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alicanta77 · 4 years

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Chapter 2: Courting Disaster

pairing: y/n x Jeno

themes: mutant au, angst, fluff

warnings: fighting, violence, death, character death, blood, descriptions of injury, swearing

words: 10k

tag list: @hiqhkeybby

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Finale

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Everyone’s running from something, but they don’t know when it’s coming so they keep running and running and running.

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You slowly pulled opened your heavy eye lids, sleep still clouding your vision. You lifted your head sluggishly, your body feeling more tired than normal. You squinted, your eyes trying to adjust to the bright light around you.

You don’t remember the back of the truck being that bright. You also didn’t remember lying down in the truck but now, you can feel that you’re flat on your back. And in quite an uncomfortable position. In fact, the only place you could ever imagine having this kind of light is...

Your eyes shot open and you tried to sit up. Your upper body thrashed in its place as the restraints tying you to the table prevented you from moving. You heard groans from your left and turned you head to see Jeno. He looked back at you, fear and desperation in his eyes as you both came to the same terrifying conclusion: you were back in the lab.

As you looked around you could see the other six boys, all waking up, all struggling to escape, and all screaming in fear when they realised where they were.

‘Well, well, well, it seems as though our little mutants are awake. Welcome back to the land of the living.’ Your eyes followed the voice until they rested on the one man who terrified you more than anyone else ever could. The head doctor. ‘I can see you are all confused, you see, we couldn’t let you get away. With everything that you can do, and everything you know, you’re more of a danger to us outside of this facility than you are in it.’

He picked up a syringe with some kind of green solution in, and approached you. You moved as far away from him as you could, kicking out towards him and trying to break free with everything you had. You could hear the rest of the boys calling out, screaming for him to stop, Jeno’s voice crying out louder than the rest of them.

He approached you, placed his hand tight around your neck and squeezing as he brought the needle closer to your skin. The screams and pleads tore from your throat as he leaned closer to you, whispering sinister words for only you to hear.

‘I can’t believe you really thought you could break out. This is exactly where you should be y/n. You will never escape us.’

---

You shot up, taking in a quick gasp as you sat upright. Jeno turned from where he was sitting next to you, a confused look on his face. He watched as your eyes darted around the truck and your arms patted yourself and the realisation dawned on him.

‘Hey... you’re okay. It was just a dream.’ He reassured you, wrapping his arm back around you to pull you in for a comforting hug. You sank into his embrace, taking deep breaths to calm yourself down.

You knew that it was a dream, and that it wasn’t real, but you couldn’t help but focus on the one sentence that had stuck out clearer than any others. It scared you to your core, because the way he said it didn’t sound like a threat, it sounded like a promise.

‘You will never escape us.’

Your head rested back into Jeno’s neck as you took some deep breaths. Everyone else around you in the back of the truck was also resting in an attempt to sleep off the events of the previous days. Yet, somehow, you were unable to find yourself relaxing at all. The atmosphere among you was tense, as if you could all feel as though something was coming. You had escaped, so why didn’t you feel safe?

You were suddenly thrown out of your seat slightly, Mark having run over a bump in the road.

‘Sorry.’ He threw over his shoulder, never taking his eyes away from the path in front of him. ‘Still getting the hang of this.’

You lifted your head off Jeno’s shoulder and looked around you. The rest that all of you had been trying to get had been doing nothing, everybody looked exhausted, both mentally and physically drained, and you could only guess that you looked the same. It had been a hard few days.

Donghyuck’s head suddenly shot up, his eyes staring wide and unblinking straight in front of his. He tilted his head to the side slightly, before shaking it, as if forcing himself to wake up, and looking at you with fear in his eyes.

‘What?’ You asked, your voice trembling. You knew that, for him to react like that, he had to have seen a vision of the future, you were just terrified as to what it was.

‘Mark, drive faster.’ Donghyuck whispered, his voice tight with fear.

‘What did you say?’ The boy in the driver’s seat questioned, only managing to catch part of Donghyuck’s question.

‘Mark, drive faster!’ Donghyuck yelled at him, all of you lurching to the side as Mark slammed his foot down on the gas. Donghyuck turned away from him and back to the rest of you, burying his head in his hands as he mumbled out some more words. They were muffled yet still audible and they sent a deathly chill down your spine.

‘They’re coming for us. We’re stupid, so stupid to think that they would ever let us get away.’

You heard Jeno let out a small breath of disbelief as the realisation dawned on you all. You stood up from your seat, keeping a hand on it to keep yourself balanced and looked out of the back of the truck. Your eyes focused on something in the distance, something just too far away for you to make out what it was. Then it started getting closer to you, a lot faster than you thought would have been possible, and you finally recognised the vehicle approaching you. Suddenly two moved out from behind, appearing on either side and creating a triangle.

The lab had found you.

---

‘Mark please tell me this thing goes faster.’ You shouted.

‘I’m going as fast as I can. They’re in the same trucks as us, how are they gaining on us so fast?’ Mark yelled back, his eyes wide with fear at the situation.

The trucks were gaining on you with remarkable speed. It would only take a few more seconds before they were on top of you. You looked back towards them, your eyes narrowing as you tried to make out the movements.

As they were much closer, it was easier for you to figure out what was going on. Only, once you did figure it out, you almost wish you hadn’t.

Figures were pulling themselves out of the trucks so that their upper body’s were hanging out of the window. Five of them did this, three from the passenger seats and two from the back seats of the trucks to the side. From there they pulled a long black object of their backs. Your jaw went slack when you pinpointed what it was.

A gun.

The man leaning out of the middle truck’s passenger seat window pulled it to his shoulder and began to fire, the noise of the shots echoing through the truck you were in.

‘Y/n!’ Jeno called out for you, leaping to grab you and pull you away from the window. He dragged you back to your seat, quickly checking you over to make sure that you were okay.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ You reassured him. ‘What are they aiming for?’ You questioned, noticing how the window hadn’t been hit at all, nor had any of the back of the truck for that matter.

Jaemin leaned forwards, getting a look out of the window and his face went white.

‘The wheels. They’re aiming for the wheels.’

You only had time to share one panicked look before the back left wheel blew off the truck. You all screamed out as you were thrown about. Mark lost control of the steering wheel, banging his head hard on it as his body was thrown forwards. The truck began to fall to one side, causing Chenle to shout out a ‘Hold on!’ before it landed.

You just had time to grab part of the inside skeleton of the truck before you were flipped upside down. You held on with everything you had as the truck slid, turning over as it did. Mark had been going as fast as he possibly could before you were hit, meaning that there was a lot of leftover momentum carrying the truck forwards.

Your head was buzzing when the truck finally began to stop moving. It was hovering in midair, precariously balanced before it began to fall again, landing solidly upright.

None of you moved, too dizzy and in too much pain to focus on what was happening around you. You tried to lift your head up, attempting to calm the heavy pulsing in your brain as you took in your surroundings.

Everyone had been thrown about, the truck flipping over had knocked you all off your feet and none of you were in any shape to walk. Unfortunately, you didn’t have a choice. You heard multiple footsteps approaching, along with raised voices and you knew that the men from the lab were coming for you.

You moved your hands to underneath your shoulders and began to push yourself up, pulling your legs under you as you did. You slowly managed to get to your feet, trying to figure out what to do. It didn’t take long for you to realise that the truck had landed upright, and then you focused on getting the other boys up. The voices of the guards from the lab were getting closer and you didn’t want to know what they would do if they found you.

