Emilia's brain had stopped working and her body refused to move. One moment she had been thinking about her imminent departure from the facility, the next she is standing in front of rubble that was once the corridor to the bedrooms in her wing. Now instead of a long corridor or florescent lights, tile, and painted walls, there was a warzone. The ringing in her ears sounds distant, and even the knowledge that there had been a few people in their rooms seems unimportant.
A familiar voice nags at her mind and something disturbs her shoulder. Again, she hears the voice and whatever is disturbing her shoulder but ignores both. It's not until she's shaken that Emilia comes to.
"Are you hurt," the voice asks her. Looking around, Emilia sees that one of the male nurses is talking to her.
"I'm fine," Emilia replies, her voice not sounding like her own. "Nothing hit me."
"Good," the nurse says. "Get to the cafeteria so we can count rolls and then get everyone out safely."
He doesn't wait for Emilia as he runs off to find more survivors. She can hear other voices yelling as she walks slowly away from the now destroyed hallway. A moment later she finds herself running as another Earth-shattering crash shakes the building. The cafeteria is a cacophony of noises as facility workers try to keep patients calm while others do a count. Looking around, Emilia is unable to find Dr Mills. Already panicked, Emilia walks around the room and asks a few others if they had seen the psychologist.
"I saw her outside right before the crash," a facility worker says. Emilia doesn't hear the woman yell at her as she rushes out of the room and towards the exit. The normally locked door to the front door is slightly open and Emilia barges through without a second thought. Without stopping, she opens the front doors. There's a loud gasp that startles her until she realizes it was her own when she saw another piece of a building, this one looking like a chunk of a hotel, had crashed through the parking lot. Cars had been thrown everywhere and multiple cars are crushed under the rubble, including the familiar back bumper of Dr Mill's car.
A loud explosion comes from the town and pulls her attention towards the lake. Wiping away tears, Emilia sees a large bulge moving slowly before a low rumble crashes through her body. Her knees finally give out and she falls to ground, the rubble on the parking lot tearing into her jeans a bit. All the connections she had made over the last few weeks, and all of her possessions, are now gone. There's no way anyone in town survived whatever that is, especially if it's throwing buildings at will.
"Emilia, get in," a familiar voice says. Looking up in surprise, she sees Tam in her SUV a few feet away with the passenger side door open. Tam's wearing jeans and a heavy jacket and Emilia can see snow falling off the roof of the vehicle. Emilia hears Tam order her inside again before the older woman gets out and grabs her. Emilia tries to get up as Tam pulls her into the SUV, but her legs still feel weak. She can feel the woman pat her body, checking for any wounds. When she's done, Tam jumps into the driver's seat and races off.
"Yeah, I got her," Tam says a few minutes later, Kristin's face looking up at her from the cup holder. "We're halfway to Canandaigua. Where are you?"
"It took me longer than I expected to get my car and I had to drive around Geneva, but I'm just getting Alan now." Kristin's voice sounds scratchy and Tam wonders if a cell tower has been knocked down. She had seen smoke in the rearview mirror as she drove to get Emilia, but she's more concerned with getting away from Geneva. Canandaigua is only 20 miles away, not nearly far enough, but she needed somewhere to go and figure out what happens next. "I'll have Alan text you where to meet us on a bit," Kristin says before ending the call.
Tam slows down as she sees a state police check point. She can see that they're keeping people from going towards Geneva while waving people away from the town. It takes a few seconds to get through the checkpoint, at which time she looks over at Emilia, who has been quiet the entire time.
"Hey, are you hurt," she asks the still dazed woman. "Are you hungry or thirsty," she continues, trying to get Emilia to say anything. Failing, Tam shakes her head and speeds up, wanting to get somewhere she can sit down and check the news.
"You're Kristin," the man at the door asks. He looks unsure and his eyes flick from Kristin and Geneva in the distance. Being only five miles away, he can easily see the large creature slowly making its way through town, including the large objects being flung out of town.
"Yeah, Alan gave me the address," Kristin says as the man lets her in. He leads her upstairs and into the guest room where Alan is laying down. He doesn't look too bad, just a small cut on his forehead, but she knows his history of injury. Him saying he fucked up his back worries her. But she knows they have to get out of town.
"Thanks for helping him," she says to the couple, seeing the man's wife sitting next to Alan. "You need to get out of here," she continues to the couple but looking down at Alan. The woman has him laying down and Kristin doesn't know how she's going to move him. The woman, a nurse Kristin guesses, hesitates, but the man has already decided this. He gets his wife and the two get a few possessions before leaving.
"You aren't walking out of here, are you," Kristin says to Alan, who looks up at her sheepishly.
"Yeah, I walked in but the thought of moving hurts," Alan admits. "And they don't have a wheelchair. I asked."
"Well, glad we're about the same size," Kristin sighs, helping Alan to a sitting position before getting him onto her back. Her hands hold his thighs, and he wraps his arms around her shoulders, as she stands up and begins walking downstairs slowly. "You need to stop eating all those cheeseburgers," she teases him when she hears his groans of pain. He chuckles softly, knowing she's joking.
It takes them a few minutes to get to her car, banged up from the crash and being attacked by arrows and other weapons. Kristin opens the passenger door and helps him inside. She can see his legs moving, but also the grimace of pain that flits across his face. Closing the door, she rushes around and gets behind the wheel, starting the engine and racing off.
