Chapter 2:
The flames were so hot that even though they were still over a hundred meters behind them she still felt the burn from their rays. The ground was shaking so much that she could barely keep her footing, she had stubbed her toes so many times that she had lost count. She was also certain that she had twisted her ankle in the process. "Dig?" She screamed, she had no idea where they were going and she could hear the trees cracking and falling behind them.
"Hold on Felicity, hold on." Diggle called back as he followed Slade's lead. Curtis, Dinah and Rene were keeping pace with Slade but Lance was falling behind and Nyssa had disappeared from view. Felicity, already being dragged along by Diggle, reached out and grabbed Lance's hand and helped him to keep up with the rest of the group. Before she could even process what was going on, she watched those ahead of her disappear before her as she found herself falling involuntarily with a not so gentle tug from Diggle, before crash landing on the concrete below.
"What the?" She asked as she lifted her head off of Diggles chest and rubbed her knees where they hand connected with the floor. "Where are we?"
"Safe." Diggle responded helping her to her feet, "At least, I think we are." He added as Felicity's ankle gave way a little underneath her as she tried to stand. "Is it broken?" he asked concerned.
"I hope not." She took a seat nearby on the concrete shelf and noted for the first time that she was in some kind of cell, thick steel bars, no windows and the only way in and out was a long ladder up to the roof. She could feel the walls shaking as the island collapsed around them. "Where the hell are we?"
"Who would of thought that an ARGUS maximum security cell could come in handy?" Slade joked as he secured the hatch and re-joined them.
"This was your cell?" Rene asked looking around, "Seems kind of…"
"Hellish?" Slade responded as he took a breath, "Not my cell, but someone once lived here." He said, noting the bottles of water in the corner and the single blanket on the bed.
"How many of you are there on the island?" Lance asked as he studied the room.
"No one actually knows." Thea admitted
"Here." Slade said handing a bottle to Samantha. "Sorry to frighten you like that but we were out of time and I needed to do something to make you all follow me."
"Considering we are all alive, I think we can hardly argue the point later." Dinah accepted his apology for him. "How long will this place hold up for anyway?" She asked as parts of the concrete structure began to chip away and land on the floor around them. Felicity ducked her head to avoided a piece as Samantha squealed and looked to Felicity for reassurance.
"It will be ok, Oliver will find us, he will." Felicity assured her.
"What about William? What if he is still on the island?" Samantha shook her head, longing to go out and find him. "I need to find him."
"I'm sure he is with Oliver." Felicity took her hand and sat down beside her, "You have to trust that Oliver has William's best interest at heart, he wouldn't do anything to harm him."
"Hmm." Samantha scoffed, Felicity knew that tone well, she had used it herself a lot recently. Something she regretted deeply and only prayed that she had the chance to make right.
"Oliver didn't choose this life, it was chosen for him. But he's a good man Samantha, he was willing to give up ever knowing his son to keep him safe, you need to trust him."
"Do you?" She asked, hitting a nerve.
She had asked herself that a lot lately, and after their time together in the bunker one thing had become very clear to her. "I do."
"Then I need you to promise me something. If I don't make it out of here, you need to promise me that you and Oliver will look after William."
"Samantha I don't think..." There was no point in defeatist talk, and she knew that Oliver didn't think it was a good idea for William to be in his world, and maybe he was right.
"Please Felicity." Samantha begged. "I need to know that William will be safe, that he will be loved."
"I promise." She said and meaning it. A silence fell between them and Felicity was looking for a way to break the ice again when Diggle came up towards them.
"Here." Diggle found an old sheet and tore it into strips. Lifting up Felicity's leg he carefully took off her boot.
"Is it bad?" Felicity cringed, "Ouch." The touch of Diggle's hand sent searing pain through her nerves.
"You're not going to be walking on it anytime soon, that's for sure." He said wrapping it as tightly as he could.
"So what's the plan?" Lance asked, looking around at the room for another way out as a loud thud came from above and the temperature in the room started to rise.
"What was that?" Felicity asked.
"Has anybody else noticed how hot it is in here?" Dinah asked removing her jacket.
"Great." Lance scoffed, "Out of the fire into the frying pan."
"How much oxygen is in here do you think?" Rene asked suddenly feeling claustrophobic. Thea looked at the cell, trying to find a second way out.
"Better question." Slade began, "How long can we last without any supplies?"
"My god." They mutually exclaimed realising that they weren't out of danger yet. They were trapped in a concrete tomb and it wouldn't be too long before their oxygen ran out or they were boiled alive.
"Felicity, Diggle, Anybody. Please." It looked more like a battle field than an island. All that was left were uprooted trees still burning where they fell, new ravines where the ground had given way and fallen to the earth below and a thick covering of ash and soot. He couldn't even navigate by known landmarks anymore, he was completely blind. Taking it one step at a time, Oliver tried to keep the boat where William was hiding in sight as he made his way across the island.
There was so much he regretted, so many questions he had to be answered and so many apologies to make up for. He knew that all of the people he cared for, Lance and Slade included, were only here because he had refused to kill Adrian Chase the other night when he found out that he had kidnapped his son. If he had of just let him be transferred, or killed him then and there before he ever boarded that plane, then none of them would be here right now, fighting for their lives. But William would still be kidnapped and no one would ever have known where he was. He had chosen William over all else not once, but twice. "Kill me and William lives." Adrian's ultimatum haunted him, "But your friends will die. Or choose your friends and I'll kill William." How could he ever make that choice? He was going to lose ether way, and now it seemed like he had anyway. William was an innocent, he was a child and he knew deep down that given the choice every one of them would have agreed to sacrifice their life for him, but that knowledge didn't make the pain of their loss any easier to handle.
He could see what was left of the valley up ahead, it was hard work climbing over the trees that blocked his path, his hands were scarred from pushing all the burning logs out of his way and his eyes stung from all the ash but he yearned to reach what was left of the fuselage so that he could see if his friends were inside. They had once called it home, and although it wasn't much, it could have given them some protection from the burning sky. His legs ached and every muscle in his body was urging him to give up and return to William but he pushed his pain aside and continued. "Diggle? Slade?" he had stopped calling her name, the absence of her calling back only stung him further.