You noticed both Renjun and Jaemin managing to pull themselves to their feet as well, also noticing the situation and moving to do the same as you. You To stumble towards Jeno and leant down next to him, gently running your fingers through his hair as you told him you needed to go. He groaned in response, yet still made to stand. You grabbed him by his left arm and helped pull him up.

Jisung, now on his feet, pushed against the back door of the truck and, thanks to his strength, it immediately swung open. You all poured out, moving around to the driver’s seat to find Mark. You turned around to look at the guards chasing you and watched as Renjun threw up another projection.

‘A giant brick wall.’ He explained. ‘That should slow them down for a short while.’

You could hear the voices of the guards shouting back, confused at what they should be doing.

‘It’s just a projection, drive through.’

‘We don’t know how powerful it is though? What if it takes a physical form and damages the vehicles?’

‘We can’t let them get away!’

‘They have no mode of transport and the kid can’t hold this forever. They won’t get far.’

You and Renjun nodded at each other before turning around to find Mark. The rest of the boys were crowded around the driver’s seat, moving back as you arrived so that the two of you could see the situation.

You couldn’t help the gasp that escaped you at the sight you laid your eyes on.

Mark was leant over the steering wheel, his face towards the open car door that you were standing next you. But his eyes were shut and he was bleeding heavily from his left temple and onto the wheel underneath him. He was also bleeding from the right side of his forehead and when you turned to look at the window of the driver’s door, you saw that it had a massive crack in it. While the truck was rolling over, Mark had managed to crack the window with his head, and also hit the rough edges of the steering wheel with so much force that it caused him to bleed.

You could see his chest still moving gently up and down, reassuring you that he was still alive and only knocked out. Jeno pulled you back by your shoulders, moving you out of the way before reaching in for Mark, and gently dragging his limp body out of the truck. He lay his older friend on the ground as the rest of you looked at each other.

‘What do we do?’ Jeno asked, looking up for an answer.

Jisung said nothing but instead picked up Mark, and placed him gently over his shoulder.

‘I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the best we’ve got for now. Besides, it’s not like he weighs anything to me.’ Jisung shrugged and the rest of you shared a tired nod before moving off.

‘How’s your illusion holding Renjun?’ Hyuck questioned him, throwing his friend a concerned look as he noticed the beads of sweat forming on Renjun’s forehead.

‘It’s holding. It just takes effort to hold and- well... an illusion this big takes quite a lot of energy out of me on the best of days, and, right now, I’m not exactly well rested. We need to get out of sight as soon as possible.’ Renjun replied, slightly out of breath.

‘What the hell is that?’ Jaemin questioned, pointing ahead of you.

You lifted your eyes and, a few hundred meters away, was a large metal fence with a giant gate visible in it. It seemed to go on for miles, caging in what looked like an abandoned city of some kind. You weren’t sure how you hadn’t noticed it before, but then again, you hadn’t really been focusing on your surroundings.

‘Well, it’s the only place in sight and we need somewhere to take a break and check on Mark.’ You reasoned.

‘Y/n’s right.’ Jeno agreed. ‘We have to stop moving at some point, there looks to be so many places there that we can hide.’

The rest of the boys nodded in agreement, no one having any other suggestions and, together, you moved towards the destructed city.

---

The eight of you stood in front of the gate, staring at the bright yellow sign that glared down at you.

Chemical Radiation Zone. Do Not Enter.

The words were accompanied with a black skull, just to really drive the point home.

‘Well that sounds fun.’ Chenle broke the silence, sarcasm lacing him voice.

The six of you standing all turned your heads to the left in sync to stare at the boy standing at the end.

‘Come on, let’s go in.’ He said nonchalantly, stepping forwards to push the gate open.

You all moved at once, reaching out for him to make sure that he was thinking his actions through.

‘Chenle, there’s literally a drawing of a skull here. This place kills people.’ Jaemin explained.

‘Well we’re not people are we?’ Chenle retorted, watching as the expression on your faces changed.

‘I guess not.’ Jaemin admitted, taking a step back before Renjun began to speak.

‘Wait, weren’t we exposed to radiation as children? Theoretically speaking we may have built up a kind of immunity to it.’

‘The brain guy’s got a point.’ Jisung said as Renjun shrugged

‘Better than being back at the lab.’ You offered.

‘We can go in, we’ll be fine.’ Hyuck decreed. ‘I just had a quick look forwards, the radiation won’t kill us.’

‘And that is why you keep Donghyuck in your group. Did you see anything else?’ Jeno questioned, but Hyuck shook his head. ‘Alright then, let’s go.’

Chenle pushed open the gates and led the rest of you into the destructed city.

---

It was a beautiful kind of destruction. Not one that resulted in rubble covering the streets or buildings that once stood tall, lying defeated on their sides. No, this was the kind of destruction that can only be caused by abandonment and time. It was clear that people used to live here, but the once thriving city was now overcome with trees, flowers and vines growing everywhere the eye could see. It was breath taking, and yet it was terrifying.

You all walked through the abandoned city, your grey jumpsuits looking incredibly out of place in the bright colours that surrounded you.

‘Let’s see if we can find a house that’s unlocked and rest there. We need a bed for Mark.’ Jisung proposed, the rest of you agreeing.

‘Guys... this is the closest piece of civilisation to the lab right?’ Jaemin spoke suddenly, causing you to jump slightly from how on edge you were.

‘Yeah. We didn’t pass anything else that was even close to being a city before this. What’s your point?’ Jeno asked, turning his head to look at his friend.

‘Well, it’s just... like Renjun pointed out, we were tested on using radiation, and this area was destroyed by that. What if... what if this city was somewhere the lab used to keep the children they were experimenting on? What if, once upon a time, we lived here?’ Jaemin’s question caused a pang of sadness to run through you.

Did you use to live here? Was one of these houses yours?

You couldn’t stop yourself from taking another look around at the buildings surrounding you.

‘It’s possible.’ Jeno spoke softly. ‘We know from what they did to y/n that they can remove our memories, and none of us remember life before the lab, the likelihood is probably that they wiped our memories so that they would have a blank slate to work with.’ An eerie silence settled over the group, no one quite knowing what to say. The silence was only broken when a pained groan escaped Mark, who was still slung over Jisung’s shoulder, signalling that he was waking up. ‘Come on, we need to find somewhere to look at him.’ Jeno moved the rest of you on.

You kept walking, everyone only splitting from the group to try and open and of the doors. When walking away from yet another unsuccessful attempt, you trod on something that broke under your foot with a sickening crack.

You stepped back and looked down at your feet. A sob got caught in your throat, instead escaping as a slightly strangled scream. Your hands flew up to your mouth and you found yourself unable to tear your eyes away from the sight in front of you.

The other boys all heard your noise, Jeno running immediately towards you to see if you were okay. He followed your eye line, and you heard his sharp intake of breath when he saw what you had stepped on. He quickly guided you away, keeping one arm around you as he pulled you towards the house that Hyuck had managed to finally open. Yet you couldn’t get the image of what you had stepped on out of your head.

A child’s skeleton, with the skull cracked in two from the weight of you stepping on it. A child who, unlike you, didn’t survive the exposure to radiation and, instead, was left to die and decompose in the same city that they called home.

As you walked into the safety of the house, you couldn’t help but wonder how many other skeletons you were walking on.

This wasn’t a city, it was a graveyard.

---

The house was just as much of a victim of nature on inside as it was on the outside. There were blades of grass growing up through the floorboards, ivy framing the windows and flowers emerging from cracks in the walls.

Jisung and Jaemin quickly ran into the living room to place Mark down on one of the sofas. The other five of you took your time, examining the walls and corridors, with both Chenle and Hyuck moving upstairs to see how many beds there were for that night.

