OMG GUYS, I'M CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE END XD I originally thought the story was going to be longer... and then when I wrote out the plan finally, I thought it would be shorter XD so I guess it's right in the middle. A couple more to go. For a friendship/music/romance attempt (cause I at it XD) story, visit my other FF, "For Him", also with EXO-K. After I'm done with this I'll be posting another story. I seriously have like ten different story ideas going on @_@ there's one with Teen Top, with Infinite, U-Kiss, Chanyeol <3, EXO-M, and A-JAX XD I wonder which would be best to start with... well, anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter :D

Before I could fully recover, a threatening rumble snapped me out of my daze. Six heads turned towards the source of the noise. The ranch house (or what was left of it) vibrated dangerously. A moment later the front door fell right out of its hinges. Before we could as much as let out a gasp, the entire house shook uncontrollably, and plummeted down into a pile of dirty rubble. The guys coughed as the dust spread over to our spot.

"S-sehun..." I mumbled. "Luhan..."

Wriggling out of the boys' grasps, I ran forward towards the collapsed building. They quickly followed me.
"Sehun! Luhan!" we called. Nobody dared say anything else. We forgot about my outburst, about the castle, about all of Dr. Kim's minions who were underneath us right now, planning an attack. We stepped over boards, bricks, glass, furniture, searching desperately. We called their names even after our voices went completely hoarse.
"S-sehun!" I coughed out, my voice cracking. I swallowed tears. I didn't know why this place fell apart, but it must have been Luhan and Sehun's doing. And I couldn't accept the fact that they didn't make it out alive. Just the thought made my body shake with anxiety. No. That was impossible. We had to all make it. We ALL had to.

After what seemed like an hour of searching (but was probably only a matter of minutes), I lost it. I fell to the ground, my knee landing on a nail that was sticking out of a floor board. I pulled it out, barely even feeling the pain in my leg. I just sat there, on the remains of the ranch house, sobbing desperately. I was so sick of all this. I had thought that being taken against my will was bad. Then, I realized that being kept in a cell underground was even worse. But now I knew that the very worst thing was losing the people that had tried helping me along the way. I didn't even get to know Sehun and Luhan very well. But they were the first people I had met here and I knew they hated it here as much as I did. I couldn't help but feel partly responsible for their safety, especially when I technically was the one who initiated Dr. Kim's anger. And now they were gone. There, I said it. They were gone.
I looked up with teary eyes. Xiumin kept yelling their names out desperately. He and Chen searched together, lifting heavy furniture and wall pieces. Suho had a composed expression on as he picked up random doors, tables, and cabinets from the pile, hoping he'd find a breathing body underneath. But despite his lack of emotion, I knew that as a theoretical leader, he must have felt horrible, possibly worse than any of us. He didn't stop searching even for one second. I wish I could have as much hope as he did. Kris looked more pissed off than anything. His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead, his mouth was twisted in a scowl. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling. Was he disappointed that he lost a part of his team? We all were, and more than that: we were clearly crushed. But was Kris as well? He never seemed to care enough about the weaker members, but even he wasn't this heartless, right? If he was only thinking about weakening his army rather than the precious human (alien) lives that were lost forever, I would never forgive him. Although, at the moment, I was too tired and depressed to feel angry at him. But fortunately, I didn't have to, because when I looked closer at his eyes, I saw tears threatening to fall. Don't ask me how, but one could never mistake them as tears of simple disappointment or fatigue. There was much more in them. I knew that if we wouldn't find the boys, Kris would give in and his tears would come in gallons, crying for the friends that he truly cared about.
As for D.O., he was by my side the moment I fell. I think he was yelling at me for hurting my knee, but I don't remember much. All I could hear was panicked voices calling Sehun and Luhan's names, and managed to keep all other noise out. All, except for one other sound. A groan, somewhere off to my right.
My head turned in that direction so suddenly that my neck began aching. I shrugged D.O.'s hand off of me and crawled over to the source of the groan, leaving a trail of blood behind me. Then I froze, and listened for another sound.
"SHUT UP!" I yelled for the other boys to stop calling. They stopped and stared at me like I was crazy. Kris looked like he was ready to tear me to pieces.
Silence...

"H-here..." a small voice mumbled. This time, D.O. must have heard it too, because he swiftly pulled me off to the side, before grabbing the side of a cupboard. He tried lifting it, but it was too heavy. Before he even asked for help, the other four were by his side, and they all picked up the cupboard in one movement. Underneath, buried in a pile of boards and wall plaster, was Luhan lying on his front, with Sehun beneath him. Luhan attempted to pick his body up, but his arms failed him and he fell back onto Sehun. We all let out quiet sighs of relief. D.O., Suho and I hopped over to him and helped him up. D.O. carried Luhan out of the house and lay him on the lawn, while Suho and I set Sehun next to him.
"I-is he..." I choked, looking at Sehun's closed eyes. Suho checked his pulse then looked at me warmly, "He'll be alright. We'll get Lay to fix him up when he comes back."
I nodded and turned to Luhan. His gaze was on the sky above us, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Luhan..." I mumbled. "It's alright, Lay will be here soon..." I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with him. But he was crushed underneath the heavy cupboard, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of his bones were broken.
"It's alright, Romi," his whisper was barely audible. "I managed to keep the cupboard floating right above us, so it didn't hurt us," he explained as if reading my mind. "I'm just really... tired..." he closed his eyes. I could imagine. He had been using his telekinetic power to hold the cupboard above him and Sehun for over fifteen minutes. He must have been exhausted.
"But..." I slightly shook him, not letting him rest. "If you didn't get squished underneath, then what happened to Sehun? Did he get hurt even before the house collapsed?"
Luhan gulped.
"Some of the scientists came upstairs to fight us, and... he got hit on the head," he choked out. "Pretty hard."
I his hair.
"I'm sorry he had to end up going into battle," I told Luhan, but he shook his head.
"I'm glad he did. You should have seen him. He did so well..."
 

