Feathers and Carnations

Chapter Twenty-five

*This song was on repeat the whole time I wrote this chapter. It's good. (if not showing it's I Hold You by CLANN)

TW: violence

A distant rumble had Jisung raising his head from where it rested on his knees. It was so distant, he briefly wondered if he heard thunder or imagined the sound altogether. Then he felt the floor under his body tremble as another rumble vibrated through the air. Moments later the bars of his cell rattled as a distinguishable explosion rang out in the distance.

Alarms suddenly blared throughout Chimera loudly, making Jisung jump in surprise. Of course there'd be alarms, idiot. Shouts echoed down the corridors, accompanied by thundering footsteps. A few guards bolted right past his cell.

"Attack on the West Wing, let's move!"

"I thought it was on the North side!"

Now was the time to move.

Jisung jumped to his feet and snaked his arm through the bars of the cell as he tried reaching where to insert the key. It was a little difficult to maneuver around the chains on his wrists, but after a few tries he managed to jam the door open. Another explosion shook the air, so much closer this time that he nearly lost his footing. It was now or never.

Jisung bolted down the corridor, running a bit oddly due to the chains between his wrists.

"Hey!" a deep voice bellowed. Deafening gunfire broke out, and Jisung skidded around a corner, narrowly avoiding the ricocheting bullets that followed his footsteps.

He dropped into a crouch behind a door that sat ajar and waited for the man pursuing him. A gun barrel came around the corner and Jisung lurched forward, wrapping his chain around it and wrenching the gun out of the man's hands.

The man swung at him. Jisung spun out of the way and threw a flying kick at the man's head. Before the guard could recover from the hit, he grabbed the fallen gun and shot him.

The ground shook and lights flickered as another explosion went off. Jisung steadied himself and then continued on after checking how much ammunition the gun had. A set of doors slammed open in front of him, but thankfully the group of guards that stormed out headed in the opposite direction, completely unaware of his presence.

Something flashed, and Jisung's back was suddenly on the floor, his ears ringing. He coughed as a cloud of dust and smoke swirled around him, and he tried focusing his blurry vision. He pushed himself upright with a groan and flinched when he felt something wet roll down  the side of his face. With a shaking hand, he touched his face and his fingers came away wet with blood.

It didn't take long for his mind to catch up and realize what happened. That explosion was far too close. Had he run out of time already? His body jolted back into action. Minho.

Debris littered the corridor around Jisung, and he avoided the obstacles easily, pushing the rushing wave of dizziness that was trying to take over. The building shook again, sending him stumbling into a wall, but he pressed on, determined to reach Minho before it was too late.

Jisung rounded the last corner and took aim at the guards flanking the doors to Hyeon's office. They hardly noticed him with the shaking that was going on, and that only made it easier to shoot them down.

Jisung shot the keypad by the door and kicked the doors open.

He only had time to pull the trigger once before something heavy slammed into his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground. The gun fell and clattered out of his reach as his vision temporarily blacked out. A heavy boot pressed into his back, keeping him down.