Outside the generator room, Chris and Elle stop. Chris wants to try his power. Which Elle agrees with wholly. To his complete relief, his power returns. Elle says her power has come back as well. It wasn’t much but they could feel it slowly growing by the moment.

  “All right, Elle! You ready to get out of here?”

  “You bet. Lets go.”

  They run to the dorms and reach the one Elle remembers Chris‘ parents behind. Elle hit’s the open button on the outside and the door slides open

  “Elle! Chris!” Chris’ parents stand up quickly.

  Chris runs to their open arms.

  “Come here, Elle.” Chris’ mom calls for Elle to join in the hug.

  She gdly comes over and joins. Chris could feel his Spark begin to fre this time. Their powers were returning fast.

  “Okay, guys lets get the hell outta here.” Chris’ dad says.

  They make it to Jerry’s room, he was waiting just inside the door. “’Bout time, Elle…geez!”

  Smack!

  The group move on to pick up Jackson they then head to the Prowman’s dorm room. The look on their faces said it all.

  “How on Earth did you guys get out?” Melissa says, shocked.

  They point to Elle.

  “Surprise!” She throws her arms up triumphantly. She then runs to them, the boys follow her and join the group hug.

  “We’ll talk about things ter. We should go now.” Chris’ dad tells them, looking back into the hallway.

  “What about Seth, we can’t leave him?” Mr. Prowman asks.

  Everyone is now out into the hallway. “You’re right, we’ll check on him now. But we need to be moving quickly. I’m surprised we haven’t been found out by now.” Chris’ dad mention.

  Chris was surprised they weren’t found out when Elle was kicking the vent grate off.

  The facility wasn’t as rge as it seemed. They found the medical wing in no time. But as they enter, they spot two guards sitting and talking to one another in front of a door. Chris can’t make out what the door says but it was probably the one Seth was behind.

  Larry looks at Simon and nods. Simon nods back.

  “Wait here kids.” Larry tells them.

  But Chris insists on watching. As does the others. Larry and Simon charge the two guards. Larry distracts them with a whirlwind. The guards can’t even go for their shock sticks. Simon finishes them off with a blue, sparkly fireball to each. The guards are smmed up against the wall and they colpse in a heap.

  Chris wonders if he can learn that fireball technique. He has to remember to ask ter. They’re waved up to the door.

  The room looks like any other hospital’s emergency room. At a bed not far in they see one of the areas with the curtain pulled. Larry and Simon tell the others they’ll check him while they watch their backs.

  “We have to get him out to a real hospital.” Elle says, worried.

  “We will Elle. But we need to get out of here first.” Simon tells her as they walk to the curtain.

  Chris can’t help but listen in with his power.

  Seth tells them to go.

  “Get…the kids…out of here.” Seth manages to say.

  Elle squeezes Chris’ hand. He can sense her worry without having to hear her say anything.

  “Seth. We’re not leaving you here.” Simon tells him.

  “I appreciate you trying. But, I’m too bad off.” Seth struggles to tell them quickly. “Several…broken ribs. Leg, arm, internal stuff. Just get yourselves out of here. Just…come back ter. ‘Kay?”

  Some footsteps from outside draw the others attention.

  “I hear company coming.” Ariel says.

  “Seth. We’re getting out of here, getting some reinforcements and coming back for you.” Larry tells him.

  Elle makes for the door. “Chris? Jackson? Jerry? Let’s vent.”

  Chris looks at her brothers. “I’m with her.”

  The four of them run to the doors to the hallway and spot several guards coming their way with shock sticks. Fools. If they had their guns they might have a chance.

  Chris starts by filling the hallway with crosswinds. The guards struggle to run forward and resort to creeping, step by step. Elle turns on a spigot on a sink next to the door and pulls out a stream of water. Once it hit’s the Chris’ crosswinds it becomes a thick mist. The guards must have had their shock sticks activated. Their bodies become tense, they don‘t even let out a scream. The mist was thick enough to form a circuit to all the rest. The guards fall to the floor unconscious.

  “Good job, you two.” Simon congratutes them.

  “Let’s go.” Larry says pushing everyone to make haste.

  They leave Seth and make for the exit. Two more of the guards try to stop them as they reach the storage room, but Larry and Simon easily take care of them. The lift is empty and ready. They gather in and push the ‘up’ button. With a slight jerk the elevator rises for the surface.

