The orbs vanished into thin air as Anna was being dragged towards of Little Pete in the middle of the street by her clothes and her hair. She collapsed onto the road in a sudden heap and gasped, scrambling onto her hands and knees to turn and see where Little Pete had been but he was gone too. No ash, no oil, no blood, no nothing. He was just gone. Edilio, who had been running her way trying to save her after he heard her screams, had come to a sudden stop as the creature and orbs blinked out in the exact same way that all the adults had.
Edilio hesitated for a moment as his mind began to work out what he had just seen, then he forced his feet to hurry over to Anna, grabbing her hands and helping her back onto her feet. He helped brush her down from where she had been dragged through the dirt as gently as he could, holding her hand. Her knees were bleeding and her elbows and hands were red and scraped raw with little white flakes of skin just barely clinging on. She was shaking, pale and still sobbing loudly at nothing. Edilio hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and waiting a moment before he pulled back and looked at her.
"I have to find Roger." Edilio said to her, hearing the tremors in his own voice but ignoring them. "Once I've found him we'll all get out of here, I promise."
"Okay." Anna sobbed and sat down on the side, weeping. She seemed to have just given up. He didn't want to leave her like this but he needed to find Roger!
Turning he ran in the last direction he saw Roger go to before they were all split apart and began to call his name aloud. He somehow didn't feel worried, sure that they were safe now that Little Pete had vanished. A part of him vaguely wondered if he was just making himself invisible with some unknown power but the rest of Edilio was sure he was gone. Instinct told him he was gone.
It didn't take long for Roger to hear him shouting his name considering how quiet the whole street was. At first he rushed with his heart skipping beats, slamming open the door thinking Edilio was in danger, but then as he left the house he didn't hear panic, just a bit of fear which was understandable after everything that had happened to them. Roger hurried down, shivering and embarrassed that he had wet himself but still not caring as he needed to see Edilio was okay first.
"Edilio!" He called when he saw him running towards the house from the opposite end of the street.
The two collided into a hug and clung to one another for a moment, panting and shaking but alive. Being alive was all that mattered.
"Are you okay?" Edilio croaked.
"Yeah, what happened? Where's the bird? Is Anna okay?" Roger asked quickly.
"We're not really sure but the birds gone. Anna's okay, she was almost caught when the bird and his orb things disappeared like when adults or a fifteen year old did back in the FAYZ." Edilio explained.
"What? Why?" Roger gasped.
"No idea. Let's get back to Anna. She's pretty terrified." Edilio said taking his arm and leading him back to where Anna still sat crying on the ground.
"Anna..." Roger said and sat down beside her, hugging her. Edilio sat down on the other side and put his arm over her shoulders.
They sat there for a long time, just comforting one another. Edilio and Roger had somehow got themselves back together but Anna hadn't been in the FAYZ long enough to see real horrific monsters and have her life risked on a daily basis like they were. She was a lot more new to this than they were and it took her a few minutes before she calmed down long enough for them both to pick her up and half carry her from the streets.
They had no idea where everyone else was. Sam's phone wouldn't work and no one else was answering. And even if they did find them, what if they were still fighting mutated animals? They would have no idea how to help them while so injured. So instead they began to head back to the apartment, ignoring pointed looks from those that noticed Anna sobbing between them.
The three of them were stopped once by a group of angry men who seemed to think Roger and Edilio were kidnapping her. It took ten minutes of Anna assuring them they weren't while still in tears. Luckily they seemed to buy the excuse Edilio gave about her brother dying and how she had just found out. They claimed they needed to get her back to her parents and hurried her along, trying to be quick and comforting at the same time the whole way back.
For the entire walk they all wondered the same question. What happened to the mutated animal version of Little Pete?
