Phitz dragged the back of his hand across his forehead, grabbing a tree with his other arm and hauling himself to the top of the ridge. Several hours of soccer training and another 2 fleeing from the suits had seriously depleted his energy reserves. He needed food. 

Almost as he thought it, Ebony stepped up beside him and offered him a muesli bar. "Want it?"

"Aren't you hungry?" Phitz queried, stomach growling demandingly.

She chuckled and slapped it to his stomach. "No," She said truthfully, shrugging her shoulders, "I skip a lot of meals."

Looking as her slight form, Phitz couldn't help but agree. He open his snack gingerly and took a big bite, issuing an appreciative groan. "Do you get sent to your room without supper?"

"Not quite," Ebony murmured. With a sigh, she took a step and continued to shuffle through the bush.

Both of their heads whipped up as they head a rustle in the forest up ahead, but it was only Austin. He jogged back to them, legs pumping steadily, and Phitz shook his head at his mate.

"There's something wrong with you, man."

He flapped a hand at him. "Aw, stop it. you're gonna make me blush."

Ebony fixed her eyes on the ground, dragging her fingertips up and down her pants. She felt awkward, in the way, and the hand that touched her arm actually made her gasp. He head flicked up, meeting Austin's concerned look.

"You ok? You look a bit pale."

She had no response. Stepping away from his hand, Ebony gave a tiny laugh. "Is now really the best time to be picking on my tan?"

Austin frowned at her, but let his gaze drift back to his friend. "I found that skate park of yours. Turns out your not as bad at geography as we thought."

"When we get back to school," Phitz said, gripping his shoulder seriously, "I need you to tell Mr Collins that."

Nobody spoke or moved for the next moment, each of them contemplating returning to school.

"Will we ever go back to school?" Ebony asked quietly, "After all this.... could we ever go back to school and just be normal?"

Phitz had no reponse, and looked to his friend. Austin's gaze was fixed on Ebony, his smile small and soft. He took another step towards her, stretching his arm to gently brush her shoulder.

"Why don't we cross that bridge when we get to it."

Ebony met his eyes and nodded. "Sure. why not."

Taking a deep breath, Austin drew back his arm and tossed his chin over his shoulder. "The park is just down this hill."

The trio shuffled down the slope, trying not to slip or meet each others gaze; each was worried enough without acknowledging that the other two were equally scared. The came to the bottom and met a rusted chain link fence. Phitz and Ebony looked to Austin.

"Nobody panic," he insisted, running his hand across the links as he scurried down the fence line.

"....5....6...7." He stopped and kicked the base of the fence, smiling happily when the wire bowed inwards. He knelt and dragged the chain aside, gesturing them through. "Ladies first."

Smirking, Phitz gave a curtsy and pursed his lips. "Why thank you." He crouched and scrambled through the gap.

Ebony swallowed and stepped up next, avoiding Austin's eyes. She licked her lips, a force expanding her chest as she stood there, torn. Gradually, she raised her eyes.

"Good finding," she murmured. 

He opened his mouth to respond, but befre he could, Ebony squatted down. Angling her shoulders towards the opening, she squirmed through, acutely aware of her butt being in the air. As she raised her head on the other side, Ebony felt her shirt snag and she let out a sigh. Squirming, she worked her shoulder around to reach for the material, but her hand met flesh instead. 

Austin's fingers froze as they met hers, but after a moment he was moving again. Carefully, he tugged her shirt loose and gave her a gentle shove forward, crawling through the space after her. Ebony rolled onto her back, quickly dragging herself away and nodded at him cautiously. 

"Thank you."

Hazmat hobbled through the tunnel, gripping his thigh with both hands. It had begun to seep blood again, but he grit his teeth, muttered obscentities under his breath, and stumbled on. Carrissa plodded along beside him, her arms crossed across her chest. She was pouting.

She stopped suddenly. "Are we lost?"

Mr Irving turned quickly, pressing a finger to his lips. "Shh."

Beside him, Finnegan fought to keep the smirk off his face.

Glaring, the girl tried again. "Well, are we?"

"Carissa," the man grumbled, clenching his hands into fists. "We're not lost. But if you continue to make so much noise, we will be dead."

Past Hazmat and Carissa, Finn saw Salena flinch beneath Ms Smith's comforting arm and the smirk died on his face. Mr Irving seemed to notice as well, and his voice dropped several notches.

"Please, let's just fnd the others."

Striding away, M Irving was already out of earshot when the teenager demanded in a whisper "Then what?"

Finn stepped back and smiled broadly at her. he raised a finger to his lips. "Shh."

Hazmat smirked at him, and the expression turned into one of pain when his ankle rolled. He collapsed on the ground, mouth open and eyes wide in pain. Fighting to hold in a yelp, Haz grunted loudly and Finn was quickly at his side, a hand on his shoudler.

"Coach," he called quietly, and his teacher was soon at his side.

Carissa mumbled something about 'unfair', but she was shushed by Ms Smith as the concerned woman crowded in. Mr Irving knelt and slipped his shoulder under the other man's arm, groaning as he lifted him to his feet.

"Come on, Mate," he muttered, "we gotta keep moving."

Haz sighed. "Just leave me here. I'm slowing you down. You can come back when you find the others."

Mr Irving was already shaking his head, half dragging him down the tunnel. "No, it's not safe to double back. Besides, you have some serious questions to answer for these kids, and we're sure as hell not going to give you a chance to escape."

Hazmat couldn't figure out whether the other man was joking or not. He thought not.

Finn darted ahead, sticking close to the edge of the pipe as he went. A deep crunch resounded through the tunnel, followed by a masculine yelp, and the teen almost collided with the ceiling when he jumped. He pressed himself against the concrete, chewing on his bottom lip, and listening. 

The sound came again, and then a third time, before settling into an intermittent pattern. Finn felt his heart hammer in his chest as he glanced back the way he had come, searching for signs of the others. How far had he drawn ahead? 

Fight and flight instincts raged a battle in Finn's mind as his heart began to hammer. The former was a regularly, if poorly, used tactic, but he could feel tremors rolling through his hands as he remembered to exhale. Flight was definitely looking like the better option. 

The thumping drew closer, and Finn shrunk further back. He could feel the cement pressing into his back, almost enveloping him in its cool caress. He held his breath, wishing he could be a part of it; hard, immobile, uninteresting, unnoticeable. He shuffled back further, trying not to feel like a coward. A teenage boy stood no chance against scary, grown men anyway. 

Finn shut his eyes, trying to swallow down his pride. For as long as he could remember, he had been trying to be the hero, the guy people could rely on, the guy who could help. Now, when the opportunity arose to actually be that guy, he was sure as hell not going to stick to the shadows. He refused to be found unharmed and hidden in the basement again. 

Shaking off that memory, the boy blinked several times and fisted his hands, preparing to take a step forward. Unfortunately, he couldn't.