” D.O yelled as he attempted to move.

The soldier kicked his side as he aimed his gun at him, but D.O reached up and grabbed the weapon so harshly, that it broke in half. The startled man was shoved away with great force as D.O was strong enough to elevate the man’s body off the ground.

“Let go!” Sehun cried out as the soldier grabbed him in a headlock with one arm, while pointing his gun at his head with the other.

“You move, he dies,” he simply threatened D.O.

“Don’t you dare,” D.O glared as he held his ground.

“You brat,” Mama called him as she reached into her jacket pocket, “I don’t need you anymore,” she said emotionlessly.

“We’re not replaceable,” D.O said distraught.

“Oh, yes,” Mama countered raising a defiant brow, as she placed her free hand on the nape of her neck. “We all are,” she said tapping the back of her head twice. “We’ve always been.”

What ensued made Jongdae scream in horror.

D.O’s body suddenly dropped and began to vigorously convulse. The soldier stepped away and Jongdae had a clear view of the shaking boy. His head snapped back, jaw clenching and unclenching as his eyes rolled backwards, turning completely white. His body jerked savagely, raising off from the floor. Blood gushed out of his mouth and a slim streak of red slid out from his inner ears.

The members began to scream as the helplessly watched the torture scene. Any attempt to move was silenced by the threat of a gun. Wind picked up and Jongdae knew it was Sehun losing control as he cried in despair. Jongdae felt his stomach churn when he witnessed D.O hitting the back of his head hard against the ground -so hard he heard the other give out a guttural cry.

“Stop! Stop you’re killing him,” Kai cried out and teleported next to D.O. He held D.O’s body to the side, to stop him from choking in his own blood. But is wasn’t enough, as D.O kept making strangled noises. “He can’t breathe! Stop!” Kai cried out. “Lay!”

Lay tried to get closer, eyes desperate to help, but the soldier grabbed him by his hair and pulled him back. Jongdae felt desperate when he heard Lay cry out in pain. He moved, wanting to run over and knock the soldier away, but a strong hold held him from the back of his neck. Hard fingers hurtfully probed his skin as the soldier kept him in place, threatening him with his gun. Jongdae quickly calmed down, knowing he wouldn’t ever be fast enough to outrun a bullet from such close range.

Instead he saw Lay escape from the soldier’s hold. He grabbed the man’s hand and the soldier fell down completely out, Jongdae wondered what Lay must’ve done to him. Lay quickly jumped onto his feet, ready to run to D.O’s side, but a shot was heard.

Jongdae felt his heart jump at the blaring sound of a gun being shot so close to him.

“Move and next time I’ll shoot his head,” the soldier threatened as he kept Xiumin from falling forward. The ice bender held his shoulder, blood ran down his back and he remained silent in shock.

Lay stayed still, eyes widened in fear. He looked completely torn between helping both boys out, while failing to move because of the menace.

“Stop,” Kai cried as he fruitlessly tried to stop D.O’s agonizing torture. He held his body tight, but the seizure wouldn’t cease. “He’s not breathing,” he yelled afraid. “He’s not breathing!”

Mama did nothing as she stared passively at the scene. She removed her hand from her pocket, revealing that she held a device -the control to D.O’s chip. She let it drop to the floor before stomping it and smashing it to pieces.

“No, please stop,” Kai aguishly begged. “Don’t.”

Jongdae hadn’t noticed he was crying. He knew his mind was lost in fear and his senses were distraught, but he hadn’t realized he was crying so damn hard. He felt himself jump in his skin as he felt the grip on the back of his neck be pulled away. He fell confused as the soldier behind him suddenly disappeared. In a flash, the soldiers were taken away by Kai -only it wasn’t really Kai, for he was hunched down crying over D.O.

This Kai was wearing styled dark clothes and a long black jacket -very similar to what blond Tao was wearing. His hair was chocolate brown swept backwards, with yellow highlights. His face seemed older as well, jaw more squared and defined. His frame had built up as well, shoulders more prominent -and the way he moved was different, elegant, smooth and lithe.

“Tao?” he heard Kris ask surprised, making him look away from staring at the other Kai.

It was blond Tao, walking up to his unconscious self. Jongdae finally noticed that everything around them had frozen still in time. Mama was there, the other soldiers were there, but none were moving.

Blond Tao crouched down in front of a stunned Kris, and brushed the jet black hair of his younger self. “No wonder I couldn’t remember this,” he said as he smiled sadly. “There was no way I could see this happening.”

