"Please, I have to get off!" Mami cried out from the middle of the crowded bus that she had been dragged on moments ago. 

"Miss," the driver didn't bother looking back this time, her voice prickled with exasperation. "For the last time. Going out there is suicide, and the time I'd spend pulling over to let you off is time we can all spend escaping." The middle-aged woman let out a huff as Mami began to protest, deciding to cut her off before the girl repeated herself yet again. "We're all going to the same place. Whoever you're looking for, you'll meet them again later."

Mami ran her hands through her hair, her face paling. 'You'll meet them later'. As if that was supposed to calm her down. How was she supposed to know that she'd meet Kamina later? What if he had evacuated to a different place? What if he'd been trampled in the crowds, or killed by the looters that decided to make one last heist as the town was cleared out? Frantic tears stung at her eyes, mixing with the layer of sweat that came from being in a tightly packed bus in muggy heat. If she had just brought him home that night, his wouldn't have happened. He'd still be high, and she'd still be angry, but at least she would have been able to keep an eye on him. 

Swallowing a lump in her throat, an increasingly desperate Mami let her eyes dart around the bus, looking for a way to get out. The window? No, she was too far away, and she couldn't fit through if she wanted to. Nudging her way to the front was impossible; everyone was too close together to give her space to move. She then glanced upwards, as she normally did when thinking, when she noticed it. The escape hatch! It was on the ceiling, as usual, and just big enough for her to fit through. But how was she going to get up there?

Mami was wondering how to climb up onto the backs of the seat when she locked eyes with someone. A man, who was standing nearby during her pleas to get off of the bus. A rather tall man, a man with a knowing smile on his face. He gave a brief nod at the escape hatch, and, with a rush of excitement running through her, Mami smiled and inched her way closer. He then lifted her, doing the best he could with the limited space he had, and she opened the door and hoisted herself up. 

"Kamina?!" Mami cried out as loud as she could, standing on the man's shoulders and trying to pick Kamina out from the sea of people flocking to vehicles around her, like chickens with their heads cut off. "Kamina, where are you?" Her skin tingled as light raindrops fell upon it, and suddenly, she felt a pang of worry in her gut. There were lots of legends about the storm that was coming, and none of them ended positively. In his altered state, she reasoned, there was no way that Kamina would survive it. Calling his name over and over, Mami began to pull herself up so that she could climb out of the bus and jump off, silencing the passengers complaining about rain falling on their heads.