‘Guys, you’re gonna want to see this!’ Jaemin’s voice echoed from the next room. You, Jeno and Renjun all shared a look before moving quickly to the other boys.

You entered the living room and your jaw dropped. You didn’t even need to look at Jeno or Renjun to know that they had the same reaction as you. Lined up on the fireplace, there were portraits of the family that was you assumed must have lived here.

‘Tell me I’m not going crazy and that the child in those photos looks like...’

‘Hyuck.’ You finished Jaemin’s sentence, confirming his suspicions. You stepped closer to the photos and there wasn’t a doubt in your mind that you were in Donghyuck’s childhood home.

Jeno opened his mouth to speak but, before he could, you heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Chenle and Hyuck turned the corner, an unreadable expression on their faces.

An uncomfortable silence spread over the group, none of you knowing how to bring up the subject with him.

‘So... I guess I grew up here.’ Hyuck mumbled, avoiding eye contact with you.

‘Hyuck we don’t have to stay here. There are plenty of other houses we haven’t tried yet, we can go to one of those.’ Renjun suggested, the rest of you nodding in agreement. But Hyuck shook his head.

‘No, we can’t keep moving Mark, besides I’m fine.’ He looked up at the rest of you and shrugged. ‘Like you said, they wiped our memories, so I don’t remember this place at all. Or these people...’ He reached out and grabbed the photo out of your hands. ‘These are my parents?’ He asked quietly, watching as you nodded and told him that you assumed so. He nodded sadly, his lips pulling tight into a sad smile as he did so. ‘You’d think I’d miss them... Wherever they are, if they’re still alive, I’m sure they miss me. But I can’t miss them because I don’t remember them. Do you think... they knew they were going to lose me? That, if I survived, it meant they would never see me again? Do you- do you ever think it would have been so much easier if we didn’t...’ He trailed off, his voice as quiet as a whisper in the final question.

None of you said a word, no one knowing the full extent of what he was going through, but all of you wondering the same things.

Instead of saying anything, you stepped forwards and hugged him. You lifted up his head, sent his a sad smile, then wrapped your arms around his neck, squeezing him tight when his arms came around your waist. The other boys moved in as well, stroking his head gently and hugging him too. Before long, the seven of you were stood in the living room of Hyuck’s childhood home, in one massive group hug, trying to provide comfort for your friend in the time when he needed you most.

Hyuck sniffed quietly, whispering a small ‘I’m okay. Thank you guys.’ and you began to pull away. ‘We should look for some food. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.’ He let out a light laugh and you smiled at him.

Jaemin stayed next to Mark, the logic being that he could listen to his thoughts to know where it hurt most and what Mark needed so that he didn’t need to hurt or tire himself with talking.

Jisung and you decided to hunt downstairs for any food, while Chenle and Renjun went upstairs and Jeno and Hyuck took the back garden. You shut the cupboard under the stairs, having found nothing and turn around, finding yourself staring at a door at the end of the corridor. You approached it, turning the handle, but it was locked.

‘Jisung!’ You called out. ‘Can you open this door for me?’

‘Yeah sure, move out of the way.’ You complied to his request, standing back as he pushed on the door. A creak came from it and Jisung delivered a light punch right where the lock was. The door swung open and Jisung jumped back slightly, having scared himself with the noise. You couldn’t help but let out a giggle at his reaction.

He stepped to the side, holding the door open and saying a quick ‘After you.’. You shook your head at him, knowing that he just want you to go in first. You fumbled around for a light switch, finally clicking it on and watched as the light flooded through the room. You couldn’t believe the sight in front of you.

The room seemed to be a long term storage of some kind, specifically for food. There were countless tins that weren’t opened. You heard Jisung let out a laugh from behind you and you couldn’t stop the one that escaped you as well. You both reached out to grab as many tins as you could, opting to grab one of each kind so that there was a selection.

You both ran back to the kitchen, where Chenle and Renjun were already waiting, having found nothing. They both jumped to their feet when they saw you, shock and delight evident on their faces.

‘There’s an entire storage room full of these! We don’t know how long they’ve been there but, we could give them a try.’ You told them as both Chenle and Renjun nodded enthusiastically. Chenle opened his mouth, as if to speak but just then, Jeno and Hyuck ran in from the garden, Hyuck pointing frantically behind him. You would have been terrified that the lab had found you if it weren’t for the giant smiles on their faces.

‘Vegetable patch in the garden.’ Jeno breathed out.

‘Apples trees too.’ Hyuck chimed in, then he noticed the tins on the table. ‘Wow.’

‘Storage cupboard...’ You informed him, unable to believe your luck. Somehow you had stumbled across the perfect house, one that was equipped to deal with all of you.

Jaemin then appeared, his jaw dropping as he saw the table. You all quickly explained to him what you had found and watched as his face turned to a picture of glee.

‘Mark’s sitting up now. Apparently his super speed means that he heals faster too. Did you guys check for running water?’ He asked, watching as you all shook your heads. He approached the tap, quickly turning it. You all waited for a few seconds before, gradually water began to tickle out of it, gaining speed until it was gushing out at full force.

You rushed towards it, cupping your hands underneath it and bringing the clear liquid to your throat, relishing as it cooled your sore throat down. You hadn’t realised how thirsty you were until that moment, having not had a drink since escaping the lab.

The rest of the boys all drank as much as they could, Chenle also filling a glass that he found and bringing it to Mark.

Jaemin began to inspect the food on the table as Hyuck, Jeno, Jisung and Renjun went out to pick some fruits and vegetables.

‘Do you think all of the houses were as prepared as this one is?’ Jaemin asked you leading you to shrug in response.

‘I have no clue, but I guess it’s possible. With the lab research being apparently well known here, and the world on the brink of a war, it makes sense that they would prepare to stay in their houses. Can you imagine if they’re not though? We have to be glad that we came across this one.’ You replied and Jaemin nodded.

‘Oh I am! Now... what do we do with this?’ He questioned and you picked up a tin, examining it yourself.

---

The guards lined up outside the metal fence, staring in towards the city where the mutants were hiding.

‘And you’re sure they’re in there?’ One of them asked, the number 23 visible on his uniform.

‘They have to be. This is the only thing close to civilisation for miles, without transport they would had to have stopped here.’ Another replied, 42.

‘So, we need to go in.’ Number 12 piped up.

‘Yes.’ Number 50 appeared, his numbers written in red to signify his superiority.

No guard moved, all of them being hesitant to enter to desecrated city. The yellow sign stared down at them threatening.

‘But we can’t go in.’ 23 spoke again. ‘the entire area’s contaminated, if we go in, the radiation will kill us.’

‘Well, then won’t it kill the kids too? So we don’t need to worry if they’ve gone in.’ Number 31 rationalised, but 50 rolled his eyes.

‘No you absolute idiot. These kids are mutants, born and created from chemical radiation. It literally feeds their powers. The last thing we want them to do is consume anything contaminated. We need to go in, but we can’t right now. We’ll head back to base tonight and return with our gas masks and protective gear in the morning.’

With that, he turned away and stalked back towards his truck, pulling himself into the passenger seat. The other guards followed him, all climbing back into their trucks as they turned and drove away.

---

You were all sat around the unlit fireplace in the living room, each of you holding a glass of water. Mark was sitting up and feeling much better, the water having helped his healing. Chenle had also managed to find out that there were lots of clothes in the house, allowing you to get changed and finally ditch the grey jumpsuit that you had worn every day for over ten years.

For a while you all sat in silence, the heaviness of the last few days weighing down on you all. Then Mark began to speak.

‘We need to know where we’re going to go next.’

