Chaos 76 [COMPLETE]

Chapter 4

The building rumbled around us and the windows shattered. The blast was so loud that my ears rung and I was so disoriented that I could barely see.

"Madalyn!" I heard a voice shout to me. I didn't know who it was until he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Look at me." His voice sounded distant as if he wasn't there. Was I even there? My head pounded, trying to grasp what was going on. "Madalyn, listen, we need to get out."

My mind cleared and I realized I was lying on the floor, half propped up by Jack's arms. I started panicking when I remembered what was happening. The apocalypse has begun. I was freaking out, but the adrenaline rush focused my attention on survival. "You need to get out of here." He propped me into a sitting position and I noticed Alex, with a bleeding gash on his forehead, lying next to Jack. London was nowhere to be seen. The building was crumbling quickly, and pretty soon it would collapse. The safest choice would be to get out as soon as possible, so I was guessing that's what Jack made London do. Her safety always came first. But of course I would stay with Jack, we would stay together until we were both out of that building safely. "London's already gone, so go find her. I need to take care of Alex. I need you to go without us or else..." his sentence faltered, "Just go."

"Wait, what?! What on earth are you talking about?" I scolded him.

"Get out of here. I can't have you dying on me."

I stood up. "Jack! I can't believe you!" I screamed. "Do you really think that I would ever leave you here to die?! How could you think I would ever in a million years leave you?" I was furious.

He looked at me with genuine concern. "I'm begging you. Please. Alex would want you to leave too."

I would've fought back, but then I realized he was tearing up. He looked terrified as he stood up to meet my gaze. All he wanted was for me to be safe.

"Jack...no...I don't want to leave." I stammered.

" Madalyn, please..." tears glistened on his cheek. He choked on the next words as if they were poison. " I need you to go." He bit his lower lip and traced my cheek bone with his thumb.

"Okay...I will." I murmured. I couldn't stand the fact that I was just going to leave him there. How could I? But I knew it was what he wanted, and his only intentions were to make sure I was safe, and maybe he knew that his sister needed me.

He wrapped me up in a hug. "You'll be alright. We'll be alright too. We'll catch up with you. I promise. It's gonna be alright. And we're not leaving this town until we meet up again, got it?"

I gently pushed him away and turned around, leaving the room before another word could be said.

The building was half demolished so I found it difficult to navigate through the rubble. The structure was in too good of shape to have been bombed directly, it must've been the building next to us that was bombed. I decided to take the stairs, because obviously the elevator would be out of order... I scampered down the stairs as I looked out the broken windows. I nearly stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was happening outside. Helicopters dropped recruiters, and massive war vehicles roamed the streets. The scene looked identical to the one on the news, which scared me to death. Chaos 76 was now taking over my very town; my home was now destroyed.

When I reached street level, I noticed just how many recruiters held the ground. I needed to hide, or else they would take me. I ducked behind a pile of rubble as I saw hundreds of people being dragged into army tanks. Off to the side I saw a recruiter struggling with a captive. She was a small figure with a head of long tangled blonde hair trying to free herself from the unarmed recruiters tight grasp. There was only one girl in this world who would fight back that hard. It was London. I felt sick to my stomach when I realized what was happening. I didn't make it to her fast enough... Jack wanted me to protect her, but I fought him on that. If I had just listened to what he said, this wouldn't have been happening. How could I let my feelings for Jack get in the way of protecting my best friend, who was now about to die? I wanted to scream out and run to help her, but I had to stop myself. Her body went limp when the recruiter became armed, so he easily dragged her away after that. Hot tears spilled on my cheeks. Looking back on it, watching her scream in agony without doing a thing had to be the hardest thing I've ever done. Everything happened so fast...one second I was visiting with my friends and the next I was watching my best friend being dragged off by terrorists.

I went into a shock. I was terrified for Jack. Not only had I left him behind, but I also let his baby sister slip away from my grasp. I felt a sudden rush of guilt as a sat there in the darkness of the half-collapsed building. I was worried that Jack would never forgive me for abandoning his sister. What a selfish thought! London was being dragged to her doom and all I could worry about was my relationship with Jack?

Suddenly I remembered the conversation with my mom on the phone. She was only trying to protect me, and I had completely disrespected that . The entire city was beginning blow to pieces, and I wasn't with her. I may never see her again. Her last words to me had been "I love you", and my response had been silence.

I snapped back to reality when I sensed someone coming closer. I only had about a five second window of time to get away, so I darted through the entryway behind me and snuck out the back door. I weaved through the backstreets and alleyways, but it was difficult to go fast without being spotted. I tried not to be distracted by all the helpless people being dragged away, so I focused on my end goal. I was already near the edge of the city, so if I kept going, I could make it to the clearer areas, where I could get to safety. I reached a spot where miles of roads and now destroyed neighborhoods lay in front of me. And then I ran.