A part of the pile of house remains abruptly flew up into the air, sending a toilet bowl in our direction. Fortunately, it landed several feet away from Luhan's sleeping head (to the sound of which he quickly shot up, awake again). Out of what used to be a pile of bathroom appliances rose none other but wushu-Tao.
"Ugh... so this stuff is what was blocking the trapdoor," he growled, kicking the shower-head high up, where it disappeared over the treetops.
"Yah! Tao!" Kris exploded. I jumped and looked at him in surprise. His face was red, and I swear I could see smoke coming out his ears. I've never seen him so furious before, and most definitely didn't expect him to react this way to his best friend. Tao was clearly taken off-guard as well, because he twitched and raised his eyebrows. Kris stormed over to him. Now the thing is, I'm sure Tao could lock Kris and kick him unconscious very easily, but for some reason he refused to. He took the punch that his leader sent at his face. Tao stumbled back slightly, cupping a hand over his eye. Kris continued fuming.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I HAVE BEEN THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHAT THE IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"Sorry, the house collapsed onto our escape route," Tao grumbled, and I couldn't help but admire his courage. If it was me, I'd be cowering away from Kris, which by the way I was doing anyway, even being thirty feet away from him.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR EXCUSES! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP THE KID QUIET UNTIL ROMI COMES BACK, THEN RETURN TO MY SIDE!"

"It doesn't seem like you got hurt during my absence though," Tao noticed, and that was the most I have ever heard him say at once.

I was expecting Kris to scold Tao for talking back to him, but instead he hugged him. He hugged him. It's not like it's weird seeing best friends hugging, but just the fact that it was cool Kris I was looking at, I was a bit surprised. I scoffed to hide my urge to smile in this situation. Tao just stood there still, emotionless. When Kris let him go and Tao pulled away his hand, I saw the eye Kris had hit. It was swollen, the skin around it dark. I swear, now more than ever, Tao resembled a bear.

"Panda," Luhan grinned before lying back down with a sigh. His hand found Sehun's elbow. My lips twitched into a little smile as well, but it was quickly replaced with a frown.
"Wait... the kid you were taking care of... is it Daehyun?" I asked. Tao nodded. Then, as if realizing something, he jerked back towards the trapdoor and opened it again. He scowled and reached into it, pulling out none other than the boy that has been keeping me alive for the past couple of days. He pulled him out by the collar, as if Daehyun weighed nothing at all. The blondie's mask was missing since D.O. had "borrowed it", and I had to admit, his face was very handsome. He did however have a lost, frightened look in his eyes that made me want to skip over to him and give him a big hug.
"Daehyun..." I called his name, and he looked away from Tao, his gaze landing on me. Almost desperately, he scrambled through the house remains and ran onto the lawn. He didn't stop until he was hidden safely behind my back.
"Hey! You didn't hurt him, did you?!" I scolded Tao. He just stared at me and followed Kris back onto the grass. I guess he wasn't going to talk to anybody but his leader. Trying not to act hurt, I turned to face Daehyun.
"Are you okay, at least?" I asked him nervously, and he nodded. Right. He didn't speak either. Instead, he pointed to my bleeding knee.
"Oh, this?" I had forgotten about it. "I don't feel it anymore. It's alright."
"I should have ripped him to pieces," Tao exclaimed, looking at Kris (but I knew that Kris couldn't care less, so he must have actually been addressing me). "He was being so difficult. And then we got held back by those idiots underground..." he sent Daehyun a glare.
"Don't say that! He was just scared! He'll be on our side from now on, won't you?" I looked at Daehyun. Okay, might sound crazy, but for some reason I really wanted him to stick with us. After all, he did feed me while I was imprisoned, and he seemed so kind. And a part of me felt like he was just as much of a victim as we were. I felt bad for him.
"Why don't you talk?" I asked, scared of the answer. I could imagine what the creeper scientists did to people they disliked, and if Daehyun was one of those people...
"I think I have the answer to that," D.O. said. "The mask... well, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't make a sound while wearing it. It's so tight, it muffles all attempts of speaking. If they made him wear that for who-knows-how-long... well, anyone would get used to staying silent."

I nodded and patted Daehyun's shoulder.
"It's alright buddy, it must have been difficult for you, but things will definitely get better..."
Just then, the trapdoor that Tao entered through opened once again. A sea of men in ugly green suits came out of the cellar and onto the ruins of the ranch house. Each was holding a weapon of some sort.
I couldn't help but groan, "Ugh, really bad timing..."