Chapter 9: Stop Running

Albert was never one for running. Unless his life was on the line, he couldn't go for more than four minutes or so. At this point, after seven minutes of chasing after the man in white, he was becoming winded. Frustrated, he took a deep, staggering breath in and grimaced, using more and more focus to move his legs. Soon, that became all that he could think about. Right leg. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. What...what was he running for again?

It wouldn't be so bad to stop, he thought. He could stop, right? Yes, he could stop now. He could stop. He stopped; he tripped over his own feet and crashed still onto the Earth below.

Here, Arch opened his eyes.

"Is he out?" He murmured to the man in white.
"He is." The paler man replied in his quiet way. Satisfied with the answer, Arch rolled himself off of his companion's shoulder and landed upon his knees.
"If he's not, I need to get some work done..." He mumbled to himself as he flicked the boy's cheek. He didn't stir. A sharp slap across the face brought forth nothing.

"Yep, he is." The white man nodded, reiterating his own sediments.
"Well, then, pick him up. We can't leave the punk lying out there."
"You have no idea what a punk is, do you, Clint?" The pale man muttered as he picked Albert up, slinging him over his shoulder. To this, Archdale turned slightly and focused on him, glaring sharply. Pained, the other man gripped his head and groaned.
"Sorry, sorry...just...don't...do that." He sighed.
"Then don't call me an idiot, Clark." Arch replied. "Come on. We got business."

/

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!" Candace grumbled to herself on loop, peddling furiously down the street on her little bicycle. She was in the twenty-first gear and probably needed to be about in the forty-ninth. Creeps numbers one and two must have been faster than she had expected, and by extent, Albert even moreso. The thin, sickly nerd probably should've been seen already, down on the sidewalk and panting a few blocks behind. But she was still peddling along at her highest rate, and what made it worse was that he had to leave Irving behind and all alone. Did she really like the dork? No, but he was just a kid.

Protect the children; always protect the children...

Dear God, it was getting hazy up there. Candace could see a thick, thick fog over in front of her, straight in the direction she was riding into. Should she turn off? The road went straight ahead. Did they all veer into the grass in their chase? Too little passage between the houses. So she had to go straight on.

In her bustling mind, she tried to remember what Albert had said was happening downtown. It would've been clearer if she hadn't been so panicked, but now, every file in her cabinet had split open and spilled from the drawers, scattered among the floor. All that she knew was danger.

Danger.
Danger.
Danger.
That was the only word in there, beeping and ringing endlessly, much like a siren. But Candace couldn't stop. The lives of approximately two-or three, counting herself-people were on her shoulders. No, four or five. Her brothers. Five, six; her mother. And Lawrence? Were the last two even relying on her? Or Phineas and Ferb. even? Hell, and what about Perry? Candace never realized that there were so many people in her life.

Now, Candace coughed. And coughed. And coughed. Choking? Goodie! In her thoughts, she didn't even realize that she had driven herself right into the thick of the smoke. And thick it was! She had no idea how Albert could run in it. She was blinded with tears, her nostrils stung, her throat ached and longed for pure air. It was unbearable. She'd never had to go through smoke this...smoke...smoke...smoke!

It clicked. It finally clicked in her mind. Well, she wasn't that close to downtown right now, so those fires had to be pretty bad. "And that's where Albert is." She thought. "Down in that fire."

Candace couldn't take it anymore. She lost her balance and fell off the bike, smacking facefirst into the grass. Heaving desperately for oxygen, she pressed her hands to the Earth and shoved her face back up.
"Dammit."