5 Episode 2: Escaping North (1)

My phone that was beeping stopped and in front of us, Janda was there. To be more precise, he was on display in the monitor.

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"Hey you little shit, I knew you didn't check my messages otherwise why would you be here?"

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"Ha? How'd you know that?" I questioned.

He shook his head.

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"I know you so well..."

"My room... it's probably trashed by now..."

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"Hey, where are you now? What happened to this place!" I shouted.

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"Don't worry and don't look for me."

"I had a hunch you would come here anyway..."

"Grab my power bank and leave this place right now. This city is not safe anymore."

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"Hey! Why aren't you answering my questions? Where are you!?"

She slightly tapped my shoulder. I turned around and looked at her.

"Hey... erm... I think it's a prerecorded video," she said. "There's a flashing thing over there."

She pointed towards the top corner of the door frame. It was flashing red.

In the background, I could vaguely hear the recording say, "And you better check my messages once you leave this place..."

I turned around and the monitor was turned off, like it was broken all along.

"Hey! You didn't tell me where the power bank is! Hey! Hey!!"

I shook the screen but it stayed silent. She was right. It was a recording, I wasn't talking to Janda. Damn him. Could of just gave me a call if it was that urgent last night.

*Crack*

"Huh?" I looked towards the noise. She took a broken chair and reached out to the flashing light. But the chair wobbled and she fell while grabbing the thing.

*Snap*

"Whoa, whoa! That's dangerous!" I said.

I helped her up and guided her towards the bed.

"Ouchie!"

"Ouchie?" I thought.

I think she sprained her ankle. She was hopping slightly and landed on the bed.

"Damn, let me have a look."

"Okay..."

Her ankle was slightly swollen.

"Why'd you do that? It's dangerous."

"I... it looked like something was hiding behind it."

I looked up at the corner again and there was a concealed space.

"You're pretty sharp... sorry I was enraged, didn't notice the first time I looked."

"It's alright, look at this." She handed the broken piece to me.

Some cables were hanging off it connecting to the red flashing LED[1]. There was a message on the backside of it.

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Why are you still looking? Take the power bank and leave now!

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This little... I'll give him pay back when I see him again.

"Stay here for a moment," I told her as I reached towards the hidden spot.

The power bank was there. It was a bit bulkier than I thought. I shoved it into my backpack and jumped off the chair.

"You think you can walk?"

"I'll be fine. Ouchie."

"Here, I'll help you. Give me your arm."

"..."

The ground shook and I looked at the window behind her.

The tall buildings, burning. Fire everywhere and smoke rising to the sky as fighter jets fly above them.

It was like the blitz[2] all over again.

"We can't stay here any longer." I said as I helped her up. "Let's leave."

* * *

We walked out the room and headed back for the stairs.

"Hey... can we stop here for a sec? I need to grab something," she said looking into room 2002.

"Alright."

What is it that she needs in a dire situation like this?

She headed in and I followed behind her. The energy bars were still there. I grabbed as much as I could and put it into my backpack.

After a while, she came back but she wasn't holding anything.

"You got what you needed?"

"Mhm," she nodded.

"Let's go."

The escalator wasn't working so we took the stairs down. She was having a hard time going down each step.

"Here." I said reaching out to her. She didn't refuse this time so I took hold of her arm and we continued down the stairs.

As we descended the floors, the place was gradually crumbling. A lot of fine dust generated and small rubble started falling.

Suddenly, the building shook immensely and I took a wrong step and slipped. I was launched forward while still holding her arm. I let go, turned around and pushed against the ledge of the window with my hands.

She fell down the stairs and landed on me.

"Phew," I thought to myself but that sigh of relieve came too quick.

Her bag lunged forward and smashed against the window. The glass shattered and the bag fell down. As soon as that happened, the staircase above collapsed and blocked the way up and down.

I got some grazes on my hands and arms from the shattered glasses but luckily it wasn't bleeding a lot.

"Well shit." I said.

I looked at the wall.

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F1 1/2

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I then looked outside the window. It wasn't that high and the green bushes were there.

"That's the only way out."

"Huh? What are you-"

I gulped and leaped out the window. As I was free falling, I tucked myself in, landed on the bush and rolled myself forward then stood on the bench besides the bushes.

"Oh my god."

"Hey! Jump down here!"

"What!? You're crazy!"

"There's not much time! The building's gonna collapse!"

She looked back, more rubble was falling down and more dust floated towards her.

"Jump towards the bushes! You'll be fine! Trust me!"

She looked ahead. The place was changing. The city she once knew was disappearing before her eyes. Her place, her studies. All gone. She closed her eyes and shouted.

"Ahhhhh... screw it!"

She climbed and jumped from the window.

"Hey! Over here not there-" I shouted but it was too late, she was falling towards the stone floor.

I dashed towards her as she was falling and leaped.

*****

[1] LED is a small light bulb that can emit coloured light.

[2] 'blitz' was a historical event that took place in Coventry. The city was bombed during the air raid. Wiki for more detail.