[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/JbHDcS6.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/i97SqJz.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]___________________________________[sub].......[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Tunnels under the Middle Ring   ·   Late Afternoon   ·   In collaboration with [&.Exit][/color]Tunnels under the Middle Ring   ·   Late Afternoon   ·   In collaboration with [@Exit][/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]_[/color]
[color=9f9f9f]A few minutes later, an insistent knock came at the door, startling Chu Hua out of her stupor. She and Kanna both stared at the door as the handle jiggled, seemingly terrified to move. They had been counting on waiting out the RSF or hoping for An to come- could this be the RSF, here? Chu Hua shushed Kanna with a finger to her lips. Surely if they thought the closet was empty they would move on. The knock, however, just became more insistent. Louder, more hurried.

[color=white]“Open the damn door,”[/color] the knocker muttered. It was [i]An[/i]- her voice was distinctive. Chu Hua wasn’t sure whether to be ecstatic or horrified. She looked at Kanna before creeping to the door and opening it quickly. 

Her fiancée stood at the door, thoroughly drenched, a confused look in her eyes as she stared at the strange scene in the closet. Her expression melted into relief as she saw Chu Hua. [color=white]“Chu, you’re okay, I thought…”[/color] Her eyes moved further into the supply closet, and she blinked. [color=white] “Hello, Kanna. Um. What the actual fuck?”[/color]

Chu Hua found herself briefly mute. [color=firebrick]“I’m… babe, I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to know.”[/color] Her voice wavered.

An’s expression turned to ice as she shut the door. [color=white]“Weren’t supposed to know [i]what[/i]? That you’re a fucking… a fucking FIREBENDER?! I was supposed to fucking marry you without knowing that? What would have happened if…”[/color] She trailed off, evidently wanting to say ‘if you got caught’, but that was already the case.

[color=White]“You’re lucky I found you two. I have no idea what the hell your ex is doing here, but I can get you both out through the access tunnels running under the city. After that, though, we’ll have a bigger problem. Namely that the RSF is going to hunt you both- and maybe me- like dogs.”[/color] She breathed out through her nose. [color=White]“We’re fucking dead. But maybe we can delay that.”[/color] An was stock-still with tension as she spoke, looking nearly as stricken as Chu Hua. She, however, was much more functional in crises. The small woman, at odds with the two jacked stickball players, began to pace back and forth, staring at her phone.

Kanna was hesitant to speak at first despite the severity of the situation. Chu and An’s relationship was an environment unfamiliar to her and it was obvious the shorter woman was heated. Sensing the gears turning though, she decided now was as good a time as any to chime in. [color=white]“I was just telling Chu that there is a way out of this mess, but it won’t be easy. The tunnels are a good start but the rest of it is… well it’s outside the walls. Well outside the walls. Chu can’t stay here and if she’s going to survive in whatever the fuck is out there, she might need more than just her shoulder pads.”

“It looked pretty chaotic out there and if you’re sure about where you’re going in the tunnels, maybe a stop by wherever she lives isn’t a bad idea.”[/color]

An looked at Kanna with a slight look of condescension as she spoke, seeming slightly annoyed on top of her anxiety and shock. She crossed her arms. [color=white]“Uh-huh. And you’re suddenly a person smuggling expert?”[/color]

Chu Hua blew out a breath. [color=firebrick]“She saved my life. Be a bit nicer?”[/color]

[color=white]“I do not have to be [i]nice[/i], I’m just trying to-”[/color] An grumbled, stopping herself in the middle of her sentence. [color=white] “Fine. Sorry. We’ll go to the house. ”[/color]

Kanna’s eyes narrowed, but despite the heat she could feel rising to her cheeks, she managed to stifle whatever words were bubbling to the surface. [color=white]”[i]Is[/i] there… an entrance. To the tunnels nearby.”[/color] She asked, chopping up her question to emphasize the attitude she was trying desperately to keep under control. She crossed her arms.

An narrowed her eyes. [color=white]“Yeah. I’ve never been through this specific entrance, but I know the entrance should be…”[/color] She checked her phone. [color=white]“On the west side of the stadium. Entrance is in the boiler room, I have biometric access. All my service crews have been evacced because of the lines bursting, so there should be no one in there now. And if we need to go to the apartment, there’s one near there too.”[/color]

Chu Hua gave Kanna a sharp warning look. [color=firebrick]“Yeah, we’ll need to make a stop. There’s something that I need.”[/color]

[color=white]”Lead the way.”[/color] Kanna said, pulling her stick out of the water and flipping it under arm. She glanced at Chu, acknowledging the warning and breathed the rest of her frustrations out of her nose. She knew it was best to keep things as civil as possible despite being in a room surrounded by arguably the two most irritating people to her. Besides, she couldn’t take back what she’d already started, not that she wanted to. Getting her own ass to the tunnel was just as important to her as it was to Chu and An was her ticket.

