Chapter Eight: Gust of Wind

"Emma isn't answering," Gia said worriedly, looking at Troy.

"Neither is Jake," Noah added.

Troy was worried. He was worried about his friends, for his parents and especially for his sister. He had called but she too had not picked up. He wouldn't allow his mind to think the worst. At least not yet.

"They have their morphers." He said it to reassure them that their friends were safe, but he couldn't find something to reassure him that his sister wasn't in danger. After all, she wasn't a Ranger. "We're going to go out there and we're going to stop them.

Gia's eyes strayed to the screen. Buildings were completely destroyed. Trees had fallen on cars, trapping people inside. Houses were in pieces and roads were blocked. It looked like the planet was about to cave in on itself. The Armada had shot down on their city, on their planet. They'd kept shooting until they were sure no building was left standing. Now X-borgs were being sent down. Without a second thought, she turned to the boys. "Let's go."

They morphed, arriving in the city in less than a couple of minutes. Troy saw the X-borgs attacking people and immediately went to help them. When the X-borgs saw the Rangers had arrived they directed their attention toward them, forgetting the people. Noah took this chance to yell out to them to run and hide. They usually were able to handle the X-borgs. They never considered them to be their toughest opponent, taking them out in a couple of minutes. But this time, it seemed that no matter how many they got rid of, there were always more.

Eventually, they were surrounded, unable to keep them down. Gia had her blaster out, aiming at one of the X-borgs. Before she could pull the trigger, one hit her from behind. She fell to the ground. Noah made his way to her, taking as many of them out as he could.

Once he reached her, he helped her up to her feet then turned to Troy, yelling out. "There's too many!"

Troy didn't want to back down, but he knew it would be no use if they were killed. He nodded, signaling for them to get away. They ran as fast as they could until they reached the high school. Making sure no one was around to see them, they demorphed.

Troy saw that half the school had collapsed. He looked down at his watch, realizing that his sister had been at the school at the time the attacks had started. He turned to his friends. "I'm going to look for my sister. You guys should go look for the others. We'll meet back at the base in an hour." They nodded, heading off.

Troy headed inside the school. He saw the X-borgs hadn't yet reached the school and that it was only a matter of time before they would. He needed to find his sister fast. Many students were making their way out of the building, with a couple of cuts and bruises. No one seemed to be seriously injured and he could only hope that his sister had had the same luck.

He yelled out her name, asking people if they had seen her. Finally, he reached the side of the building that had fallen. He still grasped on to hope that she had simply left before he got here and couldn't contact him because the cell phone towers were down.

The ceiling had caved in and he could barely squeeze himself through. "Sandy!" He called.

"Troy?" he heard back. He looked around, but he couldn't see her. "I'm here!"

"I can't see you." Then his sister appeared from behind a piece of the ceiling. The path was blocked and all he could see was above her shoulders. "Sandy are you okay?" she nodded. "Is there something for you to step on? I'll pull you out." He told her.

She didn't reply. Instead, she said. "My friends trapped. His legs are pinned down. I can't get it off him." Troy glanced up at the ceiling. It didn't look like it would hold much longer. He needed to get them out of there.

"Listen to me Sandy, I'll get him out. But first I need to get you out of there."

She shook her head. "Not until the beam is off him."

"Sandy,"

"No Troy. I'm not leaving him." Then a voice came from behind Sandy.

He spoke, pained laced in his voice. "Listen to him, Sandy."

She looked at her brother. "Promise you'll get him out."

"I promise." Sandy found a rock she could step on to give her a boost. When Troy could see her arms, he grabbed her and slowly began to pull her out, afraid the ceiling might give way. "Head outside. We'll be right behind you." He told her. She shook her head no. He knew he didn't have time to argue, so he carefully made his way over to get her friend. Troy saw a guy, back against the floor, attempting to push the beam off himself but every time he moved it he cried out in pain.

"Hey, what's your name?" He tried talking to him to distract him from the pain.

"Preston." The boy said through gritted teeth. "I think something's stuck in my leg." Troy took a closer look and saw that a piece of the metal had broken off and buried itself into the side of his thigh. The wound looked deep.

"I'm going to try to lift it and I want you to pull yourself out as fast as you can." Preston nodded.

Troy tried to lift it up, but it was too heavy. Time was running out. Then, a sudden gust of wind made its way through the hole in the roof. It was strong enough to bring the rest of the ceiling down but instead, it wrapped itself around the beam as if it were a hand holding it and lifted it up. Without a second thought, Troy grabbed Preston and pulled him out. The beam dropped to the floor with a thud.

"What in the world?" Troy said. The wind came toward him, lifting Preston over the open gap to Sandy. Sandy reached out to grab him and Troy followed making his way through the gap.

Sandy was attempting to hold Preston up, but he was too heavy for her. Troy put one of Preston's arms around his shoulder and helped her.

"What was that?" Sandy asked.

"I don't know," Troy answered. Together they dragged Preston outside.

She was working when the attacks happened. She'd just finish seeing a patient when a fellow doctor had pointed at the television, grabbing her attention. They were showing footage of Harwood County being invaded and there were reports that other cities around the world were being attacked. She quickly grabbed her phone and made her way to her office, making a phone call as she went. The person on the other end picked up on the second ring.

"Did you hear? About the attacks?" She asked.

"It's all over the news. They haven't gotten to us yet. But there's been sightings of ships just outside the city." The man informed her. "I called your dad. I have them. I'm driving to you now. I'll be there in five minutes."

She didn't get a chance to answer. A loud sound from the front of the building caused the phone to fall out of her hand, a ringing sound in her ears. Someone grabbed her from behind. She swung her arm, trying to fight back but she was too disoriented. She kicked but all she hit was air. They hit her from behind, dropping her to her knees and she felt a prick on the side of her neck. She tried to get back up but was too weak. She glanced up at her attackers, as they grabbed her arms and started to drag her. Her vision was fuzzy, but she could see the outline of people on the ground, calling out for help. She tried to move, she wanted to help but she was paralyzed.

Before she was engulfed in darkness, she heard someone say. "Four more to go."