Chapter 14                                                                               It was now 6:00 pm and the two cars were parked behind the building that Sehun had directed them to. On the way they had stopped by the town to refill the car with gas and grab a few more bites of food from the grocery store. Tao had been very excited and was wriggling in his car seat the first thirty minutes of the ride but ended up falling asleep next to Chen. Chen was afraid that the boy would turn into a zombie but Sehun tapped Tao’s forehead for any sign of heating and shook his head saying that he would only turn when his temperature rose abnormally. The first car was driven by Luhan and inside was Kyungsoo, Kai and Kris. The second car had Baekyoung on the wheel, Sehun on the passenger seat, and Chen and Tao at the back seat. Worse of all, they did not have a plan and that worried Baekyoung even more. Now that they were parked in the shadows of the construction site, Baekyoung was checking whether the walkie talkie worked.   Pat.   Baekyoung looked up to see Luhan tapping against the glass from outside and he unlocked the doors, Luhan getting in the backseat of the car. The fairy eyed boy did not have an inch of nervousness written on his face and Baekyoung thought that it must be because he did this so many times before. Luhan had the other walkie talkie and tied it to his belt. The other would be with Sehun who would stay in the car and give him directions on where to go and what to do. “How are you getting in?” Baekyoung asked Luhan who wore a pair of gloves that Baekyoung had never seen him wear before. Luhan pointed at the back wall that both of them could see. Above the trashcan was an opening that was covered by metal bars. If Luhan slipped through it and crawled, he would already be in their ventilation system. “How are you going to open it, Hyung?” Sehun looked at Luhan who seemed taken aback by Sehun calling him “Hyung” and he raised a paper clip that he twisted around to make it look like a screwdriver. “I’ll get a key and open the door, Kai will go in and both of us will search.” Luhan told the whole car what they had talked about in the other car. Sehun frowned. “Two won’t be enough.” The maknae told Luhan who waved a hand back at him. Luhan hiked up his shoes and tightened the strings, making a check around his body to make sure that the silencer was still with him. Kris told him to take it with him in case and Luhan agreed- he hated to think that he would have to shoot someone but he bet that he would do it for the sake of his safety.   “I’m going.” Luhan told the others and got off the car. Baekyoung saw him walk to the other car just to tell him that he was going in and he could not help but feel thankful for this set of people who were willing to risk their lives just to help his younger brother. The whole car watched Luhan walk to the back wall and climb onto the trashcan. “Will he be able to open it?” Chen asked aloud, his eyes focused on the Luhan whose fingers were seen twisting the clip over and over again. “He’ll open it in less than a minute.” Sehun answered Chen, his eyes also on his hyung. As Sehun had stated, in less than a minute, Luhan could be seen throwing a piece of metal on the ground just to expose an opening on the white wall. Everyone turned to look at Sehun curiously on how he knew that. “Did you know Luhan from before?” Baekyoung’s question was directed to Sehun and he looked through the front view mirror just to see the boy look flustered. Sehun his lips and cleared his throat before giving a vague response. “I guess.”   Luhan could be seen slipping into the opening and everyone held their breath. Baekyoung was holding the walkie-talkie in his hand while they all waited. As minutes ticked past, everyone grew anxious until a fizzy sound came out from the walkie-talkie. Baekyoung leaned forward, fiddling with the controls rapidly like how he did with radios when he was young. When the signal was in, a voice that seemed like Luhan’s voice floated out of the device.   “I-I’m in.” Everyone in the car jumped. Baekyoung handed the device to Sehun who raised it to his lips and pressed the button before he spoke. “Where are you? Are you above the guards post?” They waited for a few heartbeats when a reply came, hardly audible but audible enough to be understood. “I-I-I’m a-above i-i-t.” “Wait for a few minutes, around 6:15 is when they leave their post to walk towards the front. When they do, lower yourself and grab the keys back to the back door.” Sehun spoke into the device when he added a sentence in the end for more formality. “Please, hyung.”   Chen could not help but chuckle at Sehun’s cute way of trying to be respectful. Sehun turned red and rubbed his nose, pressing his lips together. Everyone leaned against their seats hoping that something would come from Luhan soon. After what seemed like forever, they saw the back door fling open and Luhan emerged from it. The fairy boy ran halfway towards the car and raised both his hands up, swaying it back at forth. Baekyoung saw Kai exit the other car with Kris and Kyungsoo trailing behind. “I guess they decided two wasn’t enough.” Baekyoung murmured when Kyungsoo approached the car and he unlocked it again for the box-like guy to sit in the back seat. Kyungsoo sat beside Tao who woke up and stretched, yawning a wide yawn- Kyungsoo covering Tao’s mouth with his hand. “Kris Hyung is going with him.” Kyungsoo said, stating the obvious when all of them began to wait once more.   Meanwhile, Luhan and the rest had gone through the back door. There was another door in front of them that was unlocked and Luhan turned to the rest to brief them on what he saw when he crawled through the ventilation shaft. “Behind that door is a bunch of prisoners behind bars. I have no idea if they will yell out if they see us or not.” Luhan told the others and Kris looked at the door. “Take out your silencer then. Pretend we’re guards.” “The guards have a uniform.” Luhan told him and Kai shook his head, laying his hands on his hips. “Is this a goddamn school?” The tanned boy spoke, rolling his eyes. “It’s fine. If they say anything within one step we retreat and go through the ventilation.” “When we drop down from the ventilation, it’s also at a place filled by prisoners. There is a guard post at every doorway, that is what Sehun said.”   