Chapter 5

"The... east testing facility!?" said Jaspher, having a shaky voice, "how do you plan to get there?"

"I think it's our only chance," Yuji said, "does anyone have a better plan?"

A short silence occurred.

"I think that's our best shot too," Said Ryan as he moves closer to Yuji, "so how will we get there? it's a far journey, you know?"

"We'll just have to do our best, " Yuji said.

"What are we going to do?" Jaspher said, "we almost died just a few minutes ago remember?"

"We were unprepared for that, " Yuji said, walking towards the closets "remember the reason why I led us here,"

"This lab has equipment, right?" Layla said, "it might not be the same as specialized weapons, but it's better than nothing,".

"Remember, before the specialized weapons and abilities, Humans fought by utilizing the items they have," Yuji said as he grabbed some foil from the cabinet and wrapped it on his left arm, "we can do this,".

"All right, I'm calmer now, " said Jaspher, " by the way, what are you doing?" He glanced, looking at Yuji.

"When we're facing a D or a C class, we can use this, " Yuji said raising his left arm, being wrapped in a thick layer of foil, "find anything you can wrap on your arm that you can use to block their bite, which is the most dangerous part,".

"I see, " said Ryan, "since we got a healer, as long as we don't get bitten, we're good,"

"though it's not unlimited, " Yuji said, "how many shots does everyone have?"

"I... got 3 shots, "said Elizabeth, "since I... wasn't able to use it earlier...at the facility,"

"So, I assume that Ryan and I are the only ones with 2 shots left, while everyone has three, " Yuji said, "since we were the only ones who injected earlier, am I wrong?"

"No, you're right," Layla nodded.

"And with the current shots we have left, we need to use it carefully," Ryan said

"So, we're only going to use this in emergencies?" said Layla.

"Then after we prepare here, we're going to go out and sneak our way to the facility?" Jaspher said.

"That would be our best option, " Yuji said, "But to sneak all the way to the east facility might be hard...".

"Even if we take a long time... as long as we make it then it's ok right?" Layla said.

"No, not in this case," Yuji said, "Assuming that the military is already on their way, once they reach Erina and their Hold out, if we take too long, we'll be considered dead and they will evacuate,".

"Then we will be left here to die..." Ryan said.

Yuji nodded, "That's why I propose a plan... first we sneak past the horde IF possible, then after we reach the door, everyone will inject themselves and start running,".

"Wait, inject?"Jaspher asked.

"When we reach the other side of the door leading to the halls, we have to run and be prepared to knock aside the Akumas we will encounter, as long as we don't encounter directly with a horde of Akumas we should be good..."

"Then we might bring a horde of Akumas to the east," Layla stated.

"That's why we will lose them," Yuji replied, "don't worry, I already know how to lose them,".

"I pretty much have an idea on how, so let's agree to this" Ryan said.

As he said that, everyone agreed to Yuji's plan.

"I, can't help but notice that you know so much about this kind of situation, it's amazing," Jaspher said, remarking Yuji, "Do you got more ideas like where to hit them or something? hahaha," he said in a joking tone.

"Now that you mentioned it..." Yuji replied, "most Akumas only use one eye and the other gets closed off for some reason, If you hit its open eye, it won't kill it instantly, but you will be able to stun it, it doesn't have to be direct, you could hit it from the side and it would still work,".

Jaspher was dumbfounded, hearing Yuji answer his question which was meant to be a joke.

"Amazing..." Layla said as she and Elizabeth walked closer to Yuji, "you really do know a lot about Akumas,".

"The question is how does he know so much," Ryan said, sounding suspicious, "we are not allowed to have practical experience until we're late second years, and I doubt they would teach it beforehand,".

"Then just try it" Yuji replied, "It won't hurt to hit it hard on the head then be vigilant about it, won't it?"

"I guess you're right," Layla said, "but assuming it's true, how did you know?" Layla asked.

Yuji looks away and was silent in thought for a short moment.

Yuji looks back, "It's... a long story, now isn't the time," he said.

Yuji looked around, "I can see you're all prepared," he said, noticing everyone gathered around him.

