Chapter 60 Collapse

Chapter 60 Collapse
Kai West - POV
Colors exploded in my skull. Vision slamming through without warning.
Not now. Please not now.
But prophetic sight didn't ask permission. Never did.
Futures branched out in front of me. Twenty ways this ended. Most of them red. Blood splatter red. Dead body red.
Vance's gun pointed at Emma. I saw her die. Saw us all die trying to stop him. Saw the prisoners crushed in collapse. Over and over in different variations.
But one path glowed different. Gold thread weaving through the chaos. Narrow. Almost impossible. Still there though.
"Down!" I shouted. Threw myself at Emma.
Vance fired. Bullet passed where her head had been. Sparked off concrete behind us.
We hit ground rolling. I stayed on top. Covered her. Bond screaming through all of us at once.
Cole charged at Vance. Got maybe three steps before soldiers appeared from smoke and rubble. Two of them tackled him sideways hard.
Blake grabbed rebar off the ground. Swung at a guard coming through the haze. Connected with his skull. Man dropped like a bag.
Ryan hauled Emma and me behind cover. Chunk of broken wall. "How many total?"
"Five soldiers." Vision still playing behind my eyes. "Plus Vance. East tunnel. They came through before the main blast."
"How do you know?" Ryan's voice sharp.
"I saw it." Tapped my head. "See everything."
Emma pushed up to sitting. Breathing hard. Face covered in ash. "The prisoners? Where's my grandmother?"
I looked around fast. They'd scattered when the explosion hit. Some hiding behind debris. Some running blind. Evelyn crouched behind a barrier maybe twenty feet away. Alive. Watching.
"Okay for now," I said. "Won't stay that way long."
Gunfire cracked the air. Cole fighting two soldiers at once. Hand to hand. Brutal. Winning barely. Blake had another guard down but more were coming. I saw them in flashes. Reinforcements crawling from the wreckage.
"Need to move," Ryan said. Going clinical. Planning mode engaged. "Somewhere defensible."
"No." Grabbed his sleeve. "Look there."
Pointed at Vance. He wasn't fighting anymore. Wasn't even aiming. He was moving toward something half buried in rubble. Metal case. Reinforced survival container.
My vision zoomed without me controlling it. Showed me inside that case. Vials. Syringes full. Samples of Emma's blood from the extraction procedure. Her genetic material. Everything they needed to replicate what she could do.
"Samples," I said. Words coming fast. "Emma's DNA. Her abilities. He's taking them."
Emma went pale under the ash. "If he gets away with those..."
"They make more conduits," Blake finished. Still fighting but hearing everything. "Weaponize it all. This just moves somewhere else. Keeps going."
Vision hit again. Harder this time. Futures splitting into two clear paths.
Path one: we all escaped together. Every prisoner. All of us. Everyone breathing. But Vance got away clean with the samples. Project Ascension rebuilt elsewhere. More victims. More experiments. Years of suffering spreading like infection.
Path two: some of us chased Vance. Caught him. Destroyed samples. But the others evacuating prisoners hit trouble. Collapsing tunnels. More guards coming. People died. Maybe everyone died.
Both paths tasted like choosing how to lose.
"Kai." Emma's hand gripped my arm. "What are you seeing?"
"Choices." Hated that word. "Both bad."
Ground shook under us. Another blast from deeper down. Facility still tearing itself apart. Chain reaction through levels below.
"East tunnel is compromised," I said. Vision feeding me information. "Maintenance passage though. North side. Goes to surface. Narrow. Slow with prisoners."
"Time until collapse?" Ryan asked.
Checked the vision. Watched timelines. "Ten minutes. Twelve if we're lucky."
"Not enough for everyone," Blake said. He'd dropped his third guard. Blood on his hands. His face. "Too many can't walk fast. We'll lose people."
Cole appeared dragging two unconscious soldiers. "More coming from all directions. Can't hold here."
Vance almost had the case now. Fingers reaching.
Decision point. I felt it physically. Fork splitting reality. Both roads leading somewhere terrible.
"Someone stops Vance," I said. "Gets those samples. Destroys them permanently."
"Someone else leads evacuation," Emma said. She understood. Always did. "We split up."
"Absolutely not." Cole's voice went flat. "We stay together. Always. That's the rule."
"That rule kills everyone," I said. Pushed the vision at him through the bond. Let him see what I saw. Futures where staying together meant losing everything. "Split up or lose it all."
Ryan studied my face. Reading me like Blake read everyone else. "You're certain?"
"I see it clear." Tapped my temple. Paint still crusted under my nails from earlier. "Two teams. Only way that works."
Emma stood up. Shaky. Determination written all over her. "Who goes after Vance then?"
Vision showed me. That gold thread. "Ryan and me. We're fastest. Know the layout from Marcus's intel. We can catch him."
"Should be me," Cole said. "Better fighter."
"Better protector," I shot back. "Prisoners need that. Emma needs that more."
His jaw locked. Hating it. Knowing I was right anyway.
"Blake, you're with me," Emma said. "Cole. We get everyone out alive."
Blake nodded. Already planning. I felt it humming through bond. "Need Marcus. He knows routes we don't."
"With the prisoners," Ryan said. Pointed across the rubble. "Over there."
Marcus huddled with freed subjects. Looking small and terrified but breathing.
Explosion. Closer this time. Ground cracked wide. Steam hissed up from somewhere we couldn't see.