“How can this be real?” he heard Chanyeol gasp as he stared at future Tao.

“Xiumin, how bad is it?” he heard Suho ask as he went to help the injured boy. Baekhyun went to help as well.

“Jongdae!”

His head snapped towards the direction they called him. Kai -future Kai, had called him over to where D.O, Kai and Lay were. He quickly got up on his numbed limbs and stumbled forward until he reached them.

“Kai you have to do, I can’t do it for you,” future Kai spoke to his younger self who was wiping away his tears.

“I can’t, I can’t,” Kai said shaking his head.

“Listen to me,” the other said agitated. He grabbed Kai by his shoulders so he could look at himself straight in the eyes. “He’ll never get better if you don’t take it out. Just reach in and Lay will heal him.”

“I…”

“You will save him,” future Kai assured his younger self, cupping Kai’s face with his hands for him to see how serious he was being. His gaze was intense and he held present Kai until the younger one nodded. He let go and called for Lay’s attention. “Guide his hand,” he instructed.

Without wasting any second, Lay grabbed Kai’s right hand and placed it at the back of D.O’s head, as future Kai helped by holding the unconscious boy in the right position.

“It’s in the occipital lobe, just a centimeter from the skull,” the healer explained. “Just stick your fingertips and you’ll be able to reach it.”

Oh hell no, Jongdae thought as he cupped his mouth with his hand. Why did they call me here? I can’t watch this!

Contradicting his thoughts, Jongdae watched as Kai mustered all his courage to phase his hand inside D.O’s head. It all happened in seconds. Kai stuck his hand in and made a discomfort sound as he picked out the chip. Lay immediately began healing D.O from cerebral damage as future Kai helped lay him down.

“Kai?” Jongdae asked concerned as the tan boy’s frame trembled.

Kai was in utter distraught as he stared at his bloodied hand. The chip was settled on his palm, along with tissue that should’ve remained inside D.O’s head. Future Kai went over and took his younger self away, trying to calm him from the shock.

“Jongdae, help me” Lay said, making him snap his attention to him.

Quickly Jongdae made his way to kneel at the opposite side of D.O’s body. Jongdae wasn’t an expert, but it was evident that D.O still wasn’t breathing.

“I need you to shock him a little,” Lay said with his hands still on D.O’s head. “Give me 400volts.”

“What?” Jongdae screamed in surprise.

“I need you to shock his heart to reboot his muscle contraction,” Lay hurriedly explained. “Place your hands here and here,” he demonstrated, left hand on the right pectoral and right hand on the upper left rib cage. “Hurry we don’t have time!” he said impatiently when he realized Jongdae wasn’t following his orders.

“I can’t,” Jongdae furiously shook his head.

“Just do it!” Lay yelled, pulling him closer to D.O’s body.

“What if I kill him?” he asked uncertain as he began to rub his hands together.

“He’s already dead,” Lay deadpanned. “Hurry!”

“!” he cursed as he dared himself to place his hands on D.O’s torso. The current was strong enough to make his body jerk upwards. Jongdae screamed when D.O’s eyes briefly opened.

“Again! 550,” Lay instructed after checking D.O’s vitals.

“Hell no!”

“Jongdae!”

“Damn it!” he yelled as he quickly charged his hands to shock D.O again. He squirmed away when D.O coughed out as his body jerked.

Lay shuffled back to inspect D.O. “Okay, okay. It worked,” he said as he was giving chest massages to help steady D.O’s heartbeat. “He’s alive,” he smiled in relief.

“Good, ‘cause I’m going to pass out now,” Jongdae said breathless as he sprawled on the floor.

“There’s no time for that,” future Kai said as he helped him up. “You have to leave, now.”

“We’ll hold them back a little longer to give you a head start,” blond Tao said.

The group had prepared. Kris was carrying Tao on his back while Sehun was in charge of taking Luhan –he had to pass the backpack he held to Baekhyun. Suho had helped stop Xiumin’s wound from bleeding and carried the two backpacks that were left. Chanyeol was in charge of carrying Xiumin on his back –the ice bender’s skin had gotten severely pale as he looked tired and weak, resting against Chanyeol’s broad back. Lay and future Kai helped settle D.O onto Kai’s back.

“Chen, you read the manual right?” blond Tao asked him.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Then you know what to do,” he assured as he grabbed his hand and pulled him to walk towards the direction they needed to go.