Everyone had something they kept as a weapon of some sort. Ryan and Layla both had long steel pipes they got from the drawers, and Elizabeth and Ryan had one of their arms covered with a thick layer of foil filled with papers and magazines, with tape keeping it attached.

"This might not be enough, but we have to make do with our equipment," said Yuji.

Everyone walked in front of the door and stood stiffly.

"Alright everyone, get your syringe out, we need to get ready if something goes wrong," said Yuji

"Umm... if I may ask..." Elizabeth said, being shy or rather shaky, "What would we do if we encounter a high-class Akuma?"

After Elizabeth's sentence, everyone was struck silent, as fear and nervousness filled their minds and body.

"Let's just hope that situation won't happen," Yuji replied, looking nervous.

Everyone was silent, finding difficulty in moving.

"If that does happen... we just have to do our best," Yuji said, "to survive, that is...".

Hearing those words, everyone slowly gathered the courage to move forward and stand straight, forcing themselves to move.

"That's right, we're dead if we stay here too long anyway," Jaspher said while having the look of fear written all over his face.

"Yeah if that does happen, we just have to deal with it and get through it," Layla said, slapping he own face.

"Then everyone is ready?" Yuji said, looking back, seeing everyone being nervous yet trying their best to look normal.

"Then...let's go," said Yuji, as he grabbed the doorknob.

Right before when Yuji was about to open the door, they heard a sudden odd sound.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE!" a voice of a young male, screaming with bloodlust echoed across the halls, along with sounds of explosions.

"huh?" being taken by surprise, Yuji slightly opened the door, enough for one eye to see, as Yuji and Ryan take a peek.

There was a male student standing at the end of the hallway with his left hand facing his front as his right hand supports it. As if he was shooting something from his hands.

"hey isn't that!?" Yuji said.

"That's! a specialized weapon!" Ryan said.

Yuji and Ryan took a good look at the male student's glove on his right hand, which seemed to be smoking.

"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!"

The male student from the end of the hall kept repeating while shooting beams of light from the gloves his wearing.

"That's definitely a specialized weapon," said Ryan, "We should go help him!" he said as he tried to go out of the room.

"Normally we should..." said Yuji, stopping Ryan, "But it would be pointless in this situation..."

As groups of Akumas came closer to the male student, the male student kept shooting the Akumas, creating explosive sounds that echoes across the halls.

"What do you mean!?" Ryan said raising his voice, "should we just watch him die!?"

"No, we really won't be able to do anything about it," said Yuji, "in fact, we're going to have an even harder time because of this..."

"Umm, guys what's going on?" Layla asked, being completely confused, "what was that sound? it sounded like explosives,"

"YOU ALL SHOULD DIE", the voice entered the room a little clearer than before, due to the slight opening of the door.

"Was that a person's voice?" Jaspher asked.

"MY GIRLFRIEND DIED, AND SO SHOULD ALL OF YOU!" the male student screamed filled with hatred as he slowly steps back behind the walls of the hallway Yuji and the others were on, making them lose sight of the person.

The explosions kept on happening, killing numerous Akumas on the spot, until.

"AAAAGGHHH,".

Hearing the gruesome scream, Yuji turned around, "Everyone, inject now! we're making a run for it!"

Everyone quickly agreed instinctively, hearing the last scream from a voice filled with hatred and anger, to sounds of pain and agony.

They quickly ran out of the door and went in the opposite direction of the scream. While running, Layla looked behind them and saw numerous Akumas standing at the end of the hallway, looking straight at them.

Like a predator suddenly finding its prey in the open, the Akumas came running towards Yuji and the others.

"SH*T, what do we do now!?" Jaspher said, being terrified.

"Just don't stop running!" said Yuji, "I know where to go, we just have to keep running as a group!".

As they run, they reached the end of the hallway with two directions, left and right.

"Where to?" Ryan asked, being in front of the group.

"Left!" Yuji replied.

Everyone was running fast, but at a certain pace where everyone won't get separated from each other, as Ryan and Layla are in the front and Yuji was in the middle with Elizabeth and Jaspher beside him.

