Last Man Standing

Chapter 3: A Grave Interruption

Dozens of other screams arose from the south side of the village. Men grabbed whatever they could pass off as a weapon and bolted in the direction of the cries. Marcus was suddenly in front of the stage with eyes blazing.

"Come on, Candra! We have to go!"

I quickly looked back at Evander who was still holding my left hand. He could sense the urgency of the situation, so he abruptly let go of me and ran in the direction of his own home.

Marcus grabbed my wrist after I jumped off the stage and we began to run towards Gram's as fast as our feet could carry us.

I took in my surroundings as I ran, but I quickly regretted it. Everything had escalated in seconds. The whole village was in pandemonium, with people young and old running about in fright as they searched for their loved ones. Many of the houses had gone up in flames, and young children wept as parents ignored them to take care of their own.

I was so preoccupied with my surroundings that I wasn't looking where I was going. Marcus had jumped over something that I had missed, so I tripped and fell face first onto the ground for the second time that day. I groaned in pain, and then opened my eyes to see the frozen, bloody face of my father. I screamed in terror and shuffled away from the body. I shut my eyes really tight to erase the image, and then opened them to see the face of the dead woman I had tripped over. I needed time to stop myself from hyperventilating, but Marcus grabbed my arms and quickly hoisted me to my feet.

"What the hell's the matter with you!? You've seen worse!" He had to yell to be heard over the uproar of panicked villagers. He shook me until I took my eyes off of the woman to look at him. "Come on! We have to help Gram!"

Once again, he grabbed my wrist and began to run with me in tow. I shook off what had just happened and did my best to focus on the issue at hand. We passed by dozens of other dead bodies with family members weeping around them, and a few others screaming for their missing children. Phoebus, Lucifer, Claudia, Valoria, Septimus, Phaedra, Cornelius; these were just some of the names I caught wind of. All of these people had gone missing within the last five minutes, and plenty of others followed as parents were franticly looking for them.

What the hell was going on!?

As if in response to my silent question, a young man covered in armour carrying a sword jumped in front of Marcus and myself. It was a Galacian attack, and we were next on their hit list! Marcus pushed me out of the way and quickly jumped to dodge the Galacian's swing.

"Marcus!"

"Run, Candra! Help Gram!"

"I can't just leave you!"

He summersaulted to the left to avoid another attack, and then picked up a nearby plank of wood that sat in the rubble of a burning home. "GO NOW!"

I did as I was told and continued running towards Gram's house. I didn't look back to see how Marcus was doing because I was afraid of what I might see.

Gram's house was finally in sight, and to my relief it wasn't on fire. I knew this had to have been a good sign; that I must have only imagined the initial scream to be hers. I called out her name as I bolted towards the door, but I heard no response. I swung it open to find the kitchen ransacked, with the table and chairs turned over and her few kitchen supplies scattered across the floor.

"GRAM! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

I pushed my way through the mess in the kitchen to get into her room. The curtain was already torn down in a heap on the floor, so I just moved through the doorframe and began to scan my surroundings. It was just as much of a mess as the kitchen, with her bed on its side and the contents of her dresser scattered across the floor. Gram wasn't there, so I pushed my way through the kitchen to the boy's room. Marcus was currently the only boy occupying it, and he didn't really have any possessions for the Galacian's to rummage through. But nevertheless, his bed and the three empty ones were flipped over and the dresser was smashed onto the floor.