“I think,” Jongdae said uncertain as he was dragged along.

“Drive East,” blond Tao said as he let go.

“Guys hurry, you’ve got to get to the RV as quick as possible,” Future Kai instructed.

“Go, now!” blond Tao gave an encouraging push for Jongdae to leave first.

Ignoring how tired he felt, Jongdae dashed across the intersection passing by the immobile soldiers. He ran down hill through the streets, easily finding his way thanks to the arrows drawn on the walls. He found the vehicle and quickly hopped inside the driver’s side.

Upon closing the door he realized he had no idea how to drive the vehicle.

“,” he cursed as he searched in his pocket for the manual. It was a bit battered up, but it didn’t matter. Quickly, he skimmed through the pages, finding the necessary instructions.

“Okay, okay,” he chimed to himself as grasped the basics to driving. “First I need the key,” he spoke aloud as he patted around his seat. He couldn’t find it though, not at the wheel board, by the radio or hidden in the sun visor. He looked inside the compartments of the copilot seat, but they were nearly empty.

“Damn it! What do I do?” he felt anxious as he tugged his hair.

“What’s wrong?”

Jongdae jumped when he heard Baekhyun’s breathless voice beside him. He was at Jongdae’s door, while behind him the group was getting closer.

“I, I can’t find the key,” he admitted.

Baekhyun frowned. “How can they make us use a car without a key?” he mumbled as he made his way to the copilot seat and got inside the vehicle. “Did you check in here?” he asked as he opened the compartment before him.

“Yes, I checked everywhere,” Jongdae said while rubbing his face with his fingers.

“Is this thing working?” Suho asked behind them as he entered through the side door. The rest of the members got inside after him, finding any place available for them to sit.

“Umm, not quite,” Baekhyun replied. “Just a minor technicality.”

“Minor?” Jongdae exasperated, but was cut off by Baekhyun.

“Yeah, minor,” he said between his teeth.

Suho narrowed his eyes unconvinced. “Just hurry,” he muttered before turning around.

“What’s that book?” Baekhyun asked pointing at the manual in his hands.

“It has instructions to drive this thing,” Jongdae replied.

“Look for some way to start this thing then,” Baekhyun hurried him.

“There’s a bed at the back,” they heard Lay say.

“Put D.O there,” Suho told Kai.

“Does Luhan fit there too?” Sehun asked tiredly.

“Yeah,” Lay replied. “Bring Tao too. Where’s Xiumin?”

“Here,” Chanyeol replied as he set down Xiumin on side lounge.

“I really need an energy bar,” Lay sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Baekhyun,” Suho reappeared behind them. “Give me the backpacks,” he asked.

“Okay,” he quickly shed them off to hand them over.

“You’ve fixed the minor technicality?” he asked again

“Not yet,” Jongdae squeaked.

“Hurry,” Suho growled lowly, scaring them both.

“,” Baekhyun cursed as he looked away. “What does the key do?” he asked Jongdae.

“Ignites the engine and unlocks the steering wheel,” Jongdae answered. “This is supposed to be locked to avoid -huh?” he was confused as he managed to steer the wheel without hindrance. “It’s already unlocked.”

“Then all we need is to ignite the engine,” Baekhyun said excited. “How does it ignite?”

“Well the key fits in and creates a contact that sparks electricity to some part in the engine and it starts. I can’t remember what the thing was called, but basically it all runs on electricity and combustion,” he rapidly explained as he kept searching through the manual. Jongdae looked up as Baekhyun had gone silent -the other boy was staring at him with a judgmental look. “What?” he asked confused.

“Electricity,” Baekhyun deadpanned.

“Yeah,” Jongdae replied insecurely.

“Are you really that dense?” Baekhyun exasperated. “Just ignite it yourself! Stick your finger in the keyhole and spark it, or something like that.”

“Oh,” Jongdae finally reacted and did just as told. He charged voltage to the tip of his little finger and inserted it in the keyhole. It took a couple of tries before it managed to start the engine.

“Wow,” Baekhyun said surprised at the roar of the engine.

Remembering the instructions, Jongdae unlocked the hand brake before shifting the gear to driving mode.

“Just step on it,” he copied blond Tao’s advice as he stepped on the pedal.

The RV forcefully moved forward causing a screeching sound.

