Chapter 2: Light at the end of the tunnel

He quickly dialed his mom's number

It felt like forever before the phone was finally answered.

"Blake are you alright?"

"Yes I am, what happened, you called so many times." Blake asked in a worried tone.

"I am fine dear, I'm at the hospital... There has been news of disasters happening around the world and in many paths of Boston, I hope you are safe?" Miriam's said with a hint of fear.

She had lost her husband in a terrorist attack, she would not be able to live with herself if she lost her only child.

"Don't worry about me mom I'll be alright" Blake had a smile on his face as he assured his mom that he will be safe.

"Oh I almost forgot, Mom I won the competition, we are rich!!" A wide smile appeared on his face as he relayed the good news to his mom.

"Congratulations! I knew you could do it! Wish you were here so I could give you a big hug. When I get the money I would get somethings at the grocery store for tonight's celebration" Miriam was happy about the news.

This meant she would not have to work extra shifts at the hospital again! Blake didn't have a bank account, thus it was to be sent to her account

"Time to present the medals to the winners!"

The projected voice of the host was heard all around the arena. "Bye mom I have to go" Blake said goodbye and headed to the stage.

'Earthquakes hmm.. I felt the whole place shake while the crowd was cheering or maybe I am overthinking?'

'First of all, let's go get that medal and get out of here' A grin appeared on his face as he walked out of the lobby.

The crowd exploded with cheers when he walked out of the lobby with the runner ups behind him.

The winners headed to the center of the large stage to meet with the sponsors and hosts of the competition before being handed the medals and then smiling for the cameras.

While still waiting for the trophies and medals they felt a very weak quake beneath them.

'Is that what I think it is?' Blake grimaced as he remembered what his mom told. When the crowd felt the weak quake, the whole arena became quiet like a cemetery. When the quake stopped, they started looking around with confusion in their eyes.

All of a sudden the ground rumbled harder than before, the crowd that was quiet began shouting and panicking as everyone ran for the exits.

The ground started cracking, the cracks began spreading out, and caving in, those that were not fast enough fell into the holes that kept on expanding.

The building was shaking and its support beams began falling apart, thus causing parts of the building to collapse. This made the terrified crowd panic more.

Due to everyone panicking, those who could not keep up were pushed down and trampled on, while some were crushed by falling concrete.

Blake, who was standing on the stage saw everything. He was rooted to the spot as he saw people screaming for help and being stomped to death, all he saw was chaos.

In how many seconds more than 20 died in front of his eyes.

He snapped out of it when he saw cracks approaching at a shocking speed. He jumped to the side, avoiding the approaching cracks. The cracks had reached the other side of the stage and enclaved.

His eyes enlarged out of shock when he saw the scene, with no time to think about it, he got up and ran towards the lobby.

The lobby was empty and it led to a backdoor that performers used to access the building. It was his best option for escaping this situation!

As he was running in the direction of the lobby, he vaulted over debris and avoided falling object, he saw Castiel running in front. Suddenly he heard a shout from behind.

"Ahhh!" he turned his head slightly to get a glimpse of who screamed.

historical

it was Brian the second runner up of the competition, before Blake could realize what was happening, Brian was back on his feet.

Brian was a black American with dreadlocks and thick brows that made him look rugged. He had firm and sturdy chests with lean muscles that greatly increased his sex appeal.

When they were some meters away from the lobby, a heavy tremor shook the foundation of the building, it almost made Blake and company lose their balance.

Shit!

The rate at which the building and the ground were collapsing increased significantly, it looked like the earthquake was out to get them.

'C'mon boy, hold up and don't crush daddy till he leaves' Blake inwardly prayed, as he drew closer to the lobby.

"Help!!" Brian screamed when the ground he stepped on broke, causing him to lose his footing and falling face first. When he raised his head, blood ran from his head down to his chin.

'Why would you fall when we are meters away from safety? I have a feeling you want me dead' Blake screamed as he ran back to help Brian.

When he was few meters away from Brian, a shadow was cast on him.

Brian raised his bleeding head, saw a stage light falling and Blake was directly below it

"lookout!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Blake looked up instinctively to see what had the shadow was, that was when his mind went blank.

"Fuck me!" Blake muttered as his mind went blank when he saw the light falling.

He almost peed his pants as the thought of getting crushed came into his mind, but luckily for Blake, the stage light swayed and fell some meters behind him.

Thump! Thump!.. he could hear his heartbeat after that close shave. 'That was a close on' he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Blake helped Brian to get back on his feet when he turned around to proceed, chills ran down their spine.

It turned out that when the light fell, the ground developed cracks, it even made its way into the lobby. The most shocking part was that the cracks had started opening up.

"Which God did I offend today?" Blake smiled bitterly as his hope had been washed down the drain.

"You can still joke in a situation like this?" Brian looked at Blake with a confused face.

..

Castiel who just made his way into the lobby turned around, he saw when Blake helped Brian to his feet.

"Why don't you save yourself" Castiel still held a grudge with Blake after he lost the competition.

He looked down, only to see that the ground beneath his feet had cracks all over..

"Why am I so unlucky?" Despair was written all over Castiel's face.

As predicted, the ground beneath his feet collapsed.

...

"Even the tunnel was not safe. So, we were bound to die at the end" Brian said helplessly.

Is it only me that saw a faint ash light that came out of the hole that guy fell into?... Blake thought his eyes were playing pranks on him.

That was when the ground beneath them broke, they did not panic, they silently accepted their fate and fell into the crack.

As they were falling, crazy thoughts ran through Blake's head quickly.

I didn't get to spend the prize money..

Mom will be alone..

I am too young to die!!.. huh???

Suddenly an ash-colored light appeared at the bottom of the hole and lit up the entire area.

"the ash light!!" Blake blurted.