Setting Fire to the Stars (a MM Sci-Fi Romance)

Chapter 19: Survive

*note: this chapter contains underaged drinking, profanity, and blood)**

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Peter
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The loud explosion rocked the night as I sprinted down the road of fractured concrete. Ducking my head, I managed to dodge a large chunk of rubble that shattered a few feet to my left. Whitt stumbled in front of me, pieces of splintering shrapnel sailing over his blond head.

"Holy shit holy shit holyshit—"

"Get up!" Wyatt shouted, yanking his younger brother off the ground. "Run!"

The twins led the way, Reva following behind with her hands firmly strapped to her gun. I did my best to keep up, swerving around abandoned cars and bodies while I clutched my bleeding shoulder. Reese and Josiah brought up the rear, each with an arm wrapped around a hobbling Flynn.

Pure agony laced through my body with every winded breath, my ears ringing like a church bell on Sunday morning. The hunter's knife remained with the black blade embedded below my collarbone. The shattering of stone crashed behind me, the orchestra of destruction lighting the dark with brilliant explosions. Clenching my teeth, I drove the muscles of my legs to move faster. At football practice, I was used to sprinting long distances, but running a play and running for your life were completely different.

'B   O   O   M'

The loud detonation lit up the night in a hazy orange glow. Icovered my head to protect myself from falling debris, the explosion followed by the of smashing concrete behind me. Casting a glance over my shoulder, I turned just in time to see the roof of the Foundry collapse on itself in a fiery inferno. The initial blast had set off a series of chain reactions streaming from the clinic to the whole downtown area, including the brewery, the surrounding buildings reduced to flaming piles of rubble. Thick tendrils of smoke rose into the night sky. By morning, it would be a beacon visible for miles.

"Move it or lose it, pretty boy!" Reese barked, pulling me back to the present by shoving me forward.

The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air as our feet beat against the pavement. I didn't bother to check to see if anyone was following us. No one could have survived.

"Over there!" Josiah shouted.

Whitt and Wyatt veered down a narrow passageway while Reese and Josiah struggled through with Flynn. We soon regrouped on the other side, taking off together down the darkened street. After running a couple more blocks, we finally came to a halt in front of an abandoned corner store. The sign above the door read 'Sawyer's Convenience'.

Whitt slumped against the sidewalk, groaning tiredly. Reese and Josiah carefully lowered a barely conscious Flynn to the ground. Reva's tear-stained face was tight as she slugged the gun to her back and enveloped Flynn in a hug, his arm looping around her middle as she cried.

Catching my breath, I wiped the sweat from my brow and stumbled on shaky feet. While it was a relief that we had escaped the explosion and our bloodthirsty attackers, but I couldn't rest easy yet. I had bigger things to worry about. Like the knife sticking out of my chest.

Adrenaline could only get me so far, and right then, my tank was running on empty. Hissing in pain, I gripped my shoulder as the muscles buried under the blade spasmed, every harsh gasp causing the metal to grate against my insides. A tingling sensation began in my legs. Without warning, the limbs suddenly gave out from under me, my backside hitting the pavement. A sharp pain began behind my eyes, my head swimming as I tried to blink away the black dots obscuring my vision. The inside of my head buzzed as though filled with flies. Wrestling with the agony, I struggled to push myself into a crouched position. Warm blood seeped down my chest. God, everything hurt.