“Holy !” he gasped as he tried to control the direction. With his quick reflexes he managed to handle the steering wheel with ease as he drove through the streets in complete havoc. His turns were messy and abrupt, causing everything and everyone inside the vehicle to slide from side to side. The group became boisterous as they tried their best to hang on and not fall.

“Yah! Are you trying to get us killed?” Baekhyun yelled as he tried to hold on to the front board.

“Sorry,” he sheepishly said as he slowed down a notch, but his skills were still horrible.

“Where are you even going?” Baekhyun asked as he finally managed to fasten his seatbelt.

“East.”

“Do you even know where that is?”

“Umm…”

“Kris! Where’s the east?” Baekhyun yelled to the back.

“Left from the entrance,” Kris quickly replied. “Jongdae! Drive straight!”

“I’m trying!” he earnestly replied as he found his way to the entrance of the town. The same spot where Miss Ga found them. Once he reached it he turned left and earned some complaints from his passengers.

“Look over there. There’s a road,” Baekhyun pointed out.

Jongdae drove carefully through the dirt path until he got to the pavement.

“Wow, it’s smooth,” he admired as the ride became less bumpy.

He did his best to drive through the middle of the road, but his speed drastically dropped as they saw troops approximate the road. They have big jeeps intersecting the road and cutting off their path.

“,” Baekhyun cursed. “Guys we’ve got trouble.”

Suho appeared behind them, he held tightly on the shoulder of the seats. “We’ve got to get rid of them.” He turned around, “Sehun, you’ve got to blow them out of the way.”

“How can I do that from in here?”

“Just use a window,” Chanyeol suggested as he searched for a way to lower the window.

“Hold on to me,” Sehun said as he stuck his torso out of the window. Chanyeol did as told and held him by the waist.

“Hurry!” Kris said alarmed as they got closer.

Suho opened a window on the opposite side, and kneeled on the side lounge by Lay and Xiumin. He stuck his arms out as he began to attack. Using his blood manipulation, Suho swatted the soldiers away, just like Luhan would do with his telekinesis.

“What are you doing?” Kris asked worriedly as he grabbed the other boy’s waist to prevent him from falling out.

“Getting rid of them,” he said coldly.

“Sehun hurry!” Baekhyun yelled as they were almost a kilometer apart from the threat.

“Almost,” the air bender said as he kept collecting and compressing air.

“Sehun!”

Finally he let go and directed a forceful current towards the middle of the road. The wind was strong enough to upturn the vehicles and make them roll away.

“Yeah!” they cheered as they passed through the cleared path. Jongdae accelerated as he drove them further and further away.

“How are we going to pass through the dome?” Kai asked as walked out to the middle of the RV instead of the back where the three unconscious boys were. “We’re about to reach the border.”

“We’ll have to break it,” Suho said.

“Baekhyun, could you carve a hole?” Chanyeol asked.

“Uhh, I think I can,” the light bender said.

“Great,” Kai said and without warning he teleported Baekhyun with him.

 

It only took a minute for them to reach where Baekhyun was carving an arch with laser opening for them to pass. Jongdae had to step on the brake to prevent from crashing.

“Hurry, hurry!” Sehun yelled through the window.

“, they’re following us,” Kris said as he looked out the other window.

“How far?” Suho asked.

“Ten kilometers, but they’re moving fast,” he informed.

“It’s done!” Chanyeol said as he pointed to the front.

The second Kai appeared with Baekhyun inside the RV, Jongdae stepped on the accelerator and drove out of the dome. He abruptly stopped the RV once they were out.

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol yelled.

“Making sure they won’t come after us,” he said as he jumped out of the car. “Sehun, Kai come with me. Baekhyun keep driving,” he ordered as he ran to stand behind the RV.

“I don’t even know how to drive!” he heard Baekhyun yell from inside the RV.

You’ve got to do this right, Chen, he encouraged himself as he charged electricity through his hands. Observed the dome, it was practically transparent from the outside, but the crack on the top gave away its presence.

“What’s your plan?” Kai asked.

“Destroy the dome,” he curtly answered. “Sehun I need you to quickly bring the clouds together and pressure them. Create a storm at the top of the dome.”

“Got it,” Sehun complied as he began to create currents to manipulate the atmosphere as he pleased.

“I’ll delay them. A few misplaced trees might do the trick,” Kai said before disappearing.

“I need you to compress the clouds closer to accumulate some humidity,” Jongdae instructed.

“Okay.” The clouds became darker and denser -rain began to fall.