‘I remember Doyoung and Ten saying that they knew some people who were preparing to help us and willing to take us in. But they never mentioned who they were.’ Jeno’s voice broke slightly at their names, at the memory of the two who died to give you your freedom.

You raised your glass in one hand and looked around at the boys who you had gone through hell with.

‘To Doyoung.’ You said watching as all of them smiled at you.

‘To Ten.’ Jeno raised his after you.

‘To the children who didn’t survive the testing.’ Chenle said, raising his glass and you couldn’t help but remember the small skeleton that you had seen earlier that day and raised your glass a little higher.

‘To our families, wherever they may be.’ Hyuck said, lifting his glass too.

‘To the childhood and life we lost because of the lab.’ Jaemin spoke, raising his glass with the rest of you.

‘To the future, and the chance for it to be better than our past.’ Jisung lifted his glass as you began to feel tears in your eyes.

‘To hope and that as long as we have that, we’ll be okay.’ Chenle said, joining in with the rest of you.

‘To everything we’ve gone through and everything we will go through. To us.’ Mark spoke finally, lifting his glass.

‘To us!’ You all repeated raising your glasses as close to the sky as you could. You looked around at the boys next to you with tears in your eyes. They all meant so much to you, and you knew that you would do anything in your power to protect them. Jeno caught your watery eyes and lifted his glass slightly to you before bringing it to his lips. You raised your glass back before doing the same.

There was a ding from the kitchen and Jaemin stood up. He had found an old recipe in a cupboard that you somehow had all the ingredients for and decided to try and make it.

Jeno stepped forwards to light the fire to keep you warm. He tried using a flint but eventually gave up and just shined a harsh ray of sunshine from him hand, watching as the wood began to burn.

You all moved to sit around the table that was in the large open room, relishing in the warmth that the fire provided. You put some of Jaemin’s food in your mouth and you had to forcibly stop yourself from groaning out at how amazing it tasted. It was a million times better than anything you had ever eaten in the lab.

You looked up with a wide smile on your face and saw everyone else clearly enjoying it too. For once there was a comfortable silence amongst the eight of you.

‘If you could switch abilities with one person here, who would it be and why?’ Jisung suddenly asked, causing you all to look at him in confusion. ‘I’m curious!’

You let out a laugh, the question being so out of the blue and so random that it could have only come from Jisung. This prompted a much larger discussion than you would have thought, all of you arguing about who you would switch with and Hyuck whining when no one picked him.

‘I’d want Jaemin’s mind so that I could make everyone do stuff for me.’

‘Of course you would Hyuck.’ Mark deadpanned, making everyone burst out laughing as the younger boy began to whine again.

‘I’d want Chenle’s probably, just so that I could be a fly half the time and avoid people talking to me about stupid stuff.’ Renjun announced, prompting a giggle out of you. ‘And I could listen in on other people’s conversations.’

‘What about you Jeno?’

The night continued on like that. All of you laughing and joking over a meal just as old friends did. It felt almost as if nothing was wrong, as if you weren’t in danger and you weren’t being chased. It felt as though you were human.

It didn’t take long for Chenle to begin to come up with little competitions for you all to do, including things like, who could balance a carrot on the end of their nose for longer.

When this proves too difficult you decided to secretly use your ability, just to ensure that you won. Only, once everyone clocked on to what you were doing, the competition mutated so that your abilities had to be used. It became you vs Jeno vs Renjun at balancing a carrot on the end of your nose and, once once Renjun had been going for almost five minutes you realised he hadn’t done anything but instead thrown an illusion up.

‘Ahhhh Renjun you cheat!’ You laughed throwing out a hand to hit him lightly, but you ended up screaming when your hand passed through thin air, the illusion of him flickering before disappearing entirely.

‘I thought the whole point of this was to use our abilities.’ Renjun retorted, now standing behind you all, his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised sarcastically. ‘And I won.’ He took a dramatic bow to emphasise his point.

You all burst out into mocking applause, laughing at his anecdotes. You continued with these competitions long into the night, enjoying the feeling of finding joy in your powers for the first time in your life.

---

You lay in bed that night, feeling happier and more fulfilled than you ever had before. Since there weren’t a lot of rooms, you found yourself sharing with Jeno. You didn’t mind though, having spent almost your entire life sharing a cell with him, it would have felt strange to not have him five feet away.

You lay on your side of the double bed, it being the only one available, and you found yourself very aware of the fact that he was lying next to you. You wanted to roll over and curl up into him, to seek comfort for the troubling times you knew were going to come, but you couldn’t bring yourself too, the fear taking over your body and paralysing you were they were.

‘Jeno.’ You whispered.

‘Yeah?’ He replied, lying on his back but turning his head to look at you.

‘What do you think will happen to us if the lab catches us?’ You asked, turning your body so that you could look into the eyes that had brought you so much comfort over the years. Even in the dark you could still see every detail on his face.

‘I don’t know... My guess is, they take us back to the facility, wipe our memories and begin their testing again. They would probably separate us as well, that way if we found out the truth again, we wouldn’t be able to escape on our own. Honestly, the thought of going back there, and possibly forgetting you, scares me to death.’ Jeno admitted, rolling fully onto his side.

‘Me too.’ You confessed, the words rolling off your tongue as if they were as light as a feather. ‘I don’t want to lose you.’

‘You’re not going to lose me.’ Jeno promised moving himself closer to you and wrapping his arms around you in a hug. You curled up into him as close as you could and closed your eyes.

Jeno rolled placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head, tightening his hold on you as you began to drift off to sleep.

‘I’m not going to let anything happen to you y/n. I promise.’

---

Morning came and you had woken up to find yourself still safely wrapped up in Jeno’s embrace. You two slowly untangled yourselves, before quickly washing up and getting dressed. You headed downstairs to the kitchen, only to find Hyuck already sitting there talking to the rest of the boys with a sombre expression on his face.

They all looked up as you walked in and you noticed Mark sit back into his seat, speaking as he did so.

‘Thank god you guys are here, we were just about to go and wake you.’

‘What’s happened?’ You inquired, worry taking over your features.

‘I had a vision.’ Hyuck revealed. ‘The lab is coming for us. They know we’re here and they’re currently on their way. We need to leave, now.’

‘Shit.’ You breathed.

‘Do you know how far away they are? Or how long we have?’ Jeno asked.

‘Gimme a second, I’ll try.’ Hyuck said before looking straight ahead of him.

His eyes suddenly shifted, as if he completely zoned out and his pupils started to shake slightly. He stayed like this for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath as he came back into the room.

‘I’m not sure how far away they are. All I can see is that they’re coming for us. Like I said before, they’re on their way here right now, but I can’t see any further into the future than that. It’s weird, it’s like there’s come kind of block on it that’s stopping me.’ Hyuck explained, looking at the rest of you apologetically.

‘It’s okay, you tried you’re best.’ Mark comforted him, placing a hand on Hyuck’s shoulder.

‘It’s best to move on from here then.’ Renjun spoke up. ‘We don’t know when they’re arriving and we don’t want to be here when they do.’

On the table there were four backpacks. Chenle quickly explained that it was all they could find in the house and they contained water bottles and bits of food to keep them going along with a small amount of spare clothes. Jeno slung one over his shoulder, as did Jaemin, Jisung and Renjun.

You felt more energised that morning than you had ever felt in your entire life. You put it down to good food and a comfortable bed, but you couldn’t help but feel as though there was something else that was influencing your energy, something else that was making you feel stronger than you ever had before. You just couldn’t for the life of you figure out what that was.

Together you walked towards the front door, Jaemin’s hand just closing around it when a car engine cut through the silence. You all froze in fear, knowing that there was only one thing that could mean.

