Isabel kept her eyes peeled for any trouble. Thankfully, the path they took was quiet. Their only concern to deal with were the elements that lashed out at them violently. The sky clouded and rain crashed down onto the group. For some, such as Jess, Jon and Giovanni, it was a moment they would never forget. Isabel stared at her friend as she tilted her head up and let the water hit her face. She looked so happy and free. It warmed Isabel's heart.
''Don't get too comfortable!'' Cruise yelled from the front. He and Helen had taken the lead as they followed their map. ''Soon the rain will feel like steel belting down on you. I suggest we find cover quickly.''
Helen pointed ahead. ''There's an old city ahead. If there are any buildings intact, we can use one of them as a shelter for now.''
Despite their hesitation, they agree to get out of the rain once it really started to come down onto them. The roar of thunder startled them. With her enhanced speed and vision, Isabel could see streaks of lightning flashing in the distance. Some within the group looked up hesitantly. There was always the fear that the light ripping through the sky would be fire belonging to a dragon. Jess had marched over to Helen to inspect the map with her. The older woman was more than happy to teach her how to read it and what each marking meant. Isabel smiled as she watched on.
Before long, the group finally stumbled upon the old city that Helen mentioned earlier. Dozens of derelict buildings lay ahead of them in varying degrees of decay and ruin. Some structures were toppled on top of each other while others looked like they could barely stand. While a taller building might keep them away from any potential threats lurking around the corner, they figured that a smaller building would be safer to rest as they didn't want hundreds of roofs caving in on them. Vehicles that use to go down the street had long since melted into the ground, becoming one with the earth. The world was blotched in grey and black with no sign of life.
''What about this one?'' Pitt said, looking towards a flat building that stretched outwards. Giant letters lay at the door, with some still hanging on the next floor.
Cruise waved his hand, signalling for those in his Crew to scout ahead and make sure that the building was empty. Isabel followed after them and slowly walked inside. Each footstep created an echo that reverberated throughout the corridors. The interior of the building was filled with sections that seemed to house different old items that were buried underneath dirt and ash. Isabel listened carefully but heard nothing except for the sounds of the rain hammering down outside.
''All-clear.'' She called out.
The others quickly ventured inside. Giovanni glanced from left to right. ''We should still be on guard. Drakes and Dragons aren't our only concerns out here.''
Isabel nodded. ''As long as there are no more bugs, I'm good…''
She stopped when a noise in the distance caught her ear. Everyone noticed Isabel's reaction and stood guarded, ready for a surprise attack. Isabel looked down the corridor, waiting for the sound to come again. Once it did, she soon realized that it wasn't coming from inside the building. She walked over to the door and the sound became clearer. It was a woman screaming. Isabel waited for a moment, worried that it might be some kind of trick. Then, there were two more screams that followed. Child-like screams. Frightened and on the move.
''There are others in the city,'' Isabel said. She turned to the group. ''Stay here, I'll go and check what's going on.''
''Isabel…'' Helen reached out.
''Mom, I'm the only one that can see clearly in that rain. I promise I'll be back soon.''
A sigh escaped from the older woman. ''Alright, but if you're not back in 10 minutes, we're coming to look for you.''
''Deal.''
Isabel rushed out of the building and into the heavy rain. While it wasn't weighing her down, it did prove a challenge to see through, even for her. The wind strengthened, whipping the rain against her skin and rattling off the surrounding buildings. Isabel could hear every creak emitting from the tall structures. She was always keeping watch just in case one decided to topple over. Through the rain, she could barely hear the screams, but that didn't stop her. She ran as fast as she could, nearly sliding over as the puddles on the road were beginning to turn into flowing rivers. The water reached up to her ankles in no time.
The screams were getting louder. Isabel was on the right track. She veered through one of the alleyways, bursting through a wall that had fallen down and blocked the pathway. Eventually, she found the building the screams were coming from. A cube-like domain with broken windows and a huge chunk of the wall missing, it didn't look like it would stay standing for much longer. Yet, as Isabel got closer, she could hear more than half a dozen people running. For a split second, she hesitated, fearing it was an ambush of some sort.
''Get away from us! Get away!'' The woman continued to scream.
Isabel couldn't walk away from this. Whatever was in that building, she would have to deal with it head-on. At least if she was alone, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone from her group getting hurt.
She leapt over the hole in the wall and found herself staring down a dark hallway. It would be difficult for anyone to see where they were going, which probably explained why Isabel could hear people stumbling around in the shadows. The air was damp and wet as rain leaked from the ceiling and the walls. The woman cried out for help on one of the upper floors. Isabel thought about jumping right through the ceiling, but she feared that would put the stability of the building in worse shape, so she searched for the stairs. As she ran, she could also a strange sound. It almost sounded like wings rapidly fluttering.
The moment Isabel reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard something crash on the floor right above her.
''Leave my mommy alone!'' A child cried out.
Isabel bounded up the stairs in a single bound, using the momentum to leap higher up the second flight and jump into the hallway where she finally saw who was making such a racket. Isabel could see two young girls, probably no older than 6, holding each other and cowering in the corner. Just behind them was a middle-aged woman in torn rags behind pulled down by another woman with a large knife. The attacker stopped with the assault and glanced up at Isabel. She was drooling profusely and there was a savage glint in her eyes the moment she spotted Isabel.
