FIFTY
"Wedge, look!" I pointed, fear rising in my gut.
His eyes widened. "No…"
We were in front of his house, the cats meowing in his arms, when it happened. The pillar started to explode, pieces at a time at first. And a deafening rumble sounded from overhead as the plate began to come apart, buckling in one place after another. Kunsel had left not too long after the Turks did, and he was probably safely away from here by now. At least, I hoped so. We needed go, too.
But I just couldn't move. Neither could Wedge. We were paralyzed by the sight around us. My heart was pounding as fire started to sweep all across the underside of the plate, a series of loud, thunderclap blasts that lit up the night in an ugly orange glow. It wasn't until huge chunks of what had once been the upper city started to plummet from the steel sky like twisted meteors that I finally snapped back to my senses with a jolt that shook my entire body.
I grabbed Wedge's arm. "Come on! Run!"
We sped down the narrow road and past the long row of makeshift houses on either side. I was ahead of Wedge, but I kept looking back to make sure he stayed with me. He was right behind me, cats in his arms, as he pushed himself as fast as he could. None of the falling debris had gotten near us yet, but I knew that wouldn't last. We had to get the hell outta here. My lungs burned as I ran.
"Tunnel's this way!" I called to him. "Hurry!"
I remembered what Kunsel had told us about the secret passage. It was our only chance, and I didn't think it was that far away. We turned a corner, both of us breathing heavily, and we both shrieked as a chunk of burning cityscape smashed down barely a hundred feet or so behind us. Neither of us dared to look back.
We rushed out onto the main street just seconds later, then made a right and headed the way Kunsel had shown us. I kept my eyes open as we ran, searching for the tunnel entrance, but at first I didn't see it, and I had to force myself to stay calm. Well, as calm as someone could be in a situation like this, anyway. And then I spotted it, a large hole right in the middle of the road only fifty feet away.
I motioned to Wedge. "There it is! Come on!"
We were about halfway there when more pieces of the plate started coming down. Several of them slammed down around us, crushing the nearby buildings. The ground shook with the impact, knocking Wedge and I both off our feet. He cried out as he fell hard on his leg, dropping the cats when he landed. I hurried over and scooped them all up in my arms before they could scatter.
"Wedge, get up!" I yelled, hurrying over to him.
He tried, then winced in pain as his leg gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting heavily as I stood there in front of him. Wedge tried to crawl, but only managed to go a foot or so before he fell onto his side. His ankle was twisted, and as much as he strained, he couldn't put any weight on it.
I shifted my grip on the cats, then grabbed him with one hand. But try as I might, I couldn't move him. I pulled again and again, with all of the strength I had, but Wedge only managed another foot or so. I'd pull him all the way to the tunnel if I had to.
"Please, you have to move!" I urged him. "Wedge!"
"Lena…" he said, shaking his head.
I stopped. "No… don't you say it, Wedge…"
But he did. "Just go, Lena…"
"No!" I cried, tears sliding down my face. "Don't you dare pull this sacrificial bullshit on me! Don't you dare! You're not gonna die! I won't let you! So get your ass up and move!"
"Don't worry about me," he sighed. "Just take the cats and get outta here. I… can't make it. Promise me that you'll look after them, alright? And if you see Cloud, tell him… I'm sorry I wasn't more help. And that I wish I could've done more…"
How could he possibly think he hadn't done enough? He'd saved so many lives tonight, had fought to protect me and so many others. He'd stood his ground against a Turk and lived. He was a hero to me, even if he didn't really look the type.
I sank to my knees. "Oh, Wedge… please get up…"
"You know, Lena…" he said. "You're the first girl that ever liked me back. Most others always ignored me, probably 'cause I'm so big. And I don't really look like a good catch."
"They don't know you like I do," I murmured.
He touched my cheek. "And… that's why I love you."
"I love you, too…" I sobbed.
