Even across the foyer, Glinda could hear Elphaba swearing.
"Shhh!" Glinda waved her arms to keep Elphaba silent, and the green girl quickly obliged. Quietly, Glinda and Boq moved over to Elphaba and Nessa, so they could communicate without the guards overhearing
"They've got the place surrounded!" Boq whispered urgently, "we're stuck!"
"They have the ground surrounded," Elphaba corrected, and Glinda nodded in understanding, "they can't get us in the air."
"Nessa, where's the picture of Melena and the Wizard?" Glinda quickly changed the subject.
"Glinda, I don't think that's the priority right now…" Nessa said with confusion.
"Nessa, the Wizard's dead, we need that picture," Glinda said urgently, hearing the noises from outside the door growing.
"What?!" Nessa asked incredulously.
"The Wizard's dead?!" Boq echoed.
"Now is NOT the time!" Elphaba nearly yelled, but quickly hushed so the guards wouldn't hear. "Nessa, this is critically important, where is that picture?"
"It's, I think it's on the dresser in my room," Nessa stammered.
Without hesitation or pause, Glinda started giving out instructions, "Elphaba, run upstairs and get that photo!" Elphaba nodded and headed for the winding marble staircase. "Boq!," Glinda continued, "help me get Nessa upstairs!" If Glinda had taken time to stop, she would have been incredibly proud of her sudden confidence. No longer needing to hide in Fiyero's or Elphaba's shadows, Glinda had become a strong person, and this exhibition of courage and quick-thinking was a prime example. But now was not the time to think of personal growth, for now was the time to run.
Nessa put her left arm around Boq's neck and her right arm around Glinda's, and the pair lifted Nessa up, carrying her up the marble stairs. Glinda struggled to keep her balance as she carried half of Nessa's weight and held onto her wand as she climbed the marble steps. As the trio moved upstairs to meet Elphaba, Glinda could hear the head guard calling out from behind her.
"Surrender yourselves now, or we shall enter in ten seconds, and we will fire at will!" the guard yelled menacingly. Glinda and Boq exchanged nervous glances, both realizing that the guard was not playing around. Speeding up, the trio reached the top of the stairs just as Elphaba burst into the hallway, picture in hand.
"I got it!" Elphaba yelled triumphantly, but quickly stuffed the picture in her pocket as she saw Boq and Glinda running towards her, still carrying Nessa.
"Get to the attic!" Glinda yelled, and Elphaba didn't need to be told twice. As they made a run for the narrow stairway leading to the attic, Glinda could hear the front door being broken down, as angry guards must have started piling into the foyer. "Hurry!" Glinda encouraged with urgency. Boq and Glinda turned the corner leading to the attic stairway as Elphaba flung the door open, causing it to creak loudly.
Despite Glinda's every effort to carry Nessa, she found herself quickly losing energy, and Elphaba seemed quick to notice. "Here!" Elphaba yelled, offering herself up to switch with Glinda. The women did so quickly, and Elphaba and Boq led as they carried Nessa up the stairs, with Glinda following right behind. However, the group was only halfway up the stairs when the trio stopped.
"Guys, we need to move!" Glinda yelled, but immediately looked down when she heard Elphaba cry out in pain. It was only at that moment Glinda remembered how unstable these stairs had been, how she had felt the wood depress under her weight. Glinda realized the weight of three people must have been too much for a single stair, and it had given out. While Boq had successfully moved up to the next stair in time, Elphaba's foot had fallen through the broken step. Glinda noticed blood seeping from the new wound in Elphaba's leg, and went to help.
However, try as she might, Glinda could not get Elphaba's foot out of the hole. "It's stuck!" Glinda cried with frustration, trying to pull hard on Elphaba's leg. However, Glinda stopped when she heard her friend crying out in intense pain. Glinda began to panic, but knew she had to think quickly. "Boq!" she yelled, "help Elphaba, I'll go stall the guards!"
Boq nodded as he and Elphaba set Nessa on an upper stair so that they could focus on freeing Elphaba's leg from the broken stair. Glinda turned from her friends, moving back down the stairs. After moving through the doorway back to the bottom of the stairs, she turned to the main hallway, seeing five guards running in her direction. They stopped at the sight of her, pointing her guns in their direction. Although Glinda was terrified, she tried to look as regal and confident as possible, standing up tall, holding her wand delicately. She recognized many of the guards, as she had spoken with many of them over the years at the Wizard's palace, so she tried to address them as Glinda the Good, not a fugitive.
"Gentlemen, it's good to see you again. Now I'm not sure what this commotion is all about, but there is no problem here!" Glinda was extremely frightened, but tried to keep our cool.
"You are under arrest for the murder of his Wizardship!" the head guard yelled. "You and your traitorous friend, the Witch," he said the last word with extreme disgust, "must surrender now, or face the consequences."
"Gentlemen," Glinda remained calm, taking a step towards the guards, "This is all just a misunderstanding, I-"
Glinda stopped as a loud boom echoed through the hallway. Feeling a stinging sensation near her left shoulder, Glinda looked down to see red starting to spread across her dress. She suddenly found herself feeling very weak. It was suddenly becoming hard to breathe, and she felt her legs giving out.
"Glinda, let's go!" she heard a voice call, but it seemed so far off in the distance. The voice seemed a world away, but she suddenly felt pulled back to the present as she felt a pair of cold hands grab her. She could feel Boq half-carrying her as he shielded her with his own body. Glinda could hear more gunshots go off, but Boq seemed unaffected by the attack. Glinda felt herself regain a small amount of energy as she was pulled up the attic step, and looked up to see Elphaba and Nessa waiting at the window. Elphaba looked to be in a lot of pain, still bleeding profusely from her leg. Nevertheless, she seemed determined as she sat propped on her broom, Nessa sitting behind her as she gripped onto Elphaba.
