Flares - Book 1

1.0 - Pull Me Out

—- A/N: if you want to cry listen to Trainwreck my James Arthur on a loop while reading this chapter—-

"Alex sat in the passenger seat, he had tissues in his glove box, using them to wipe off his hands from the blood. Klara held onto the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles were bruised and bloody as she watched forward, racing to get to her home. Alex didn't clean off her hands, only cleaning off the dashboard from her blood. Any other day he'd scold her, for not only attacking his jeep but for also hurting herself. But he understood why she did it so instead he glanced at her hands, looking over the broken skin and discolour.
"Stop looking at me." She mumbled.
"I'm just making sure you're okay."
"Mentally or physically, because I don't think either of us have the time or energy to unpack all of that."
"You're right," He sighed, defeated. "It was stupid."
"Are we going to talk about what you saw? There's no way you only saw debris-"
"Klara, no. We're not talking about it."
"If you think it's because I can't handle it-"
"No!" He yelled before inhaling deeply, composing himself. "If I'm being honest you definitely wouldn't be able to handle it.... because I can't." His voice cracked as she glanced at him.
"I'm sorry... I just-"
"John was alive, he looked at me and shook his head." He whispered, his eyes bulged as he looked back on it. "I don't know why he shook his head, if he was telling me to turn around, to lose hope, or telling me dad was gone, but he shook his head."
"Do you think Michelle is okay?" She asked, formalities being thrown out of the window. "Brody, Evan, Tom, Ivy?"
"We can only really hope right now." He sighed. "Just drive to the house and we'll go from there."
Klara complained, a solemn silence falling between the two as she swerved through the street, avoiding broken rubble and abandoned cars. Alarms blared in the distance, she looked around as she saw people crying on the streets, the first people they'd seen in a while, Klara wanted to stop, offer them some help or comfort, but as Alex grasped her wrist and shook his head, she knew to keep driving. It was good her and Alex were together at least, he kept her from sacrificing herself at the risk of others, putting their safety above her own as she did in any situation, and she kept him grounded, as long as he had someone to protect he wouldn't abandon his humanity, leaving everyone to die as he fought to survive.
It was like when they were little, she would play princess dress up on the weekends, their parents were the queen and king, Alex was her knight and Tom was the prince. Bruce laughed about, joking that their roles perfectly depicted their personalities. Klara; the princess who put her people first, Alex; the great protector, and Tom; the one who will do what's right and lead them to victory. The three of them together were an unbeatable team; the brain, the heart, and the guts.
The siblings had to hold in their smiles, too scared to celebrate as they saw their houses standing, untouched by the chaos around with Brody's car parked in the driveway, he and Evan exiting their houses. They stopped the car, not bothering to pull up to the driveways as they both climbed out, they couldn't contain their excitement as they ran over.
"Did you guys see our mom or dad?" Evan's question pulled their mood back down. The siblings stopped, a solemn look on their face as they froze.
"Klara?" Brody asked slowly.
"I-I'm so-"
"We need to leave! It's not safe." Alex cut her off, his hand grazing her back, comfortingly, if anyone was going to tell them the news, it would be him, he didn't want her to bare it.
"You know something, what?" Evan asked, but before either of them could answer Brody placed a hand on her shoulder, an unspoken conversation between the boys, Brody knew.
"Where's Tom then?" He asked, moving to his car.
"There's this girl we met, he went back to get her." Klara answered, she moved to step forward when the ground started to shake again.
Klara yelled out, Alex held her arm tightly as he pulled her back. Brody grabbed Evan's hand pulling her into a fast run as they ran to their friends. Alex stood still, Klara tried to fight his grip as she attempted to run to Brody. The panicked look on his face scaring her more than the tears streaming down Evan's cheeks. Klara threw herself against Alex's hold, and if she'd calm down she might have seen the ground falling behind her friends. "NO!" She screamed out as she watched them fall in front of her, their panicked faces contorting to ultimate fear as their fates were realized and they disappeared from klara' line of sight. She should be grateful, Alex all but saved her life, she couldn't hate him, he couldn't have saved him, but as the shaking stopped, the edge only a few feet away she turned to her brother, her pained fists flying to his chest.
