Points and counterpoints, Jake thought as the two began their journey back down to the surface.
The Apox was big. This was one solid fact he had to realize multiple times already. He had no idea of the exact lengths and sizes when the station was still whole and floating peacefully in outer space, but it could not have been that much greater than it was right now. The command centre was on the top of this iron monstrosity and this little journey he went on with Elmina turned out to be something alike climbing a mountain: reaching the [i]apex[/i] was only half the challenge.

By all means their mission could be considered a success however. They found out where they were and where they had to go now, also acquiring a quite badass bag of weaponry for themselves considering the circumstances. Jake personally also learned much about what kind of people they were dealing with here, something that was currently more valuable to him than any gun. Not like carrying one of the shiny death machines hurt though - no matter how much he sucked at shooting.
Now they just had to get down alive. Nothing special happened on the way up, not much else should happen on the way back either. Easy come, easy go.

This was relatively true through the first couple minutes of their walk. Time flew by swiftly and most people have already escaped the smoking and crumbling Apox centre by now. The two could only hear a couple of troubled screams here and there, the poor ones still stuck in here were clearly starting to lose their sanity. Not them though. They were moving with hasty steps, Jake keeping close to Elmina as they turned corners and took stairways.
The constant avoiding of obstacles and the descending on seemingly endless amount of stairs got tiring rather quick though. They got to about halfway of their path before Elmina stopped and started searching through the sizable bag she carried all the way through. Jake reclined to the nearest wall and took deep breaths. He was slowly but surely growing throughoutly exhausted of the whole ordeal. [i]The Apox is not a fucking track course you can just make rounds in as morning exercise,[/i] he thought. He knew he had to hold on for very long still, the day was far from over. This half minute break was nothing, he was aching to be able to sit down and rest at last - preferably somewhere where getting shot or mauled or eaten alive was not a top priority danger. He did not even dare thinking about such luxury needs like satisfying that ever-growing hunger and thirst...

A brief respite was finally his after Elmina handed him a small pill without any further description. A hydration capsule that was as he examined it from closer. What a godsend. He took it in frantically and enjoyed the momentarily joy fully. Suddenly his state did not look so bleak, he remembered his partner's words as well: if all is right, the group will be at her pod by now, which is not too far. He can get rid of some of the exhaustion there and hopefully figure out the best way to progress further with the others.
Jake's hopes were once again high and he started walking downwards again with much greater determination.

[i]Never mind.[/i]
Not even a minute later, a massive explosion could be heard and the entire facility promptly turned black.
[b]"What, the generator is gone already?!"[/b] He asked in desperation, but there was no answer. In fact he could not even see Elmina anymore, much less the path ahead of them. He looked all around himself in panic, but he did not dare to make a step in any direction. They were on the massive staircase in this very moment as well, one too many steps in the wrong way could result in a painful and very embarrassing death from plummeting down into the ground.
The next thing he felt was a strong push on his side which made him ram into the wall with a surprised [b]"Ugh!"[/b]. He saw it was Elmina's doing and was about to question her confounded when he heard the quick steps of someone else becoming increasingly louder. It was another inmate who ran straight past them and soon served to conveniently confirm Jake's suspicions: falling from here was not a pleasant experience.
It was not as big of a drop as he imagined though and Elmina noticed that too - soon they were off on the stairwell that would bring their freedom in short order now. The medic had Jake by his hand as they found it and started descending. Step by step. [i]On their knees.[/i]

[b]"Oh for fuck's sake no no no..."[/b] he muttered angrily as the pain kicked in immediately from the wound which was still completely untended to and now hurt all over his left knee. He hissed like some enraged snake on every stair, the agonizing crawl pushed his resistances to the limit. And not to mention the uneasing amount of corpses they stumbled on like every second step. Jake, more than occupied with battling his own pain was not too fazed, but it seemed like his partner was - she regularly slowed on their already turtle level speed and the bag she had to carry surely did not help either. There was suddenly a chance they might not even make it. [b]"Look, I don't think either of us wants to die crawling in darkness! We made it so far, can't stop now dammit!"[/b] He was hoping she will be able to make one last push now when they most needed it.

Jake was not sure how much his words actually helped but they did finally spot the end of their painstaking journey after much struggle. They were not the only ones who could say that though, there were a couple others also making the last steps out. They did not care the slightest however. This was it. Their final rush.
[b]"You ready?"[/b] They stopped for a moment.
[b]"Never coming back!"[/b]
And with a sprint through the exit, they were once again in the green, on the clearing and most importantly, out of the forsaken Apox centre for good.

The action was far from over however as soon they were approached by an unknown man. Jake aimed with his shotgun, but before anything, Elmina already shot him down without any hesitation. The only thing that accomplished though was making the place ten times more dangerous for them - they knew they could not stay. [b]"Run!"[/b] Came the order and the two dashed into the forest, the heat of the moment once again putting Jake's rummaged knee on the back burner - who needs medical assistance anyways when you can just constantly put your life at risk?