EXO: "EXOPLANETS"
43

“I think we're just scrubbing the surface, there's still more to it than we know. Everything we know is a lie. Everything Doctor Choi said was a lie, he was just trying to buy more time, "Chanyeol paced out of the room like he was trying to disperse his anger with a gesture. "Who knows that the EXO gene is real, it could be another lie!"

Without warning, he punched the wall with force and I covered my face as pieces of debris flew in all directions. His hands started bleeding and I called out his name with a low warning voice. He turned to me and I was instantly alert as his eyes lit up with burning flames.

Sometimes, I don't know if Chanyeol's personality or strength is what triggers his anger. Maybe both. It was as if they were feeding each other and formed into a singularity. And sometimes, I don't know if he can control it. There was a raging fire inside him and I could see that just wanting to be released, it needed to be released.

"I was so angry" he growled as he kicked a hard concrete slab against the opposite wall. He was noisy and we were going to be arrested, but I don't think now is the right time to reprimand him. "I just want to burn this whole place to the ground!"

"Maybe you should" I said and he stopped in his tracks. Suddenly I could hear heavy footsteps on the other side of the door, the guards had returned. I grabbed Chanyeol's arm and dragged him so we crouched down on the left side of the door. I repeated myself but this time in a whisper, "maybe you should do it."

Chanyeol looked at me with a puzzled expression, so I continued, "we're very close, too close to let this slip off our fingers again. Now is our only chance to escape. Who knows what they would do to us if we were caught, it would kill me if I had to live another day like this. I can't go back to that cell, that darkness . "

Chanyeol shuddered and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me: the endless days we spent in that terrible darkness. Although now I can feel a glimmer of hope and light outside the tunnel so close. We just have to catch up.

"Let's fight. Then burn everything , ”I instruct vigorously. Chanyeol seemed surprised by my order, but he was the one who gave me the idea. "Do you understand Chanyeol? When I say everything, I mean everything . Burn this whole building to the ground and everyone goes with it. I'm giving you permission to let go of anger, to let go just once. Don't think, just do it. Do whatever you have to do. "

Slowly he nodded his head and his expression turned into determination. He stood up and pointed his hand at the wall of the image, now ripped and torn in several places, and shot out streams of flames. All I could see was red. The fire licked the walls, turning the room black, into ashes and dust. The real destruction has begun.

I formed a layer of water in my skin, just as a precaution. I don't want to burn in the process. Without checking for danger, I opened the door to meet the guards from before. I did not give them time to react when I threw them against the opposite wall, leaving a pile of corpses on the ground.

Then we set off again while the Chanyeol fire raged. Streams of red and orange came from his body in waves and every time I looked behind me, I could only see flames. We passed the training room exit and I retraced when an idea came to me.

Kicking opened the exits we had previously avoided and caused water to flow out, wetting my feet. I entered the training room where we fought a moment ago.

 "What are you doing?" Chanyeol asked, confused as to why we stopped. Although he was even more confused when he saw the state of the room. There was water covering the entire surface, reaching just above one's ankles and body everywhere. Surprised, he asked, “what happened when I left? 

"Let's just say they were eliminated from existence," I replied as if it was an explanation but we didn't have time to recap. "This room is the core of the building so ideally if we burn it, it will eventually spread to every corner that will speed up this whole process."

"But what about the water?" Chanyeol asked, making me speechless.

"Don't worry about the water, I'll deal with it" I replied vaguely. I'm not sure how, but I need to find a solution and quickly. I started by collecting water, slowly making it go up and forming a big ball. Chanyeol walked to the center of the room while trying to avoid the corpses lying on the ground. 

The mass of water is getting heavier and I don't know what to do with it but somehow it needs to be absorbed. Think, think, think, I said to myself. I watched Chanyeol light his hand and his body began to glow and at this point I was surprised his clothes had not burned him.

There, in the distance, I have found my answer. Focusing outside of Chanyeol, I saw a drought. Eureka! I internally clenched the air and concentrated it to form a stream of water masses. Directed the collected liquid into the sewer, but it was not enough for the volume of water I was dealing with.

I need more than this ditch. I looked around but I couldn't find anything else but fortunately, an idea came to my mind. The toilet! The toilet will work the same way or a sink nearby. Just anything with the pipe will do. Forming a flow towards the toilet we used to use, I directed the water down to whatever I could access. 

