"But there's no basement here," Shawn said.
I put my hands on my hips. "Not where you'd see it. Don't most theatre stages have a trap door? Let's find it. And quick!"
Tristan followed me onstage. The others didn't budge at all. They clearly didn't believe me.
"What?" I asked. "You're in danger here! Or you can die. Your choice."
"We don't have time for this," Tristan whispered to me. He stooped on his hands and knees, feeling for any sign of a door.
"Why should we trust you?" Gemma yelled above the wind. It was getting stronger and stronger. I heard glass shattering. Not long now.
My hand found a groove somewhere on the stage floor. Digging my nails further under, I pushed it open.
"I got the trap door! Come on."
Tristan let me jump down first. Then he followed. My feet struck hard cement. Not far away from where we dropped, we found a staircase. Just as I'd hoped.
We descended lower. Lower. Lower. Somebody shrieked above us, but we continued moving for shelter. The staircase took us deep underground, into the bowels of the theatre. All we had to do now was wait.
Shawn joined us eventually. Ryder trailed after him, arm-in-arm with Gemma. Ryder and Shawn had minor cuts, but their injuries were nowhere near as serious as Gemma. Her leg had been sliced through by a piece of shrapnel.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she admitted, sitting down against the basement wall. "I know. I was asking for it- Ah! This hurts like hell! I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Mags."
"It's okay."
Two cannons boomed.
It might've been minutes. Hours. Nobody wanted to leave our shelter until we were absolutely sure the hurricane was over. I couldn't bear to hear Gemma's groans of pain. I honestly considered running my trident through her heart, just to spare her from more agony.
Something came tumbling down the stairs all of a sudden. A parachute with 'District 2' written on it. Ryder unlocked it, and inside was a tub of cream.
"You'll need to abandon those pants for a sec," he told Gemma.
"You wish. I don't play for your team. If you know what I mean." She turned her head to face me, and her words sunk in.
So. Gemma wasn't into boys.
Ryder's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, then… just do it so I can put this on your cuts. Trying to be a good district partner here."
"All right," Gemma agreed, "but Mags is gonna help me. Not you. This is a girl thing. All of you boys; go away. You can't be trusted to keep your hormones in check. I'll tell you when you can come back, and no peeping."
Tristan, Shawn and Ryder acted on her demands without a fuss. Their footsteps decreased, and Gemma nodded to me.
When I dealt with Tristan's injuries, it was kind of sexy -ok, no, it was sexy. Gemma? A bit awkward. Especially when she'd just outed herself to the whole country.
She slid her pants on, laying her head back in relief.
"I can tell this stuff is gonna work fast," she said. "The pain's already going down."
"Good." I looked at my bandaged wrist. "Can I use some of that salve on my bite?"
"Go ahead."
Gently, I peeled off the dressing. My bite wasn't swollen anymore. But I still had to deal with the little hole that it left. Oh, man, did it hurt when I applied the salve. I bit my lip to keep from groaning, and tears were forming behind my eyes.
"I didn't freak you out," Gemma asked, "did I? Telling you I was… you know…"
"Nah. I have some friends like you. It's the initial confession that surprised me."
"Anybody who knows me well won't be surprised. My parents didn't know. I'd rather tell it to their faces, but hey? What can you do? Now they know."
She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Boys! I'm dressed!"
We decided it was okay to go above ground again, so I helped Gemma stand, and we all worked together as we climbed the stairs. What we found at the top caused us to pause in wonder.
Every part of the city- every single part- had fallen into shambles. It left just us and the forest.
But which was more dangerous?