Shortly after the news of the zeppelins had been brought to his attention, Lathus had his pack upon his back and begun pacing restlessly. Though he had no irrefutable evidence to support it, his instincts told him that it was a bad omen and that he should be prepared to react. Between the discovery of the nuke, this turn of events, and being sent away it seemed farfetched to be entirely coincidental. What’s more is that he could not be entirely sure they were out of the blast range of the high-yield bomb; sure they’re most likely out of the range that would incinerate them instantly, but the concussive and thermal energy could travel a good amount of distance and still be quite detrimental to one’s health.<br/><br/>A chill ran down his spine, causing the fine hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end as the darkness broke in the wake of an unscheduled artificial sunrise. Adrenaline coursed through his veins immediately following that realization, intent on finding shelter before the boom following the flash of light could reach them. ”Everybody! To the cave! Run!” Without looking back to the town, Lathus took off in a dead sprint towards the yawning opening in the rock face that would serve as their natural bunker. It wasn’t long before he could hear the first ominous rumblings that were catching up to them and a second later he felt as much as heard the thunderclap of noise that swept him from his feet, tossing him the remaining few yards into the dark tunnel. He hit the ground in a tumble as even more sound filled the room while the very earth shook beneath him as he rolled to dissipate the remaining forward momentum.<br/><br/>Several moments passed before he managed to pull himself drunkenly to his feet, his balance still wavering from the tossing and turning he had done. He was faintly aware that the sounds had lessened, but had not entirely stopped as he looked around him only to find they were engulfed in absolute darkness. Drawing his blade slowly from his sheath, Lathus focused a minor effort of will before muttering ”Lum!”. At his word, the blade of his sword shone brightly with magical light that pierced the darkness allowing him to see the rocky outcrop that had once been the tunnel’s entrance as well as his friends that were fortunate enough to survive both the blast and cave-in. ”Well… looks like we’re camping in the cave earlier than expected. Perhaps we should take another look around before we consider turning in for the night.”