The agony and pain in my body was now exasperated by fear. I did not even want to imagine what would happen to Lilia if she lost her entire family. I'd already been through that and it's an incomprehensible feeling.

The last thing I wanted was for Lilia to slip into a deep depression that would take hundreds or thousands of years to recover from. And I already knew that she was of very delicate nature and was easily hurt by much less traumatic experiences.

Despite the fire now shooting from my elbow and the blood that still dripped from my soaked sleeve, I ran towards the rubble that used to be the Wood's home, using the last bit of energy I had left in me.

For once, Larry didn't try to stop me. I guess he understood my feelings or was just reading my thoughts. I didn't even have to say a word to him or vice versa. We both started pulling parts of plaster, bricks, wood, beams, and tiles aside, searching for any signs of life. I removed a piece of smashed plastic that had shards of glass all over it.

A piece of what used to be….I don't even know what! I don't even care!

I was about to give up when I heard a pained groan. A male's voice. Larry heard it also. We both ran to the other side of the section of the house we'd been inspecting. I managed to see a pile of bricks heaving. "There! Someone's under that!" I yelled.

As Larry and I pulled the bricks off and removed the plaster, I heard the sounds of ambulance sirens in the distance and dozens of hospital helicopters started buzzing overhead, accompanied by fighter jet escorts. I guess no one was taking chances in losing more people.

When we had removed all the rubble, I saw Mr. Woods' face. His eyes were large and empty. The skin on his face was pale and when I reached to touch it, I quickly drew my hand back. The skin was cold. Bone-cold. I started panicking. "Oh, my…oh, my god! Larry, he's in shock! Call an ambulance! Quick!"

Larry grabbed the phone out of my pocket and dialed 777. That's the number for emergency services in Amarkia. "Hello? Yes? This is King' Spiny's Chief Advisor, Larry. Yes, we need….what?! What do you mean hold?! I don't have time! I know there are! Just…just…we…you…will you shut up?! Get a chopper over here! Yes, we do have an emergency! A man was injured when his home was struck by the Red Eyes. He's in shock. Okay, okay."

After hanging up, Larry said, "He just told us to loosen any tight clothing and to cover him with something and to move him as little as possible. Check his breathing!"

I brought my face close to Mr. Woods' mouth and felt a weak but present breath of air. "He's breathing!" I pressed my ear against his chest. "And he's still got a heartbeat."

Larry sighed in relief. "Oh, good! That means…" he looked down to his legs. "Oh. My. God."

"What is it?"

Larry had frozen stiff and his eyeballs were enormous. I saw where he was looking, on Mr. Woods' left leg. Right where his shin would be, a two-by-four was sticking through completely.

I felt sick all of the sudden and quickly turned away. In the brief glimpse I'd caught, you could see white-yellow ends of shattered bone sticking out and torn muscle and cartilage were pointing out in all directions. The piece of wood had become maroon from all the blood.

If this man doesn't get to a hospital in ten minutes…he's going to die. It doesn't matter if it's shock, blood loss, or infection. But he WILL die.

My grim thoughts were halted when I heard a woman's voice say, "Please…get me out! Help please!" Lilia's mom.

Larry said, "You go see if you can get her out. I'll stay here to look out for him until the chopper arrives." I still had my face turned away and my eyes closed. I quickly nodded, trying to not throw up. As I walked away, Larry said, "Spiny. They're going to be all right. They'll be in the hospital soon and they'll recover."

I tripped over to where the voice had come from under a flat sheet of roofing. At least this time it was no trouble removing it. Lilia's mom was pinned down at the shoulder by what looked to be the corner of a kitchen countertop. She had a huge and quite nasty gash on her forehead.

She didn't look pale or feel cool to the touch, so that probably meant that she wasn't in shock. At least not yet. She had blood pouring out of her left hand, which was under a pile of bricks. I removed them to see if I could see if I could be able to stop the bleeding.

Then I saw I wouldn't be able to.

Her left hand was missing. She had no left hand.

There was nothing but a bloody, fraying stump with wrist bones cracked and gleaming in the daylight.

It was too much for me.

I quickly turned around and vomited again on the rubble of their house.

It wasn't that I was selfish or anything, but I had no desire to do any more rescuing. I'd leave that to professional rescuers. My stomach and my mind wouldn't be able to take any more graphic scenery.

A few minutes we heard the familiar sound of helicopter blades whirring above us. The white and red aircraft lowered a rescue net with a cot and a man in an orange vest and blue cap came sliding down.

After carried both of them up and flew away, I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Larry. I just thought of something."

"What?"

"What about Elijah, Micah, and Rebecca?"

He gasped. "The basement!"

"Wait, they have a basement?"

"Yeah, I just remember. Because once, when you and Lilia went down there I followed you to spy on you. But that's not important. I know in what part of the house it is."

Larry jumped over the debris and led me several feet to the northwest side of the house. He clawed at the bricks, wood, and plastic until he hit a metallic door. Even though the house had been of two-stories and well-sized, the blast was strong enough to leave only a thin layer of rubble with the floor directly beneath it.

Larry knocked on the door and yelled. "Anybody there? It's me, Larry. Is someone down there?"

The metal doors busted open, and Elijah walked out. I was almost stunned to see him. I guess it's because he was the first one I'd seen lately without severe or life-threatening injuries besides Larry and myself. Not that I was doing so hot myself. I still had the gunshot wound.

"Larry? Spiny?" He looked all around to see what was left of this home. "What happened?"

"Red Eyes. We were attacked. They almost destroyed the entire street. Where's Micah and Rebecca?"

"They're down," he pointed down the basement. "Where are my parents?"

Larry answered, probably knowing that I was in no condition to speak about that. "They were just taken by a medical helicopter to the hospital."

"Hospital? What? What's wrong with them?"

Larry took a deep breath. I guess this was taking a toll, even on him. "I'm going to be honest with you, Elijah. Your dad was in shock and he had a piece of wood impaled into his lower left leg."

I heard Elijah gasping.

"And your mom has a nasty gash on her forehead and somehow, her left hand was chopped off."

"Chopped off?! How? Who's done this? What about Lilia? Where's Lilia?"

"She had some gunshot wounds on her left arm and a severe burn injury on her back."

Then, Elijah did something I'd never expected out of the sarcastic, joker guy who would tease Lilia and me when we were together. His eyes flashed with rage and he made a lunge for me.

His grabbed my throat and started crushing my windpipe. "You did this! This is all your fault! You brought them here! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

Larry pulled him away from me and held him back. "Stop that, Elijah! This is nobody's fault! Spiny saved your sister from certain death. The Red Eyes and the IEO don't need a reason to murder and terrorize innocent people. Now, you and your siblings are coming with us down the Bunker. Lilia is being treated and Spiny also suffered a gunshot wound and has to be attended before he dies."

I know that he was saying all that to calm Elijah down. But everything started to race in my mind. What if I do die? What if Lilia's parents die? What if she dies? Then Elijah will be right. It will all be my fault.