  Chris feels so much better. They’re going home. Unless there’s a small army up top. They might have a problem with that.

  “I think this calls for a raise in allowance.” Larry says looking at the kids slyly. “What do you say, Simon?”

  “That sounds good to me. And a nice vacation to boot.”

  Jerry perks up. “Where to?”

  “Anywhere you kids want to go.”

  Chris and the kids love the sound of that.

  “Of course knowing Elle, it’ll have to be a pce with lots of water.” Jackson states.

  Elle beams her happy smile.

  The warehouse floor opens up and the lift closes in on the top. The elevator comes to a stop and Chris can feel the fresh air. He takes a deep breath in. Just as a bunch of armed S.. people jump out from behind the crates in t warehouse.

  “Freeze!” One of them shouts, pointing a gun at them. Chris guesses there was about fifteen or so.

  Both families raise their hands. A female officer walks up behind the others.

  “Officer. Let us expin.” Larry calmly says.

  “Are you Carl Hariman?” The woman asks.

  “No. I am not. My name is Laurence Talvert.” He motions to Simon. “This is Simon Prowman.” He tells them who the rest of them are.

  The officer lowers her weapon and motions for the others to do the same. She then speaks into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. “Station? We found them.”

  Chris suddenly feels better. Everyone else sighs in relief as well.

  “We got reports of both families missing from Tailorton. And they were st seen here in Rochester by the local police. Don’t worry, we’ll have you home in no time.”

  “Thank you, officer.”

  Elle hugs Chris, cheering that they’re going home. Chris gets high fives from Jackson and Jerry.

  “Yeah. And Jerry can finally take a bath.” Elle says waving her hand in front of her face.

  “Yeah, I know. I need to roll around in the dirt a while.” Jerry replies.

  “Come on you guys.” Simon calls. “We need to go down to the station for a few minutes then we can go home.”

  A police van waits outside. They all climb in and sit down. Chris and his friends still joking around.

  At the station they all get pizza and pop. Filling them up. Chris could have eaten a whole one himself. Even though the Director fed them, there comes a time when pizza just hit’s the right spot.

  The officer, Detective Howard, that first helped them comes in asks them a few questions about what happened. Setting a tape recorder on the table in front of them. They all take turns telling him their story. Chris finally gets to know how his dad and Mr. Prowman got caught. Some kind of sonic weapon.

  “Okay, everyone. Let me check on your ride.” The detective gets up and leaves.

  “So, kids. What say we all go somewhere for vacation, either this weekend or the next.” Larry offers.

  Chris and the Prowman’s are all smiles.

  “Hmm. How about we go camping?”

  Chris and the others look at each other. Camping wouldn’t be bad, but… They shake their heads.

  “Okay. How about we go to…the Smithsonian in DC?”

  Chris and the kids give him the ‘you got to be kidding’ look.

  “All right. Hmm, nah, you guys wouldn’t wanna go to Disneyworld in Florida. So let’s see…” Simon puts his fingers to his chin, contempting.

  Whoa, stop right there. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop.” Chris says before the others.

  Jerry clears his throat. “No need to get hasty there. Disneyworld might be just what we need. Right guys?”

  “Yes.” Elle says sitting up straight.

  “I don’t know kids. It may be too much fun for you?” Simon tells them. “Fun overload may be too much for you guys.”

  “I think we’re old enough to accept such responsibilities. Right guys?” Jackson says.

  Chris and her brothers sit up and formally say, yes. Though he can barely hold back his excitement.

  “Okay, guys. If you think you can handle a whole two days of: Mickey and his friends, rides, theme park food, etc.” Larry sits back and thinks about it.

  He is so torturing them.

  “All right. Disneyworld it is.”

  Chris, Elle, Jackson and Jerry cheer in victory. Elle gives Chris a big hug and kiss. It was worth it for that alone. And worth hearing the rest of them make comments about Chris and Elle kissing too.

  The detective comes back in and says their ride is here. He leads them outside to a limo. The officer was wasting no expense it seemed. Larry and Simon shake the detectives hand and everyone loads up. The limo pulls out. Chris and the kids were a little indifferent about a ride in a limo, seeing as how the st one ended up in a wrecked heap, but they were going home.

  Finally. Chris is tired and ready for his own bed. Elle leans in and puts her head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around her and leans his head back. Man, he was more tired than he thought.