You had run out of time.

The lab was here.

---

You were standing in the living room again, trying to figure out what you were going to do. You could hear shouting from the guards as they exited their trucks and began to stalk through the streets.

‘We should split into two smaller groups. We’ve got a better chance of not being seen that way.’ Jeno offered and you all nodded.

You decided to move as two groups of four: you, Jeno, Chenle and Hyuck as one and Mark, Jaemin, Renjun and Jisung as the other.

‘We’ve got to risk it. We have a better chance on the street than we do stuck in here.’ Chenle spoke and you all turned to leave again, knowing that you also had the element of surprise, meaning that you had a chance.

As you turned you noticed the edge of someone’s backpack just clipping the side of a delicate vase that was on the mantlepiece. You watched as it fell in slow motion before shattering loudly on the floor.

There was a second of complete silence before gunfire rained down on the house. It blew out the window, tore the walls partially to shreds and shattered the pictured frames of Hyuck and his family that were hung on the walls and propped up above the fireplace.

You felt two hands drag you behind a wall and your eyes met Jaemin’s worried ones. You sent him a quick thank you as you waited for the rapid gunfire to stop. From where you were you could see almost all of the guys hiding behind walls or cabinets to protect themselves from the bullets that seemed never ending.

Eventually they slowed to a stop, making you all look at each other questioningly. You knew that the lab would be waiting for you outside, but you had to leave at some point or else they would come in.

Chenle began to step forwards from his position, watching as the rest of you desperately signalled for him not to move. He sent you a reassuring nod before shifting into a bird and flying out of the shattered window.

You could hear voices of the guards pick up again from outside as they began to chase him. You knew some of the men would still be outside but this was the only chance you had.

You began to move out of your hiding place, with Jaemin close behind you.

‘Ok we need to go.’ Jaemin said. ‘If Chenle stays as a bird he can find us from above.’

You knew Jaemin was right and, for the third time, you prepared to leave.

Until you heard a sharp intake of breath from Renjun.

You followed the sound and walked slowly into the living room, but nothing could have prepared you for the sight you saw.

Lying dead on the floor, with multiple bullet wounds across his body, was Donghyuck.

He hadn’t been able to move before the bullets came down on the house and, having been stood right in front of a window, he was their primary target. Lying next to his unmoving self, just out of his reach, was the photo of him with his family that he had been looking at the night before.

You stared at the body of your friend, unable to move, unable to cry, unable to have any kind of reaction. Then it finally dawned on you as to why he couldn’t see the future this morning.

It was because Donghyuck didn’t have a future to see.

The tears finally began to roll down your face and you had to cover your mouth with your hand to avoid making a sound.

Mark appeared from beside you, Jisung close behind him as they both witnessed the scene that the rest of you were staring at. Mark fell to his knees, reaching out with a shaky hand to brush the hair out of the open, lifeless eyes of his best friend.

‘Hyuck?’ He whimpered out, as if the younger boy would answer him. But he would never answer anyone again.

Donghyuck was dead.

Jeno leant down to pull Mark up.

‘We need to go, they’ll be back.’ He said, his voice apologetic. Mark nodded slowly, as if in a daze and stood up.

‘We- we should go out of the back door.’ He stuttered. ‘They’re waiting for us out front.’

He led the way, the rest of you quietly following, only pausing for a second to spare one last look at the boy you had to leave behind. You stepped out into the garden, noticing how the clouds above you were turning grey. You looked towards Jeno, only to notice the tears that were threatening to make their way down his cheeks.

You bit the inside of your cheek, unable to stop your own tears from falling.

‘We need to split up again, the guards are everywhere. We’ll get caught if we travel like this.’ You brought up, your voice cracking and wavering dangerously with every word.

The five other boys nodded and you drifted off in pairs. Renjun pointed to a place on the closest edge of the city, only a five minute walk, but once you were in the trees you would be safer and it would be easier to hide.

You and Jeno split off together, leaving Mark and Jaemin, and Jisung and Renjun.

You all took different routes, trying to keep as low of a profile as you possibly could. You winded through back gardens and in between houses as you made you way silently towards the meeting place. You looked up towards the sky, noticing a dark bird appearing above you, before it swooped down and landed at your feet, shifting back into Chenle as it did.

‘I lost them.’ He whispered. ‘Where’s Hyuck, is he with the other group?’

Chenle then managed to take in the look on your faces and his own fell.

‘No...’ He whispered and he looked at the floor, biting his lip.

‘Come on, we can grieve later, now let’s just focusing on surviving.’ Jeno said, placing a hand on Chenle shoulder and forcing him to look up. Chenle nodded, taking a deep breath before wiping his eyes and looking ahead.

‘You see over there? That’s where we’re meeting the others.’ You pointed out as Chenle nodded in understanding.

‘You should shift, fly over there now and we’ll be there soon.’ Jeno suggested.

Chenle shut his eyes for a few seconds, scrunching up his face a couple of times before he reopened his eyes and shook his head.

‘I can’t... My abilities are affected by my emotional state and right now-’ Chenle’s voice cracked at the end again. You knew that he wouldn’t be able to shift while in this state, meaning he would have to walk with you.

‘Let’s go.’ You said, setting off again as both the boys joined you.

The meeting area was just in sight, the gate out of the radiation zone was open and you could see the shapes of your friends in the distance. You were so close to escaping that you could almost feel it.

‘I see them! Over here!’ You heard a guard yell and your heart sank.

The three of you split up immediately, you managed to just catch sight of Renjun throwing up another illusion to cover the four of them that were already there. You were relieved at that, you knew that would keep them safe.

You hid yourself in a random small house, noticing how Jeno saw you go in before he disappeared. You turned around and nearly jumped out of your skin when you found Chenle already there. He simply brought his finger to his lips, an action which you mimicked, an agreement to be silent.

The two of you sat there for a little over a minute before you stood up. You turned your head away for a second to peek out of the window and see if the coast was clear.

Then you heard a gunshot.

Your head whipped back around to see Chenle standing in front of you, his face shocked and confused. You both looked down at his stomach, only to see a red patch forming on the left side of it.

He had been shot.

You stared at the boy in front of you in shock, watching as the crimson spread across his lower body. He let out a small gasp, trying to breath through the pain, but quickly collapsed to the floor. You suddenly unfroze, falling to your knees and pushing down on the bullet wound, applying as much pressure as you could in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding.

‘Come on, stay with me.’ You pleaded, watching as Chenle’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

‘Y/n! We need to run- holy shit, no…’ Jeno walked in, tears gathering once again in his eyes at the scene before him. ‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know.’ You replied, panic in your voice and tears making their way down your cheeks. ‘We were fine and hidden well, we- we thought the coast was clear so we came out and next thing I know, I hear this gunshot and he’s like this. Jeno I don’t know what to do…’

‘Hey, look at me buddy, stay with me okay? Stay with me!’ Jeno shouted, trying everything he could to keep his friend alive.

But it was no use. You didn’t know what you could do and Chenle’s breaths were getting shorter and more drawn out. It was clear that it was causing him pain.

Mark suddenly appeared out of nowhere, ready to pull you away when his eyes landed on Chenle on the floor. For the first time in his life Mark stopped moving entirely. However, he didn’t stay put for long because they guards had heard the commotion and yelling that came with you and Jeno finding Chenle, and they had finally zoned in on your location.

They began to shoot at you again, and you and Jeno threw yourself behind objects to keep yourselves safe.

‘Mark, run!’ You screamed and, thankfully, he did. He disappeared out of the door, managing to knock a couple of guards off his feet as he did, giving you time to get onto your feet and leave the building you were stuck in.