Kristin races to the south, staying off the main highway that hugs the long lake just in case anything else comes out from it. She mutters under her breath and looks at the rearview mirror more than she looks out in front of her. Alan groans as she hits a bump on the road, but neither of them speaks until they turn towards Watkins Glen.
"We need to figure out where to go," Kristin says as she slows down before entering the small town. It hasn't been attacked, but there are still damaged cars parked on the side of the road where survivors from Geneva had found a place to stop. A few of the restaurants have been turned into makeshift gathering points, with a few people camped out in front of them.
"Where are the others," Alan asks, looking at the people who had made it from Geneva. The people he can see have minor injuries if any at all. All have the same confused and scared look on their faces.
"Tam has Emilia with her in Canandaigua," she answers. "The boys were already in Rochester and have probably already seen the news." She finds Schuyler Hospital and turns into the emergency room parking lot before cursing as they sheer number of victims that made it to Watkins Glen becomes apparent. Being one of the nearest hospitals in the area, this was one of the first places people had fled to. As such, the hospital had turned half of the parking lot into a makeshift triage. She parks as close as she can and kills the engine.
"I'll be right back," she tells Alan as she gets out and jogs to an orderly. It takes her a few minutes to find a nurse who wasn't actively looking at a patient. He couldn't be more than a resident, but she didn't care.
"I have a possible spinal injury in my car," she tells the nurse, startling him by her harsh tone. He looks up and sputters. It sounds like he's about to argue, but Kristin stops him. "Spinal injury. It's been more than an hour, possibly three. Male, early thirties. Let's go!" She practically drags the man to her car and grabs a wheelchair along the way. At the car, the resident begins checking Alan and Kristin walks off to the sidewalk, keeping the two in her sights but needing to sit.
"You're bleeding," someone says to Kristin a few minutes later. She looks up to find an older nurse looking down at her. "I can see some blood on the sidewalk behind you."
Kristin looks back in confusion and sees the blood for herself. She hadn't felt any pain but as she starts patting her back, she remembers being hit in the back through a bush hours ago. She slips off her jacket and can feel it and her shirt begin to tug against her. Holding her jacket in front of her, Kristin can see a tear where she had been hit, and a line of blood.
"Let's get you checked out," the nurse says, helping Kristin up and leading her towards the main triage area. She looks over at Alan and sees him being led away on a stretcher.
Tam and Emilia find the McDonald's in Canandaigua packed with dazed and confused people. A building that could probably only seat 80 people safely now has nearly double that as people who rushed out of Geneva but weren't hurt try to figure out what to do and where to go. Tam curses under her breath and mutters a few other choice words. It's less that the people are there and more that she is annoyed she thought Canandaigua wouldn't be crowded. Looking at Emilia, she apologizes and continues driving, fighting to get into the right turn lane. She cuts off a few cars who blare their horns at her, but she ignores them as she turns onto the highway and rushes north.
It's another ten minutes before Tam drives into Manchester and finds the McDonald's there completely dead, but open. She parks and grabs her bag from the back seat before getting out. Emilia's face has become less pale, but her body is shaking. Tam can hear the woman's hand against her leg and wraps an arm around her.
"We're safe for the moment," Tam whispers to Emilia as they walk into the restaurant. "We'll get something to eat and figure out what to do next," she promises and walks up to the self-serve register.
"A large monster suddenly showed up in a small town outside of Rochester, NY, a few hours ago," a male voice says over the TV. The image of the massive creature smashing a block of buildings splashed across the screen. "It's been on a rampage ever since. There are also reports of strange two-legged creatures attacking people with crossbows and swords. Local police have been unable to stop the onslaught and are now trying to evacuate the town and keep the situation contained."
The two women look at the TV and see their town little more than a smoking warzone. A moment later, they hear the yell of the reporter as they watch a vehicle rush through the air towards them. It misses only due to the pilot's ability behind the stick. The camera follows the vehicle until it crashes into the ground below and the helicopter flies away from Geneva. As it does, the camera finds an Air National Guard fighter jet from Syracuse streaking towards the town from the other side. Tam shakes her head, needing to focus on other issues; like getting food and figuring out where the best place to go is. She orders and takes Emilia to a booth to wait for their food.
"How are you so calm," Emilia asks, finally finding her voice. "This is crazy! A giant thing is throwing shit and killing people. Human-like creatures are doing the same according to the news. And you're getting us food?!"
Tam smiles softly, maybe a bit patronizingly she thinks, and then, "I am freaked out, Emilia. I just saw my home destroyed. But I'm focused on surviving. Getting us somewhere safe is my priority. If I get there, then I can break down. Speaking of," she says, trailing off and opening her bag to take out a laptop. "I need to see where we can go."
Emilia isn't fully convinced, but she does calm some. Watching Tam keep her cool helps. The older woman is keeping something back, but Emilia decides not to push further. Mostly because her stomach takes that moment to grumble at her. Tam orders her food and then steps to the side to allow Emilia to order what she wants. When the two finish, Tam swipes her debit card and pays before they go to sit down.
Tam sits down and sets up her laptop up, leaving Emilia to her own devices. She didn't even look up ten minutes later when the worker came over with their food. Emilia thanks the older man and then jumps as Tam exclaims. She can't read the expression on Tam's face, but she can tell it's not great.