PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

VII. Two People Almost Die and Still, Eva Is More Annoyed With Kenji

Chapter Seven: Two People Almost Die and Still, Eva Is More Annoyed With Kenji

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Sammy whimpered, "Are we... alive?"

Eva rested her head against her headrest. Her heart raced in her chest, her hands gripping the bottom of her seat. She closed her eyes, willing her body to calm down.

The gyrosphere doors popped open on either end, both Sammy and Yasmina stepping out. Eva took a breath before carefully following after. She surveyed the damage—there was no clever path for the gyrosphere to make it through.

"Good news—" Sammy piped up. "This gives us a lot more time to get to know each other."

Despite how terribly on brand that was for her character, for some reason, Eva expected her to say something wildly different.

"We should do that..." Yaz agreed slowly. "Later. Much, much later. First, we need to—"

"Help!" Brooklynn's voice came over Eva's earpiece. "Can you hear us? We're stuck—mudhole and we're sinking! Help!"

"Brooklynn, Brooklynn? Can you hear me?" Eva shouted over the ear piece, but all she got in return was radio silence.

"Where are you?" Sammy shouted into hers as she took a seat in the gyrosphere. Nothing. "We gotta find them!" Sammy stepped out of the gyrosphere, cupping her hands together. "Brooklynn! Darius!"

"Guys?!" Yasmina joined.

"Can you hear us?!"

"Keep clearing away the— no, wait. Pile it up. Pile it up. All of it," Yasmina instructed.

Yasmina, Sammy and Eva piled all the fallen branches into a ramp, then quickly got into their gyrosphere. The gyrosphere shot forward at Yasmina's hand, the ramp holding. The gyrosphere hit the ground, heading down the dirt path.

"Hello? Hello?" Eva spoke into her ear piece. "Can anyone hear me?"

"Still no sign of— Ben and Kenji?"

The girls screamed, Yasmina pulling back on the joystick as Kenji tackled Ben to the ground. The gyrosphere slid to a stop, nearly hitting the boys.

Eva panted, her hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

In front of the gyrosphere, Kenji stood, Ben hugging him, refusing to let go. She smiled in amusement while Kenji looked beyond annoyed with the scared teen.

Eva's amusement was short-lived, since Sammy had the bright idea for everyone to cram inside their working gyrosphere in order to look for Darius and Brooklynn. Eva sat half on her seat, her arms crossed and looking dead ahead between Yasmina's seat and Ben's head. Ben was sitting on the console with his knees pulled to his chest, and Kenji was on Eva's right, having taken the other half of her seat. They were squished together, and god, did Eva hate it. Her arm rested against his, his knee pressed into her thigh, and she didn't dare look in his direction.

"I'm pretty sure we're exceeding the maximum occupancy in here," Ben said nervously.

Eva added, sarcasm thick in her voice, "Yeah, I love being crammed in here with Kenji of all people, Sammy."

"Oh, I'm not having fun either, Evangeline!"

Eva grumbled, "Does it physically pain you not to call me Eva?"