Quieter

by Kimiroko

-Chapter One-

The building shook as the force of the impacts blew against it. Dust and debris fell down from the stairway onto bodies of what used to be human beings. Finally, groaning and all of its support giving away, the building collapsed, leaving any chance for survival buried within it.

When the wave of fire stopped, the disaster was revealed. Yet there were few to see it. Bodies so burnt and so covered with ash crept from the rubble and looked around in a dumbfounded awe. Their eyes soaked in to what seemed a nightmare to them at that time. When the next wave came, the survivors did not stand a chance except for one.

She was still buried underneath the rubble when the cries of agonizing pain chilled the air. Her lungs felt crushed underneath so much weight, yet she continued to suck in oxygen, providing life to her body. With feeble arms, the girl tried to pull herself out, but her strength had failed her at the wrong time. She did not cry though, and continued to tug her lower torso from tons of rock and metal. The last planes flew high above her head when she freed herself from her chains. Her body wavered just slightly, her knees shaking from holding herself up. Finally, she collapsed on the ground, coughing and vomiting and letting the tears run. It was 10 a.m. in the morning when the last bomb had hit.

"Can you give me a status report of what happened in Meller?" the General asked, holding the microphone close to his lips. There was a muffled voice in the headphones and nothing else. The General threw down the headset and sighed heavily. "Can anyone remove the static from the voice?"

"No. But I can get a clearer radio message to them, if you want." a soldier offered. The General took it gladly. Quickly, the soldier assembled a radio and turned it on, then held up a mike for the General. Grasping it in his hand, the General looked at the map of the United States in front of him, before shaking his head.

"Squadron B can you hear me, over?" he asked, trying to make his words understandable. There was a long pause, before static overtook the radio and then a voice.

"Who is this?" it was not a man's voice, but a soft, sad voice that was trembling and faltering. The General gave a glance to the soldier who was as bewildered as him.

"May I ask, who is this?" he replied. He pursed his lips, dreading for what might come.

"I-I'm a survivor." came the voice. The General felt his skin turn cold, and he closed his eyes. "Something bad happened here. There's no one else. I think I broke something. Can you please come and get me?"

"Sir or ma'am, we cannot. We need to get information, and we need it now. I'll try and send a helicopter over there, but only after someone has confirmed that everything is safe. Now…state your name, age, and where you live." the General ordered.

There was a pause. Then: "My name is Mariah Anderson. I'm t-thirteen, and I live in Meller, Texas."

The General let out a huge sigh and sat down on a stool. He frowned sadly at what might have happened, before whispering, "Can you tell me what happened there?"

Another pause. "Everything is destroyed. It's all rubble. Not even the trees survived. Fire is nearly everywhere. I can see dead bodies lying around every time I turn around. I think there was a bomb. There's a lot of smoke also and it's hard to breathe."

"Hold on. Can you repeat what you said before the smoke part?" the General said speedily.

"I…think there was a bomb?" the girl repeated. The General let out another sigh, and his eyes looked upwards to the sky, still blue and beautiful and not yet tainted by war.

"We'll attempt to send help over there soon." the General promised, and then hung up the radio. He could not take anymore bad news today.