G*O*N*E
Astrid, Sam and most of the innocent people that were still making a break for the exit, were all watching Gaia approach, screaming and rushing away in fear. Most of them just ran, not wanting to look back but a few somehow managed to move while never taking their eyes off of her when she blinked out. There were quite a few people still hiding in various places where Astrid hadn't gotten too yet that also kept their eyes on her when she vanished. Sam forced himself to sit up and shouted at Astrid to look out when Gaia vanished in a blink before his eyes. He had noticed but it didn't register at first and he kept shouting for a second longer than he needed to. When he realised she was gone he looked around in case it was a trick she was pulling to attack them. While Astrid and the a few other people had also screamed but their screams had cut off dead when Gaia disappeared and they also looked around as if trying to find where she had vanished too.
Finally Astrid told them to leave now and ran over to Sam's side where he was struggling to stand on his feet with one broken leg. The bystanders wasted no time and ran for the doors once more, hurrying down the stairs and out the doors where many other people were still waiting for them. Astrid wrapped her arms around Sam gently, hugging him and kissing his cheek in pure relief before she focused on what was happening. They needed to get him out of here... She began to maneuver him where the other people were leaving slowly. Now that she was gone everyone was running for the exit again, taking the chance without Gaia to all make a break for the exit and to safety. Astrid hesitated, wanting to get Sam out before anything else happened or before Gaia came back but if she tried to pull him so badly injured through a crowd so angry like they were then it could only make things worse for him.
"Astrid... What happened... Where did she go?" Sam gasped, still looking around for Gaia to come back.
"I don't know." Astrid gasped, shivering. "She vanished. Can she teleport? Why would she teleport, I thought she was going to attack me."
"So did I..." Sam frowned.
"We need to get out of here while we can." Astrid hissed, she glanced over and pulled Sam to the nearest elevator. No one was using them for obvious reasons but it didn't look broken and it seemed to be the easy way to get Sam downstairs and out the door.
It was sticky with blue floors and walls and bright lights. They stepped inside and Astrid pressed the button, waiting for the silver doors to close and tried not to shift so much at the horrible sounds under her soles. It felt like someone had dropped gum and movie coke all on the floor and no on had bothered to clean it up. When it dropped to the lower level Astrid began to pull Sam from the lift. He moved quickly enough but the more time passed the more anger and tension left him so he recognized the pain in his body again.
He could easily ignore his broken arm which lay limp by his side even when forced to sway occasionally but his broken leg was forced to take a constant step when he couldn't hop along clinging to Astrid. And then there were the many cuts from going through glass, bruises from being thrown around and stomped on, and the tiredness told him he had some kind of a concussion.
"Come on, we need to get you to a hospital." Astrid gasped.
"There are ambulances outside." A voice came.
They both jumped and looked up to see the elder man again. He was shivering and his voice was rough, but he was still going and carefully began to help Sam along outside with the rest of the people.
"Thank you..." Sam nodded.
"No problem, let's just get you out of here. There are ambulances outside, someone called them and the police so they'll definitely look at you." The man explained.
Luckily, because Sam was slowing them down, by the time they got out the people had thinned and they were among the lasts.
"Over here." The man said, taking Sam to one of the many ambulances that had been called.
Outside they couldn't see much farther because of the large crowd and vehicles that blocked their view and they could barely hear each other over the talking, screaming, crying and sirens that echoed throughout the air.
Suddenly a set of people rushed over and grabbed Astrid and Sam. They were obviously gentle and careful but still their hands hurt against the bruises and they were in such a rush they couldn't help but be pushy. They pulled the two of them towards the nearest ambulance to check them over. Astrid shouted and tried to reach for Sam but they took him away from her reach. Sam lashed out at the men around him and tried to get up when they forced him down again. He looked and saw quite a few people were seriously injured but not nearly as many as Sam worried there might be. Some of them missed limbs, others just burned and hurt with broken limbs and bruises from being stomped on like Astrid. The worst were bandaged up now or were being put into separate vehicles that were no doubt taking them back to the hospitals.
Sam caught one last glimpse of Astrid managing to get up and run over to him before the concussion won - or maybe they had given him a shot of some kind - and he slipped under into darkness.
G*O*NE
Her vision just darkened when the Sekhmet vanished along with her hold. One moment she felt her hand tighten firmly around her throat and the next she was free and could breath again. She gasped and every breath hurt and burned like she was swallowing the fire around her. Lana rolled onto her stomach, coughing and shivering. She focused on breathing while part of her mind wondered what happened to the Sekhmet.