Then I kissed him, my face wet as I held my lips against his. I hated what had happened, and Shinra for causing it. I didn't want to leave my sweet Wedge behind, but I couldn't move him. The tunnel was so close, and yet it might as well have been miles away for him. Eventually, I had to come up for air. My eyes on his, I took a deep breath as he gave me a thumbs up along with that goofy smile that always made my heart skip a beat or two. I had to go, but I didn't want to.
"Bye, Lena…" he said, his eyes wet.
I couldn't stop my tears. "Goodbye, Wedge…"
I started to walk away, but then whirled around when I saw a huge shadow growing on the ground. I looked up to see a burning chunk of debris falling right toward Wedge, a huge shard of metal and concrete. My eyes widened as it came down faster and faster and he looked up to gaze at what was surely his death.
"Wedge!" I screamed.
"Jessie…" I breathed.
She wasn't moving. She lay on her side by the rail, scorch marks all over her body. Even while Tifa and Barret looked up as the pillar began to blow apart, I couldn't tear my gaze away from Jessie's battered body. Her eyes were closed, and her skin was red and burnt and covered with ash. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. After everything we had gone through, after cheating even fate itself… this just couldn't be. No way. I couldn't lose her, not now.
"Cloud!" Tifa called. "Go get Jessie! The plate's coming down! If we don't find a way out, we're all dead!"
"Gotta be somethin'!" Barret added. "Think!"
I nodded. "Spread out! See what you can find! Now!"
They did, searching around the platform for any way we could get away from here. The stairs were out, we'd never get back to the ground before it was too late. There had to be another way, but what? I decided I'd worry about it once I had Jessie in my arms. It was possible that she was still alive even after everything she'd endured, and I intended to get her outta here along with the rest of us.
But just as I took a few steps toward her, the underside of the plate started to explode, lines of fire racing across it just as I'd seen before in my dreams. Huge chunks of it began to fall one after another across the sector, and then one of them smashed right down onto the platform in front of me, tearing off the edge where Jessie was and taking her down with it into the heart of the growing inferno.
"Jessie!" Tifa screamed.
I froze, watching helplessly with my arm outstretched as Jessie was torn away from me. She was gone, fallen into the nightmarish hell that used to be the Sector 7 slums. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't. For a moment, I forgot about everything else. All I could see was Jessie. All I could think of was Jessie and how I'd lost her.
"No…" I clenched my fist. "You can't be dead…"
Then Barret took my shoulder. "I ain't arguin' with that, Cloud. But we gotta get outta here now! You ain't gonna be no good to her if ya die up here, so get movin'! We'll come back an' look for Jessie later, soon as we can. Found us a way out, so let's go!"
He was right, and I knew it. "What've you got?"
Tifa pointed to something above what was left of the console. "Zip lines. I think the maintenance workers use them to get off the platform quickly in case of an emergency."
"An' this sure as hell qualifies!" Barret said.
A cluster of black cables was nestled atop the blackened remains of the console, and on each of them was a rectangular device fitted with a set of matching straps. There wasn't time for us to each get one, so Tifa handed one to Barret and we got ready, strapping ourselves in and then heading over to the broken edge of the platform while he held onto the zip line and glanced over his shoulder at us.
"You two ready?" he asked.
Tifa nodded as we grabbed onto him. "Let's do it."
Explosions shattered the pillar behind us as thunder filled our ears. More sections of the plate were coming down now, flames blooming all across it. The steel sky burned, collapsing as the city above slowly sank into the abyss. And in the midst of it, Barret jumped.
"Lena!" a familiar voice yelled. "Heads up!"
I looked past Wedge. "Kunsel!?"
There he was, speeding toward us on a mint green motorcycle with a shiny chrome undercarriage. He was leaning forward as he drove, his right hand gripping the handlebars while his left was out to the side. At first, I didn't know what he was doing. But then I gasped in amazement and gratitude, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks, as I understood. He was going to save Wedge! I knew it!
Wedge glanced over his shoulder at him, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open as Kunsel got close. Just as the huge chunk of metal and rock was about to crush him, Kunsel drove in and grabbed him as he went past, hauling him toward me and the tunnel with the strength that only a SOLDIER could have. The broken and flaming piece of the plate slammed into the ground with a bang behind them just as Kunsel drove clear, Wedge firmly in his grasp.