"Out of time," I said. "Move now or never."
Emma looked at me. Eyes meeting mine. Bond pulling tight between us. "Don't die doing this."
"Planning not to." Tried smiling. Failed completely. "You either."
She turned to Cole and Blake. "Get them out. Every single one. Including Evelyn."
"We will," Cole said. His hand touched her cheek. Quick. Gentle. "Careful out there."
"Always." Lie. Everyone knew it.
Vance grabbed the case. Started moving. Soldiers forming circle around him. Protective formation.
"He's moving now," I said. "East side. Vehicle bay."
"There's a vehicle bay?" Ryan sounded surprised.
"Underground parking. Military trucks. Saw it clear in visions." Already running. "Come on."
Ryan followed. We left the others behind. Every instinct screaming wrong. Split up was dangerous. Stupid. Against everything we'd learned.
But visions didn't lie to me. This was the only path without complete catastrophe.
Just regular catastrophe instead.
Behind us Emma shouted orders. Organizing prisoners. Cole and Blake helping. Getting people moving toward that maintenance passage.
Ahead Vance and soldiers disappeared into smoke.
"You see where he goes?" Ryan asked. Running beside me.
"Underground passage. Third level down. Vehicle bay connects to exit tunnel. Comes out two miles from campus."
"How do we stop him?"
Vision showed me. Multiple futures. Most had us dead. But one thread. One narrow maybe possibility.
"Structural weakness," I said. "Collapse point in the tunnel ceiling. We trigger it right, trap him before he reaches vehicles."
"Trap ourselves too," Ryan said.
"Maybe." Probably. But vision showed surviving was possible. Not likely. Just possible.
Reached a stairwell. Went down fast. Three flights. Emergency lights dying. Smoke getting thick enough to choke on.
Synesthesia kicked in hard. Emotions painted everything. Fear red. Desperation muddy brown. Hope flickering gold in tiny patches.
Second level. Hallway full of blown doors. Equipment scattered everywhere like toys.
"This way." Led right. Vision guiding. "Through storage. Connects to Vance's passage."
Ran through storage. Medical supplies spilled. Broken machines. Fire burning in corner making heat shimmer.
Smoke stung my eyes. Made them water.
Through another door. Metal stairs going down. Took them two at a time.
Third level. Pure concrete. Pipes overhead. Cables snaking like veins.
There. Ahead. Vance and his team running. Case in his hand.
"Stop!" I yelled. Stupid thing to yell. They didn't stop.
Soldier turned. Fired. Bullets sparked off walls. Ryan and I dove behind a concrete pillar.
"Need to get ahead," Ryan said. "Trigger collapse before they pass the weak point."
"Can't." Showed him my vision. "Too fast. Won't make it in time."
"Then what?"
Vision slammed me. Showed me what to do. Made my stomach twist.
"Have to paint it," I said.
"What?"
"The collapse. Paint it. Make it real." My prophetic paintings. They didn't just show future. They could cause it. Channel my abilities into manifesting visions.
Needed materials though. Needed paints.
Didn't have any.
"Kai, no time for art," Ryan said.
"Blood works." Pulled my knife out. "Not as good. Works though."
Ryan grabbed my wrist. "You're not painting with your blood. That's insane."
"Only way." Yanked free. Cut my palm deep. Blood welled fast and warm.
Wall beside us. Smooth concrete. Good enough.
Pressed my bloody hand flat against it. Started painting. Fast strokes. Vision in my head flowing through my hand to wall.
Tunnel ahead. Ceiling weak. Supports failing. Rock coming down. Trapping Vance. Stopping everything.
Blood glowed faint on wall. Then brighter. Painting taking form. Taking power from me.
"Working," Ryan breathed. "Feel it through bond. You're making it happen."
Vance's team reached the weak point. Right underneath it.
Finished the painting. Slapped hand flat against it. Channeled everything. All my ability. All my desperate need.
Bond flared hot. Emma felt what I was doing. Sent power flooding through connection. Amplifying me. Making my ability stronger than alone.
Painting pulsed. Once. Twice.
Reality shifted sideways.
Tunnel ceiling groaned deep. Metal screamed. Rock cracked loud.
Came down.
Right on Vance and soldiers.
Collapse was massive. Dust exploded everywhere. Sound punched my ears.
I fell back against wall. Empty. Hand bleeding badly.
Ryan caught me. "Did it work? Is he stopped?"
Looked at rubble blocking tunnel. Tried seeing through with vision.
There. Vance trapped. Hurt but alive. Case with samples crushed under rock.
Wait. No.
Soldier had thrown it. Last second before collapse.
Case skittered across floor toward us. Landed at my feet. Intact.
Vance's voice came through rubble. Weak. Furious. "Only delayed us. We'll rebuild. Always do."
I picked up case. Heavy. Emma's DNA inside. Her power locked in vials.
"Got it," I said to Ryan. "Samples. We have them."
Relief broke across his face. "Destroy them. Now."
"And run." Looked at collapsed tunnel. "Before rest comes down."
Ground shook. Explosion deeper.
Ryan grabbed my bleeding hand. Started wrapping with torn shirt. "Can you make it?"
"Have to." Looked back where we came from. "Emma and them. Running out of time too."
Through bond I felt them. Moving through maintenance passage. Slow. Way too slow. Collapse catching up behind them.
They weren't going to make it out.
Not unless someone bought more time somehow.