*Celosia "Robin" Douglas's POV*:

My eyes shot open from what I thought I heard was a banging sound.

*BANG BANG BANG*

It happened again.

"What?" I said out loud, raising my head from my pillow.

It was gunshots. One after another. I jumped out of my bed and slid down the latter before running to the cell bars. Officers with guns running down the hall, heading towards the entrance.

*GUNSHOTS*

"Oh my god what is going on?!", Mrs. King shouted as she ran over next to me.

We both stared out across the hall. Thomas was near the cell bars looking back at us with a worried face. But Beval was nowhere to be found. My panic started to kick in for three reasons:

Who was shooting? What were they shooting at? And where was my best friend?

Screams from prisoners all around us could be heard, mix that in with shouts from the officers and gunshots in the distance and it ends up with me not being able to hear my own thoughts.

For what felt like forever, we watched officers run down the hall until we could only hear just the sounds of prisoners screaming out of fear, yelling in confusion, and crying.

Eventually, it seemed as though most of the officers were outside the prison, yet we could still hear the gunshots in the distance.

"What do you think is happening?!", Mrs. King asked, looked at me with wide eyes. "What are they shooting at? Who are they shooting at?"

"I don't really know, but something is telling me that it's-"

Out of nowhere, an officer appeared at our cell, basically running into it with a loud clash. In response to the jump-scare, we screamed and jumped back, holding each other.

They were wearing sunglasses, but I happen to recognize them after looking at the rest of their face, mannerisms, and.....low-top black Converses?

"Val?!", I asked, my head tilted over.

"Yo", they greeted, taking off their sunglasses with a nervous smile, tucking them into his collar.

Beval jiggled the keys around, trying to open the cell door with the right one. Eventually after finding the right key, he pushed the cell doors back.

"Oh thank god you're okay!", Mrs. King sighed in relief as she ran to hug him. Breaking the hug and taking a look at him, her face twisted in confusion.

"How did you get an officer's uniform?"

"On my way back here, I ambushed a male officer when he wasn't looking and knocked him out. After dragging him back, I locked him in the same closet the female officer is in and I took his uniform. These folks don't even recognize me, they are too busy doing whatever it is that they are doing."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?", I asked, walking up to him.

"No, not a clue. But I'd rather worry about that later. We need to free the others". He jiggled the keys in his hand. "And I have just the keys for that."

Before running across the hall to free Thomas, we looked both ways to watch for any guards coming.

None, for now. Perfect.

Most were too occupied, but that doesn't mean there weren't any still around in this prison, making sure we stayed put.

"Okay, let's go!", I said with a loud whisper. We scrunched down low and swiftly ran over to Thomas's cell.

*GUNSHOTS*

"What's going on?!", he asked, a bit spooked.

"We don't know, but the focus right now is freeing you!", I reassured him as Beval keyed the lock, opening the cell door.

"Do you have a plan?"

I froze.

We didn't have a plan. Beval was the only one who succeeded in his. Gunshots arose out of nowhere and our only advantage we had was the keys to open the cells and hopefully the employee doors.

I snapped out of my own thoughts and pat his back.

"Nope! But knowing us, we'll figure it out. Come on, we gotta go release the others!"

Thankfully, Beval memorized the exact cell numbers our friends were in.

The cheers and pleads of numerous prisoners filled my ears as they saw us escape and release our friends.

Going upstairs, looking around for any sign of officers, we released Kimberly and the woman she was cellmates with. Together we ran back downstairs and pass our cells down the hall, over to Gaia's.

"Gai! Ms. Melody!", I shouted at my friend and a fellow woman from our home shelter.

"Celosia? Guys?!", she questioned, as they jogged over from their beds.

"We are here to free you", I exclaimed, looking both ways down the hall, on lookout.

"Whats going on? What's the plan?!", she asked in concern.

That damn question again.

"We have no clue. But the plan is that we're going to free our friends, then we are heading to the employee lounge to search for any vinegar. We need our powers back!", Beval spoke up for me.

Sounds like a plan...I guess.

When Gaia made eye contact with Beval, her whole aura changed and she became what she used to be towards me: closed off.

"Noted", she said with a quiet voice, looked down at the ground with a frown on her face.

Beval kept his eyes on her though. He didn't look away, but he did frown a little.

I already knew what she was upset about. Beval had to get lovey-dovey with the security guard in order to get closer to her and get her keys. He took one of his advantages and used it. He was stronger, but he didn't have the street fighting skills I had, nor the gentleness and sweetness of Gaia, nor the high intellect of Shimizu. And he didn't have the hard-shell-soft body like Kimberly.

"Umm hello? We need to go get Katie! Whatever tension y'all got going on needs to be put aside!", Kimberly yelled snapping in their faces.