I ran the rest of the way to the tunnel, still carrying the cats, as the guys drove up to it. When we got there, Kunsel finally let go of Wedge and stopped the bike for a moment. Then he got off, took a potion out of his pocket, and tossed it to him.
"Here, that should help with your leg," he said.
Wedge caught it and drank it. "Thanks, Kunsel. Doesn't hurt quite so bad now. I think I can limp on it."
Kunsel nodded. "Good. Better get going, then."
"I thought you'd already left," Wedge said, slowly getting to his feet with Kunsel's help. "Not that I'm complaining, of course. I'm really glad you showed up. You saved my life."
"I realized I couldn't leave until I knew you two had gotten out," he said, taking Wedge's shoulder. "Had to come back."
I put the cats down and hugged him. "Oh, Kunsel, thank you!"
He smiled as he let go. "Sure. We're friends, right?"
"Bet your ass we are!" I grinned.
Then I threw my arms around Wedge, holding onto him so tightly I thought that I would never let go. And if our situation hadn't been so grim, I wouldn't have. Then my lips found his, and even with the slums falling apart around us, I couldn't pull away at first. I was just so happy he was alive. When I finally came up for air, I held onto Wedge for just a moment longer before letting go.
"Come on, Wedge," I said, picking up the cats. "Let's go."
"You coming?" he asked Kunsel.
Kunsel shook his head. "The road leading to Sector 6 isn't lost yet. I'll get out that way, don't worry."
"Will we see you again?" I wondered.
"I hope so," he said.
Then I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a stuffed blue cat sitting on the bike wave at him. "We cannae stay any longer, laddie! It's comin' down real fast now!"
As if to emphasize his point, more bits of debris—including pieces of buildings, severed pipes, chunks of road, and more—began crashing to the ground as the steel sky sank lower and lower amidst a seemingly endless chain of explosions ripping across it.
Wedge's jaw dropped. "Whoa! Did that cat… talk?"
"Yeah," Kunsel said, getting on his bike. "I'll tell you it later. Go!"
I waved to him. "Be careful! And thank you again!"
"Anytime," he saluted. "Later!"
Then, as he started to drive away, Wedge and I raced down into the tunnel as fast as we could. It was dimly lit, with earthen walls and pipes along the metal grating that made up the floor. The awful sound of the plate collapse was thankfully muffled in here. I handed Biggamus over to Wedge while keeping Reggie and Smalls. Then, with the cats snugly in our arms, we held hands and hurried down the long, narrow tunnel that would take us to Sector 6.
Fire was everywhere as I raced through the slums on the Gust and more of plate came apart and fell down all around me. I sped down the road back toward the pillar complex, dodging and swerving the pieces of debris that were crashing down from what was left of the plate. They smashed buildings left and right as I pushed the Gust as hard as I could and Cait held onto me. The bar Aerith and I had found Marlene at was only a flaming wreck now, the sign split in two.
I soon left the undercity itself behind, but things weren't any better in the outskirts. The junk piles were either buried or burning, and I felt my eyes sting with smoke as I drove. The heat pressed in on me, and it made me sweat. My side still hurt, too, but I kept on. I had to get out. I had to escape from this firestorm.
I suddenly spun the Gust to halt when I saw the charred wreckage of one of the Shinra choppers strewn out ahead of me and blocking the way back to the pillar complex. Rubble was everywhere—huge, jagged slabs of it—and there was no way I could get through. This had to have been the helicopter Wedge, Lena, and I had seen go down earlier when we'd been fighting Rude near the bar.
"What do we do, lad?" Cait wondered.
I looked around. "There's gotta be a way we can get to the road. It's not that far from here."
Turning back the way we'd come, I drove back down the road for a short distance, looking for something, anything I could use to find us a way outta here. At first, there was nothing, just piles of burning debris. But then I noticed the high fence that separated the outskirts from the area around the road to Sector 6. All I had to do was get over it. And as I headed toward it, I knew how.
