Chapter 43

  Prophet led a small group civilians through a concrete corridor towards the parking garage, she motioned for them to hold back while she picked her head through the door, she saw 5 cars sitting motionless and nothing much else,

  “Come on, it’s clear” She urged them quietly, pushing the door open, she pointed to the ramp that led up to the street, “Over there” She directed, once the last 1 was through she hurried to the front of the group and led them up the ramp, they made it halfway up when they heard the loud tearing sound above them, Prophet saw the bus falling out of a hole in the sky and rushed the group backwards down the ramp, the vehicle struck the ground a couple feet from them and the concrete crumbled beneath them.

  Kid Flash and Artemis arrived a few seconds before Supergirl, who had stopped to scoop up Wondergirl and Beast Boy, when they arrived the bus was caught buried halfway through the parking garage ramp with the tail end sticking out, Wondergirl and Artemis studied the hole around the bus, they both looked at each other when they heard noise coming from under the bus it took them a second to realize that it was people calling for help,

  “Hey, we’re gonna get you all out of there” Wondergirl called down, Artemis had stepped away from the hole to a more stable area and pulled a small mallet and steel stakes from 1 of her thigh holsters, she knelt down and tried to pound the stakes into the street but struggled to get it through the asphalt, Supergirl walked over and put her hand out for the hammer, Artemis eyed her for a second instinctively, before handing the tools over and rubbing her sore shoulder.

  Supergirl got the first stake in in 2 swings before moving a couple feet and starting on a new 1, Artemis pulled an arrow from her quiver and fired it into the back of the bus, there was a hiss as it secured itself in place, before it was even done Artemis had fired half a dozen more, she then secured a thick cord to the first arrow and looped it through the first stake and then back into the second arrow, they continued this until they had the bus secured using 4 stakes buried in the asphalt, it was now beginning to rain heavier than before.

  “Do you think we can actually do this?” Beast Boy asked as he, Wondergirl, and Supergirl took places around the bus,

  “We’re about to find out” Wondergirl answered, Supergirl wrapped her hands around the from near the back, while Beast Boy and Wondergirl took opposite sides, Wondergirl counted them down and they all pulled up, they manage to raise the bus about a foot before it caught on something, Supergirl's feet began slipping on the wet ground, Wondergirl lost her hold and had to dig her fingers into the metal siding to regain control, the cords and arrows strained as the vehicle threatened to slip back into the hole, Supergirl dug her heels in the concrete beneath her feet,

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  “This isn’t gonna work” Wondergirl shouted over the pouring rain,

  “You have a better idea?” Supergirl asked,

  “Yeah, we’re gonna have to lower it down, we’ll have them climb through” Beast Boy nodded, Supergirl shouted as loud as she could,

  “We’re gonna lower the bus, everyone out of the way down there” They held for a second before slowly lowering the bus deeper into the ground, Artemis began letting the cords go 1 at a time, finally they felt the front of the bus touch the ground,

  “Hold it steady and we’ll get the back window off” Artemis suggested, Supergirl nodded,

  “Do it” She said, Kid Flash got on 1 knee beside the bus and cupped his hands low for Artemis to step into, she did and he boosted her up to the back of the bus, she dropped to her knees and leaned over the edge to pull him up after her, they spent the next couple minutes prying the back window off, once they had it off Artemis called down,

  “Hello” After a moment Prophet pried the doors and leaned in,

  “We’re still here” She called back,

  “We’re ready for you to start sending people up” Artemis said, Prophet nodded and disappeared for a moment, when she returned she lifted a little girl in through the sideways door and then struggled to pull herself in as the she was a little too short, clearly 1 of the adults saw her struggle and helped her up, once in she wrapped her hands around the little girl’s waist and lifted her to the first row of seats, the girl stood on the back of the seat and grabbed the bar on the back of the next row, the bar was wet from the rain and her small hands couldn’t wrap all the way around the metal bar so she slipped back off, Prophet caught her and calmed her crying, she looked up at Artemis,

  “She won’t make it” She called, Artemis nodded, she pulled another length of cord and had Kid Flash loop it through 1 of the stakes in the ground, she tied 1 end around her waist and Kid Flash pulled the other end tight,

  “I’m coming down” Artemis called, Kid Flash slowly lowered her down the, when she reached the bottom she took the little girl and her arms and yanked hard on the cord 3 times, Kid Flash slowly pulled her up, they repeated this with all the children in the group, once they were all up the teenagers and adults climbed up 1 at a time, Prophet was the last to climb up, she moved quickly from 1 seat to another and was near the top, she reached out to take Artemis hand, her foot caught on something, she tripped and fell.