You had gotten about three steps away before they began to shoot at you again. You had had enough. You felt the rain on your body begin to pour down at a faster rate and you could feel Jeno’s pain through every rain drop, amplifying your own.

You turned back to face the guards, fulled with anger and screamed at them.

‘STOP!’

You were fuelled by the emotions of losing two of your friends, the closest thing you had to family, and losing two of them in under ten minutes was unbearable. You could hardly walk, the emotional pain weighing down on you was unyielding and you couldn’t stand the thought of these guards taking anyone else you loved away from you. Especially since the only person in their line of fire was Jeno.

The guards were thrown all over the place, hitting houses and windows and one of them even going through the roof of the house that you had just left.

You were shaking as you turned around and made eye contact with Jeno, neither of you saying a word. The guards lying strewn about and the rain falling down hard on you spoke more words about how you were feeling than you ever could. He simply offered his hand out to you, which you gladly took, and together you began to run. You didn’t stop running, not even when you reached the rest of the group at the meeting point. Instead, they began to run alongside the two of you, the tears that cascaded down their faces showing that Mark had told them about Chenle.

You ran through the trees, the surroundings blurred by your tears and it took you a while to realise that there was something else in this forest with you. You turned your head to the left, only managing to catch a glimpse of something before it disappeared again.

‘You’re not going crazy. I’m seeing something too.’ Jaemin’s voice echoed through your head. ‘It seems as though everyone is.’

You nodded to no one in particular, now keeping a much more focused eye on whatever it was that was surrounding you. You noticed that it was moving fast, too fast to be a human and you focused in on the sounds. It was hard to hear anything over the rain but you eventually managed to hear a car engine.

Your heartbeat began to rise, the fear taking over you slightly and you skidded to a stop. The other boys did exactly the same thing, all of you being forced to stop due to the truck that was parked in front of you.

You turned around, only to find that you had been circled. There were five trucks around you, all eerily similar to the ones from the lab, yet somehow there was something different about them - you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

Renjun lifted his hands in an attempt to put up an illusion around you, but he had been using his abilities so much recently that he couldn’t find the strength. He began to sway on his feet, falling slightly into Jaemin who was standing next to him.

You pulled yourselves into a circle, someone protecting you from every angle. People gradually began to climb out of the trucks, all of them wearing black gear with a symbol of an eye on the sleeve. They pulled off their gas masks, showing you their faces. You swallowed. Your heart was pounding and you were on edge, all of you ready to fight if you needed to.

‘It’s okay! It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you.’ A voice came from the truck in front of you as a man finally came into view. He held his hands above his head as if in surrender, and, even though you could see that he had no weapons on him, you kept your guard up. ‘We’re not going to hurt you, none of us are. In fact, we’re here to help you.’

‘What do you mean?’ Jeno questioned. ‘How do you know about us?’

‘I know about you because of a mutual friend. He contacted out group, claiming that you would need help once you escaped from the facility. My name is Jung Jimin and I believe you knew my old friend, Ten?’ Jimin explained, a comforting yet sad smile on his face.

‘You’re the group he told us about? The one that was waiting for us?’ Jisung questioned, hope flickering across his face.

‘We’ve been waiting for you for a long time now. We’ve been watching the facility ever since they first took you children in. There have been so many attempts that we’ve made to break you out, only ever resulting in us losing so many men. In the end, we figured we would need someone on the inside, and it turns out we were right. Now, what do you say we get you back to our base and away from here? Get you somewhere safe?’ Jimin proposed, yet, as amazing as somewhere safe sounded, you couldn’t bring yourself to trust him yet.

Jimin extended a hand to you, one that you quickly flinched back from. He lifted it away, showing his empty palm to you as he did so.

‘I understand that you’re not going to trust me immediately, but I promise, I only want what’s best for you guys. We can help you get your lives back. Ten called me three days ago, said he needed to right his wrongs and help you out, he begged me to save you when you escaped. He said he would do anything. I’ve known Ten a very long time and I could hear it in his voice, he was willing to pay any price in order to get you kids out of there. You don’t have to come for me, or because you trust me, but please, come because you trust him.’ Jimin’s voice was wavering, the emotions seeping into it as he spoke. You stared into his watery eyes trying to find any single hint that he may not be who he claims to be, but all you saw was heartbreak. The kind of heartbreak you feel after losing someone who’s close to you, the kind of heartbreak that you are feeling now.

You turn back to the group, all of you trying to figure out what to do. Just at that moment, a helicopter passed overhead and you could head more car engines revving in the distance.

‘Ok, here’s the deal.’ Mark spoke to you guys as you leaned in. ‘We either go with the lab and get taken back to the facility where we know we will be either tortured or killed, or we go with this group who only might torture or kill us. What do you say?’

‘I’m not going back to the lab.’ Jisung said firmly as you nodded in agreement.

‘Me neither, I’d rather take my chances with these guys.’ Jeno affirmed as Renjun spoke next.

‘We can’t get far by ourselves, I say we go with them.’

‘I’m with you guys, whatever you choose.’ Jaemin said, sending a nod towards Jimin to show his support. The boys turned towards you, just waiting for your verdict.

‘We’ve lost so much to get this far.’ You spoke. ‘If you went back to the lab now, it would be an insult to Chenle and Donghyuck. And to Ten and Doyoung. No. I refuse to give up now, not we we’ve sacrificed so much.’ You all shared a confirming nod to each other before straightening up and turning back towards Jimin.

‘We’ll come with you.’ You told him, watching as his face split into a relieved grin and the men and women surrounded him let out sighs of relief and clapped each other on the back.

The approached you, offering to take your bags and give you a hand into the trucks. Everyone who came close to you thanked you for giving them a chance or told you how they were going to make sure that you were okay.

You all fit into the same truck, wanting to stay together. It was the same design on the inside as the one you escaped from the lab in. As Ten’s truck. There were two long seats going horizontally down the sides with space in the middle.

You moved to the end, getting a nice view out of the window if you turned to your right. Jeno moved in next to you, then Jaemin sat next to him. Across from you was Mark, with Jisung next to him and Renjun on the end.

Jimin sent you another reassuring smile.

‘Don’t worry. Everything’s going to change.’ He promised before closing the door, keeping you safe inside.

The truck soon pulled away, you moving slightly to the left as it did. You thought about trying to get some sleep but it was still morning, the events of the day happening in such a short time that it had felt like hours since you woke up in that bed with Jeno.

Instead, you turned and looked at the boys you were sat with. All sitting in a tuck almost identical to the one you were sat in two days ago, yet this time there were two of you missing. Eight had become six, and you didn’t know if you could take it if it went down anymore. You lowered your head and allowed the tears to escape your eyes. The rain was still falling outside, which prompted you to turn and look at Jeno. He looked back at you with teary eyes and you couldn’t help but wrap your arms around him. He held you close as you both began to cry.

You cried into the arms of the boy who you cared for more than anyone, as you were driven away from the place where two of your friends lay dead. You may have escaped from the lab, but they never got the chance to break free from the hell that you called reality.

And it was there, watching the destructed city fade into the distance, that you made a promise to yourself.

One day, you will make the lab pay for everything they did to you.

You couldn’t wait for that day to come.

134 notes · View notes

thepermanentrainpress · 4 years

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EVERYBODY LOVES FIN: EPISODE 19

Canucks Twitter has never been more passionate, divisive and heavily opinionated; let’s go with an all-encompassing—vibrant. Any fan base is a community of people with thoughts to share, and luckily for others, content to create for a wider audience. I have to admit, I’ve been largely on the outside of Canucks Twitter, merely because I tend to direct my opinions to a TV screen rather than on social media. That being said, lately my sister, Pass it to Bulis contributor and Botchford Project recipient, Natalie Hoy, has been encouraging me to listen to more Canucks-centric podcasts. It’s been a fun time.