Had it found something else interesting? Did it think Lana was dead? Had Taylor or someone else come in and saved her?
She pushed herself up and looked around but it was hard to see through the fire and the smoke that surrounded her, and she was still trying to breath. She squinted but it didn't look like there was anyone else in the room with her. She coughed and gasped, breathing slowly to calm herself and began to crawl towards the doorway, trying not to breath in anymore of the smoke but still needed to gasp. She could see the light shining from the outside and swallowed back a nasty tinge in her mouth when she breathed in the smoke while choking. Lana hit a dead body, Ben's? Or someone else? She didn't know and at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care.
Lana crawled over and around three bodies before she reached the door, still coughing and shivering from the horrible smoke taste that filled her mouth and her nose. Her arms hurt from burn marks where the fireworks had scratched up her arm and peeled back some of her skin. It all hurt, her throat, her stomach, her head, her neck and her arms. Even her knees from where she was crawling across the hard floor hurt.
When she finally reached the door she felt her mind growing crowded and she thought she might collapse seconds before entering the fresh air. She pushed open the door only an inch with her head, slipping like that was as far as she was going to get when the door opened and a golden Taylor appeared, reaching down and grabbing her hand pulling her out of the building. She turned and threw Lana down onto the ground where she coughed and gasped for clean fresh breaths of air. Outside a pair of police officers who had been keeping an eye on the building saw them and immediately rushed over seconds before Taylor vanished again.
The officers had to keep watch because no one could go in and they had no idea why or what was going on. They were seconds away from calling the army today when Lana fell to the ground pulled by a strange golden girl. The officers quickly called for an ambulance and began to help her breath as best as they could.
Lana glanced over at the building, steadily burning, and back over to where Taylor had been. But she had already left.
G*O*N*E
The pain in Connie's body was excruciating and she couldn't bring herself to move for a few moments before she realised that the fox was not attacking her again. Her fear slipped back just enough for her to realize this and force her body to do as it was told. Somehow she managed to twist her body around onto her side and looked back to where the fox had been a few moments early but it was not there. Derek had stuck his head out from under the building to watch but only after the fox had disappeared and froze, wondering if the fox was now watching him somewhere and waiting to attack.
"Where'd it go?" Connie gasped, forcing herself up despite the pain. She didn't know if she was asking herself or trying to ask Derek.
Derek didn't hear her anyway, he was frozen too far away, waiting for the next attack to come. They waited, all of them in pure silence for the next ten long minutes before Jill finally grew tired of being quiet and began to moan loudly in pain again. Something was definitely broken and she wanted to move and stretch back into place that would make the pain stop. Derek tensed but even with Jill shouting the fox didn't come for them again. Finally Connie stood, limping and wincing from the pain and making her way back over to them.
"What happened?" Derek asked, pulling Jill out of the rubble and ignoring her sobs of pain because he knew there was nothing he could do for her but get her out from under a broken house.
"I don't know..." Connie whispered, getting Emily. "We need to call an ambulance."
Derek nodded, still watching for the fox but they were alone now. He reached down and hugged his sister, whispering to her that it would be okay. They were safe, for now.
G*O*N*E
Diana cried even after Dekka came to find her. Dekka had been flattening the hydra when it had disappeared, she had been lifting a car in the air to drop it on his head in hopes to confuse it but when the hydra disappeared so did her powers and the car dropped to the ground, almost hitting her. She somehow managed to jump to the side and landed hard on the ground, scratching her elbow and smacking her head on the sidewalk. The car hit the ground and broke apart, snapping at the force of the fall. A part of the metal door missed Dekka's head by inches and she lay frozen for a few moments until she was sure that nothing else was going to come flying her way.
She shivered and stood up, looking around as if the hydra might come back but at the same time she knew it wouldn't. The way it had blinked out was too similar. Dekka knew blinking out was a one way permanent ride, no return tickets. Still she was nervous and stood in silence, listening to the sound of a weak car alarm before it finally faded, there were still screams from far off and the sound of a police siren was echoing through the air but other than that there were no inhuman roars from a crazy monster. And then Dekka heard something else coming from much closer than the sirens or the screaming.