When there was no water left, I shouted at Chanyeol to start and gestured, he erupted. The fire was burning all around and it was beautiful. However, what I saw made me multiply because Chanyeol accidentally formed a phoenix. I don't know what it means or if he knows he has done it but it's incredible.

Debris started flying everywhere from the force of the explosion and I ducked behind the shelter door. Good thing I have quick reflexes or else I'll burn to a crisp. I reshaped a layer of water on my skin that acted like a safety blanket, as the heat of the fire made me feel uncomfortable. My temperature dropped dramatically and I felt safe. One could feel it in the middle of the fire.

I peeked at my head, to see Chanyeol running towards me through the now completely destroyed room and I immediately got up. Seeing him just a few steps behind me now, I started running and told him to follow. Steering our way through the now burning building, we ran as fast as we could. Chanyeol's skin was used to the fire but mine wasn't and the protection from the water blanket would only last so long.

Realizing the intersection ahead, I suddenly stopped and Chanyeol stopped. My breath felt heavy while I squatted on the side of the wall. I ignored my exhaustion because I felt a pure white gap or imperfection.

Thankfully the fire has not caught up with us and the area is still intact but we don't have much time left. Chanyeol began to help and after finding something important he exclaimed, "there!" 

He pointed at the dirt stains from the fingerprints along the wall that stained the white canvas. They must belong to someone else who is more than happy but borders on me. Feeling relieved that they managed to get here before us, I sighed.

I stroked my fingers along the path they made and then pressed my hands there. Pushing the area hard, the wall contracted forming a small door that opened to open a small dark tunnel.

I looked into the hallway and saw the fire start licking the wall at the opposite end. So, I pushed Chanyeol into the tunnel and then followed him. I turned around and slapped the button on the side of the tunnel and the door was closed, leaving us in the dark.

We couldn't see anything at all, there were no gaps of light so we just moved through the tunnel using the sense of touch as a guide. While I was crawling forward on all fours, I waited for my eyes to adjust a little until I could see the shape of Chanyeol in front.

In the cramped, tight space, my heart beat was racing, feeling the effects of claustrophobia permeate. Trying to fight it, I got rid of the constrictive feeling and crawled faster until I could feel the sting in my knee.

Chanyeol also sped up his pace, moving faster but he suddenly tripped and shouted. His body began to fall forward as he did not realize he reached the end of the tunnel and his upper body fell through the hole. I quickly reached out and grabbed both of her legs with my hands, but her weight also pulled on me.

From gravity, I now lay on my stomach, but I quickly placed my foot on the edge of the metal tunnel. The grip of my shoes hindered our movement and the muscles in my arms were tense as I held Chanyeol's leg. I let out a sigh of relief as I held onto it, but suddenly I lost my grip and we fell.

I screamed and was not manly at all. We fell to the ground, smashing into a pile of corpses. Fortunately it was not concrete ground because it would be much more painful.

"Down!" someone grimaced panting and I realized I was lying on top of Baekhyun. I immediately got up, whimpered in pain and helped her wake up while apologizing.

Looking around me, I realized that we were underground right now. We were in a tunnel made of concrete and in front I could only see the darkness. It was wet and damp and judged by the foul smell I thought we were near the gutter. It was a little different to how I imagined it from the way Kai described it before but not by much.

We only found out about this place because of Kai's regular explorations. This tunnel is our Plan B, not an easy one but we know that it is a usable escape route. He found the mistake but luck must have been on our side that day. He told us what he had found and we had told him to dig deeper and find out where he was going and how to get in. Only then will it be useful to us.

"Is everyone here?" I asked, facing the other.

"You're the one who usually counts heads," joked Baekhyun and I pinned him down with an unimpressed look. He gave me a mischievous smile and saluted me by mocking, "yes, we are all present, sir!"

I reached out to punch him in the arm but he blinded me with his light and I immediately closed my eyes. Upset, I reached out to grab her, but Chanyeol blocked the path. 

"Okay, we don't have time for this!" he scolded. "I've just burned down an entire building so it's good that we're underground but we need to get out of here as fast as we can if this place collapses on us."

"You burned the whole building?" Tanya Sehun sounded surprised but impressed. 