The three of them exited the closet and crept down the hallway. The sprinklers were still going off, and they heard echoing boots and walkie-talkie chatter once in a while- the RSF was still here, securing the building. The stadium was eerily quiet. Everyone had fled. Chu Hua felt a growing sense of shame as she followed An and Kanna through the hallways. What had she done? There were char marks on the floor, water flooding the halls. It would take them months to repair this- and she wouldn’t even be here to see it repaired. She’d be either dead or out of the city by then. She wasn’t sure which option appealed to her more. 

They reached the boiler room after about five minutes of walking. They walked down the thin stairs in a single file line, An going first. [color=white] “Alright,”[/color] she whispered. [color=white] “It’s here.”[/color] She pressed down on a cinder block in the wall. It started to glow, reading her handprint. It made a ding noise, and the wall opened up, revealing a door in the wall. An glanced back at the two of them. [color=white] “Be careful. The tunnels are old.”[/color] She opened the door and stepped inside.

Kanna followed An through the doors and stepped into another world. Cold concrete walls of the boiler room became buff brick masonry that stretched endlessly into the lightless hall ahead and arched above them. The surrounding walls showed signs of years of neglect as chunks had fallen off, exposing the wood beam skeleton underneath. Besides the electrical wiring that lay bundled together and attached to the wall, it was clear that very few had been down here in a long time.

Kanna had heard of the tunnels running under the city, especially when she had begun searching for a way out for her mother. She’d also heard of the Underground, but this was her first time experiencing either first hand. True to An’s word, the hidden path did indeed feel old.

[color=white]”It smells funny down here.”[/color] Kanna commented. [color=white]”How do you even know about this?”[/color]

An held up the flashlight beam of her smartphone into the darkness, lighting up their immediate surroundings in a fuzzy glow. She started walking, the click of her heels resounding across the dark, cavernous space. [color=white] “I work for SynEn,”[/color] An said, hushed, despite the emptiness. [color=white]“We have a lot of secrets. This is one of them. These tunnels are ancient, so be careful.”[/color]

[color=white]“Oh, and, babe. Don’t… you know. The fire will eat up all the oxygen.”[/color]

[color=firebrick]“Yeah, yeah,”[/color] Chu Hua said, hands stuffed in her shorts. It was getting better, but she was still burning up, shaking. Part of it was because that initial adrenaline rush was wearing off. She had started to feel the pain of the burns along her body. Still, though, she walked along.

After a few minutes of walking, she sidled up to her fiancee, looking reluctant. [color=firebrick]“An. You know, I’m… going to have to leave. One way or another.”[/color]

[color=white] “I assumed,”[/color] An said, drily. Chu Hua winced.

[color=firebrick]“Before I have to go, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. For not saying anything. I was scared, I’ve never [i]told[/i] anyone, I… I guess I thought if I kept my mouth shut I’d be fine. I’ve always just wanted to live, to have a good life with people I love, and you were part of that. I’m sorry we couldn’t get married.”[/color]

An slid her eyes to Chu Hua, still holding up the phone to the hallway beyond. Her face softened. [color=white] “It’s fine. I’m just scared, that’s all. I never would’ve thought you were…”[/color] She seemed unwilling to say it. [color=white] “We’ll have plenty of time. I’m coming with you, of course.”[/color]

Chu Hua made a briefly shocked face. She hadn’t expected An to want to come! [color=firebrick] “You don’t have to! You shouldn’t take my punishment, babe- it’s not right. Stay here. Live your life. Please.”[/color]

Kanna tried to remain quiet as the two conversed, watching in a silent contemplation that threatened to break. Their agitated shadows danced at odd angles against sloping walls as An continued to hold the light from her phone and as the women spoke, their voices would echo down the hall describing its length. Kanna imagined they had a ways to go and figured that if there was time to hash something out, there was no better time than now.

[color=white]”Not that it’s my place to say but, like me, helping your girlfriend might put you out with the rest of us. Well…”[/color] She glanced to the side as she tried to ignore the decision she herself still had to make. [color=white]”...I say [i]us[/i] but… I mean I’m honestly not sure sticking around is such a good idea for me either but then what? We make another stop at my place too? All the way the fuck in the Upper Ring.”[/color] She shook her head and then turned to Chu curiously. [color=white]”Actually, just cause I’m morbidly curious now, what is this [i]thing[/i] you said you [i]have[/i] to get?”[/color]

[color=firebrick]“None of your fucking business,”[/color] Chu Hua snapped, almost by instinct. She immediately colored in embarrassment. Why was she still being so cagey? Kanna knew she could bend, but it was mortifying to admit that she had had something in her house for [i]years[/i] that proved her guilt. She sighed. [color=firebrick]“Something I don’t want anyone to find if they come by my place. You’ll see.”[/color]

[color=white]”You know what, you’re right. It’s not my business.”[/color] Kanna answered with half rolled eyes. [color=white]”I just want to get the fuck out of these tunnels. This place creeps me out.”[/color]
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