CHAPTER 3 - ESCAPE

Orlando, Florida, Monday, 1:18 p.m.

George and Sapnap were walking side by side. The panda had retrieved his bag and the two met up. They were now striding into one of the locker-full hallways.

"You need anything from your locker?" The Delta asked. George flicked his tail and shook his head.

Something about Sapnap had calmed the pain in his stomach. Or settled it for the time being. The two turned a corner, it was completely different from the space they were just in. They were heading into a dark and dusty hallway. And they had just exited one of the busiest spots in the school.

"Why does the school even have a random dark hallway?" The Omega asked. 

"It used to be where the janitors kept their stuff. But they moved to a newer part of the school and this area hasn't been used since." Sapnap explained, trusting his other senses besides his sight. 

To both of their dismay, the bell rang. Shit. "They'll all see us, c'mon find your locker and hide in it!" Sapnap demanded over the bell. The two bolted it back to the locker room. Only to find they were too late. 

Swarms of people were heading straight for them. All rushing to get their stationery for their next class. The two should have just run deeper into the abandoned hallway! The brunette's feet felt like they were frozen to the ground. But, Sapnap put a firm grip on his wrist. "We need to go back to the hallway." He rushed.

The Omega gripped one of his bag straps. Sapnap weaved through the crowd with George close behind. Soon enough, they made it out of the packed space. And back into the start of the dark hallway again. 

"George and Nick, where do you think you two are going?" A teacher's scold rose above the chatter. "Fuck, run." The panda mumbled. Stumbling into the darkness. 

The Omega's strides were more confident than the Delta's. He kept a half-eye on the path in front of his friend. Knowing he had better night vision than the panda.

Looking behind him, the teacher was jogging after them. Shouting threats of detention at them. George and Sapnap had reached the end of the dark hallway. A flight of stairs spiraling down. 

"There should be stairs somewhere around here. Go down them, and keep going until you find an exit sign." Sapnap's rushed voice turned hoarse.

George questioned why Sapnap wasn't going with him. But, as if he read his mind. The panda answered. "You go, I'll keep the teacher away," Sapnap muttered. And before the brunette could say anything else, the boy darted in the opposite direction towards the teacher.

When Sapnap caught the teacher's attention, he knew it was the cue to move on. George rapidly made his way down. Once he made it down the rest of the stairs. He groaned as a tug of pain pulled at his stomach. He continued to walk hastily, remembering Sapnap's directions.

The Omega couldn't help but pick up odd sounds from different areas of this place. His ears moved around cautiously to every crack and crumble. George shook the sounds out of his head and focused on finding the exit sign Sapnap told him to.

He went past abandoned lockers and old classrooms. He gripped both his bag straps tightly and looked around. Trying to avoid different abandoned objects scattered across the floor.

At last, he saw a glowing sign he had been looking for. It looked to be the only light source in this area. The sign lit up the double door below it, and George walked up to it.

Once close enough, he heaved one of the two doors open. He held a hand high to block the blinding sun from his eyes. The fresh air felt good against his skin. But with another punch of pain to his stomach realized he needed to get those pills quicker than he thought.

The brunette flicked his tail and started jogging. After a while, it was almost unbearable to run in his condition. The Florida sun was beating down on him and his stomach twisting itself in knots.

Eventually, he slowed down and came to a stop, the air blown out of his chest. He stood collecting his breath for a moment. Weirdly, his ears turned beside him like an extra set of eyes.

George turned to his right and saw a person observing him from the other footpath. He began walking again, guessing that the man was only looking for a short moment. He turned straight on and tried to ignore it. 

He couldn't help himself but peered to his side again. The man was gone from his spot. Slightly panicked, he saw he was crossing the street towards him. His eyes not leaving the Omega's. An awful gut feeling rolled down his spine.

The man was a torn-up black wolf. His hair was uncared for, his eyes were brown. And his pupils were barely visible, they were thin. Right then, it hit George like a baseball bat to the head.

Fuck, an Alpha! He stumbled forward running once again. Glancing behind, the man wasn't running. But George saw the quicken in his pace. The Omega panicked, his house was too far of a distance to run to.

There was no one around, just the occasional stroller. The brunette thought about his options, his best bet was to try and outrun the man. But seriously, the Omega couldn't get a break. It was as if trouble liked to follow him around recently.

George's feet thundered on the concrete. They grew louder as the tiredness started hitting him. His lungs reached for any sort of air in their state of panic. He had to run till he reached some sort of corner. Until then he had an idea. Yes!

A puff of smoke engulfed the brunette. A few seconds trolled by and finally, a sleek cat leaped through the front of the dark fog. And started to dash forward on the concrete again.

His cream paws swallowed up the ground. Picking up the pace every second. All George focused on was moving his legs faster and concentrating on his breathing. However, his ears picked up a sound.

Glimpsing behind the man had turned into his animal form. A jet black wolf, his brown eyes pierced through him. Just like the lion did. The Omega shook the lion from his head. 

The wolf was gaining on him faster than he could run. He thought for a moment and saw an upcoming break between the buildings. Taking a sharp left, and ended up in an alleyway. A one-way alleyway.