2010s: Does Vancouver really need two all-sports radio stations? 2020s: Does Vancouver really need 741 Canucks podcasts?

— Jyrki21 (@Jyrki21)

June 9, 2020

The world of ‘audio blogging’ has only grown over the past few years. Listeners are able to multi-task - exercising, cooking, cleaning, driving or on public transit - while plugged in to a new episode on practically any personal device. It’s a form of entertainment, often interactive, and a perfect creative outlet for amateur (and experienced) broadcasters looking for a new project. There is no shortage of podcasts courtesy of Canucks Twitter, a testament to the commitment and drive of fans, and the accessibility of the art form. With the Qualifying Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs just about underway, there is much to be talked about. Let’s take a look at what’s out there.1

C4 Podcast

Founded: July 2013

Players: Chris Golden (@lyteforce), Anna Forsyth (@aforsyth03),Matt Lee (@mattlee_61)

Premise: The longest-running, active Canucks podcast (birthed from Canucks Hockey Blog) has been on-air for 7 years! Originally co-hosted by Chris and parody song creator Clay Imoo (@CanuckClay), the podcast offers commentary about current Canucks and NHL affairs, prospects, expectations, reminiscing on the team’s past (memories of the retired taco lover Eddie Lack and past playoff runs), and features interviews with guests. This past season, they’ve had Patrick Johnston (The Province), Satiar Shah (Sportsnet 650), Cam Robinson (Elite Prospects, Dobber Prospects) and Dan Murphy (Sportsnet) in the hot seat.

Twitter | Patreon | Discord | Listen

In the "longest-running" #Canucks #PodcastLikeThat, @risingaction joins @aforsyth03 @lyteforce & @mattlee_61 to talk about the summer training camp so far, how the Canucks match against the Wild, Rathbone, Tryamkin and so much more! https://t.co/ACreWPcPWC

— #PodcastLikeThat (@TheC4Podcast)

July 21, 2020

Area 51

Founded: December 2019 (relaunch)

Players: Sean Warren (@SeanyeWest234), Samantha (@samanthacp_), Malcolm Ert (@malcolmert), Bradley Thomas (@bradthomas_96), Eric (@breakawayeric), Bailey Broadbent (@baileybroadcast)

Premise: Area 51 celebrated a relaunch last December since their inception in July 2019, and in May welcomed a team to join host Sean Warren. Aside from their cool, alien conspiracy branding, at the mic they cover a broad range of hockey talk with notable guests (writers and broadcasters in the media, content creators, musicians, WHL players, fellow blog/podcast owners, Canucks Autism Network). I love that they’ve started to cover important topics beyond the gameplay, like anti-racism, inclusivity, and diversity in sports, and have actively sought out the guests to do so.

Twitter | Instagram | Listen

HERE WE GO! @CanuckClay enters A51 in GLCPC to discuss: -Sports debates -Being a hockey media creator -Plan a Vegas trip -Drinking and Parenting tips And complete the famous Guest Shootout! Find out whether Clay is responsible for the Luongo trade!https://t.co/Zg629tWvLG

— Area 51 Hockey Podcast (@Area51Hockey)

July 24, 2020

Cap Space Wins Cups

Founded: February 2020

Players: Hassan Ahmed (@_hassanahmed9), Ahsan Ahmed (@ace103196), Hussain Ahmed (@hussain11ahmed)

Premise: The newly formed podcast has a light, humorous tone - evident by their inaugural episode introduction about their lack of social media followers. They cover quick hits of the Canucks week, roster situations, hockey culture, and of course, cap space. They’ve hosted fellow podcast hosts and media (Satiar Shah, J.D. Burke, Matthew Sekeres, Jeff Paterson), and even a fellow Burnaby kid, Massimo Rizzo. Rizzo was a 2019 Carolina Hurricanes draft pick. It’s clear they have a lot more to share, including takes in on their corresponding blog – see: How the Canucks Can Acquire Dougie Hamilton & Build a Cup Contender. I’ll read anything related to Dougie Hamilton.

Twitter | Instagram | Listen

🚨🚨Another HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT the boys have their own website 🚨🚨https://t.co/JfQXqiXcz2, the site has all the podcast epidoes and links to all their social media. The boys have also started blogging and have 2 big article out already! It’s 100% free sign up on the site to L&C!

— Cap Space Wins Cups Podcast (@capspacecups)

June 21, 2020

The Broadscast

Founded: July 2020

Players: Vanessa Jang (@vanessajang), Georgia Twiss (@georgiatwiss), Samantha (@samanthacp_), Mallory (@sports_lesbian), Danielle Huntley (@danihuntley)

Premise: Your ‘local hockey girl gang’ talks Canucks, sports culture, and soap operas. All 5 hosts have a significant following on Twitter and are bold and uncompromising, which makes for great statements and table chatter. This was written with only their Teaser episode released, but you can expect no shortage of pop culture references, fashion discussion, NHL wives and girlfriends (WAG) and pet content, along with team analysis. It’s trailblazing for a group of females in Vancouver to start their own podcast that’s hockey-focused, meant to be a casual chat amongst friends. They know the team, know their media, can gossip, and are having fun with it.

Twitter | Instagram | Listen

The Broadscast is officially LIVE!! 🎙 Just 5 girls and some light-hearted hockey talk with a soap opera twist. Catch our teaser episode NOW on your podcast medium of choice!https://t.co/91KE8LnOJE pic.twitter.com/XH0fIfhmHy

— The Broadscast (@BroadscastPod)

July 27, 2020

PUCKS ON NET

Founded: September 2013

Players: Ryan Schaap (@schaaptop), Geeta Reddy (@geetanjalireddy), Paul McLellan (@McLellanPaul), Dave McPhail (@PucksOnDave)

Premise: The group of 4 has created a casual, honest atmosphere with their roundtable conversation. They’re good friends, which equates to great camaraderie. They run a ‘contradictory’ fantasy hockey league and don’t talk ‘fancy stats’ (while still being very knowledgeable). I think they’re engaged with their listeners, and relatable as human beings amongst their talk of Tim Hortons NHL trading cards, player safety, current signings and acquisitions, and Green Day at the All-Star Game. Reaching 7 years of consistent hockey talk and recapping the team’s evolution is a feat in its own.

Twitter | Patreon | Instagram | Listen

And on Sunday, Ryan sat down with his old man for Father's Day to talk about growing up playing minor hockey in Calgary, bonding over the Vancouver #Canucks and even his words of wisdom when it comes to talking to your kids about drugs.https://t.co/BaQFM53Yws

— PUCKS ON NET (@Pucksonnetca)

June 24, 2020

The Canucks Conversation

Founded: November 2018

Players: Chris Faber (@ChrisFaber39), David Quadrelli (@Quadrelli)

Premise: Faber was joined by Quads in 2020, and the pair has perhaps the most praised local podcast so far. They’re both BCIT Radio Arts and Entertainment students (and writers for CanucksArmy), and their dedication, preparedness, branding and reporting level are top notch. They break down topics with great chemistry and perception - roster moves, Nikita Tryamkin, Olli Juolevi, and the Judd Brackett situation. Some of their notable guests include Utica Comets Kole Lind and Brogan Rafferty, and ‘bionic’ Finn Sami Salo.

