Chapter 17                                                                                      The people outside were trying to break the metal door down. They were slamming against it with such strength that the room felt like it was shaking. Luhan had glanced up, this time his eyes catching sight of the ventilation shaft. The thief knew that it was the only way out of the room, his hands going up to point at it- everyone looking up as well. The ventilation shaft was not new to all of them; they knew what it did and the uses of it. As if there was telepathy between them, Minseok and Luhan grabbed a table and lifted it off the ground. Everyone began working silently, trying not to get distracted by the pounding.   “Break it down!” Yi-en’s cackle was loud and clear, Baekhyun could feel shivers run up his spine at the sound of the villain’s voice. “They are probably inside. All of you are dead! All of you will pay!” “Psychopath.” Luhan said, grabbing something that could be used as a screwdriver and climbed onto the table. He stood on tiptoes, working his magic and when the opening was clear, he was the first person to pull himself up. “Baekyoung, next.” Luhan whispered down and everyone supported Baekyoung. The older boy was carried onto the top of the table. Baekyoung waved a hand, shaking his head. “I’m fine. I can move.” He tried shaking the hands of the others out when Luhan’s hand stretched down. Baekyoung grabbed it, pulling himself up next. He began crawling first, knowing that he would be the slowest out of all of them if he waited. The others began to head up, Chen the last person. He covered the opening back, following the others as fast as possible. The sound of the people outside did not stop, the door finally slamming open. Everyone stopped crawling, scared that the people below them would hear them shuffling through the rafts.   “Wh-Where are they!” Yi-En yelled out. Dragging sounds could be heard from the room. “Ten, did you move anything?” A snap came from the Leader and the young boy’s voice floated to their ears. “N-no, sir. I just accidentally slipped o-on the ground.” Baekhyun bit his lip knowing that Ten was the guard that helped him from before. The dragging must have been from the table, the boy must have dragged the table away from under the shaft to avoid suspicions. “Sir, they were here, sir. We found a bag, seems stacked with food. There is a picture of-“ “Wu Yifan.” The Leader growled and Kris tensed up at his name. He gave himself a facepalm, Kai nudging him and raising an eyebrow as if asking him what he left behind. “Wallet.” Yifan mouthed. He didn’t have money in the wallet, but the picture of him and his daughter was there. He cursed mentally. He must have forgotten it on the table. “They are here- go out and search the building. Ten, stay here with me.” “Y-yes, sir.” Footsteps left the room below them to search other rooms. Ten was left with Yi-En, the guard was silent at the Leader’s presence. “You know what I hate most, Ten?” The Leader began talking. Baekhyun felt something drop at the pit of his stomach. He knew what that tone meant, Yi-En had used it after he killed the lady in jail. “Y-yes, sir?” “Betrayal.” There was the sound of breaking glass. “Do you think I was stupid not to see you help them?” Another laugh. Baekhyun crossed his fingers while Chen buried his face in his hands. They both could tell what would come next, as much as they did not what to admit it. “You see, I may be bad but loyalty is important to me. I saw what you did, Ten. You were disloyal. What should I do to you?” “I.. I did not-“ “DON’T LIE TO ME!” He must have slapped Ten, the sharp sound of palm against skin made the people that were on the air vents look at each other. “You know what I do to people like you, Ten.” “Please, sir… Pl- I-I.. won’t do it ever again. I was wrong. M-my sister and mothe-“   Bang.   Baekhyun gasped, Luhan’s hand covering the boys mouth to sniffle the sound. Baekhyun felt tears fill his eyes as he sat stoned. Ten was not speaking anymore and that could only mean one thing.   Ten was dead.   