''Put down the knife!'' Isabel ordered.
The trapped woman groaned in pain and reached out towards the two girls. ''Save my children! Don't let them be taken!''
Before Isabel could question what was happening, more people with knives and machetes emerged from the shadows behind the attacker. Each of them jittered erratically as their eyes flickered between the trapped woman, the two girls and Isabel.
''Meat!'' They started to chant. ''Meat! Meat! Meat!''
Isabel's eyes widened. ''Cannibals.''
''Help my girls!'' The woman cried out. She was silenced when her attacker grabbed her by the throat and started to choke her.
The attacker raised her knife and brought it down to slice up her prey. Isabel kicked herself off the floor and crashed into the cannibal, knocking her aside with ease and freeing the panicked mother. The other cannibals watched on in shock, startled by how quickly Isabel moved. They turned around to see their unresponsive leader on the floor. However, their shock was soon eclipsed by their hunger. They slowly turned back around and advanced towards Isabel.
Isabel turned around to the woman who was clutching her girls protectively. ''Hey, what're your names?'' Isabel asked.
The woman looked up. Her face was riddled with dirt and blood. ''Erika.''
''Erika…keep their eyes closed, please.''
Apprehensive at first, Erika covered both her daughter's eyes and she also looked away.
Turning back to the cannibals, Isabel cracked her knuckles and tried to make this as quick as possible. She charged at the group with incredible speed, knocking two of them back with a powerful tackle. A machete was swung in her direction from the left and the right. Isabel jumped into the air and kicked out at both of them, knocking them through the walls on their respective sides. All it took was one hit on each to render them powerless, yet, they continued to chant wildly. They howled like animals. Even if their weapons were knocked out of their hands, they resorted to biting and clawing. One of them even managed to bite Isabel on the shoulder, but that only resulted in him breaking what remained of his teeth.
Isabel punched and kicked her way through the small group until she was the only one that remained standing. Those that were still conscious rolled on the floor, groaning with pain but still trying to lash out at her.
Suddenly, Isabel heard someone else behind her. She turned around with her fist balled, ready to strike out at the individual that was approaching Erika. When she saw who it was, she stopped her fist just in the nick of time. The momentum of her halted-punch created a gust of wind that blew the dust off the walls.
''Thane?'' Isabel gasped when she saw him backing away. ''What the hell are you doing here?''
''What does it look like?'' he replied. After regaining his composure and clearing his throat, he went over to Erika and the girls. They still had their eyes covered, although Erika finally looked up when it became tensely quiet. She flinched when she saw Thane kneeling down with his face only a few inches away from hers. ''You're safe now. We took care of those cannibals.''
''We?'' Isabel barked. ''You shouldn't even be here! Why aren't you with the others?''
He glared at her. ''They're fine. As the future leader of my colony, I should be the one in the front lines. It is the way I have been brought up.''
''You're just like politicians from the old world. You let others do the work before taking the credit for yourself. Every other time you've been on the front lines, you've cowered away and put others in danger!''
The two of them looked like they were about to get into another heated argument when Erika rose to her feet and rushed down the hallway while keeping her arms wrapped around her two young girls. ''Please, we cannot stay here.''
Thane put on a dashing smile for her. ''It's alright, I already took care of the cannibals.''
Isabel bit down so hard on her teeth, they almost cracked.
''It's not the cannibals we were running from…'' Erika stopped mid-sentence. Her face paled and her children screamed. At the same time, Isabel heard the fluttering wings again. Erika raised her hand and pointed behind her and Thane. ''Them!''
Isabel and Thane turned around sharply. The cannibals were pulled into the darkness by creatures bounding on and off the walls. Isabel felt her blood chill when she saw locusts that were twice the size of humans leaping towards them. Their giant wings fluttered and clicked like a rattle. With their long legs, they grabbed the screaming cannibals and pulled them away. When there were no more fallen cannibals to grab, they hopped off the walls towards Isabel.
''Go!'' Isabel shouted.
Without hesitant, Thane bolted down the hallway with Erika and her daughters right behind him.
Isabel clenched her fist and ducked underneath the first locust that leapt at her, just managing to avoid its mouth clamping down on her head. She swung her first upwards and broke through its touch skin. Blood and slime oozed out of the opening and down her arm. Despite the gaping wound, it still tried to have a go at her. Using her strength, Isabel tossed it against another one that snuck up from behind. They crashed through the wall, creating an opening for her to escape.
She leapt from the hole as more locust chased after her. Finding a plank of wood on the floor, Isabel picked that up and batted at the creatures with it, cracking their heads open and painting the walls with their blood. Thankfully, they weren't as tough as the Scorpula. However, they more than made up for that disadvantage with their numbers. They piled on top of her, swarming and piercing at her with their mandibles. Isabel grunted. They couldn't pierce her skin, but the strikes were painful, bruising her and knocking her down.