"Klara-" he whispered as she cried, but he didn't grab her, he didn't stop her. Someone needed to pay for what happened and that was his cross to bear for the time being.
"No! I could have saved them! I-i could have grabbed them a-and-"
"Klara- Klara, stop."
"N-no, I could have done something! W-we all could ha-have lived! If you'd just let me go!" She hiccuped, sobbing loudly as her arms went limp, her lip quivered and her head ached as she tried to stop herself from crying, if she didn't stop, she was scared that's all she'd ever do.
"No, Klara-NO!" He grabbed her arms, looking her in the eye, he wanted to cry, he wanted to mourn his friends, but knowing how she'd react to him breaking forced himself to hold it in. "You had no chance of saving them, neither of us did, there was just not enough time. If I'd let you go you would be with them. It's not safe here, we need to go."
She nodded slightly, Tom was still gone, and they still had to get ivy and go to their camp. They still need to survive, she stood up slowly, her legs shook as she did. There would be time to mourn those who she lost, but that time wasn't now. Alex held her hand tightly, he didn't want to lose her as they started running to the jeep, an, maybe if they'd have been sooner in arriving, or even quicker at leaving their homes behind the ground wouldn't be cracking under their feet.
Alex ran, pushing his legs to the limit and almost dragging Klara as she tried to catch up, he wasn't going to give up, not with her and not with himself. He could hear the earth shatter behind them, taking the other houses on their street down as they attempted to out run it, but the cracks pulled further ahead than they could catch up. They fell, Klara closed her eyes, waiting for contact with the debris,pulling her from her home and existance in one swift motion -if she was lucky. But, Alex wasn't going to give up that easy, he was more stubborn than Klara and he was a quick thinker. It seems that luck was on his side in that moment, a streetlight was sticking from rocks, holding firm with an advantage to support the siblings, so, with one hand held firmly to his sisters, he locked onto the post, holding firm under the weight of their plummet. He looked downwards, a deep abyss under them, and yet, he started laughing.
"Son of a bitch," He smirked, "Klara, open your eyes."
Klara looked up to him, she was swinging in his hold as he smiled up at her and in that moment everything her dad had ever told her about him made sense; Alex was the greatest protector. He pulled his arm up, grateful for his obsession with working out as he pulled her so her hands could lock onto the pole beside him.
"We're alive?" She gawked at him, he nodded.
"I promised mom and dad I'd keep you safe, and looks like the universe agrees with me."
"Couldn't the universe just spared all of us?" His smile faltered at her question, but he let out a breathy chuckle at her smile.
"Alright smart ass, do you see a way out of here?" He rolled his eyes before cocking his head around the space that they were. Klara followed his eyes, looking over every detail she knew he was missing, while he was a quick thinker, Alex wasn't very observant. Her eyes locked on the rock formation above them, it was just big enough to fit two of them and it was close enough to the top that if Alex hoisted her, she could climb the rest of the way.
"All we gotta do is go up," She smiled as she turned back to him.
"Well, lead the way, princess." Klara was grateful as she swung herself across the pole, grateful that in a time like this her brother was by her side and he was able to make her smile, lord knows if he didn't, she would be panicking. Alex followed her closely, his hands coated in a thin layer of sweat - iconic given that it was -12 degrees outside- and his grip was slipping the longer he held.
"Think you can pull yourself up onto the pole?" He asked, attempting to cover up the strain in his voice.
"Yeah," She nodded, mostly telling herself that. She swung on the. Pole, only stopping once it started to move with her. "Alex-"
"Don't stop, be quick, but keep going."
She took a deep breath, bracing herself as she pushed her weight swinging herself so that her leg was over the post, she steadied herself before lifting the rest of her body onto the pole. She rose to her feet, attempting to center her breathing, "It's just like snowboarding" she whispered to herself, looking forward.. "If the snowboard was a pole, and the pole was over a deadly canyon that would swallow me whole in seconds."