Turning around she walked towards the building where Diana and Caine had vanished into just a few moments before. She walked slowly at first, as if in a dream world or still in shock from what happened but then the sirens began to penetrate. They were coming closer to this spot where the hydra had been last and she knew they had to get out of here. That was when she broke into a run. At first she couldn't find them because Diana was hidden in the living room behind the door out of sight but when she did Dekka froze mid step.
Diana was curled up into a ball on the floor, hunched over with her face against the wooden floorboards, hands clenched into fists and knees pulled in tight. Her hair covered the most of her face but Dekka didn't need to see her. She could hear the screams ripping through her throat and the sobs that broke through occasionally as she gasped to breath in between them. Dekka hesitated and took a step towards of her but then stopped when she stepped into something sticky on the ground. Looking down she blinked to see the same oil ash that was still staining her face and the inside of her mouth.
"What the..." Dekka whispered and looked around but Caine was nowhere to be seen.
Diana sobbed loudly and her fists slammed against the ground, banging hard enough to leave bloody bruises all along her knuckles. She screamed loud enough that Dekka jumped and momentarily forgot about the police sirens heading their way. Ducking down onto the ground by her side, Dekka slowly reached to touch her shoulder.
"Diana, what happened?" Dekka asked, having to raise her voice to be heard over her screaming.
She screamed and sobbed in response, finally lifting her head to bury it in Dekka's shoulder and wrap her arms around her. Dekka blinked, not knowing what to do. After a moment she awkwardly put her arms around her. Diana didn't care who it was, she just needed to cry into someone and have them hold her for a moment. Of course Dekka wasn't a hugging type and after a few uncomfortable pats on the back she ran out of ideas on what she was supposed to do for her. They were very different people. Dekka's saddest moment was when Brianna died and all Dekka wanted was to be left alone...
When Brianna died...
Her saddest moment was when the one she loved died...
"Where's Caine?" Dekka whispered. When Diana didn't hear her she repeated it louder. "Diana, where is Caine?!"
The shrieking sobs confirmed it.
"Did an animal attack him?" Dekka asked, looking over at the oil and ash. "Did an animal kill him, Diana?"
She cried in response. Dekka sighed, trying to think of another way when the sirens kicked back in only this time they were close... They were right outside.
"Shit! Diana! We have to go!" Dekka hissed, standing and pulling a heavy Diana up onto her feet.
Diana sobbed and swayed on her feet. She didn't run even when Dekka tried to drag her away from the window where the police cars were now visible. There were at least four that she could see of and half a dozen officers who were all looking annoyed and confused as they paced outside. Dekka grit her teeth and pulled Diana hard, dragging her away from the window, through the ash and oil puddle which seemed to just make her sob even louder but thankfully her cries were drowned out by the sirens still blaring outside.
After a moment of pulling Dekka managed to get Diana out the bathroom and stumbling through the garden. Somehow Diana seemed to come to her senses long enough to climb over a fence and run down the street before she had to collapse against a wall again. She had stopped screaming now but the sobs still came and so did sharp breath as she struggled to breath. It was frightening listening to her wheeze and gasp like that and Dekka stepped up beside her, wishing she could help but instead watched in silence until Diana had it under control.
"What happened, Diana?" Dekka demanded.
Diana sobbed in response.
"Diana!" Dekka snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What happened?! What happened to Caine?!"
"He... He..." Diana sobbed, looking at Dekka. "He... He's the reason... All this happened so-so-so he asked me to... to... T-to kill him." She collapsed to the ground once more.
Dekka stared at her, unable to think of anything to say. Finally she reached, hooking her arm through Diana's and leading her back towards the apartment. They would get the rest of the answers when Diana had calmed down and when everyone was back together again.
46) How do you think you guys would do in the FAYZ and in this little after-FAYZ story?
One more chapter, then it is done!