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     “When we go down from here, its Parking lot A.” Suho told everyone, kicking away the metal covering. “Go out of here first.” “We have no way of getting out of this place, they broke our car down. The tires, they deflated it.” Kai spoke up. “We won’t make it out of here alive if we just walk.” “Then wait here, I know where to get a car.” Suho pushed Kai down, the tanned boy almost falling on his head if it wasn’t for his fast reflexes. “All of you out and find somewhere to hide, I’ll come back soon with a car.” “I’ll come with you.” Minseok had said from behind all of them. Baekyoung didn’t seem like he would agree but with his state, he really had no choice. “Listen to Suho, Kai –ah. Help me down.” Kai stood under Baekyoung, grabbing the older boy from below and lowering him onto the ground with much difficulty at his weight. “Bring my brother down.” Baekhyun was next, then Luhan, then Sehun. The others followed obediently, leaving Suho and Minseok still on top of them. Suho covered the opening back up while the others scampered around, trying to keep hidden. The doctor began crawling with the architectect behind him. Suho took a turn and after what seemed like forever, Suho once again pushed an opening open. “A ventilation shaft in a pressurized room?” Minseok asked, looking down to see that they were above a room that was used for experiments. “Isn’t it dangerous?” “We never used this room. You’re right, it’s dangerous. How’d you know? Are you a scientist too?” “It’s not rocket science to know that.” Minseok answered, lowering himself down carefully. “I was an architect.” “Was?” “Yeah. Like how you were a researcher, now you’re just like me.” Minseok’s response made sense but it made Suho feel a bit uncomfortable. He dropped down on his feet, going to the door and opening it confidently that there wouldn’t be any people around because they were practically in another building. He stepped out, Minseok close by and led him out several doors.   “Here.” Suho told the person who went with him, their footsteps bringing them to yet another turn. “This place?” Minseok had said when he looked around. The place Suho had brought him to was like a parking lot. The amount of buses parked in front of them were abundant and both of them ran to the first bus.  “What is this place?” “Parking lot B.” Suho answered, searching around for the key. He opened the compartment to see the key of the bus- inserting it into the hole and starting the vehicle. Minseok followed, Suho closing the door behind him. “The parking lot you guys parked was parking lot A, it’s for guests. This is for insiders and company buses.” He explained while he backed the bus, careful not to scratch the surrounding vehicles. “We have to go back to Parking lot A to pick the others up. Do you know how to drive a bus?” Minseok asked, sitting beside Suho and putting on the seat belt tightly. “I’m a doctor, I’m smart.” Suho’s cheeky reply made Minseok smile, his cheeks puffing out.     ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    The bus was on its way, speeding away from the building behind them before Yi-En and his crew would find out that they got away. Thirty minutes had passed and Minseok was on the wheel, driving aimlessly while Suho was getting sleep. He thought he wouldn’t be able to drive a huge bus but the fact that he was controlling the thing said otherwise. Minseok pressed slowly on the brake when a bump appeared on the road. “Water?” Baekhyun appeared behind Minseok, the young boy sitting next to him. Baekhyun felt that Minseok was awkward with the rest. It didn’t surprise him, he was quiet. Baekhyun pressed his lips together. “He killed Ten.” Baekhyun started and Minseok glanced beside him, nodding his head slowly. “Don’t blame yourself…” Minseok turned to see Baekhyun stare forward with a blank look on his face. Baekhyun blew a piece of hair away from his forehead. “I know.” “He helped us get out, he didn’t die in vain.” “He had a family.” “Don’t blame yourself.” Minseok was starting to annoy Baekhyun. He had expected a moment of mourning but Minseok just seemed dull, quiet and uncaring. “You must have not lost anyone then.” Baekhyun said, his tone fierce. Minseok kept quiet and continued driving, his eyes not leaving the road. “You’re acting like it’s a normal thing.” “We all lost someone, Baekhyun.” “Then why are you acting this way?”
