Flickering hope

In the little space under the chairs were eleven survivors of the roof collapse.

They lost track of time because the batteries in each of their panels had run out. It felt like weeks had gone by, even though they knew it had probably only been a few days.

Buried under tons of debris, their hope for survival got buried along too.

"Did you guys hear that?" Lucius spoke.

"Are we finally dying?" Another person asked, glancing at how close the chair was to their faces.

"Maybe we are getting rescued!"

"We are underneath piles of debris from a roof, how can someone get us out if they don't even know we are trapped in here?" Another shot back, closing her eyes.

Lucius appeared unfazed and continued to listen.

Seeeee

Eventually, the sound reached everyone, and they all turned to see what was producing it.

"We are being saved!"

"They actually found us?!"

As hope started to dawn on everyone in the small room, cheers broke out.

When the wall collapsed, a tunnel became visible.

"Everyone! One by one and hurry out, we don't have much time!" Everyone looked as they heard a voice, and they saw red light streaming through the tunnel.

To maintain order and avoid arguments, Rai gave each person specific instructions on who should leave first.

After making sure no one was left, Rai followed closely, making sure to check the timer.

"Hurry out!" The survivors ahead began to crawl more quickly as Rai urged them.

Signs of an impending collapse of the tunnel appeared.

Rai inhaled deeply, and his shoe's sole glowed. From beneath his uniform, he pulled out a hood that folded into a makeshift helmet. The blue color of his outfit was made of nanotech which were passed to everyone.

Eveyone sat on the nanotech as it protected their butt and bits of their legs.

"Everyone brace yourself!" As Rai yelled, goggles materialized and numbers started to show up.

Rather than getting brighter, the light from the sole of his shoe began to spread to the front of his pants.

Energy surged out of his shoes, and his pants used what was left to keep his legs from ripping at the uneven tunnel walls.

More rumbling from the tunnel as lines appeared on the red barrier.

It was a long, narrow tunnel.

Even though Rai's pushing caused some of their skin to tear from the friction, none of them voiced complaints and instead concentrated on getting out of the tunnel.

Small pieces of rubbles slowly fell, but the exit still couldn't be seen. Cracks began to open up and spread all over the tunnel.

Everyone could clearly sense the nanotech beginning to slow down.

Rai's uniform's blue color began to flicker, and his hood did too. Removing the nanotech from his pants did not make much of a difference.

'One more minute...' Rai could not help but feel that death was drawing near while he continued to watch the timer.

"Are we not going to make it afterall?" Because of the nanotech, the speed did not make much noise, so everyone could hear the question.

Feeling powerless, Rai remained silent in response to this question.

It was evident to all of them that the tunnel at the back was collapsing, as the vibration reached them. Right then, the question intensified the desperation felt inside.

They were all still traveling forward, but they were doing so at half the speed they had before.

Either the tunnel was too long, or it took too long to try to save so many people who survived. The initial goal of eight minutes was getting farther away since the survivors lacked the energy to run that far.

"Sorry for dragging you into this Mr Knight."

"What can we expect? The world isn't as magical as it deem to be."

"I wish I told my family I love them."

With tears welling up in his eyes from hearing other people's anguish and regrets, Voye, who was surrounded by survivors, was overcome with sadness.

He did not feel very sorry for himself, though. Even now, he considered it a miracle that he had survived the last two tragedies and was still alive.

Voye had his eyes closed: 'Third time is the charm afterall huh, I wonder if its lucky or not that I'm dying with strangers who I barely know of.'

As if the nanotech had heard everyone's thoughts, it eventually ran out of power. Rai had to stop moving as well, or else even serious injuries would occur to everyone.

His legs was bleeding a trail of blood across the tunnel, while the side was covered by everyone's else blood too.

Rai sat down gradually, staring up at the cracked ceiling. Dust was already filling the tunnel, and some small pieces of rubble fell through the cracks and landed on them.

But if they were going to be crushed by a greater pain, then this one no longer mattered.

Underneath the chairs, everyone had already come to terms with death when they woke up, only to have their hope dashed once more.

"A pity this isn't the blue sky I wish to see while dying."

Rai stopped using his power, feeling a wave of exhaustion sweep through his body.

He leaned to his side: 'I wonder if it's possible to awaken again... what a useless power I awaken. Or rather, maybe I should've just stayed to be a scavenger...'

Everybody's head began to fill with their own ideas, memories of their best times in life, and their deepest regrets.

Outside the tunnel

Ros could feel his power waning as he held onto the tunnel.

He experienced a dripping sensation from his nose and his vision became blurry.

'They are not out yet! I have to hold on!' He gritted his teeth, sitting on the ground while maintaining his power: 'I have to protect them! I won't fail again!'

There were distant footsteps; a Knight was approaching them.

The blue color of the knight's uniform was paler, and he wore a helmet.

Upon spotting Ros, the Knight pulled out a gun and asked, "Who are you?"

Ros ignored him, unable to afford to respond.

The other rescue members said nothing, but approached Ros cautiously and took up positions in front of him.

A member spoke up, saying in a low voice, "Please, sir, rescue is in progress. Do not come nearer."

The Knight approached them, standing only a few feet away.

"Oh, you acknowledge that suspicious person is not a Knight?" snorted the Knight, sticking one hand in his pocket.

"We will neither confirm nor deny your words." Said the same member.

"Haaah." With a chuckle, he touched the trigger and said, "You guys ain't afraid I misfire?"

With a determined expression, the rescuers remained silent.

"That's why you guys can never move up the rank."

Ros's mask was covered in blood when he started coughing out of nowhere.

"In any case, I will get all the credits and move up another rank," the knight grinned as he heard the deep cough.

The rescue crew gritted their teeth and wished they had taken more equipment instead of acting so quickly.