At Luhan’s words the rest let out a deep sigh. Kris who saw their expressions slapped them on the shoulder. “Okay, nevermind. We go in first and we decide what to do.” Kris was just going to wing it, the tall Chinese man gripping the silencer while Kai was holding just a shovel. Kai said he was going to depend all on his fighting skills so he gave up the silencer to his two hyungs. “No guns unless we need to.” Kris reminded the rest. “Only fists.” Luhan and Kai said at the same time. The three of them went to the door and opened it. Luhan had already unlocked it earlier so all they had to do was push it open. Kris nudged the door and it opened, all three of them bravely stepping through.   _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   “There is no way out, I tell you.” Minseok had his back turned towards Baekhyun while the puppy boy was trying his hardest to untie the ropes that was wrapped around his Hyungs wrists. Minseok was starting to feel uneasy with Baekhyun’s actions. If anyone came by and saw them with their wrists untied, hell would break lose. Baekhyun was gritting his teeth, trying to take out the ropes with his broken thumb.   “Oh-…” The jail door opened and in front was the guard from before. Now that Baekhyun could see the guards face clearly he saw that he was younger than both of them. He looked like he was from highschool and Baekhyun froze. The guard stuttered at the scene in front of him, taking in the fact that Baekhyun was uncuffed and was helping his prison cell mate by untying his wrists. “We’re dead. We’re dead.” Minseok whispered under his breath, closing his eyes. “We’re dead. I didn’t want to die this way.” The guard was still standing and his expression remained the same when a voice behind him yelled out what seemed to be his name. “Ten! Is everything okay there? Did they die?” Baekhyun turned his back, hiding his arms behind him. Minseok did the same and both of them waited for the guard’s reaction. Ten turned and shouted back something that made Baekhyun and Minseok breathe a sigh of gratefulness. “It’s fine! I’m just tightening their ropes.” “Alright, I’ll go check out the other cells. See you in the lounge later. Remember we have to burn the bodies tonight.” “I-I’ll see you there.”   The other guards footsteps disappeared and Ten turned back at them. Baekhyun raised his hands up, palms exposed to the young guard when Ten took two steps back. “I… did not see that.” He began and the weight on Baekhyun’s chest lifted. “I… will go out of this cell door and go back to the lounge.” He his lips nervously, his eyes darting back and forth. “And I will forget to lock the door. You will leave and you will not come back and I will not know anything about how you left. At all.” “T-Thank you…” Baekhyun whispered and Ten bowed slowly before turning his back on them and closing the jail door behind him. He wriggled the keys to seem like he was locking it up but Baekhyun could see that the padlock wasn’t pushed up. Ten walked away without looking back and Baekhyun and Minseok fell onto the ground, their pounding hearts hammering in their chests. They waited for a few seconds when Baekhyun stood up and nudged Minseok. He grabbed Minseoks hand and pulled him to the cell door. The younger boy crouched and removed the lock and threw it at the side, pushing it open and finally they were out of their cell.   People around them watched but they didn’t say anything. They were used of seeing people trying to escape and they were also used of seeing the outcome- Death. Baekhyun’s hand tightened around Minseoks, turning to him as if asking which way they should go. “Back or front door?” “Which one is more dangerous?” “Front.” “Then back.” Their conversation was soft and crisp. When Baekhyun said back, Minseok pulled him towards the back and the two started gaining speed. The eyes that were on them from the people inside the cells did not move but there was no sound either. They reached what seemed like the guard post and Minseok leaned against the door to catch his breath. Baekhyun could hear his heart thumping. It had been awhile since he had run, but his desire to survive was more than his aching legs and painful finger. “When you go to through this door, its prison five. When you pass it, its prison six and when you go out through the back door, it’s the exit.” Minseok quickly explained and Baekhyun nodded, shaking his hand that was still in Minseoks’. “Let’s go.” The two exchanged glances and Minseok pushed the door open, and both of them entered prison five, running so hard because their lives depended on it.   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Kris, Luhan, Kai had entered Prison six and when they did they were surprised at the peoples’ reaction. It was as if they were not people, like ghosts. No one called for help, and all the prisoners did was stare at them. Luhan turned to Kai and saw him his lips. “They’re probably tired.” Kai said under his breath, keeping close to his hyung. Luhan nodded, slipping his hand through Kris’ arm. Kai seeing that smirked and Luhan stuck his tongue out at Kai. The tanned boy continued to look around. “See if Baekhyun is around.” Kris told Luhan and the fairy eyes boy nodded. “I am.” They moved forward passing multiple cells until they reached another door. The walkie talkie that was on Luhan’s hip sounded, the frizzy sound making the three jump. Luhan grabbed it and adjusted the signal, raising it to his ears when Baekyoung’s voice said something from the device. “W-where are you?” “We’re at the door way to prison five, coming through.” Luhan replied and after a few seconds, Baekyoung answered back. “Stay s-safe.”   Luhan put away the walkie talkie. Kris who was looking around saw his watch that read 6:30. They