Twitter | Patreon | Instagram | Listen

🎉SURPRISE! 🎉 Episode 91: “Jake Jets out of the lineup” ft.@CraigJButton We dropped our episode early! Craig Button stops by to chat about the NHL and #Canucks prospects. We breakdown the exhibition game against the Jets & some exciting news at the end!https://t.co/NMWBVOU7ko

— Canucks Conversation Podcast (@CanucksConvo)

July 30, 2020

Canucks & Pucks

Founded: April 2019

Players: Matthew Zator (@MatthewZatorSC)

Premise: Matthew Zator, writer for The Hockey Writers and Hockey Ops Director at Overtime Heroics, made a return to the airwaves this past July (after a lengthy regular season hiatus). Since getting back up and running, it’s full steam ahead – Zator has been joined by contributors from The Hockey Writers, The Canuck Way, college hockey newsletter Fresh Ice, and fellow podcast hosts. He has good insight and as a writer who goes into depth about NHL draft picks, the Vancouver Giants, and both the Nucks’ positives and negatives in his work, it gets noticeably transferred to the on-air conversation.

Twitter | Listen

🚨 NEW EPISODE 🚨 Episode 7 ft @CanuckClay, @JDsays2much, and @BaileyAJohnson_! - #Canucks & #mnwild with Jack & Clay - Will Lockwood and Quinn Hughes with Bailey - The Mailbag segment debuts and of course news from the #NHL and @TheHockeyWriter! #THW https://t.co/lW9FQms35P

— Canucks & Pucks Podcast 🏒🎙️ (@CanucksPucks)

July 28, 2020

Canucks Speakeasy

Founded: August 2019

Players: Pete Edwards (@pete_gas), Doug (@dougvenn)

Premise: Pete and Doug are 2 “mildly educated Canucks die-hards” who chat about current team news and trending topics. They’ve covered trade talk, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, prospects at the World Juniors, scouting, and the BLM movement. They’re occasionally joined by guests including podcast friends, and fellow fans/Tweeters Chris Conte, Jenna Fabulous and Ray Hatt.

Twitter | Listen

We're back with Episode 37: Powderkeg. Playoffs, play-ins, Judd and BLM are all discussed. Give'r a listen!https://t.co/dwoEQVNudThttps://t.co/7ZSogAjWsuhttps://t.co/r5HqX26czU pic.twitter.com/QKScnR9Q6G

— Canucks Speakeasy (@CanucksSpeak)

June 4, 2020

The LarschCast

Founded: June 2019

Players: Tej Dhaliwal (@DrTejDhaliwal), Sat Oberoi (@SatOberoi), Nav Dosanjh (@NavDosanjh1983), Ryan Cassels (@cassels_music)

Premise: The Larschcasters are known for their entertaining banter and debates, mostly on hockey and a little NFL. They’ve picked the minds of seasoned media (Scott Oake, James Duthie, Joey Kenward), legendary broadcaster Jim Robson, and former Canucks Kirk McLean, Chris Higgins and Shane O’Brien. They’ve been generating healthy content during the pandemic, including a spirited debate with Minnesota Wild podcast hosts, discussing media personnel moves, prospects, NHL Award contenders, and the toxicity in the Vancouver Canucks market. In June, they released a special with hockey coach/trainer Jennifer Chefero, sharing her story facing sexual abuse and harassment in her career, while candidly discussing women’s rights and sports culture.

Twitter | Facebook | Listen

Episode 61 ft. @hustlerama!#NHLJets centric epi, with an outlook of the Jets vs #flames. Not a lot of love for Calgary in this one😬. Also insights into the #nhlbubble, before ending with #Canucks talk & Rapid Larsch! 🍎:https://t.co/vZ2lyQ9zoO Spotify: https://t.co/XdV1y3ls7V

— The LarschCast (@larschcast)

July 29, 2020

The PP1 Podcast

Founded: October 2019

Players: Brayden Ursel (@bkursel23), Ted (@tee3ree), Ryan Hank (@always90four)

Premise: A tagline like “three guys from Kelowna bringing the heat and spitting the takes” doesn’t need further explanation. Appearing at the beginning of this season, the podcast (which features writers from The Canuck Way and CanucksArmy) has had some nice guests like the Canucks inaugural captain Orland Kurtenbach, retired centre and current Kelowna Rockets Assistant Coach Vern Fiddler, and Paul “Biznasty” Bissonnette. They’ve been nominated for Kelowna Now’s Best Local Podcast, and have a ‘Dudes and Guys’ segment where they pit 2 players against one another and talk it out (criteria is debatable).

Twitter | Listen

Episode 46: Bouncy Castles, Boeser Bombshells, & Backchecking w/ @mattsekeres. We chat Boeser rumours, cap crunch, Rathbone, Tryamkin, Markstrom, Sundin vs. Vanek, the best cold-open since Nikolay Goldobin, and how you can win a #Canucks jersey. https://t.co/KouGJr6GKH

— The PP1 PODCAST (@ThePP1Podcast)

July 15, 2020

The SCT Show

Founded: September 2018

Players: Nam Mann (@CanuckAgent007), Tanbir Rana (@TRana87)

Premise: SCT is Strictly Canucks Talk. Aside from reminiscing about ‘where were you when’ pivotal moments in franchise history occurred and the regular shop talk of performance and #NamStats, they draw in guests to talk about trade value (The Athletic’s Harman Dayal) and stickhandling (specialist/trainer Pavel Barber). They’ve also hosted local defenceman and last year’s 4th overall draft pick Bowen Byram, and hockey analyst/retired winger Anson Carter for a chat about the pressure of the market in Vancouver and the Sedins. Like any good heated debate, there are also trade and Team Tank vs Playoffs scenarios.

Twitter | Listen

.@CanuckAgent007 has a proposal to get Loui Eriksson off the #Canucks books 🤔 EP 14 - Links below ⬇️ 🍎 https://t.co/Z9snNdSuI1 📱 https://t.co/AJILh0IaWJ pic.twitter.com/LZblDE8GLW

— The SCT Show (@SCTShow)

July 17, 2020

Johnny Canuck Talk

Founded: August 2019

Players: Adrian J. Haug (@adrianjhaug), Roy Styles (@roy_styles)

Premise: Takes from 2 arm chair GM’s, the pair discuss a wide variety of topics like losing streaks, hockey safety, report cards, line-ups, and trade deadline. They’ve also shared an insightful chat with Harman Dayal (The Athletic) about his career and the late and great Jason Botchford. It’s laid-back and conversational, with mentions of farmers’ tans, celebrating birthdays during quarantine, and the school system strung across introductions. What’s cool is they record the podcast from near and far away places – Kamloops, BC and Germany (!).

Twitter | Listen

(1) Episode 37 is uploading now! @roy_styles and I talk #Canucks #hockey and @Canucks topics, issues, news, etc. We also talk about the incredible impact our Jim Carey impressions have had on our wives. Yikes. Featuring tweets from: @Canuckgirl20 @TSN1040 @DanRiccio650 pic.twitter.com/6oA7mZh6jb

— Johnny Canuck Talk (@JohnnyCanuckPod)

June 28, 2020

1 This list is not exhaustive, but there is something for everyone and I hope you find your Canucks fix. There can be an argument made that the podcast market is oversaturated, but I like to see it as an opportunity for any fan or audio bird to let their voice be heard! So, don’t be negative about it.

Posted by: Chloe Hoy

#Everybody Loves Fin #Canucks #Vancouver Canucks #Chloe #Canucks Twitter #blog #hockey blog #NHL #nucks #nhl canucks #Podcast #Apple Podcasts #sports #hockey #Podcaster #Spotify Podcast

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