Part of a road from the plate had crashed to the ground here, and it had landed at angle rising crookedly toward the fence. It was broken in places but mostly intact, and I sped the Gust at it. The chunk of ruined highway was littered with dirt and still on fire in places, but it was solid enough for what I needed to do.
"Hang on!" I told Cait.
He did. "I hope ye know what yer doin'!"
I nodded. "So do I!"
Hitting the boosters, I shot right up onto the fallen section of road and raced all the way up to the top where it met the fence, using it as a makeshift ramp to launch myself to the other side. We flew across for a moment, then landed with a jolt in the dirt. Cait squawked at the mild bump but managed to stay on as we sped onto the road. It was burning here, too, but at least we had a clear path to safety. If we could get there in time, that was. But I knew we could.
As we outran the flames and clouds of smoke, dust, and debris still coming down behind us, I thought of Jessie. Had she made it out? Had I made the right choice in trusting Aerith's friends to keep her safe? If I had gone into the pillar instead, maybe she'd be with me now. But there was no way for me to know, and I wasn't going to accomplish anything by second-guessing myself. All I could do was hope Jessie had escaped. But I still couldn't help worrying about her.
"You think she got out, Cait?" I asked as we drove.
He knew who I was talking about. "I hope so, laddie. Jessica's a fine bonnie lass an' as clever as they come. I know ye went ridin' in here tae save her, but she'd not mind ye makin' the choice ye did. Donnae worry aboot it, Kunsel. Ye'll see her again one day."
I hoped he was right, but there wasn't anything I could do about it right now except escape from the devastation of Sector 7. I didn't have any doubt that I would. We had enough speed to stay ahead of the steel sky as it continued to collapse. But once we were out, I knew I couldn't just go on back to Shinra as if nothing had happened. The Turks knew I'd been here and had fought against them.
Through Cait Sith, Reeve already knew a lot of what had happened down here tonight, and he would know as well as I did that Jessie's fate was uncertain. I was sure he'd understand my choice, though, hard as it would be on us both not knowing if she was okay. Jessie was like family to him, and they'd known each other for a long time. At forty-three, he was one of the youngest of Shinra's current directors and had been her boss during her time there years ago.
At any rate, I wouldn't have to go to him for a debriefing, though I did intend to slip in and see him when I could. Reeve deserved to have a firsthand account of what I'd seen and done here. In the meantime, I would have to lay low. My place was out since Shinra knew right where I lived. But there was still somewhere else I could go, one person that I knew would help me. Marissa wouldn't mind taking me in for a while, and I knew she'd want to know about Jessie, too. So I decided to go see her once I got back to the plate.
With the inferno behind me, I raced toward Sector 6.
Explosions surrounded us, filling our ears as we shot down the zip line. Tifa and I clung to Barret as we wove through the firestorm, blasts everywhere in sight. The heat nearly suffocated us, and huge clouds of ash, flame, and dust chased us the whole way as the plate continued to come apart and collapse behind us.
It took the city above along with it. All of Sector 7, both above and below, had become a fiery wasteland, a hellscape we were still trying to get away from. Jessie was still trapped in that furnace, and as I glanced behind me, I saw the platform and the lower pillar explode as pieces of the plate crashed into it one after another. She was at the center of it all, lost somewhere in the heart of the maelstrom.
As we flew along, I looked forward again, and my eyes slid closed. I thought of Jessie, of the time we'd shared and spent together, and I let those memories fill my mind, let them fuel my determination to come back when this was all over and find her. Because I had every intention of doing that. Of course I was going to save Aerith, too—I wasn't about to let Shinra keep her. But I had to find Jessie.
She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Cloud. I'm Jessie."
"To new friendships," Jessie toasted, raising her glass.
She looked at me and smirked. "What's the matter? Never had a cute girl in your arms before?"
She winked. "I'd love to chat, and it's so sweet that you'd rather spend time with me than the reactor. But you really should get going. I can wait my turn. Go blow her mind."
Jessie stepped closer. "So… what's your fee for a flower? Mercs always wanna get paid, right?"
