Still in the System

The building was truly going to crumble at this rate. The walls were cracking heavily, and she knew that it wasn't going to be safe if they lingered any longer. They needed to find an exit immediately. It was even more pressing since Obrien was chasing them down.

All she needed to do was dodge any needles that came flying their way. The hallway was ending, but there was something that was protruding out of the wall that made relief run into her veins.

The door was a sliding one, and she fiercely slid it open, making the heavy metal door scrap against the floor, and Felicity grabbed Melissa's arm behind her and swung her inside.

Felicity lost her momentum and slid the door shut as she tried to regroup. "How did they get you here?"

Melissa wrung her hands together as her eyes darted to the doors in fear. "I was out shopping with some friends when they kidnapped me out of nowhere. There were violent protests that made the mall go on lockdown beforehand."

"Where are you from?" Felicity slid a glance into the hallway to check once again.

"I'm from the east coast."

"It looks like the chaos that's occurring is universal," Felicity muttered. It also seemed that the government didn't care to ship anyone out no matter where they were at.

They must have been desperate, but it didn't matter since she had never agreed to anything they were demanding her to do. It was odd, considering that she did feel remorse and wanted to take responsibility, and the war constantly raged inside of her.

The room that they were in was a dead end since it was eerily a plain white room that was practically empty besides the metal chairs that were piled up in the corner.

Going into a room without another way out could soon prove to be the end for them, but now that they were inside the room, there wasn't much that they could do.

Obrien smirked when she saw him come into view, and he came straight to their door. Felicity shoved Melissa to the corner of the room, the furthest point from the doors, and muttered a harsh curse as she covered her face when the men mercilessly kicked the door down.

The guards came barreling at them with the clicking tasers, and Felicity bit down on her lips, as she gripped one of the men's shoulders and flipped him around. The man fell flat to the floor, and Felicity ripped the taser away from his hands just as the snapping shock went into her left shoulder.

Felicity swiped the other's feet right under him. Obrien loaded his needle gun, and Felicity bit down on her lips. They didn't seem willing to shoot them down earlier with the needles, but they had changed their minds.

She knew who she was able to take down, and Obrien wasn't one of them with the strength and items that she had on her. There was only one way out. If they couldn't get out the door, they might as well make another one.

Felicity mouthed at Melissa to toss her a chair that was heavier than it looked, but Felicity grasped the chair tightly before throwing it directly into the hollow wall. Melissa did the same, and since the building was already caving in on itself, the wall gave way easily.

Melissa ran through first, and Felicity grunted when the needle impacted her thigh just as she ran out, but she ripped it out immediately already awaiting the arrival of the sting.

The ceiling above fell with a startling crash, and Felicity collapsed on the floor when she lost strength in her legs. She pulled the needle out fast, but it didn't stop the drug from entering her bloodstream.

Luckily, it wasn't as strong as it was supposed to be since it didn't hit her squarely, but she was getting drowsy. Melissa helped her up and tried to walk down the hallway, but it didn't go well with Melissa's arms and legs shaking from the stress of the last few minutes and Felicity's full weight upon her.

There was another door that nearby just like they had seen before.

"Look inside first," Felicity mumbled.

Melissa peered inside the room before dropping them both to the floor. Felicity met the cold ground with her knees first, and she grunted from the impact but got up to her elbows to slide the door shut after forcing her eyes open.

Felicity's eyes swept across the room to check if it was safe. There were more chairs in this room, but there were also desks. Other than that, it was nearly identical except for the shape of the room which was a pentagon.

"Block the door," Felicity rushed. "Use the desks and chairs. All that you can find."

"But how else are we going to escape?"

"We just need the building to collapse."

"It's going to fall on us."

"We just need to be lucky and survive."

Melissa paused with her lips pressed together before she nodded and was on autopilot at that point, pushing the nearby wooden desks against the door and piling them on top of one another in a stable manner. She finally stood and placed more chairs on the pile.

The chairs were dangling precariously on top of the desk that Melissa was still fixing when someone pounded furiously on the door. "Open up!"

Felicity's brain froze, but her body was already moving. Leo. She wasn't even surprised that he would be stuck in this hellhole with her. The cold raspy voice was urgent per usual.

Felicity struggled to pull the desk back a couple of feet with the chairs being an extra weight on top which led to some falling over and scraping the concrete flooring, the noise echoing through the room.

Melissa picked them up and stacked them in the corner out of the way before helping her shuffle the makeshift blockade a few inches back. Leo slipped through the opening and quickly pushed the all desks back.

His wheat-colored hair was windblown, sticking straight up in some places. "This place is a maze," he wheezed.

Felicity's lips curved into a tired smile before lying back on the wall with her knees drawn up. "Every single hallway looks the same. And there are no exits. Do you know where we are?"

"I don't," he replied before looking back twice at her. "What happened to you?"

Leo lightly grasped her chin and tilted her head up to meet his. His eyes scanned hers, darting back in forth making Felicity want to laugh. "What's wrong with you?"

Her lips curved into an amused smile. "What a way to notice. I got hit by another needle when Melissa and I made a break away out of our cells with them hot on our trails."

"Jesus, they never stop."

She lifted a shoulder up half-heartedly. "I pulled the needle out immediately, but it's still in my system."

"It'll take a bit for it to wear off."

"That's fine. It's not like I can do anything about it."