Zarco slowly opens his eyes, his face was against the ground, and he could feel an annoying constant pain on his forehead, he moves his hand to examine the bruised area and then discovers that he was bleeding.
He starts to get up still feeling dizzy, surprising himself, he actually manages to stand up, but when he tries to walk he doesn't manage to keep his center of balance and ends falling forward.
A hand rests on his chest holding him, it was Caelum stopping his fall, with a worried look she asks in a dismayed tone.
-Hey, can you walk?!
Zarco sees her clear concern and responds.
-Don't scream in my ear, damn it!
Caelum glares at him with a disgusted look and then lets him go.
Zarco, now without support, tries to stay upright, his legs trembling.
Zarco
-Oh! Come on! Help me!
Caelum
-Don't yell, it is not polite.
Zarco grits his teeth and glares at her, he then starts walking alone with some significant difficulty.
Caelum walks past him, face straight ahead as if she ignores him as she speaks.
-Come on, I don't know what caused this crash but it's certain that it's not safe to just stay here.
Caelum then starts climbing the stairs that lead to the floor above.
Zarco stops in front of the staircase and shyly says.
-Wait… the stairs.
Caelum
-So? Do you have a problem with them?
Zarco
-N-none.
Zarco then tries to climb the stairs but his legs fail him, without anything to hold on to, he knew that he was about to fall.
Caelum decides to "help" Zarco, holding him by the hair.
Zarco
-Ay ay ay ay aya!
Caelum then positions herself so that Zarco could put his arm over her shoulder, supporting his body weight so that she can help him walk.
Zarco
-Mwhahaha! Look! In the end, you did help me! Learning to obey huh?
Caelum
-This is out of pity.
Zarco
-Yep, I know, I thrive on pity.
Caelum rolls her eyes.
Caelum and Zarco climb the stairs together, reaching the next floor. There they find several civilians and soldiers injured and fallen from the impact caused by falling off the building, those who have kept their conscience were trying to help the others that were wounded or unconscious.
One of the citizens hears footsteps coming up the stairs.
Citizen
-Huh? It can't be…
He turns towards the staircase and sees Zarco and Caelum at the top of the stairs.
Citizen
-THE PRISONERS ESCAPED!
The citizens scream in despair.
Zarco
-SHUT UP! Ok! We are prisoners, criminals, etc. But calm down, you mutts!
Caelum
-Exactly, and from what I see there are many injured here and you need help, correct?
Citizen
-Y-yes… but…
Zarco
-THEN! I present to you the dream of anyone and any nation! FREE LABOR!
Caelum
-Exactly! We are releasing those trapped here and together we can get out and save ourselves.
Citizen
-You… want us to trust criminals?!
Zarco
-You don't have much choice, right?
Citizen
-Ugh!
Caelum
-Now, open the way, we're passing.
Citizen
-Huh?!
Zarco
-Oh? Did you think we were going to stay and help? NO!
Caelum
-We're leaving.
Zarco
-Good luck trying to convince the prisoners who are coming, bye-bye!
Zarco and Caelum walk calmly past the civilians, no one there was in condition to waste energy trying to stop them. Zarco just stares forward as he passes through the people, Caelum on the other hand, glances around as she walks and sees a woman with an injured small child in her arms. Caelum widens her eyes at that sight and notices several wounded civilians and soldiers around her.
Zarco quickly notices that she had slowed down and questions
-What are you doing?
Caelum
-Nothing…
Caelum shakes her head and both of them leave the room and enter a hallway.
After a few steps, they see several cracks and further on, a blockage of rubble.
Zarco
-Excellent! We are buried! Amazing…
Caelum
-The top of the prison must have collapsed.
Zarco
-Thank you, master of the obvious.
Caelum sighs at his annoying words and asks
-So, any ideas?
Zarco
-Hmm, I don't know, we're kind of in a complicated situation, these floors here are underground, right?
Caelum
-Yes, and above us, there is only rubble, apparently.
Zarco
-Ok... this is really bad, if we move things carelessly everything collapses, but if we stay still we will die because no one will come to save us.
Caelum
-That's pretty obvious.
Zarco
-Of course it's obvious to you, you're the master of the obvious.
Caelum was about to drop Zarco again, but she stopped when she heard a commotion coming from the room they had just left.
With nowhere else to go, they turn around, and upon reaching the room they are greeted by a familiar voice.
Citizen
-THIEVES!
Zarco
-And here we go again…
Standing before them was the same man from before yelling while the rest of the wounded civilians and soldiers stared in fear at the prisoners climbing up the stairs. The prisoners were led by a towering woman, she was dressed in rags like everyone else, but she stood out among the others not only because of her stature but also for the incredible amount of scars spread all over her body, closely behind her were two familiar figures, Albator, and his skinny partner.
Upon staring at the powerless bunch of civilians and soldiers cowering before her, she smiled.
END OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER.