Author Note: Ok, I know this has been a very long time coming. I did the first chapter to mainly say that I would be doing a sequel but then I got sidetracked and never got to doing a second chapter. Then I found out the latest CHERUB book is coming out soon and I started to think about this chapter again, and then I wrote it. It's a bit chaotic, as I'm doing 5 characters all at once, but it'll tie up in subsequent chapters.

Chapter 2: The Terror Continues

James ran to the garages as quickly as he could. He ran over concrete and mud, the rain still pounding down. He was soaked beyond all recognition of being dry, but he didn't care, he had to help the people inside the building that had become his home. He never looked back, he never stopped, he just ran for what seemed like the best chance he had of helping people.

When he reached the garages he found them, like everything else on campus, locked. He slammed himself into the door to try and force it open, but it was no good.

"Trust the most secretive spy agency in the world to actually have good locks," he grumbled to himself.

He took one step back, readied his leg, and kicked the door with as much force as he could. For one bright and shiny moment, he thought he was in luck, but then the pain in his leg hit him and he fell over into the rain. The door was still securely locked. He cursed to himself, and then stood back up. There was no way he was getting in there. He was about to turn away when he noticed a drain-pipe at the corner of the building. He walked over to it, assessing the danger. The pipe was thick, made of metal and painted black. It would be slippery with the rain. It led to the roof of the garage, and he thought he might be able to find a way in up there. He grabbed the pipe in both hands, put one foot on the wall, and pulled himself up.

***

Lauren had managed to get to the staff room and tell a member of staff what had happened. At first they didn't believe her so she took them to a window and showed them the smoke. The reaction was the same everywhere; they gasped, screamed, or became deathly still and pale.

"There is nothing we can do, Lauren," Chloe Blake said, who had been visiting the junior block to talk with a friend who worked there, "we are in a lockdown, which would normally be ok, but we weren't prepared for something like this, there is nothing we can do."

Lauren shook her head, "no, there has to be something, an override, something like that."

"Doesn't exist, we never thought we'd have to lock down in a storm, we never expected a storm this bad, it just sort of came from nowhere, we weren't prepared, and now there is no way to open those doors before morning," Chloe explained.

"But Jake is in there!" Lauren shouted, not realising what she'd said until after it came out.

When she shouted it, she turned a bright pink colour.

"I mean, there are agents in there, just kids, we have to get them out, or call for help," Lauren said in a calmer voice.

Chloe looked at her strangely, for saying Jake, and then she shook her head again. "I'm sorry Lauren, but you can help the kids here."

"No, I've gotta try," Lauren said, and before anyone could object, she ran out of the room.

***

Bethany had found some dry clothes and had a shower, but she was bored of sitting and waiting for James to come back. She was worried about him too.

"His plan is stupid," she said out loud. "It'll never work."

She fumbled with her fingers for a few minutes. A bolt of lightning shot across the sky. The severity of the storm scared her. She looked out of the window. Tears filled her eyes as her mind was torn between James and the storm.

"I watched him from afar, I made out like I hated him, I snuck around making sure he was ok after he came back from a mission, I did all that because I was afraid," she reasoned to herself, "I spent years watching him from afar, and then when I saw him crying all that just broke and I had to comfort him. I shouldn't have been afraid. If I have to choose between my fear of the storm and my wanting to be with James, then I sure as hell am going to choose him, I haven't waited this long for nothing," she finished with her fists clenched and her teeth gritted together. She took one long, deep breath, then turned to the door.

The rain was still coming down hard, harder than before even. Bethany looked down at her dry clothes.

"Looks like I'm destined not to be dry tonight," she mumbled to herself.

Then without a second thought, she ran out into the storm.

***

"Kerry!" Gabrielle's voice shrieked down the corridor.

Kerry was on the second floor. She'd been walking in a blind rage and didn't realise where she was. It was dark in the corridor. The only light was torchlight and the flashes of lightning. Gabrielle was wielding a torch and found Kerry whilst fleeing from the fire. Kerry turned to her friend with fire in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Kerry asked spitefully.

Gabrielle was taken aback by Kerry's tone.

"Kerry, what's wrong with you?" She asked.

"I gotta go to my room," Kerry said, beginning to walk forwards.

"You can't!" Gabrielle shouted, she also shouted something else but Kerry stopped listening.

She walked to the end of the corridor and out onto the regular stairs. She was aware that the temperature of the stairwell was very high for a stormy night in England, but she didn't care. There were several kids running in the opposite direction to her, but she didn't care. It wasn't until she was on the floor below the top floor that she realised what was going on. She came face to face with a blazing inferno that was slowly creeping its way down the building. Kerry looked at it for several seconds, taking in the beauty of the flames, and then decided to run. If she died tonight she'd never get revenge.

***

Jake ran down the fire escape. He had tears streaming from his eyes, partly because he was scared to death, and partly because he was still upset about Lauren. He had only just got out of his room in time to get away from the fire. He came out of his room as the fire reached the next door along the corridor. He stood for a moment, deciding whether to grab his stuff or just run. In the end he ran quickly in, grabbed a photo from his desk, and legged it down the corridor. He came at the fire escape at a run. He slammed opened the door and hit another kid, who was just standing behind the door, in the back, knocking him down. He looked down the stairs, at the fire, and at the kid. He repeated this process three times before stuffing the photo in his pocket, grabbing the kids arm, and pulling him up. The door had hit his head as well, so he wasn't fully conscious. Jake walked slowly down the stairs, taking it one step at a time so that he wouldn't drop the other kid. Jake's strength was beginning to wear down, though, and he couldn't keep hold of the kid forever. He was just about to drop him when he felt the weight being lifted. He looked to his side and say Meryl looking proudly at him.

"I'll take it from here, Mr Parker, I'll take him down to the ground level. We're gunna all gather down there to try and either wait it out and hope the rain dies it out, or until someone comes to help us, even as unlikely as that is," Meryl said loudly.

The fire up ahead burst out into the fire escape. Meryl and Jake both looked up in unison.

"Run, Jake, get to the bottom, I'll bring Paul down," Meryl shouted the order.

Jake was frozen for a second, and then his fears got to him. He nodded his thanks to Meryl and began to run down the stairs. He reached the bottom to see a group of kids huddled by the door.

"Does that open?" Jake shouted quickly.

One of the older kids stood up, "no it doesn't, we're all locked inside."

"Oh crap," Jake said.

He stood there for a few seconds, hoping that Meryl would come to save him. He looked up just in time to see the explosion.

"Run!" Jake scream, "run now!"

The kids looked up and then began running along the corridor to their left. Jake ran along behind them, making sure no one was left behind. They were a safe distance away from the stairs when a heavy object covered in flames hit the ground where the group had been. Flames had engulfed the stairwell, there was no way Meryl could have gotten out. Jake dropped to his knee's at the loss of his handler.