"Whatever, let's just move", Gaia muttered, blinking rapidly.

But suddenly, screaming from farther down the hall made us freeze.

It was a woman screaming, but it overshadowed everyone else's cheers.

"Wait...something is wrong", Beval muttered before he sprinted down the hall.

"God, what now?!", Kimberly shouted before she chased after him. It wasn't long before we reached Katie and Isabella's cell. Beval quietly unlocked it, pulling the cell doors back with a loud slam.

My skin went pale at the sight.

Katie turned back at us after realizing we were all there. Fear was painted on her face.

Isabella was on the floor sweating, had pillows behind her back to support her while sitting up. They were sitting on a large blanket that was laid out. She was screaming and groaning in pain. She was giving birth. Her legs were spread wide with Katie in front of her.

Katie looked clueless, scared and lost in the sauce.

"I...I don't...I don't know what to do", she hyperventilated.

"Oh shit!", Beval hissed, clenching onto his hair, panicking just as much as our friend. "Why now?!"

"Katie, look at me", Gaia crouched down, holding Katie's face. "Remember what me and Ms. Melody taught you. You can do this!"

"Ms. Melody?", Kimberly and Thomas questioned.

"Yes", Ms. Melody spoke up. She tied her brunette hair into a ponytail and crouched down to her knees across from Katie. "I was a labor and delivery nurse for 20 years, before all of this chaos. I taught Gaia a lot before she became our shelter's nurse. But I can guide Katie through this."

"Where's Danny?", Isabella groaned. "I need to wait until Danny com-"

Isabella groaned again from another labor contraction, leaning backward.

"No honey. We need to do this. You have to deliver now", Ms. Melody spoke in a comforting tone, caressing the top of Isabella's sweaty head.

Katie turned her head towards us as we stood there like penguins.

"You all need to worry about freeing everyone else. Focus on getting everyone to safety from whoever is shooting. She will help me through this."

I smiled at Katie and nodded.

I was happy to see her growing up from her usual shy and quiet demeanor. The demeanor that she had since her older sister Kamryn died. She would've been so proud of her, just like I am. She was only twelve when I first met her at the extermination camp. Now she was seventeen, but was highly responsible for her age.

"We have to go, now!", Kimberly yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. She turned to Beval. "What's the plan Hernandez?!"

He scanned the area, then pointed down the hall. I twisted my head in that direction.

*LOUD BOOM*

*GUNSHOTS*

We crouched down, holding each other as we felt the entire building shake. The lights flickered and dimmed. Eventually the shaking stopped.

"Jesus", Thomas cringed with worry.

"Okay, uh, okay, I remember when the female officer was taking me to the closet. She made a right, further down this hall. But I remember looking to the left and down a hallway. There, I saw a sign "employee lounge" next to a door. We need to go there. They should have vinegar and we'll be able to get our powers back!"

"She took you to a closet, huh?", Gaia snarked, cutting her eyes at Beval.

Beval stopped pointing and sighed, glaring at her with guilty eyes.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get going!", Kimberly rushed.

"Wait! But first!". Beval took a gold key from the metal hop, filled with several other keys. He gave one of them to Thomas. "This unlocks all of the cell doors. I need you and Mrs. King to free everyone and get them to safety, preferably try to escape while the officers are occupied. Get Noah to help you too."

Thomas took the key from Beval's hand and stare at it. He blew his breath and looked at him, before nodding.

"Got it...brother."

I furrowed our eyebrows at Thomas, but brushed off what he said.

Following our purple-eyed friend, we ran down the hallway, looking forward and behind us in search of any officers that may come our way.

This situation was pretty unexpected, so I doubt they were strategic and prepared to fight whoever was out....

"Wait. What if it's Shimizu?", I whispered loudly out of nowhere as we turned left into another hallway. We leaned against the wall that had a corner.

"Shhh", Kimberly hushed with her finger.

Inch by inch, we took a peek down the hallway. It had two officers racing down it, disappearing into another one.

I blew my breath in relief.

"To answer your question Celosia: most likely", Beval answered, looking back at me with a small smile. "Who else would they be fighting against? My original plan was to get the keys and get into the lounge to call Shimizu for help, but I guess help came pretty early, huh?"

*GUNSHOTS*

He looked back down the hall. No officer was present. The employee lounge was ten feet away from us on the other side of the hall.

"Alright. Let's go."

Entering the employee lounge, Beval turned on the light. It was a room with a rectangular wooden table that had six chairs. A white refrigerator. A sink with brown cabinets above it, and a rack with four F.E.M.A uniforms hanged up. I wasn't sure for what department the uniforms belonged to, but I also didn't care.

We scrambled around the room as Kimberly let go of the curtain and blocked the door's window, so nobody would see in. She barricaded the door with a chair and stood beside it with a glass bottle in her hand, in case someone tries to come in.

