The New Paladin

86: Collapse

Lance scanned the water as they paused by the large lake. The hospital was under a half destroyed Galran cruiser and it had water resting on top of it too.

"Great." Lance sighed as he stood back up. "You know the way right?"

"Yeah." Seok Jin nodded as he secured his helmet. "Just follow me."

"How much air have you got?" Ryan asked, side glancing at Lance.

"More than enough." Lance assured before he jumped into the water.

Bubbles from his entrance danced around him before the cleared allowing him to see the remnants of an old town.

"Com check." He said as his jet pack activated.

"Hearing you loud and clear." Seok replied calmly.

"Here." Ryan mumbled.

The three weaved their way through the water, doging large shards of metal and old cannons before they made it all the way to the hospital.

Getting in required forcing heavy doors opened which the three of them managed eventually.

They ascended towards the roof where the top layer had a large air bubble.

"Awesome." Lance breathed looking around.

To be honest it was slightly creepy, everything was untouched and undisturbed. Kinda.

Something's were knocked over and there was an eerie silence that to Lance seemed quite normal with his line of work.

Seok pulled his helmet off and set his tank down. "That'll recharge while we get what we need."

Ryan did the same.

Lance followed behind them and hoped that they would find what they needed and fast.

Ryan seemed to know what he needed and was quick to get to work opening secured doors into storage rooms.

"These should all be waterproof too." Seok explained handing them back to Lance. "We'll take two of these and one of those Ryan."

"What happened here? Why is it flooded?" Lance asked quietly.

"We have a major earthquake during an attack and this area flooded and has never drained. I blame the Galran's." Seok shrugged. "After all, were pretty sure they caused the earthquake."

Lance gave a marginal nod. "But not everyone is like the Galran's that attacked."

"I know, why do you think I'm helping you?" Seok smiled. "Let's go and help your friend, yeah?"

Lance offered a faint smile. "Thank you."

"We've got everything." Ryan explained as he sealed the bag. "Ready to go."

They headed back to their entrance and Lance watched the two get their tanks and seal their helmets.

He dropped in first and let his gear scan the area, he didn't really like how unstable everything felt.

On the way in he had been in awe of the large cruiser laying there ontop of the building, but now he had concerns.

"You okay?" Seok asked placing his hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Some of this could give way at any moment." Lance frowned. "Aren't you worried about that?"

"You were going to come with or without me." Seok smiled. "It's risky to be here but you care for your friends and I want to help them."

"You do?"

"Like you said before, not every Galran is bad. You guys have been fighting just as long as we have." Seok reminded. "We should be helping eachother."

"Thanks." Lance smiled. "Now let's go before something bad happens."

Ryan joined them and the group began to make their way toward the exit.

The problem? The doors had reclosed.

Lance let his Bayard shift into a sword. "Do you think we can force them open?"

"It'll be harder to pull them open from this side." Ryan frowned.

"Our best option might be to cut a hole through them or blast them off."

"That might weaken the structure." Lance reminded feeling suddenly uncomfortable. "We should fina another way."

"This is the easiest way out." Ryan said shaking his head.

"Ryan's right." Seok nodded. "Even if it becomes weak, just outside these doors is open water. We can make it."

Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

Ryan readied his blaster and aimed for the doors. He fired.

The old doors splintered and gave way once Ryan had shot them for the second time.

Lance held his breathe waiting for it to go wrong.

"Alright, let's go." Seok smiled glancing at Lance before he moved through the water towards the exit.

Lance glanced to Ryan who didn't meet his gaze, but he looked just as unsteady.

They too started moving.

A crack formed up the wall and it made Lance freeze.

"That's not good." He whispered.

"What isn't good?" Seok asked stopping to glance at Lance. Then his eyes widened. "We gotta move!"

Lance glanced up to see the cracks spreading.

Panic flared in his chest as he activated his jetpack.

He rushed towards Seok as the roof gave way.

The weight of rubble and metal fell upon Seok dragging him down.

Lance went after him.

~~~

Dragging Seok to the air pocket and onto solid ground was more of a struggle than Lance had thought but he was shaking. Ryan was right behind him.

Blood was matting the side of Seok's head as they removed his helmet. It had broken and let water flood it almost immediately.

Lance felt an uneasy twist in his gut. He wasn't breathing!

Seok wasn't breathing.

"He's -"

Ryan dropped to his knees next to Seok and started pumping his chest.

Lance stared. He didn't know what to do.

"Come on Seok." Ryan grumbled as he kept going. "Come on."

Lance started pacing his body shaking as he watched.

Ryan sat back and stared as the ceiling his hands clenched against his thighs.

"No, no, no, no." Lance whispered.