Chapter 340: Good thing we didn’t go down

The end result of Kellen rushing the others into the safe room meant that he was left with about seven people who couldn’t fit into the space. That included Brent, Kellen, Sergei, two Guides and two Espers. The two Espers were S Classes that had been amused, and then impressed by Kellen’s techniques and had continued working out with him while also not so subtly asking when he’d be able to send his students out.

Of course, they would take advantage of Kellen as they could at the moment, but Kellen had a firm stance of not sending his people out into war zones when most of them had chosen that they did not want that path.

The Espers had been mildly upset, but understood as a fellow S Class what Kellen was saying. Now that Kellen found himself in this situation, he was glad that he had them with him. He couldn’t remember what powers they had, but given that one had glowing silver eyes like Sergei and the other had a more true grey eye colour, they were powerful in their own right.

Kellen made sure that those in the safe area were okay and he had the code before he left. He had been given instructions, and there was also a knowing in his bones of how to get to the next location. Brent was at Kellen’s side, brandishing a weight as a weapon, while Sergei and the Esper with the same eye colour stayed at the back of the group.

The Guides were kept in the middle with the last Esper. A formation that had formed without many words and one that Kellen was glad they were able to do. He liked working with people who had been on the front lines for this very reason.

Well, the Guides hadn’t, but the Espers had and being able to herd Guides and civilians was part of the job.

Thinking back on the front lines significantly helped Kellen decrease the anxiety he was feeling without Rhys at his side. It was frustrating because he did say that he wouldn’t do things on his own anymore. He did think that this situation was abnormal, but that didn’t take away the guilt. Small moments of humour did.

"Kellen, where to next?" Brent asked. They had moved from the middle of the hallway into one of the guiding rooms a few doors down. All Guides knew guiding rooms, and they were rooms that always had locks on them and provided a bit of security.

Sergei was keeping watch at the door while Kellen tried to contact Rhys, his parents, anyone.

"No one is answering their phones." Kellen said quietly. The two Guides that were with them weren’t from the Guild. In fact, most of the Guides who were from the Guild weren’t able to make it to the session this morning. Kellen had to leave the two confirmed Guides in the safe room because one was having a panic attack and the other knew the codes.

They would have been able to protect the place so Kellen couldn’t take them with him.

"I haven’t seen the Esper you sent on that scouting mission either." The Wind Esper said, causing everyone to glance at him. He flushed and tapped his ears. "I can use the wind to my benefit." He said. Kellen was impressed.

"Perfect. I’m sure you’ll keep an ear out then." Kellen didn’t order him, knowing full well that he was a Captain in his own right. Still the man glowed under praise and Kellen just shook his head.

"Do you want me to try to reach out?" Sergei asked and Kellen nodded. Sergei and the two Espers made eye contact before Sergei moved into the room more and the Wind Esper took his spot by the door. The fellow Telekinetic remained in his spot. He had a rather grim face while the two Guides remained on the bed, cowering.

Brent had put the weight down, also grim as they watched Sergei tap his phone and try to contact anyone. His expression didn’t shift, but Brent growled.

"He’s not getting through either." Brent explained, as if he was suddenly translating for the other man. Kellen didn’t even question it.

"Then, we just need to get to the other safe location. It’s two floors up. I know Aunt Dina said to go down but I’m going to be honest, I don’t know if that was Aunt Dina." Brent and Sergei’s eyes sharpened as they looked at Kellen. The two Espers and Guides looked at Kellen in confusion.

"What? What makes you think that way?" The Wind Esper asked quietly and Kellen frowned.

"I just do. She wouldn’t message me that way." Kellen said. "Plus, she didn’t respond after. That’s not like her." Brent nodded in agreement.

"He’s right. It’s not like her, and we also haven’t heard anything from your parents. That’s not like them at all, especially not with you being separated." Brent added. Kellen nodded. Sergei shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"So, we’re on our own until we get some answers." Sergei said. "Not the first time you’ve done something like this." Sergei joked and Kellen rolled his eyes. Of course, they couldn’t see his covered eye, but that didn’t matter.

"I’ve been better supplied." Kellen said, but he didn’t back down. "We should wait until the scout comes back. He’ll have more information for us and I think that’s more important right now." The others agreed.

So, they waited. When the Wind Esper noticed that someone was approaching, he went out with Sergei, while Kellen, Brent, the two Guides and the Esper remained behind. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife while they waited, but thankfully it wasn’t long.

They were back with the third man quickly, and from the look on his face, it wasn’t good.