“Because I’m used to it.” Minseok’s gaze lowered and Baekhyun turned away. “I’ve seen people die every day in that cell. Cell mate to cell mate, friends I’ve made, people I talked to everyday: They all die. This place is not safe anymore, Hyun. It’s a battle field and we’re nothing but soldiers.” “Then why are we fighting if we don’t even know what we’re fighting for?” “We fight for the people that died. Ten would not die in vain as long as we’re alive.”   Baekhyun turned and placed the bottled water beside Minseok, standing up. He knew what Minseok meant, but it was hard for him to accept. If their only goal was surviving, he hated to think that it would have been easier if they were bitten. It was easy, and almost painless if you don’t count the headaches and the fever you have to go through. “I’m going  back to sleep, Hyung. Get some rest.” “Mhmmm.”   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   The golf course was humongous, empty and dull. It was a contrast to the poster that was advertising it with its “2 days, 1 night” advertisement. The advertisement poster showed green fields and people happily golfing with sweat falling down their foreheads. The flashing color of the poster had made them have high hopes when the bus turned to enter the resort but they were all faced with disappointment at what they saw. The green grass was dead most likely due to the lack of maintenance, the resort seemed empty and silence coated it like an icing on a cake. The bus drove slowly through the resort, everyone looking out the window as Suho took over the wheel. They weren’t exhausted just yet- but the place took them by awe. Tao was slamming his phone screen against the back of Kyungsoo’s chair, Kyungsoo turning to stare at Tao with his owl eyes almost popping out. Tao gave him a nervous smile, falling back into his seat. Kris looked at the panda eyed boy sitting beside him and grabbed his phone, calmly restarting the device before entering the camera app. He flung it back to Tao who turned to the window and started taking pictures.   Baekhyun sat next to Chen, his head on his friend’s shoulder as the high cheek boned guy tried not to move as much as possible. He was careful with his actions, not wanting to wake the person beside him. His hand Baekhyun’s wrist gently, turning his head to look out the window, his eyes squinting at the line that shined through. The driver up front was nervously steering the wheel with Baekyoung beside him. “Where should we park? Are you sure it’s safe here?” Suho mumbled, sweat breaking his head. When he asked to join these people he hoped it would be much safer- but the past hour was filled with so much thrill and suspense of whether they will live or not that his poor worrying heart kept aching. He felt secure to have Baekyoung sit next to him, he and Kris taking turns sitting beside him to keep him company. Baekyoung could not sit for long periods of time and whenever he felt like he could not bear the pain, Kris would replace his seat. They thought of making Luhan drive but they were all scared of how hard he drove; everyone would not be able to sleep let alone sit peacefully. Minseok took turns driving with Suho, and he drove pretty well. Both of them drove slowly and carefully, not confident in their decisions of where to turn or where to go- Baekyoung or Kris having to tell them to try to be experimental. “We can never be sure. It looks abandoned.” Baekyoung spoke, laying a hand on his chest heaving. Suho glanced at him and dug his hands into his pocket, taking out a painkiller that he always kept with him. “Does it hurt? You shouldn’t be walking around, you’re not healthy enough.” Baekyoung popped the pill into his mouth, swallowing it without water and he made a face with the bitterness that spread all over his mouth. “You know I don’t have a choice.” Baekyoung massaged his chest. “At least you’re with us, if any of us gets injured-“ “That just makes me feel heavy.” Suho butted in, shaking his head. Baekyoung laughed softly. “Things like this, we never know.”   The bus suddenly braked and Baekyoung surged forward. Suho had braked the car and it had woken everyone up in the bus. Baekhyun woke up, sitting up in his seat. The impact of the vehicle movement surprised everyone. “What’s wrong?” Kai asked from the back, half standing in his seat. “I… I don’t know. I heard a pop so I stopped the car…” Suho’s voice trembled a bit at the sign of trouble. He switched feet between the brake and the accelerator but there was no sign of the bus moving at all. He his lips and Minseok stood up. The baby faced elder crouched down and tried the manual gear, shaking his head. “Something must have gone wrong. The gears move perfectly fine.” Kris took a look around and saw that they were exactly in front of the resort, the golf course that they had passed had led them straight to