After they turned right, they saw two freshly turned Akumas from a distance blocking their path.

"Two in front, You guys got this," said Yuji.

As Yuji speaks, the two persons in front Ryan and Layla suddenly increased their speed, dashing closer to the two Akumas in front of them.

Reaching a certain range, they quickly smacked the Akuma's head where their eyes are open with the long steel pipe they found in the lab, knocking both Akumas down, looking immobile.

"They're... really not moving!" Layla said as Ryan and Layla slowed down their pace letting the others catch up.

"So, they really do get stunned?" Ryan said as everyone else catches up to them.

"For how long will that last?" Jaspher asked.

"Depends on how hard you hit them," Yuji replied, "longest maybe one minute,"

"Isn't that too short?" Layla said.

"No," Ryan replied, "it's actually more than enough,"

As they kept running, they noticed a horde of Akumas, blocking the entrance to the main hall of the center of the school.

"Crap, that's too much!" Jaspher said as everyone slowed down, "There's a horde behind us too, right? what should we do!?" Sounding panicked.

Yuji increased his speed, taking the lead, "It's ok, we're not going there anyway!".

"Huh!?" Layla said in confusion, regardless everyone followed Yuji.

As they get closer to the horde, taking its attention, Yuji and the others turned left as the Large number of Akumas follows them.

Yuji taking the lead, they kept on running, reaching a point where the halls lead to what seems to be a dead end.

"That's a dead-end!" said Jaspher.

"There's a door on the left" Yuji pointed out, "Get in there quick!".

They reached the end of the hallway. As the sounds of numerous footsteps and growls get closer, they turned around and saw the horde of Akumas running towards them.

Yuji quickly grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

"Get in!" Yuji shouted.

Everyone quickly went inside then started barricading the door.

Looking around they noticed the room they were in was an old storage room.

"What are we going to do now!?" Jaspher said in a panicked state, "This time we're stuck!".

BANG* BANG*

The banging sound coming from outside the door gets louder and louder as growls we're getting more and more intense by the second.

Despite the situation, Yuji seemed completely calm.

"Help me move this," Yuji said, holding a shelf placed beside the wall.

Ryan noticed Yuji's actions and thought that he might have expected this to happen.

Ryan regained his composure and helped Yuji move the shelf.

"Let's use this to block the door," Yuji said.

Ryan and Yuji lifted the shelf containing boxes beside the walls and moved it in front of the door, blocking it.

"So, what now?" Ryan asked, " You led us here, how are we supposed to get out?"

"look," Yuji said as he pointed at the direction where the shelf was originally placed.

"A window!?" Layla said, being completely surprised, "How did you know there was a window there?"

"It's one of the merits of always being in trouble," Yuji said with a slight smug on his face, "I already thought of a situation where I might get chased, and this is how I'll lose them,"

"So, he explored this place before going to the facility..." Layla thought.

"This guy is nuts," Jaspher thought.

"He can even smirk like that in our situation," Ryan thought.

Elizabeth stared at Yuji looking completely amazed.

Yuji looked at Elizabeth, as she just stared at him with an amazed face, Yuji felt awkward and looked away, slightly flustered.

"Anyway, this is a sliding window so it will be easy to get out," said Yuji.

And so, one by one, Yuji and the others went out of the window.

As they set foot outside, their feet touched dirt on the ground and was standing right next to a tree beside a tall wall.

"Where are we?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're at the corner of the school, and basically behind the main campus," Yuji replied.

"Isn't it dangerous being outside?" Jaspher said.

"Not as much as being inside there," Ryan said, "and take a look, it's a straight narrow path,"

"Yeah, if we go straight and avoid all the windows, we can get to the east testing facility with no trouble," Yuji replied.

And so, they walked through the long and narrow path.

While they walk, they avoid every window by crouching down, as they hear growls and faint noise coming from the inside of the building.

The feeling of nervousness never left them, but at that point, was when they were feeling the safest, as they get closer to the end of the narrow path.

Until finally, they reached the end.