"Is that a smile I spy?" Jessie wagged her finger at me.
"Thank you," she leaned against me. "If this thing, if it ever did come down, and I was in it, would you still come for me?"
"Need me to tuck you in?" she teased.
Jessie smiled. "How'd you like that, merc?"
She thrust her fist into the air. "Let's lay down some rubber!"
"WHOO-HOO!"
Her eyes lit up as she took the box and began unwrapping it. "Awww, for me? You shouldn't have…"
"Would you… like to stay with me again?" she whispered.
Beforestarting to move, Jessie leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on my mouth. "Don't hold back, okay? Just let it all out. Rest in me for a while. I'll be your shelter from the storm."
Jessie thrust her arms and legs out wide, her head high as we drifted down. "You and me, we can take on the world!"
She grinned. "Yeah! And now for the cherry on top!"
"It's tearing me up inside, Cloud. What happened with Reactor 1. It was my fault. So many people dead… because of me…"
"Am I… am I a bad person, Cloud?"
Jessie kissed me. "Make me soar, Cloud. Make me fly. Take me all the way to the promised land."
She squeezed me tight for a moment. "So, you gonna take my breath away with your amazing skills?"
"I love you, merc," she whispered. "Don't ever forget it."
"Oh, here," Jessie reached into her pocket. "Something I'd like you to have. Call it a good luck charm."
She held upher arm. "Fist bump on it?"
Jessie smirked. "I'd… kick your ass… for scaring me so bad… but I'm not really… feeling up to it… right now. So I think… I'll just… kiss you instead… if you don't mind…"
"Me too," Jessie gave me a wry grin. "Guess we beat fate… after all. I kinda like… the sound of that."
"My hero. So gentle…" she grinned. "And so cute…"
The memories washed over me in a heartbeat as Tifa, Barret, and I flew along the zip line, flames and thunder all around us. Ahead of us, Sector 6 grew closer, the wall rising up not too far away. I could almost hear Jessie's voice in my head, see her smile. And I saw that moment on the platform, saw her falling into the fire after she'd been so badly hurt by the trap her father had set for her.
My eyes narrowed at that thought. Heidegger was going to answer for what he'd done today. Not just to Sector 7 and its people, but also to Jessie. Avalanche's fight against Shinra had just become my fight. And I was gonna show them just how dangerous it was to piss me off. Flames swept around us as we raced toward Sector 6, but they weren't as hot as the fierce rage burning inside me.
As I thought of Jessie, of how much she had come to mean to me, I refused to allow myself to believe she was dead. I had cheated fate itself to save her, and that had to mean something. She was my opposite in a lot of ways—outgoing, spunky, and energetic—and had flirted, teased, and loved her way past that tough outer shell I often wore like a second skin. I still didn't quite know how she'd done it.
We were almost to Sector 6, descending as the zip line stretched on down toward its end point, wherever that was. It was quivering amidst the heat and vibrations from the impacts and explosions that were now more behind us than around us. Then, just as we crossed over the wall, the zip line snapped and broke, and we dropped into Evergreen Park as Sector 7 collapsed behind us.
Tifa, Barret, and I slammed hard into the ground, so much that the world started to swim away and I knew we were going to black out. But just before my head sank onto the concrete and darkness overtook me, I had one last thought, a promise I made to myself and to Jessie. A final vow before I slid into unconsciousness.
I'll find you, Jessie. I swear I will. I'll find you.
Here ends BOOK ONE: ARRIVAL.
The story continues in BOOK TWO: AFTERMATH.
Having barely escaped the destruction of Sector 7, Cloud and his friends struggle to come to grips with the loss of their home and so many lives. With one friend missing and another held captive, Cloud resolves to save them both, unaware of the fateful path it will set him on…
Author's Note
Well, here it is, the end of Book 1! It's been quite a ride, and I'm glad to have gotten this far. Thanks to everyone that's been reading and following this little story of mine, and to all those who took the time to give feedback and insight. It's very much appreciated. There've been lots of twists and turns, and it's not over yet!
