Chapter 8: Brace for impact
The huge ball of fire was shooting towards us, its flames illuminating the terrified faces of the teens below. "Everybody to the development chambers" yelled Owen Hind, carrying a stretcher, "hurry, hurry". I ran along to the door, holding it open for everybody. "Get in, quick" I urged at the mass of kids. Just then, I noticed something in the corner of the field. Finn! I thought, he must have collapsed when he saw the meteorite.
I ran over to him, and put him in the recovery position. "What..." he mumbled. "Help" I yelled out. I heard footsteps behind me. "Finn" Michael shouted, limping over to him. Jess, Morgan and Autumn arrived too. "What are you doing here, you could get killed" I hissed. "Duh? We're helping you" Jess replied, sarcastic even in this situation. "Umm... you might want to know that the Meteorite is very, very close now" Morgan squeaked, looking up. "Oh well" I replied, "We still have a few minutes". Jess stared above me. "More like a few seconds" she gulped. I turned around, and then stopped.
Suddenly, a huge boom shook the earth, and sent us flying. I hit the ground hard, landing on my shoulder. I grimaced in pain, and then saw the destruction. The whole field was ablaze, and a whole wall of the lodge was demolished, the rubble flying everywhere. There was no sign of the other COLA'S and staff. Hopefully they got to safety in time, I thought.
I looked around. All of my friends were sprawled around, in similar expressions of pain as me. I tried to lift myself up to get to them, but collapsed, writhing in agony. My shoulder was sticking out weirdly, leaving my left arm floppy and useless. I saw Autumn hobbling over to me, and then a cool relief as she started healing me. I jumped up, amazed that I now felt no pain, and started to help the others away from the encroaching fire. Just then, I noticed something. "Where's Jess" I asked Michael. He frowned. "I have no idea" he told me, then winced and held his chest. Finn stood up, his ear bleeding heavily. "We need to get to safety quickly so we can find her" he told me. I shook my head. "I'll stay here, you go on and get to safety" I said. Morgan ran over, her arm bleeding. "No, you'll die" she yelled. "Go, I'll be fine" I lied.
Morgan nodded, slowly. "Okay, but if you die, I'll never forgive you" she warned, and then struggled off towards the lodge. I started to search the area, painfully aware of how close the fire was getting. I was starting to feel weaker. Only until I looked down did I realise why. My leg had been cut open, and lots of blood was gushing out. I suddenly realised that if it didn't stop bleeding soon, I would probably die. I limped over to the hall, which luckily wasn't far. Inside was a basic medical kit. After bandaging myself up, I decided to take the whole kit with me, just in the case of Jess being injured when I found her. With a sudden pang of realisation, I had the terrible thought of not finding Jess, or at least not until it was too late. I shook my head. Think positive, I thought.
I ran over to where she had been before the Meteorite had crashed, and then stopped. On a bush nearby, was a tiny snag of Jess's top, wet with fresh blood. I sunk down to my knees, crying at the sky, now covered with smoke and ash. Why her, I asked, why not me? Suddenly, a bright light cut through the smoke, and I turned away because it was hurting my eyes. Now, I wasn't religious, but at this point I was seriously starting to think this was some kind of god or deity who was going to trade my life for Jess's. I tried to run away, but I was frozen to the spot. Still, I knew I had to take a look at the thing that would kill me.
I carefully looked up, shielding my eyes. There was a huge golden orb floating towards me, forming light that turned red as I watched. Just as I thought it couldn't get any weirder, it shot out a plume of pure light, so blinding that I yelled out in pain. The light started to move towards the bush, and I quickly ran over to grab that bit of Jess's top, then dived out the way as the light hit the bush, causing it to explode. Suddenly, there was a rustling, and the light retreated, carrying a body. I didn't realise if it was alive or dead until it started screaming in terror. I froze. I knew that scream all too well.
Jess turned around, trying to grab something, when she spotted me. "Help" she yelled. I tried to pull her back with my telekinesis, but the orb was too strong. I collapsed onto the grass, panting for breath. The last thing I saw Jess do was give me a despairing look, and then she disappeared, moments before the whole orb went too. Just before I blacked out, something fell beside me. I only had time to tuck it into my pocket before I fell into unconsciousness.
The fire closed in...