PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXXIV. Shaky Ground

Chapter Eighty Four:  Shaky Ground

~~~

"I knew from the minute I met him he was gonna be trouble," Ben said, breaking the silence.

They were deep in the sewers, Darius leading the pack through the stench soaked tunnels.

"I can't believe I trusted him," Yaz added.

"He was all smug in that crisp suit..." Brooklynn scoffed. "It was like, 'try hard', much?"

"Yeah..." Sammy bumped into the wall, then gagged, brushing off her arm.

"And now because of him, we're walking in gross toilet water being chased by BRADs," Ben continued.

"Thanks, Kenji."

"Yeah! Thanks, Kenji."

"Kenji? Wait, you guys think this is Kenji's fault?" Brooklynn asked.

"Uh, yeah."

B scoffed. "No, it's his dad's fault, obviously."

"Right, yeah, that makes sense," Sammy agreed.

"Brooklynn, you don't have to defend Kenji just because he's like the brother you've never had," Yaz said.

"I'm not! I'm defending him because it's not his fault!"

"Once a jerk, always a jerk," Ben said angrily.

Eva rolled her eyes, peeling away from the arguing teenagers, and headed in Darius's direction.

Darius had yet to say anything about the situation, but then again, so did Eva. She really didn't want to talk about it, nor did she want to hear anyone's opinions. She was just trying to figure this out for herself.

Was it Kenji's fault, or was it really his father manipulating him?

Eva's headache only grew.

"Darius! Eva! What do y'all think?" Sammy asked, bounding up to the pair.

"About what?" He asked.

"About Kenji!"

"Whatever you think, Sammy," he answered.

Eva shrugged and kept her head down and away from Sammy. She wasn't exactly in the mood to talk, now, either. Not about anything.

"Well that doesn't help! I obviously don't know what to think!" she called after Darius, who continued walking.

Darius turned the corner, then gasped loudly, running back. The corridor began to fill with a greenish yellow gas. "A BRAD! Six o'clock!"

"Submission protocol initiated."

"Go, go, go! Move, move, move!"

The trio took off, running back for the others.

"It's spraying that knock out gas. Go!"

The BRAD got down on fours and began running after them.

"It's galloping after us!" Eva cried, glancing over her shoulder.

Eva didn't know what happened, but next she knew, Sammy was on the ground.

"Sammy!"

Darius and Eva swooped back, reaching down to pick her up. She stumbled to her feet, and the trio continued around a right hand corner.