He was nearing the end of the alleyway. I could loop around him. Glancing behind once more. There was no time, the wolf was chasing him down. Determined, he looked ahead. He perked his ears forward and took his claws out from their sheaths. 

Coming up to the brick wall, George bunched his hind leg muscles. His eyes glued halfway up the wall, to where he wanted to land. Releasing his legs, he sprung. 

The Omega winced as he dug his claws into the cracks of the bricks. It chipped his claws, but it was the least of his concerns, he wasn't exactly safe yet. One paw at a time, George slowly made his way up. His hind legs gave the final boost. His front paws got a grip on the top of the wall, at once, he hoisted the rest of himself up.

At last, he was fully on top, looking down on the Alpha. He was pacing around on the floor, angry like he had just lost a piece of prey. Eventually, he huffed and stormed off.

As soon as the Alpha was out of sight, George collapsed on the ledge. With no desire to clamber back down. He knew he had plenty of time before the sleepover. The sun was still high in the sky. Warming the Omega's fur. 

He curled into a tight ball, letting his eyes fall shut. And at once he drifted into sleep.

——

George finally came out of sleep, his eyes opening slowly. He sat up, yawning. He took in his surroundings. He was still in his cat form on top of a brick wall. The memories flooded back into his mind.

He quickly examined the sky to see what time he had left before the sleepover. A couple of straggler clouds were left in the sky. But it was almost completely painted in a night sky. And the sun? Barely viable as it was setting, with a moon rising on the other side. He flicked his tail, annoyed. He had overslept.

The Omega started looking at his claws, which to his dismay, were ruined. They were chipped and cracked from running up a brick wall. The pain soon started to roll in, including the sharp one in his stomach. His pads started to ache from the brutal use against the rocky concrete.

Examining his claws for a few more seconds. Until a rough, cold breeze blew his fur the wrong way. He knew that it was time he should start heading to the sleepover. Cautiously, he slid down half the wall and jumped the rest. He landed on all fours clumsily.

He looked around, he knew his way to the drugstore from here. He broke into a light run. He longed for the comforts of his house. But he was a long way away from that. He shivered at the frosty breeze.

After passing many streetlights, illuminating his coat for a few seconds before returning to darkness. He finally made it to the twenty-four-hour drug store.

Before entering, two oddly young boys came out. Holding unnamable drugs. One had messy curly blonde hair. With what looked to be raccoon ears and a tail. It was hard to see in such little lighting.

The other looked more of a follower to the blonde. His thick dark brown hair similar to his own, antennas poking out. His bee see-through wings were easy to see with the floodlight behind him.

To George's surprise, the bee noticed him. "Tommy, look, a cat!" He tapped Tommy's shoulder, he looked over at the Omega.

"You want some drugs?" Tommy said jokingly crouching down, his bright blue eyes looked directly into the Omega's multi-colored ones.

"Got different colored eyes," The blonde muttered, George hissed in return. Hoping he would go away, he stood back up.

"C'mon tubs we have to go back," Tommy stated, walking off, the other nodded and followed.

Once they were out of sight. The Omega slid into the store, a ding notified his entrance. He began looking for what he came here for. 

Trotting down the pills aisle and started scanning for the anti-heat ones. Usually, he would order them online to keep his identity a secret. But he had forgotten to order the new ones. For now, he could manage these for a while.

The brunette found the right ones and pounced up onto the shelf. He dug his fangs into the white container, his teeth piercing through the bottle. It was a bit big but he could manage.

"Hey! What are you doing!" A voice rang from the end of the aisle. George jumped down from the shelf, his spine fur bristling. He glanced up, the man was in a work uniform. There was no point in paying now. He already thought he was stealing.

He darted forward at once, weaving his way around the man's legs. He dashed the open door. An alarm went off, telling everyone nearby there was a stealer. Continuing to run, the brunette blended into the depths of the night.

The worker must have lost track of George because he was cowering back inside to deal with the alarm. All he needed to do now was find Dream's house. The pills inside the bottle rattled, and his ears throbbed at the sound. It was hard to sense anything, all of his senses were useless. He could only really rely on touch.

Gorge ran from the alarm, growing fainter as he ran further. His fangs gripped the container, not wanting to drop what he caused so much trouble for. The pain was growing in his stomach. He was overusing his body and strength. He knew he shouldn't be running in this condition.

Finally, he saw the shape of Dream's house coming into view. The lights were on. He muttered a curse for oversleeping. George dropped the bottle and a cloud smothered him. He had returned to his human form. 

Picking up the container from the floor, George unscrewed the lid. He quickly swallowed one down. Closing the lid, he awkwardly unzipped his bag and put the rest of the bottle in it.

George slowly walked up to the door of Dream's house and held up his knuckles. He drew in a breath and knocked.

"Is that the pizza?" The Omega heard a faint voice call. "Or George," Another voice said, becoming more audible. The door opened, and Sapnap stood for a moment. Taking in the brunette's horrible appearance.

"George?" He echoed, distressed. Karl peeked around the corner at the panda's words. 

"You're here! We were worried about you!" Karl sighed in relief. "Okay Mom," George replied jokingly. The wolf giggled.