Chapter 24: Above all else
They begin to glance around the room for any possible signs of escape. The elevator is occupied, the doors lead straight to trouble, and the windows to the dance floor are shattered. Jace points towards the other windows, they seem to lead into an alley.
Jace: “Get ready to run, guys!”
Henry: “Says the one that just got shot!”
Jace: “Nope, never felt better. Watch this!”
Jace sprints in the window’s direction and draws his left arm back while switching into Burst. With a quick punch to the window, he shatters it into tiny fragments. He waves for everyone to follow him. Luke and Henry take off immediately, but Mythril notices Ana’s worsening condition.
Mythril: “Will you be able to keep up with them?”
Ana: “Don’t worry about me, we don’t have time!”
Ana breaks off from Mythril’s shoulder and tries to catch up to the group. The loss of blood begins to put a toll on her body as she stumbles and falls to the floor. She tries to lift herself up once more, but Mythril scoops her up and carries her out of the penthouse. After a few minutes, the group joins back together and continues wandering deeper through the maze of alleyways. Each end seems to split in opposite directions, leaving everyone with no sense of direction. The mob of supporters decided early on to turn tail and form wanted posters instead of tracking these supposed murderers down. Eventually, they see what appears to be an open space at the end of the current alleyway. Jace pokes his head out from inside the alleyway and investigates his surroundings.
Jace: “Everything’s…off.”
Henry: “Like weird off?”
Jace: “No, literally. There’s no power to this place.”
Luke: “Think it’s safe to walk out there?”
Jace: “Why not? We’ve dealt with worse tonight.”
Jace walks out and throws his hands in the air. There is absolutely no danger. With one hand still raised, he motions for everyone to follow him. They do so and are able to enter the streets of this abandoned town.
Henry: “First Morning Glory, now this. Who the hell is making these ghost towns?”
Ana: “It’s…really freaky.”
Luke looks up and stops dead in his tracks. He squints and holds his hand over his eyes. The others look over at him initially with confusion. He sees a bright light in front of them, but a dense fog hides whatever it may be.
Jace: “You looking at the moon, buddy?”
Luke: “The moon is behind us.”
Jace stops and freezes. He slowly turns back and notices the moon. Luke’s telling the truth, so then what the hell is that light?
Mythril: “The fog may clear up if we get closer. Do we wish to do that?”
Henry: “It’s either this or get ripped apart by an angry mob. Let’s get moving.”
They nod in agreement and continue into the deep fog. In tandem with the lack of lights and people, they truly are in a ghost town now.
Jace: “This place gives me the creeps.”
Henry: “And Morning Glory didn’t?”
Jace: “‘Nope, that creeped me out too.”
Ana: “Is there anything that doesn’t…creep you out?”
Jace: “How the hell do you still have the energy to be a smart-ass?”
Ana chuckles and weakly raises a middle finger to Jace. The blood her gloves are soaked in has dried up by now, leaving them a burgundy color. Jace acts scared, before firing back with a middle finger of his own.
Luke: “Knock it off, you two. The fog’s getting thinner.”
Mythril: “That light’s getting brighter too.”
Henry: “Is that a…building?”
The fog dissipates and the group gets blinded by the light. As their eyes readjust, they stare in awe at the landscape in front of them. Over a dozen massive skyscrapers tower above the group, glowing a multitude of neon colors. Highways can be seen above, which is likely where the correct entrance to this place is.
Luke: “What in the?”
Jace: “This has been above Bluestone the entire time!?”
Ana: “Do you think those androids…could’ve gone up there?”
Henry: “Well, the elevator did go up. Unless there’s another destination we’re missing, we’ve found our next place of interest.”
Jace: “Right, so…how do we leave?”
Luke: “What?”
Jace: “I haven’t found an exit yet. Has anyone else tried looking?”
Mythril shifts his head towards the right and identifies a door in the wall at the back of an alley.
Mythril: “It says EMERGENCY STAIRS!”
Luke: “All because something is in capital letters doesn’t mean you have to scream it when you read it!”
Jace: “Cut him some slack, he did find our exit after all.”
Henry: “So, we’re heading home for now?”
Jace: “Yup. Ana needs time to heal and we need to come up with a plan to enter whatever’s above us.”
The group nods in unison and makes their way to the stairs before sneaking all the way back to Bluestone for the evening.