"Glinda!" Nessa yelled, seeing her injured friend.
However, Elphaba knew there was no time to spare. "Glinda, you need to make a bubble."
Glinda looked at her best friend, hardly able to process what she was saying.
"Glinda!" Elphaba repeated with urgency, "You have to listen to me, you have to make a bubble NOW!" Elphaba was on the verge of tears, knowing she couldn't carry all four people on her broom. Knowing she'd have to leave Glinda and Boq behind, Elphaba did everything she could to get through to her friend.
Although Glinda felt almost ready to faint, she also understood the dire situation. Lifting up her right arm, she moved her wand faintly, but luckily enough to create a bubble. Glinda felt Boq carry her inside the bubble, moving towards the large set of double windows. Glinda used all the energy left in her body and concentrated on moving the bubble. Seeing Elphaba and Nessa flying alongside her, she could feel Boq covering her wound to slow the bleeding. With that, the pair of injured women worked to transport Boq and Nessa back to a waiting Fiyero.
"Glinda, hang on, stay with me!" Boq pleaded as he held his hand over Glinda's wound, trying to keep her steady as she controlled the bubble. Try as she might to concentrate on moving the bubble, she felt her consciousness fading in and out, causing the bubble to shake violently, causing a severe amount of turbulence. Glinda looked over to Elphaba and Nessa, who were watching with extreme concern. Even while beginning to black out, and even while concentrating on the bubble, Glinda could still see Elphaba's mind working a mile a minute.
"Elphaba," Nessa yelled through the air with obvious concern in her voice, "Glinda is looking really pale."
"I see that!" Elphaba snapped, trying to think of what to do, "I need to get her to the Grimmerie…"
"Are we close?" Nessa asked urgently.
"No," Elphaba sighed, trying to push forward while keeping Glinda nearby. Elphaba looked behind, realizing that Munchkinland was well out of sight, then made a quick decision. "We're landing."
"What?" Nessa asked incredulously, "you need to get to the Grimmerie, won't that slow us down?"
"I don't think Glinda can control the bubble long enough to get back, she's losing a lot of blood," Elphaba sighed, glancing over at her friend. Regaining her composure, Elphaba spoke clearly as she said, "Glinda, I need you to land in the clearing up ahead. Glinda, sweetie, do you understand me?"
Although her eyes were only half-open and Elphaba's voice sounded miles away, Glinda nodded slowly, descending towards the clearing up ahead. Touching down on the ground, the bubble popped immediately, and Glinda felt her legs give out, collapsing on the ground. Even though her vision was blurred, Glinda could feel Boq leaning over her, continuing to cover her wound as Elphaba and Nessa landed nearby.
"Nessa, you and Boq stay hidden, and I will come right back for you," Elphaba paused, sounding nervous. "I'm so sorry to have to leave you here, I'm so sorry Nessa…"
"Elphaba, we understand, just get Glinda to safety!" Nessa encouraged. And with that Elphaba ran with her broom over towards Boq and Glinda. Boq helped prop the blonde up on the front of the broom, with Elphaba sitting immediately behind her, putting her arms around Glinda to hold her steady. Glinda could feel the wind in her face as she and Elphaba took off, and could see Nessa and Boq disappearing into the distance.
"Now just hang on Glinda, everything's going to be okay!" Elphaba tried to say confidently, but her fear was very clear in the tone of her voice. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
But Glinda did not respond. She no longer felt in control of her body and felt herself slumping over the broom, hundreds of feet in the air. As Elphaba helped fly her back to Fiyero and the Grimmerie, Glinda felt herself falling into a deep sleep. Her eyes slowly fluttered shut, and she remembered nothing else.
"Glinda? Hun, can you hear me?"
Glinda felt her eyes flutter open and immediately tried to sit up. However, she cried out in pain as she tried to lean on her left arm, and felt someone pushing her to lie down slowly.
"Glinda, you've got to go slow, take your time," she could hear a voice encourage.
"What, what happened?" Glinda murmured, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Sweetie, you were shot," she heard the voice say, and was finally able to identify the voice as Fiyero's. "Glinda, do you remember being at Munchkinland?"
"Yes," Glinda said slowly, as her memory came back to her. "We were in the house, and the guards were there, and they shot at us."
Glinda looked down to where her wound was, and saw a large bandage covering the area, only a small amount of blood had seeped onto the white gauze.
Glinda tried to sit up slowly, and Fiyero put his hand on her back helping her to slowly move into a sitting position. She leaned against a nearby tree, holding her head as it throbbed from the pain of the injury.
"Do you remember anything after that?" Fiyero asked a little urgently.
"We escaped, and we were flying, but then things started to get fuzzy. I remember being in the bubble with Boq, and Nessa and Elphaba were on the broom. But then suddenly I was on Elphaba's broom, and…that's all I remember," Glinda held her head, trying to think of anything else, but it was all she could recall.
"Wait, you said Nessa and Boq were with you?!" Fiyero asked, truly stunned.
"Yes, they were with us, but they're in, they're in the woods," Glinda mumbled, everything still fuzzy. "Elphaba didn't tell you that Nessa and Boq were with us?"
"No," Fiyero mumbled rather quietly.
"I can't believe she didn't mention it," Glinda mumbled quietly, then suddenly a sickening thought hit her. "Where's Elphaba?"
Fiyero didn't immediately answer, sending Glinda into a panic. She remembered the injury on Elphaba's leg, but didn't recall it being that serious. However, Fiyero refused to look Glinda in the eye, and was being extremely slow to respond.
"FIYERO, WHERE IS ELPHABA?"