“And now  push wind under the clouds to charge the rain drops.”

“Okay.”

“Guys, hurry,” Kai said breathlessly. “They’re just six kilometers away.”

“Stay back,” Jongdae warned as he was ready to spark.

He directed the electricity towards the clouds and, within his control, a high voltage lightning struck downwards, piercing through the cracked dome. Loud cracks were heard as the structure of the dome shattered into pieces. The top plummeted down, causing the rest of the structure to fall with it.

“Let’s go,” Kai said as he teleported them back inside the vehicle.

Jongdae scooted Baekhyun out of the driver seat -the other boy didn’t even manage to start it. Shifting the gear out of neutral, Jongdae stepped on the pedal and drove them away from the collapsing dome.

“Holy , how did you do that?” Chanyeol asked impressed as he looked out the window.

“Just needed the right conditions,” Jongdae replied as he concentrated on driving.

“Chanyeol, let me check you,” Lay said as he finally finished healing all of Xiumin’s wounds. The ice bender was tiredly resting on the lounge with Suho and Sehun. Kris and Kai went back to check on Tao, Luhan and D.O.

“Look, that sign says 56,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“It’s probably the road we’re on,” Jongdae commented.

“Can you drive faster?” Baekhyun asked.

“You sure?” Jongdae was uncertain, since before they were quite against his rapid driving.

“I hope they all ended under the rubble. But we should get as far as possible, just in case,” he opined.

With more control over his skills, Jongdae managed to accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour. He forgot he was tired as he was completely concentrated on driving through the steep and curved route 56. They were in the mountains, which meant there were many snake roads -he quickly learned that it was safer to decelerate during the curves. There was a river that s alongside the route, it grew bigger and bigger the further they went.

When they encountered other vehicles along the road, at first they were alert and scared; afraid that maybe they were part of the company and were trying to catch them. But after they passed them with no other threat than honking –since Jongdae was driving through the middle of the road- they determined them to not be the enemy and were just going someplace. It took him four cars to learn that he should only drive on right side of the road.

“You’re getting pretty good at this,” Baekhyun acknowledged after twenty minutes of driving through the mountainous countryside.

Jongdae smiled proudly.

His copilot had turned silent as they were further away down the route 56, which later ended at an intersection where Jongdae turned right, taking route 44 towards the East. In fact, everyone was quite calm and quiet. The whole ordeal of the third trial had taken a toll over them, and now all that they could do was rest and still their minds. No one had much to say as they watched the scenery of the countryside while passing by other towns.

Lay was the only one being quite active, since he took his time with each member, making sure to heal each and every injury they had. He managed to wake Luhan and Tao, and give them proper treatment. It was hard to explain everything that happened to the boys who missed out, but they did their best to fill them in on the facts. Luhan was rather bitter about Mama being alive and well –no one could argue against that. Tao was apprehensive about the fact that his future self came to their present time to help them out. It was hard for him to understand how he was able to do that or how he could’ve developed the ability to time travel. And most importantly, what caused his future self to decide to come back to that time.

When they asked about D.O, no one dared to speak up. There was a silent agreement that they weren’t ready to discuss that topic yet, for it was too hard to accept D.O’s involvement in the hoax. They all had mixed feelings about it all. But Luhan didn’t need to be told, he could just lurk inside their thoughts. And once he did, he kept his opinion to himself –since it was quite obvious no one was interested in debating whether to keep trusting D.O or not.

“Look, we’re reaching some place called Yangyang. Just 15Km away,” Baekhyun observed from the sign on the side of the road. “Should we go there? Or Sokcho? Sokcho is 38Km away.”

“I’m just going to drive route 44 until I reach the end,” Jongdae replied. He preferred to remain driving east as blond Tao told him to.

“Okay,” Baekhyun sighed as he rested his head again the door.

The road became less steep as they were getting closer to Yangyang city. More buildings began to appear along the road. From small houses to industrial edifices, the scenery showed them they were clearly getting out of the countryside and further into the populated city. They ventured by a very populated area at the outskirts of Yangyang and reached a roundabout, where Jongdae managed to maneuver through and enter route 7. Route 7 directed them through crop fields, north from Yangyang city.

“Jongdae, let’s stop here,” Suho said behind them.

“Why?” he asked as he kept his eyes on the road. They were nearing a populated area again.

“There’s a beach, let’s take a break there,” Suho ordered. “You need to rest too.”

“Alright,” he calmly agreed.