"That's the story next time," I replied to Chanyeol, "well boy, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Kai will lead the way because he knows which way out is right" Lay said speaking for Kai. He looks a bit better now but still not good.  

Kai ran and we all followed, our heavy footsteps echoing along the tunnel. It was impossible to be quiet but it didn't matter because we were underground. Baekhyun once was helping out when he shone through the tunnel so that we wouldn't trip over each other or ourselves while running into the darkness.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled like there was an earthquake and we all stopped carefully. Xiumin voiced out what we were all thinking, "what is that?"

No one answered and we waited in silence but suddenly, the ground rumbled again. Worry started to sink in and Kyungsoo told me, “it definitely didn't come from here. I think it came from there. " 

He looked convinced and it was probably because he could sense it through his elemental power. It really feels like an earthquake, but if not, what could happen? Is there some kind of eruption?

Suddenly the ceiling of the tunnel collapsed and concrete started raining down on us. A slab hit my temple and I could feel a warm liquid running down the side of my face. Kyungsoo raised his hand and stopped the moving bricks. I'm right it's some kind of eruption, explosion. Looking up through the hole he made in the ceiling, I could see flames had spread into a room I had never seen before.

My eyes widened when I realized that the room was on fire with a gas tank. A mixture of fire and gas is always a bad ending. With panic, I shouted, “Run!” When nothing started to move I shouted louder, more urgently, "RUN!"

Hearing that, everyone started moving and started running forward. Kyungsoo released his grip and debris began to fall down just as another explosion exploded. The entire ceiling collapsed and if we didn't run faster we would all end up dead under a pile of rubble. 

"We're almost there, a little further," cried Kai and I prayed to God he was right. I ran until my lungs were burning and my head was dizzy, all my muscles were sore with exertion. I hope we move fast enough to avoid death. Suddenly, Kai turned left, making me have to change direction sharply and almost miss the corner.

In front was a series of stairs and light. Real sunlight! We ran up the stairs to meet the black bars, similar to the ones rolled up over the years. Locked with a normal padlock and Chanyeol pushed forward. I begged that it would not be a trick and rejoiced when it fell to the ground in a puddle of melted metal. We broke through the gate and we met a large field.

I squinted my eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the hot sun. In my peripheral vision, I could see something dark and big and I couldn't miss it if I tried. I turned to face him and watched the large building, which cast a dark shadow over us, burn. I let the smile on my face be seen and I whispered more to myself than anyone else, "we made it." 

"Let's go before people start showing up" Chen suggested and we nodded in agreement. We walked to the edge of the field and there was a black van similar to the one we tried to escape in the beginning. I approached it carefully this time and gestured the others forward when I found it empty.

They all piled up while I sat in the driver's seat with Baekhyun and Kai on the passenger side. I made the car cables easily and the engine rumbled life, letting happiness flow through my body at the sound of freedom. After tying himself up, Kai asked, "where is it?"

While holding the wheel, I replied, “ Shouldn't I ask you that question ?

He shrugged and said, "Yes I can teleport but I'm not a human GPS. I can't and still can't for my life figure out where we are so let's move on for now. "

I pressed the gas pedal and muttered, "forward then."

Baekhyun turned on the radio and said, “we know one thing: we are still Korean. Thank God."

"And how do you know that?" I asked, looking at him to the side and he replied casually, "radio in Korean."

"Huh," I said unintelligently, quite surprised he found it so quickly. After a while, she started humming along with the songs playing even though she had not listened to music for many years and did not know her words. But for this time I did not tell him to shut up because his voice was strangely soothing, even melodic, in contrast to how he usually sounded.  

We have been driving for a while and still all that surrounds us are fields and fields again. There were some animals and barns along the way but there were no real signs of civilization. Now that the adrenaline was gone, I started getting tired behind the wheel. I could feel the effects of the battle begin to seep in. My body and mind need to be replenished and I need food, stat.

Suddenly, the car started to fall apart and quickly came to a halt. The loud noise from the exhaust woke Baekhyun and Kai, making them alert. We've had enough fuel for a while, so the problem must have something to do with the car. Baekhyun asked in a sleepy voice, "what happened?"

"I think .. his car broke down," I replied, feeling a little defeated but accustomed to bad luck. Baekhyun looked around and only met with a field that sighed, "now how?"