"I couldn’t get down to the main floor, let alone the basement. They’ve blown up the stairs." Kellen swore at his softly spoken words. Shit. That wasn’t good. The bad news continued as the Wind Esper took up the mantle by the door again, keeping it slightly parted so he could hear the hallway and surrounding area better. "There are a bunch of Espers and what looks like civilians in night vision goggles. They have weapons and other things, but I couldn’t get close enough without compromising my position. I would have gotten closer but I might not have been able to make it back." Kellen didn’t fault him for that.

"Keeping yourself safe is a priority in that kind of situation. Thank you for doing that." Kellen glanced around at their small group. "We need to get to the upper levels. There is a horrible chance that they might not even know what’s going on. We can’t have that. We need to get up to the higher levels. We could, of course, always have someone break out of the window and fly to the upper levels, but they might shoot you down. However, I think traveling as a group is a smarter option. If we are able to get to the residential levels I can get us some fire power." Kellen said.

Brent nodded, clenching his fist.

"The faster we move, the better. Thank goodness Aunt Dina seemed to plan for these kinds of situations and the stairs aren’t all in the same spot in the building." Brent said and Kellen nodded grimly.

There had been too many massacres that had resulted in total wipe outs for that kind of building planning to be allowed anymore.

"Is everyone okay with the plan?" Kellen asked, glancing towards the Guides. They nodded, scared stiff, but they weren’t about to protest. "The thing that is working for us is the fact that people are going to start asking questions about where we are in probably 10 minutes’ time. We need to cover as much ground as possible before then."

"We’ll fly everyone up the stairwell." Sergei offered. "So that they can’t hear our footsteps and preserve everyone’s energy." Kellen liked working with Espers for this very reason. Brent grinned.

"Sounds great. Alright, same formation?" Brent asked and the Espers hesitated.

"Should you two be leading the way?" They asked and Kellen nodded firmly before Brent or Sergei could speak up.

"I have the most experience in guiding others, and I trust my instincts." Surprisingly, Kellen’s firm answer seemed to convince them. He was one of the top Field Guides around. "I also know these hallways better than you do, and Brent is the second best. You’ll also hear something before we do." Kellen reminded him and that seemed to be all anyone needed to know.

They set off in the same formation, Kellen stopping every so often before he turned. He was going towards the stairwell and thankfully, they made it there safely. Sergei and the other Telekinetic picked everyone up and floated them up the stairs quickly. Each stairwell was closed off for a couple of floors before it came to a door and that was the floor that you had to step out into, cross, and then climb the next set of stairs until you repeated the action.

That wasn’t all, as the stairwells weren’t exactly aligned either. You couldn’t just push straight up and think you were going to hit a stairwell. Aunt Dina had designed it intentionally to be difficult to scale.

The only floors that were the basic plan were the main level and the first 6 floors. That was probably why they had been so easily taken over. Kellen was grim as he thought about that and the people who worked down there. He really hoped that everyone was okay, but knowing who was attacking them...Kellen’s chest ached.

Everything would be okay. He just needed to alert them what was going on.

When they got to the door at the top, Kellen only hesitated for a second before he opened the door. As soon as he did, he ducked, forcing Brent who was right behind him to duck down as well.

The sound of a bullet gliding through the air and hitting the cement behind them had Kellen and the others on high alert before someone swore.

"Oh shit! I’m so sorry! I thought you were the intruders!" Kellen didn’t fully relax because at this point, there had to be a spy in their midst, but he did appear to relax.

There was a group of foreign Guides on the other side of the door. They weren’t pressed against the door but they were peeking out from behind a doorway nearby. Eyes wide, dilated, panicked, and Kellen scanned them. His body relaxed further.

"They’ve invaded downstairs. Stairwell is blown out. Our only option is going up." Kellen told them. "We’re going to the safe room another level up." The Guide swallowed and shook their head.

"You can’t." They said. Kellen blinked.

"What do you mean we can’t?" Kellen asked and a pale Guide peeked out from behind them. Her face was splotchy like she’d been crying.

"They threw poison gas. We can’t get through." She whispered. "Beth tried and now..." She trailed off, breaking down into tears. Alarms went off in Kellen’s mind as he approached. The Guides took a step back and Kellen pushed into the room.

There, lying on a sofa was a red-faced female Guide. She did not look well, and her eyes, mouth and nose were swollen. It was clear that it was an airborne pathogen and Kellen felt his muscles tense.

This was one of the few times that he appreciated that his blood was still poisonous.