“Take this right turn,” Baekhyun helped out. “There’s the sign.”

It didn’t take long for them to find the street towards the sea, for there were many signs to indicate the correct way. They found a parking lot at the end of Ilchul street. Jongdae had no parking skills, but it didn’t matter since the place was nearly empty. Once settled, Suho was the first to exit the vehicle. The rest followed suit, leaving D.O behind to rest in the RV.

Jongdae fell in awe as he stepped on the sand and felt the salty air breeze against his skin. The air felt so refreshing. Sea birds flew above them chirping incessantly. The East Sea was deep blue and vast. It was amazing to see its expansion reach the horizon. The afternoon sun was high in the clouded sky, its rays reflected off the sea’s crescents, creating the illusion that the water shined. The breathtaking scenery was accompanied by the rhythm of the waves breaking against the shore; a continuous motion that lulled him into a blithe state.

Jongdae felt gleeful as he enjoyed the freshness of the beach. He felt free as the wind brushed against his skin. He felt safe as he wobbled around the sand with the group. He felt relief as he ogled at the beautiful deep blue ocean before them.

They all went to touch the water –all but Jongdae, since they feared he might accidentally spark the water. And after, they just settled on the sand to relax and admire the scenery.

Suho wordlessly got up and stripped his clothes off. Jongdae didn’t think much about staring, but when his eyes noticed the horrible scar on Suho’s thigh he felt discomfort in his heart. His pleasant thoughts wandered off as he realized that the group must’ve gone through so many difficulties before. The third trial was difficult, but there was a time where they all were rookies and they barely managed to stay alive. It scared him to know that each and every one of them had been in risk –in risk of losing their lives.

Suho ran into the sea, diving inside the cold water. He didn’t reemerge for air. He disappeared inside the depths of the blue ocean.

“Hey, he’s not coming out,” Jongdae said alarmed, pushing Lay’s hand off his knee so he could stand up.

“Don’t worry about him,” Lay calmly said as he pulled him down to sit so he could continue healing his injuries.

“Why not? What if he drowned?” he asked concerned as he tried to stand up again.

“He breathes underwater,” Xiumin clarified, looking just as relaxed as Lay was.

“Oh,” Jongdae finally settled down, but kept his sight on the water.

“Does anything else hurt?” Lay asked him.

“No. I’m okay, thanks,” he said grateful.

“Good,” Lay smiled softly.

“Lay,” Kai called as he walked up to them. “Is D.O going to be alright?” he asked solemnly.

“He needs to rest a lot Kai. I can’t rush it,” Lay explained.

“But is he well?” Kai said worriedly.

Lay didn’t reply back with words. He gave Kai a meaningful look that said it all. Kai’s shoulders slumped forward as he looked down.

“Come,” Lay said as he stood up. “Let’s go check on him,” he said kindly, taking Kai’s hand to walk him back to the RV and leaving Jongdae alone with Xiumin.

“It’s hard to believe we’ve really escaped this time,” Xiumin said softly, nearly in a whisper.

“But we did,” Jongdae assured. “We’re free.”

Xiumin silently nodded, his gaze fixed on the sea.

Yes, they were most certainly free now. Their surroundings indicated that they were just a bunch of kids hanging out at the beach, within normal civilization. Normal people, normal city, normal beach. Expect they would never be normal, and that scared him more than being caught by Mama again. Back at the company, they had a purpose, even if it was forced upon them and it was one they hated. But out here, he felt so small compared to the ocean. He felt like he was another lost soul with no direction of where to go.

What are we supposed to do now?

 

“Xiumin?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we going to be alright?” Jongdae asked, feeling a stir of anxiety in him.

Xiumin remained silent for a minute before replying.

“Honestly,” he said, “I don’t know.”

  

 

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A/N: I’m sorry it took so long for me to update. I wanted to do it last weekend, but I didn’t manage to finish in time. I’m seriously so busy these days, it’s tiring.

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Finally you get to know what’s the truth, though there is still more to reveal later *cough cough* D.O *cough*

Thank you all for being so patient and I’ll have to kindly keep asking you to keep being this way. I’ll try to update once a month until I have more time to update faster.

Also, thanks to bluelove23, walkinginmoonlight, tedy_bear, CharmingOtaku, TokyoGhoul04, AngleXiahX and anemellie for subscribing and reading my story.

I hope you guys are doing well and have a great weekend. Annyeong!

-Blackie.