SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 96- Going Under

"Alright, do you have a good grip on it?" Kai asks from below.

"Yup, on the count of three; one, two-" I say, and we both push on a huge piece of rubble as hard as we can until it finally shifts free, sliding out of the way. Relieved, Desire climbs through the opening we created to join us. Suddenly, I start to feel rainwater dripping through the cracks above.

"I tried moving things on my end, but there's too much in the way." she sighs exhaustedly as she sinks into an open space. Suddenly, we hear Magnus start to groan.

"Sweetie?" I ask frantically, trying to shake him awake as he starts to come to.

"Fucking ow," he moans as he tries to reach for his head, scraping his arm on the rocks "What happened?" he asks nervously, coughing on the dust.

"The second floor collapsed above us, and considering the mess, we're trapped down here." I sigh defeatedly, looking at the others. Kai seems to be trying to snake his way up as best he can, but the gaps are too small.

"Give it a rest, you might just get more stuck." Desire says nervously "At least we have enough space to move a little here." Irritated, Kai slumps back down and lays back, intentionally thumping his head on the bricks.

"What do you want me to do? Stay here while Gaia tries to kill your families?" he scoffs, brushing off his shoulder.

"They're your family too, you know," I sigh sympathetically, and he turns to me with a guilty expression on his face.

"How much more of the temple do you think got destroyed?" Desire asks, her voice starting to tremble.

"It's hard to say for sure, but that tremor was worse than anything Atlas did the other day," Kai explains nervously "I'm just hoping that someone comes looking for us soon. They knew where at least Dez and I were going to be, so hopefully someone will be sent in this direction."

"If there's anyone they can even send, this whole place could be like this," I explain morbidly.

"Comforting," Magnus chuckles, attempting to sit up as far as he can without bumping his head. Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble again.

"Are you kidding me?" Desire asks in terror, scrunching herself into a ball and covering her head. Frantically, Kai climbs over to us and huddles in.

"I know this is the ground level, but is there anything beneath us?" Kai yells as the shaking starts to intensify. Thinking quickly, I try to remember the layout of the temple.

"A small branch of the caves is near here, but I don't know if they're directly beneath us," I explain loudly as the stone above us starts to shift, trying to squish us. Suddenly, I feel the ground start to crack beneath us.

"If they are, it might be our way out of here," Kai states hopefully as I hear the thunder outside growing louder.

"Or we could get crushed under all of this weight," Desire shouts, and at that moment, the tremor intensifies, and the ground breaks beneath us. Springing into action, I use wind to slow the stone falling toward us, and as we fall into the dark tunnel below, we all tumble down and roll out of the way as the rubble starts to fall through.

"Move!" I shout as I try to push it back, and Kai grabs Desire and Magnus by their arms and pulls them away. Once they seem like they're in the clear, I dash out of the way, tripping and barely dodging the falling debris as it fills the opening.

"Are you okay?" Magnus asks as he rushes to my side, helping me to my feet. It's pitch black down here, and Desire quickly remedies the situation by producing a flame in the palm of her hand. Looking down at myself, I can see that my legs and arms are scraped up and bloody, but overall, it could be worse.