There was no way for her to punch her way through them, so she decided to punch through something else. She slammed her fist against the floor, breaking through it and causing them to fall through onto the ground level. Isabel crashed to the floor, holding her side. If there weren't bruises there already, they would be there now. Looking up at the hole in the ceiling, she watched as the locusts crawled and scurried out of the opening, coming for her. Their wings shimmered as lightning flash outside of the broken windows.
''Mommy!'' One of the girls screamed.
Isabel turned around and to her horror, saw a locust had cornered the two young girls and was ready to pounce. Erika was nowhere to be seen. Isabel got up to help, but she was pinned down by another locust. It pressed down hard on her back as it snapped at her. Isabel lashed her arm out to keep them at bay. She feared the worst until she saw Thane standing behind the locust.
''Help them!'' She yelled.
Thane looked back at her. And when their eyes met, Isabel could see fear plastered all over his face. He looked like he was going to be physically sick as he took one last look at the trapped girls before he ran the other way, running out of the building through the open wall. Just before Isabel's head was slammed into the ground by a locust stamping on her, she saw the locust that had the girls trapped jump at them. The next thing she heard was blood splattering on the wall.
Uncontrollable fury coursed through Isabel. She roared until her lungs hurt. She was so consumed by rage that she didn't even notice the sound that came out of her mouth wasn't human. Her hands slowly melted through the ground as she pushed up with all her strength and sent the locusts piled on top of her hurtling in different directions. She started to sprint towards where the girls were, ready to tear apart the locust that feasted on them…
Only to find that she didn't need to.
The blood that she heard hitting the wall wasn't from the girls. They were still cowering in the corner silently as they saw the locust jitter and shake as Erika stabbed it with a metal pipe. She rammed the spike into it over and over again until it finally stopped moving. Her arms and face were covered in his blood. Only after Erika was certain that the giant insect was dead and her girls were safe she finally stopped and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Isabel rushed over to the girls, picking them both up with one hand before hurrying over to Erika and grabbing her.
''Hold on tight.''
The moment Isabel felt Erika's hand grip her arm, Isabel raced out of the building. She felt leaping locusts miss her by the skin of its jaw. Isabel ran down the street before things got eerily quiet again. She glanced over her shoulder to see that the locust that had emerged from the building were quick to retreat back inside. It looked like they weren't the type of creatures that were brave enough to hunt prey out in the open, even if the weather conditions were on their side. The rain was heavier than before.
Isabel heard Erika whinging as the heavy rain beat down on her aching body. After a quick look around, Isabel spotted Thane stumbling through the flooded streets. She adjusted her hold on Erika, freeing her hand as she stormed over to Thane and grabbed him by the shoulder. She ignored his groans and complaints as she dragged him all the way back to the others. When they arrived, she kicked the door open, almost breaking it off its hinges and tossed Thane inside. He skidded along the ground as the others rushed over to see what was going on.
''Isabel?'' Helen was about to run into her daughter's arms when she noticed that her arms were full. ''What happened?''
After carefully setting Erika and the girls down, Isabel's eyes were like daggers as she glared in Thane's direction. ''He almost got these people killed because of his ego!''
Thane bolted up to his feet, only to be held back by Giovanni. He narrowed his eyes at the younger man. ''What were you thinking running off after Isabel like that?''
''I should be the hero too!'' Thane spat. ''I was the one the power was drawn to before she stole it from me.''
''I've had enough of your bullshit!'' Isabel shouted. It was pointless for anyone to try and hold her back. Although once Helen stood in front of her, Isabel was kept in place and didn't go over to Thane, even though it was obvious she wanted to strangle him.
Suddenly, Thane lost his footing as he was pushed to the ground by Giovanni. He stared up at him in disbelief, but Giovanni showed no regret for his actions. He fully faced him and folded his arms over his chest. Thane glanced around the room, noticing how everyone was staring at him with discontent and frustration in their eyes. After punching the ground, he got up and marched into another part of the building to be alone.
After a few seconds of silence, Cruise turned around to his Crew and chuckled. ''Never a dull moment with these lot about.''
XXX
HELLO ALL YOU INCREDIBLE AND SWEET SUPERSTARS. I AM WISHING YOU ALL WELL AND HOPE THAT YOU ARE KEEPING SAFE. I ALSO HOPE THAT YOU LIKED THIS NEW AND EXCITING CHAPTER. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT? I WANTED THIS CHAPTER TO BE QUICK AND EXCITING AND I HOPE THAT I WAS ABLE TO PULL IT OFF. THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE EXCITING CHAPTERS COMING YOUR WAY VERY SOON, INCLUDING THE NEXT ONE WHICH WILL FEATURE ANOTHER VERY HOT SCENE BETWEEN ISABEL AND HELEN. I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU ALL TO READ IT.
THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING AMAZING AND SO SUPPORTIVE. I ALSO WANT TO ADD THAT I WILL BE STARTING A PART-TIME JOB FROM NEXT WEEK. AT THE MOMENT, IT'S NOT AFFECTING MY SCHEDULE AS I'VE WRITTEN SOME CHAPTERS IN ADVANCE, BUT I WILL KEEP YOU ALL INFORMED IF ANYTHING CHANGES. STAY SAFE AND TA-TA FOR NOW.
