Chapter 6
Tim wasn't as fast of a runner as the redhead, who was full on sprinting down the empty, echoing halls, but he was doing a pretty decent job of keeping up.
Until they rounded a corner and Tim saw the gun.
He wasn't entirely sure what happened after that, but it probably had something to do with his survival instincts because he was suddenly sprinting back the way they had come, only without Roy.
Or Jason.
He still had no clue which one he was, but that really didn't seem all that important at the moment.
Still at full speed, he rammed into the back kitchen door-,
And into somebody.
“Whoa, hey! What the hell?” The other one that was either Roy or Jason, that had been running around before, stood above him along with a tall, one legged teen on crutches, and a much younger kid glaring absolute daggers at him.
Tim jumped up but the guy who was either Jason or Roy spoke first.
“Watch where you're going!”
“Gun!” Tim pointed back up the hall. “The guy, uh, long red hair-,”
“Roy?” The one on crutches asked. “You saw Roy? Where?”
“With the elf with the gun!” He exclaimed while pointing wildly.
Jason and the guy on crutches shared a quick, panicked look before running towards the door.
And dragging Tim along with.
“No, no, no!”
“Roy and I saw that elf kidnap someone! Show us where they are!” Jason demanded.
“They’re with the armed fucking elf!”
Great.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
Amazing.
He had just wanted one- ONE! singular night of fun.
Junk food.
Candy.
Hell, maybe even a friend or two.
He had not planned on actually missing the peace and silence of the empty manor.
Yyyyy
It felt like time was moving in slow motion as Kon watched Roy put himself in between him and Mercy.
Mercy slowly lost her mask.
The injector twitched in her hand as she wrestled with using it on a civilian.
And then the fire alarm went off and Kon was moving.
*Beeeeeeep!*
The injector flew up and was aimed at Roy, and then Kon, but Kon backhanded it as hard as he could, sending the device skidding down the hall away from them.
*Beeeeeeep!*
He stared after it, eyes wide and chest tight with adrenaline.
Mercy was… unarmed.
*Beeeeeeep!*
He had fought back and now she… she couldn't force him to go with her anymore.
*Beeeeeeep!*
“Conner! Run!”
He'd never really fought back before, and for a moment was so caught off guard that he stood frozen, mind and heart racing.
*Beeeeeeep!*
Until Mercy reached into her jacket.
Of course she was armed with more than the injector.
*Beeeeeeep!*
But he didn't get the chance to see what else she had, as just then, with a battle cry, four boys barreled down the hall.
One of them grabbed Kon by the wrist, and then he was running, too.
As fast as he could.
Because he wasn't going back.
Not today.
Not ever again.
He had spent years in that horrible, inhumane place being used as a lab rat, and now that he had had a taste of freedom, he was not going to go bac-,
A high pitched whine, almost like a mosquito, whizzed past them, and a small chunk of paint and plaster chipped off the wall at the end of the hallway.
Mercy was shooting at them with a real gun.
Yyyyy
A snow-dodgeball bounced off the floor right in front of Jon, just high enough for him to catch it, spin, and land a direct hit on the closest elf.
“Oh, you got me!” The elf dramatically collapsed backwards into a ‘snowdrift’ made from pillows.
Jon laughed, truly having the time of his life, and ran to pick up another snow-dodgeball that was partially hidden under a foam igloo when all of the sudden an ear piercingly loud belly started ringing, and everyone around him started screaming, running, and tripping over each other.
Jon yanked his arm back from the ball just before someone ran by and tripped over it, landing hard and then jumping back up to keep running.
He yelped and recoiled, looking through the sea of moving people to find his brother.
“Conner!”
Where was he?
He had been right by the edge of the North Pole, hadn't he?
“Conne- OOF!”
Someone ran full force into Jon, throwing him to the floor hard enough for his glasses to fly off.
“Conner! Help!”
His heart pounded in his ears and, while he could get around decently well without his glasses, the tears of fear in his eyes left him basically blind.
Feet pounded all around him.
People screamed orders and directions, kids were crying or searching for siblings and friends, all the while the alarm drowned out anything else.
Jon had never been so scared in his life.
“Conner..!” He tried to scream, but his voice broke as tears streamed down his cheeks and he lost the battle to hold in his terrified sobs.
Where was his brother?!
What was going on?
He frantically felt around until he made it to the now flattened igloo and curled up beside it, arms protecting his head.
It was so loud.
He just wanted Conner.
His parents.
Even just his glasses.
And then he was scooped up into the arms of someone who held him tight as they made their way to the exit and out to the frigidly cold parking lot.
The alarm and frantic, panicking voices were quieter outside, but not by much and people kept bumping into Jon and the person holding him.
“Okay. We're okay now. Are you hurt anywhere?” Jon opened his eyes and did his best to rub the tears out of them and then shook his head.
“Are you sure? Did you just get scared by the noise?”
A nod.
“Okay, buddy. Who did you come here with? Let's go find them.”
“Con-ner.” Jon sniffled. “M-my brother.”
Kon… must have gotten separated from him at some point, right?
He wouldn't have just left Jon.
“Conner!” The lady yelled. “Conner! Is there a Conner here? We're looking for a Conner!”
Jon shrunk down on her arms, still hiccuping and rubbing his eyes as she walked around.
He just wanted his brother.
Kon would make him feel safe.
Maybe he even brought Jon's spare glasses?
“Conner!”
But the longer they looked, the more scared Jon grew.
“Has anyone seen Conner?!”
Where was he?