I searched the mini lockers, book-bags, purses for any vinegar to dissolve the substance in our body that's blocking our powers. Nothing.

Gaia checked the fridge, accidentally spilling things in the process. Nothing.

We were becoming anxious by the second. Our powers were the only way we could overpower these monsters and help Shimizu.

"Any luck?", Kimberly asked, keeping her eyes on the door.

"No! Nothing!", I snapped, slamming a locker in the process. I rubbed my face in distress.

"What are we going to do?", Gaia frowned while on her knees with the fridge still wide open. She looked at each and every one of us, awaiting an answer.

I scanned the room, trying to find an idea. That's when my eyes met the uniforms.

"Guys. I think...I think we have to blend in", I said, grabbing a uniform from the curtain. "We have to put these on to blend in with them so they don't kill us."

I turned to Beval.

"Turn away."

He did with zero hesitation.

I took my jeans off and tried on the khaki cargo pants. They were a size too big but manageable. Taking off my shirt, I replaced it with a black one that had the FEMA logo at the top right. It fitted pretty well.

"Okay. Gaia you're up next. Here", I announced, passing her another uniform with a size close to mine.

The dark blue cargo pants fit her a bit tightly, showing off her curves she developed over time. But the black shirt was very big on her.

Kimberly was last. The khaki pants and black FEMA shirt fitted her perfectly.

Our next move was to find sunglasses to hid our eyes, but glasses wasn't going to look normal in a situation like this. Plus, there wasn't any, so we had to deal.

"Okay, close enough", I sighed in defeat, after having to deal with the odd sizes on us.

"So, what's the next move...Hernandez?", Gaia asked with a bit of attitude, cutting her eyes at Beval.

"We have to go outside and find Shimizu", he said with a straight face.

"Go outside?! Do you hear what's going on out there?!", Kimberly argued back.

"What other choice do we have? We have to let him know we are okay!"

"But? What if we die?!", Kimberly asked him, worried and scared.

"If we stay here we will die", Beval lowered his voice, understanding her fear.

Kimberly sighed, not wanting to argue anymore. "Fine, you're right."

*GUNSHOTS*

"I don't know how soon the female officer and the other officer I put with her will regain consciousness. Before then, we gotta leave! Now! The gunshots are starting to sound close!", Beval urged as we rushed to the door.

"You sure are worried about that female officer. Why don't you go back in the closet with her and see if-"

Beval grabbed Gaia's hand in the middle of another shady remark.

"Let me go", Gaia hissed, trying to tug her hand away.

"No! Listen to me and listen closely!", Beval ordered with such authority in his voice it made all of us freeze. We didn't dare to rush him, nor speak. "I never kissed her. And when she was kissing on me I hated every minute of it but I needed to get close to her! I needed to so I could knock her out and grab her keys! I pulled a "Mina" so I could get you guys out! Don't you understand?! I love you!"

She tugs a little less.

"I am committed to you!", Beval continues, holding her hand tightly.

Her tugging slows down.

"I am dedicated to you!"

She stops, looking into his eyes.

"And when this is over...I'm going to marry you! I want you to be my wife!"

Beval holds both of Gaia's hands. "I know this isn't the best time to say that, but I don't care. I want you in my life in every single way. For a while I've been fantasizing about putting a ring on your finger and giving you my last name. And after this whole thing, I'll do just that...if you'd let me".

My stomach dropped as I and Kimberly looked at each other, with shock written across our faces. Excitement and happiness overshadowed us as we watched our two best friends.

Gaia smiled, batting her eyes, trying to hold back happy tears before jumping up and kissing Beval. She wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips intertwined. The kiss was brief, but was long enough to touched my heart.

"Yes! The answer is yes! But please...don't let a woman kiss on you again", she smiled, chuckling before getting a bit serious.

"Don't worry. I won't ever. And better yet, I'll propose in a better setting than this, with the prettiest diamond ring. You deserve it", he replied with a smile.

It wasn't long before we left the employee lounge. Going through the prison trying to find the way out was like going through a maze. So we followed two of the officers we did manage to find. Luckily they weren't paying any attention to our eyes or us in general. They gave us a glance and told us to follow them, thinking we were like them: unprepared and unorganized.

They were more so focused on being backup, as I heard on their walk-talkies. Both officers were holding rifles.

My stomach tightened just seeing the weapons as sweat rolled down my forehead. One wrong move and our identity will be revealed. That would be a death sentence. We kept our heads down as we followed them.

We finally made it to the main doors. My lungs burned more and more by the second. It was a lengthy way there.

He typed in a code of 82578 into the system, which opened the doors of the prison to the outside world.

The thirty degree temperature and winds hit us at all angles, but that's not what gave us the chills.