"Don't sike yourself out, you got this." Alex encouraged her, he was watching the pole slip slightly, he could see the end peaking through the rocks, he was foolish if he thought the pole would last much longer, let alone survive his weight once she climbs off. So, he prepared for the worst, she was in her head, and if he played his cards right he would be able to say the things he wanted without scaring her. "Yeah, that's it, I'm so proud of you, honestly, you are the most amazing person."
She let out a breathy chuckle, she tried to grab a rock above but her hand slipped off, "You flatter me, Alex, the best big brother I could ask for." She whispered, grunting as she reached for another rock, she might as well say it now, in case she slips off her place. "I love you, you know that right?"
"Are you giving up on me, little Beckett?" He laughed at his own use of their old nicknames and she knew he was thinking the same.
"Never, big Beckett, but if I screw up one step here, I don't want our last conversation to be you encouraging me, and me failing." She tried to pull herself up, stopping to take a deep breath, her eyes started to water. "So please, just tell me you love me, in case this is the last time."
Alex frowned, she wouldn't be able to tell that the pole is falling more now that only a foot rested on it, and while she was scared for herself, she was good at rock climbing and Alex knew in his heart she was going to be okay. Even though he wasn't going to make it out, she would and he'd have died doing the one thing that brought him peace in his life, he protected his sister to the end. So, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, he let his tears escape him as he forced a quick smile. "Of course I love you, loving you is by far the easiest thing I've ever done, now get up there baby sis, because if you don't I'll kick your ass."
Klara laughed as she pulled the rest of her weight on the ledge, crawling up so she could  stand. She faced the wall, looking up to the ledge just out of reach, her smile wide as she did. "Alex! It's right there!" She laughed as she turned to look at him.
He was gone, no, he wasn't. Her mind raced as she stared into his eyes, her chest heaved as his remains still; her heart ached as his had a piece of metal through it; her lip quivered as his was blood covered; her voice broke as she screamed for him, calling out to the man who wouldn't get to respond. The magnitude on her voice bounced through the rocks, shaking the ground beneath her as she fell to her knees, her fingers digging hard into the rock, the sand causing her nails to bleed. Her vision blurred from the tears in her eyes as she looked at him. She thought about how he explained dealing with loss, and how she lost her will to fight after her parents, she wasn't losing her will this time, more so, she had no way to get out. He was gone, and she was left in the canyon, alone, with no way to survive.
She shook her head, pushing herself against the wall, her knees to her chest. She couldn't stop her body from shaking, the day passing through her mind, endlessly, over and over again as she pulled at the roots of her hair. She screamed, she didn't scream at anyone in particular, she just looked to the sky as she released her voice out to the air, maybe someone would hear her, maybe they'd help, or they'd just assume she was already a lost cause and they were better off running in the opposite direction.
"Now, get up there, baby sis, because if you don't I'll kick your ass." Alex's words echoed her head, the only thing she could hear anymore. She nodded, hoping, if there was a God, and a Heaven and Hell that he was sent to heaven so he could watch her.
"Okay." She exhaled deeply, her voice shook as she looked to the sky. "I don't know how to do this, I don't remember. But, if there is a God, you took just about my whole family, my mom, my dad, Brody, Evan, Alex. I mean, I don't even know if Tommy is alive-" She stopped, her eyes widening as she realized, if Tom was alive, he'd come to find her. "So, please, don't take Tommy. Don't take him until I see him, if you are going to kill me too, at least let me see him first. But if you're going to let at least one of us live, please let it be him! He's already been through so much in his life, he deserves a second chance at a better one. I-I'm not ready to die."
The. Ground rumbled lightly in the distance causing her to squeeze her eyes shut, clutching the ground. "God, please! I'm not ready to die, please don't let Alex die for nothing, he'd never forgive himself if I died like this! I have to live, I need to live with Tommy, and Ivy, they have no family and now I don't either, so we need to be a family, PEASE!"
She listened, the sound of a car driving down the road, it suddenly stopped, the doors slamming, she shot her eyes open, standing to her feet. "Help! Please, I-Is someone there?" A hand reached down, their body leaning over the edge, she sobbed at the sight. Tom held an assured smile on his lips as he looked down to her.
"I'm here, I got you." He whispered out as she reached up to grab him, the ground falling from under here as she stretched up.